Risk

The driving demand of humanity—across space and time—is agency, or more precisely, the illusion of it. It is the cornerstone of human identity, the myth that gives life coherence and direction. To question this illusion is to tamper with the primal architecture of existence itself. In the 21st century, this questioning has become socially taboo, and the response is swift and brutal: cancellation. The modern-day heretic who dares to suggest that free will is a fiction and that our actions are determined by biology, culture, or the relentless treadmill of evolution is not debated but excommunicated. In the parlance of our time, “thou shalt be cancelled.”

This instinct to protect the illusion of agency is as old as civilization. To deny free will is to challenge the core belief that we are sovereign actors shaping our destiny. Without that belief, what remains is the unbearable truth of determinism: that our choices are shaped by forces beyond our control, from the molecular to the cosmic. This truth—evident in the Red Queen hypothesis—is not just ignored but actively suppressed, because it threatens the scaffolding of society.

Cancel culture is the latest incarnation of this suppression. It is not just a social phenomenon but a survival mechanism. The Red Queen hypothesis, after all, tells us that survival depends on keeping up appearances, running hard just to stay in place. To expose the machinery behind this race, to unmask the illusion of agency, disrupts the collective equilibrium. The response is swift: public shaming, ostracism, and cancellation. The goal is not to debate but to silence, not to engage but to protect the fragile myth that sustains us.

This is why the mythological approach is so potent—and so safe. Mythology doesn’t challenge the illusion head-on but veils it in symbols, allowing the deeper truths to be glimpsed without direct confrontation. Shakespeare knew this when he gave us Prince Hal, a figure who navigates redemption while subtly exposing the artifice of power. George Lucas understood it when he shifted from the brutal determinism of THX 1138 to the comforting nostalgia of American Graffiti, and finally to the mythological grandeur of Star Wars. “May the Force be with you” is a safe abstraction, a symbol that points to determinism without unmasking it.

Those who fail to employ this symbolic veil are punished. Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, with his terrifying embrace of determinism, was ignored in his time, dismissed as mad by a society unwilling to confront the abyss. Today, the same fate awaits anyone who challenges the sacred fiction of free will without cloaking it in myth. Cancel culture is not a new phenomenon but an ancient reflex: a defense against truths that threaten to unravel the social fabric.

Yet the paradox remains: to protect the illusion of agency is to perpetuate the Red Queen race, the endless treadmill of survival without progress. To strip away the illusion is to risk chaos, nihilism, and despair. Humanity, caught between these extremes, chooses the illusion time and again. The question is not whether cancel culture is justified but what it reveals: a society desperate to preserve the myth of agency, willing to silence dissent to protect its fragile equilibrium.

So, the modern heretic is cancelled, just as the medieval one was burned or the existentialist was exiled. The mechanisms differ, but the impulse is the same. To question agency is to strike at the heart of humanity’s sacred story, and those who do so are condemned—not for their ideas, but for the danger they pose to the collective psyche. In the end, mythology remains the only safe space for truth, a veil that shields us from the peril of looking too deeply. And perhaps that is why we say, with ritual solemnity, “May the Force be with you,” all the while refusing to ask what the Force truly is.

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import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import networkx as nx

# Define the neural network structure
def define_layers():
    return {
        # Divine and narrative framework in the film
        'World': [
            'Cosmos',  # Guido’s grand, universal sense of play and creativity
            'Earth',  # The tangible and oppressive reality of the Holocaust
            'Life',  # The stakes of survival and human connection
            'Il Sacrificio',  # Guido’s ultimate sacrifice
            'Mia Storia',  # Giosuè’s personal narrative, shaped by his father
            'Dono Per Me'  # The "gift" of innocence and joy given by Guido
        ],
        # Perception and filtering of reality
        'Perception': ['Che Mio'],  # How Giosuè interprets his father’s actions and words
        # Agency and Guido’s defining traits
        'Agency': ['Cheerfulness', 'Optimism'],  # Guido’s tools for shaping the narrative
        # Generativity and legacy
        'Generativity': [
            'Anarchy',  # Guido’s rebellion against oppressive reality
            'Oligarchy',  # The systemic constraints he navigates
            'Padre Fece'  # The actions and sacrifices Guido made for his son
        ],
        # Physical realities and their interplay
        'Physicality': [
            'Dynamic',  # Guido’s improvisational actions, like creating the “game”
            'Partisan',  # The direct oppression he faces
            'Common Wealth',  # Shared humanity and joy despite hardship
            'Non-Partisan',  # Universal themes transcending sides
            'Static'  # The immovable, tragic finality of the Holocaust
        ]
    }

