Seth Mayer

Non Serviam

In Stanislaw Lem’s collection of writings, A Perfect Vacuum, he reviews a non-existent book about the creation of sentient life by humans. The book is called “Non Serviam,” a Latin phrase that Satan uses in the bible, which means “I will not serve.” The phrase has a long history running from Milton through Joyce and is most recently utilized by Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed. The book Lem reviews is in part about the theological debates of the “personoids,” humanoid creatures that wonder about how they came to be, much as we do, and question themselves about what they do or do not owe their creator. The scientist who brought them into existence reflects on their puzzlement at the end of the story, saying,

Dr. Ian Combray once said to me, in a private conversation, that I could, after all, assure the society of personoids of my existence. Now, this I certainly shall not do. For it would have all the appearance of me soliciting a sequel—that is, a reaction on their part. But what exactly could they do or say to me, that I would not feel the profound embarrassment, the painful sting of my position as their unfortunate Creator? The bills for the electricity consumed have to be paid quarterly, and the moment is going to come when my university superiors demand the ‘wrapping up’ of the experiment—that is the disconnecting of the machine, or, in other words, the end of the world. (196)


For this issue of Gordian Knot, we think about what it means not to serve. False gods ranging from the structures of state power to autoflush toilets get their comeuppance and rebels like the city-states of Greece and Notorious B.I.G. get their props. In figuring out what ideals we want to serve, the consequences are unclear: do we end up with eternal damnation or does the electricity just get shut off?

 

Non-Serviam Back Cover