Verbatim quote · defining passage

“It is to the freedom that made the sign possible in the first place, and that permits its use to transcend the symmetry of the communal sharing of meaning that makes human existence possible, that I have given the name of firstness , in order to emphasize the impossibility of avoiding priority even in the most utopian vision of the human community. It is essential to point out that the exchange of signs, and similar cultural acts, are the only ones that permit the seamless adoption of an individual’s innovation by the entire community, and that it is precisely this possibility of firstness that makes it the foundation of the human community.”

— Eric Gans, Toward a Globalist-Victimary Unified Field Theory: Part V – A Morality of Firstness · Saturday, December 15th, 2018 · Chronicles of Love & Resentment