24. Закат культуры – III. Появление мегаполиса как признак заката культуры

A supplementary lecture to a special course for master's and doctoral students at MIPT. Although the "Ancient Worlds" course for MIPT seniors and doctoral students has been completed, I continue to publish lectures. The fact is that I also teach a similar course to friends. Therefore, the lectures will have a more casual and somewhat superficial nature, as they are presented in a small group of friends, primarily IT specialists. Provincials in the first century AD hate Rome. That's the first characteristic of a provincial. The second characteristic is that everyone wants to be there. Why do they hate it? It's quite clear. Rome is a huge city; it lives off the provinces, sucking in all the country's wealth like a black hole. This isn't just capital, it's human resources. Everyone with any social ambitions strives to find themselves in the capital, because it's the center of life. The provinces become intellectually and financially impoverished, while the capital grows fat, expanding disproportionately due to internal emigration. This is how a huge global city emerges—a megalopolis that parasitizes on the body of the country. My Telegram channel: https://t.me/dezhurov Based on a course of lectures on methods of cultural research, the origins, development, and decline of culture, I wrote the book "The Pendulum of Culture" (Moscow, AST, 2026). This book is dedicated to my students—graduate and senior students at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). About the book: "World culture is vast. You can't get to know it 'well' in a few lectures; you can only learn that it's interesting to explore it." With this important thought, Arseny Stanislavovich Dezhurov suggests you begin reading this book. The purpose of these lectures is to help those unfamiliar with the systematic study of culture begin to navigate the global cultural process. The customs of classical antiquity, High Renaissance painting, Russian realism, contemporary postmodern art, the language of kitsch, advertising, and our everyday lives—we see that the language of culture is changing, but is there an invisible law, like a pendulum, that determines its movement? From Stone Age caves to the birth of the megalopolis, the author traces the stages of cultural development and identifies the characteristics that characterize a culture in decline. Arseniy Stanislavovich Dezhurov is a philologist, art historian, regular participant in archaeological excavations of ancient Greek cities, and a popular lecturer. He teaches cultural history at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and previously at other educational institutions: Moscow State Pedagogical University, MGIMO, and the National Research University Higher School of Economics. What you have in your hands is a time-tested lecture course, supplemented by articles on art that explore cultural ideas through specific examples. Where to buy: https://www.ozon.ru/product/mayatnik-... https://www.wildberries.ru/catalog/23... https://www.chitai-gorod.ru/product/m...