From August 16 to 19, science fiction, fantasy and horror fans from all over the world gathered at the World Trade Center Rotterdam for Eurocon 2024. This year, the Netherlands was the host country. To give the hotel convention extra prestige, the event was renamed Erasmuscon, in honor of the Netherlands’ most famous Rotterdammer and philosopher: Desiderius Erasmus. During Erasmuscon, Modern Myths editor-in-chief Jeroen Geelhoed gave a lecture on this cosmopolitan humanist. The text – a modern version of his famous work In Praise of Folly – can be read in this article. So, if you missed the lecture, you can read Erasmuscon – In Praise of Folly 2024 here!
Desiderius Erasmus is one of the most famous philosophers from the Netherlands. He lived from 1466 to 1536 and was a cosmopolitan citizen from Rotterdam who sought to make humanity think and educate them from places like Paris, Oxford, Leuven, Venice and Basel. As a humanist and Catholic Christian, he took elements from antiquity and expressed them in new, understandable language. He is considered one of the most influential figures of the Northern Renaissance.
His most famous work is Lof der zotheid – “In Praise of Folly” – a satirical speech in which Erasmus paradoxically has the goddess of folly deliver a eulogy for everything in our society that is far from admirable. The book begins with a letter to the English humanist Thomas More (known for his work Utopia), a close friend of Erasmus. Afterward, Erasmus leaves the reader in doubt as to whether what he writes and what the goddess says is meant seriously or merely ironic.
The goddess of folly preaches common sense
The book is an indictment of hypocrisy, encouraging you to look at the world around you with open eyes and common sense—something particularly challenging in our current times. Social media and “clickbait” news coverage spread disinformation in the world. Populists use this to pit groups against each other and create their own truth. Meanwhile, as we gaze further into the universe than ever before with our hyper-modern telescopes, split the atom, and build working particle accelerators, we let climate change spiral out of control, put pressure on the environment, and witness wars in various parts of the world.
The goddess of folly was apparently still mild with us in 1509, considering how we humans are behaving at this moment. Therefore, it is high time for her to once again spread her In Praise of Folly, updated and ready for the 21st century. And where better than here at our Erasmuscon can she deliver her new version? Give her a big round of applause: the goddess of folly!
Erasmuscon – In Praise of Folly 2024
‘Dear visitors of Erasmuscon,
How wonderful to see you all here, at this hotel convention in honor and glory of me, your own goddess of folly! I am flattered that you have come to Rotterdam in such large numbers, the hometown of my greatest admirer and advocate – Desiderius Erasmus – to give praise to me in your grandiose dresses, cosplay outfits, and costumes from magnificent shows like Star Wars and Star Trek. Truly, it is heartwarming to see how I am still held in such high regard here. When my good champion Erasmus penned my last eulogy in 1509, he could never have foreseen how much more you would come to worship me, honoring me in such a way that now – in the year 2024 – it seems as if no other muses or goddesses exist but me, your folly.
But that is no surprise. Did Erasmus not already prove with his “In Praise of Folly” all those centuries ago that humanity and I are one, that there is no reason and logic, only foolishness, nonsense, and folly, or – better said – love? You love me so much that all your actions and thoughts are under my sign, bathed in my light and carried out. Just look at the nonsense, the balderdash in the program of this convention!
You start with lectures on climate change and nature on distant planets. On distant planets! While climate change is now bizarrely altering your life around you. While you must take refuge in air-conditioned cottages during vacations when it is about 40 degrees outside – just stay home! – you are standing on land that is at greater risk of disappearing below sea level every year! And what do the Dutch do? They reinforce their dunes and raise their dikes until the Netherlands is walled in and they can no longer see over their ever-rising sandcastles. As if a king on the beach is defending his fortress against the tide by building it higher and higher in a never-ending battle against the waves. And instead of resigning themselves to the inevitable, the Dutch still struggle and rise above the situation by labeling it “Ziltpunk” and waterproofing their clogs. Madness!
And while this is happening, you are here painting fairies with Iris Compiet. Fairies! The embodiment of me, your folly. And not only that, but in a way that Iris depicts them as realistically as possible. Or Gary Erskine, who does the same for all kinds of superheroes and science fiction monsters. Superheroes! Flying individuals with capes or bizarre abilities to stretch their bodies, set themselves on fire, or become invisible! Fantasies, you say. But brought to life through pen and computer and set in reality as if they truly exist. Where you give them morality and ambiguity to convey something. Life lessons taught by superheroes and fantasy figures!