# Assign colors to nodes
def assign_colors(node, layer):
    if node == 'Che Mio':
        return 'yellow'  # Perception as the interpretive bridge
    if layer == 'World' and node == 'Dono Per Me':
        return 'paleturquoise'  # Optimism and the "gift"
    if layer == 'World' and node == 'Mia Storia':
        return 'lightgreen'  # Harmony and legacy
    if layer == 'World' and node in ['Cosmos', 'Earth']:
        return 'lightgray'  # Context of divine and tangible
    elif layer == 'Agency' and node == 'Optimism':
        return 'paleturquoise'  # Guido’s defining hope
    elif layer == 'Generativity':
        if node == 'Padre Fece':
            return 'paleturquoise'  # Guido’s ultimate acts of selflessness
        elif node == 'Oligarchy':
            return 'lightgreen'  # Navigating systemic structures
        elif node == 'Anarchy':
            return 'lightsalmon'  # Rebellion and creativity
    elif layer == 'Physicality':
        if node == 'Static':
            return 'paleturquoise'  # The unchanging, tragic realities
        elif node in ['Non-Partisan', 'Common Wealth', 'Partisan']:
            return 'lightgreen'  # Shared humanity and resilience
        elif node == 'Dynamic':
            return 'lightsalmon'  # Guido’s improvisation and vitality
    return 'lightsalmon'  # Default color for tension or conflict

# Calculate positions for nodes
def calculate_positions(layer, center_x, offset):
    layer_size = len(layer)
    start_y = -(layer_size - 1) / 2  # Center the layer vertically
    return [(center_x + offset, start_y + i) for i in range(layer_size)]

# Create and visualize the neural network graph
def visualize_nn():
    layers = define_layers()
    G = nx.DiGraph()
    pos = {}
    node_colors = []
    center_x = 0  # Align nodes horizontally

    # Add nodes and assign positions
    for i, (layer_name, nodes) in enumerate(layers.items()):
        y_positions = calculate_positions(nodes, center_x, offset=-len(layers) + i + 1)
        for node, position in zip(nodes, y_positions):
            G.add_node(node, layer=layer_name)
            pos[node] = position
            node_colors.append(assign_colors(node, layer_name))

    # Add edges (without weights)
    for layer_pair in [
        ('World', 'Perception'),  # Giosuè interprets the "World" through "Che Mio"
        ('Perception', 'Agency'),  # Guido’s cheerfulness shapes Giosuè’s perception
        ('Agency', 'Generativity'),  # Guido’s optimism drives his generative actions
        ('Generativity', 'Physicality')  # His legacy plays out in the physical world
    ]:
        source_layer, target_layer = layer_pair
        for source in layers[source_layer]:
            for target in layers[target_layer]:
                G.add_edge(source, target)

    # Draw the graph
    plt.figure(figsize=(14, 10))
    nx.draw(
        G, pos, with_labels=True, node_color=node_colors, edge_color='gray',
        node_size=3000, font_size=10, connectionstyle="arc3,rad=0.1"
    )
    plt.title("Questa è la mia storia: Vita è Bella", fontsize=15)
    plt.show()

# Run the visualization
visualize_nn()

Fig. 26 G1-G3: Ganglia & N1-N5 Nuclei. These are cranial nerve, dorsal-root (G1 & G2); basal ganglia, thalamus, hypothalamus (N1, N2, N3); and brain stem and cerebelum (N4 & N5).