Fun_People Archive
21 Sep
pshift - paradigm shift utility

Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 19:50:23 -0700
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: pshift - paradigm shift utility


PSHIFT(1)	USER COMMANDS	PSHIFT(1)

NAME
	pshift - paradigm shift utility
	
SYNOPSIS
	pshift [-zzeitgeist] [-rragelev] [-v] [-c] [-wn] [+|-n]
	
DESCRIPTION
	The pshift operator performs a paradigm shift on its input stream
	within the context of the current or specified zeitgeist.
	
OPTIONS
	-z	Specify the zeitgeist context.  May be specified here or from
		the environment variable $ZEITGEIST.
	
		Supported values of zeitgeist are judeo_christian (default),
		postcommunist, new_age, and when_god_was_a_woman.
			
	-r	Specify rage level. Acceptable values of ragelev are
		ennui (default), deep_seated, and consuming.
			
	-v	Set to verbose mode.  Normally pshift operates silently; in
		verbose mode it publishes a 500+ page bestseller entitled
		"Rethinking [input stream] in the [zeitgeist] Age", and then
		begins soliciting honoraria until the operator types ctrl-c.
		On some systems it runs for Congress.
			
	-c	Set to collective IO.  Normally pshift takes its input from
		stdin and outputs to stdout;  in collective mode it takes its
		input from the Collective Unconscious and writes to the Body
		Politic.
			
	-wn	Specify first, second, third or fourth wave.  Acceptable
		values for n are 0,1,2 or 3, with 2 (third wave) being the
		default.
			
		[On Sun systems, the logical waves are 0,3,2,1, which map to
		physical waves 0,1,2,3; see Sun Technical Manual for details.]
			
	+|-n	Specifies the number of times to prepend 'post' to the
		zeitgeist context, if positive, or 'pre' if negative.
		The default is 11.
			
EXAMPLES

		source $DEITY | pshift -zpostcommunist -rdeep_seated -v +1
			
	On most systems, the above command will output a hardcover volume
	called "Rethinking God in the Post-Postcommunist Era", in which the
	irrelevence of erstwhile religious concepts is seen to have
	triggered a global, deep-seated rage vis-a-vis traditional
	sociopolitical norms leading to a premature breakdown of emerging
	postsoviet infrastructure.
			
		pshift -znew_age -rennui
			
	The above command produces no output, but privately processes a
	vague discontent which it will share if its space is honored.  May
	be redirected to /dev/null.

		pshift -c -w3 -1
			
	Taking its input from the collective unconscious, the above command
	rejects the failed socioeconomic policies of the last thirty years
	and replaces them with a futurist, fourth wave polemic of
	traditional values, the two-parent family, and the supremacy of the
	private sector that was the foundation of the American utopia of
	the 1950s.  Use a prepend value of -2 to restore the American utopia
	of the early Industrial Age, a value of -3 to restore the European
	utopia of the Enlightenment, -4 for catholic hegemony, etc.
	(note:  Requires grass root permission.  In verbose mode, it may
	also require a $4 million advance.)
			
SEE ALSO
	backlash(1)

BUGS
	You must have root permission to use consuming rage.

AUTHOR
	Robert Drucker (robert@ocean.washington.edu)
	copyright 1995 Robert Drucker.
	Robert Drucker is a trademark of Robert Drucker.

© 1995 Peter Langston