If foolish figures like Hercules and Thor were at the cradle of humanity’s epic tales, now you have created so much mythology that you can’t even keep track of it anymore. While you are drowning in your stories, new sagas are being poured over you through so-called streaming services, in theaters, and as podcasts. Not to mention the countless kilos of paper on which your books and comics are printed. While you can also indulge in digital ebooks on a small, flat tablet, or – even crazier – download an audiobook. An audiobook! Look around and see your fellow human beings with little buds in their ears being read to as if they were children again. It’s crazy!
And then there are writers. Writers! Don’t be alarmed, but you are surrounded by them. Isn’t the most common advice for those who wish to write: “Don’t do it! Don’t start! Don’t quit your job for it. Unless you really, really can’t do otherwise!” Well, are you taking a moment for self-reflection? Who among my listeners here has indulged in publication? Through a publisher or self-publishing? Or, like Bo Balder, Jasper Fforde, and Andrzej Sapkowski, even on the world stage? Where your stories take on a life of their own and are brought to life by actors or computer pixels? And now you are here to ensnare visitors who are interested in your webs and entice them to think up their own stories. Even more stories! While libraries are bursting, bookstores are full, and classics are fading in time or are no longer read at all!
But you keep writing. About what you see around you and what that means for the future. A future, as we’ve seen, that stands in my sign. Covered with the mantle of my love, my folly. Call it Ziltpunk, as we just said, call it Solarpunk, speculative stories, science fiction. Call it what you will, but it’s madness, folly. You want to go to distant planets to honor me there as well. You invent extraterrestrial peoples who are a mirror of yourselves. But not of yourselves as you are, no, of aspects of you. Magnified to ridiculous proportions where characters made of anger, lust, intelligence, and madness convey only what drives you as humans to discover even more, to expose even more, and ultimately make it your own. All matter, all reality, everything that is must be under the sign of you – the human, the fool. And therefore, entirely and solely for the greater honor and glory of me.
And no, artificial intelligence is not something unnatural. It is your being, your essence in digital form. It consists of elements of each of you, of everything you say, think, and input into social media, word processors, illustration software, and the internet. Shamelessly, your thoughts and creations are used to feed the “monster.” After which you may give it tasks and ask it questions. And thus, you are actually putting yourselves to work. You talk here today about utopias and dystopias; indeed, the friend of my advocate Erasmus – the humanist Thomas More – is still honored, which pleases me. And while you think about a more beautiful, better society for yourselves, there is someone here at the same time teaching you to sword fight. Sword fighting! Back to the Middle Ages! And yes, I hear you say, in the future we will also need that when Star Wars has become reality and we need to learn to fight with lightsabers. I press you to my bosom, dear guests!
Then there is the daughter of the silver moon here. And music by Cindy-Louise. And a science journalist trying to normalize science “fiction” by explaining the science “facts”. There are workshops on world-building or developing believable characters for your stories. Painting the universe, crocheting with fantasy, you talk about gods, wizards, and mysticism. There are werewolves here, extraterrestrial giant insects, you try to get children to read your foolishness as if it were educational material and you even try to do it in just 100 words.
Dear visitors, honored guests of Erasmuscon, you are so far up in the clouds that your feet wouldn’t even be able to find the ground if you wanted them to. You are, of your own accord, completely and shamelessly, with your whole being on my territory, in my fantasy world, in my mad realm where you can be yourselves, let your mind run free, and honor me as it should be. In the program here, special time has been set aside to praise me. The organization calls such a moment a coffee klatch. A coffee klatch? I say “coffee quatsch” and can’t wait to meet you there soon!
As you know, without folly the world would not exist. And I am glad that you are all here today – in Rotterdam – to prove and express that. I greet you and thank you, my disciples. Go and enjoy Erasmuscon!’
Folly, Rotterdam, August 17, 2024.
Erasmuscon – In Praise of Folly 2024
This lecture was given by Modern Myths editor-in-chief Jeroen Geelhoed during Erasmuscon 2024 at WTC Rotterdam on Saturday, August 17 at 9:30 AM. Do you want to read more columns like Erasmuscon – In Praise of Folly 2024 by Jeroen? Check out our section Columns!
Erasmuscon – In Praise of Folly 2024: © 2024-2024 Modern Myths
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