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Monthly Archives: May 2013
Dionysus Asks, “When’s the Last Time You Really Danced?”
Daft Punk meets Soul Train. The French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter (who make up Daft Punk) were both born in the 1970s, so this seems an apt remix for one of their songs. And the dancers, in terms of age, are pushing 60 now. … Continue reading
Eight Reasons People Believe Conspiracy Theories
There was a great bit of reportage by Maggie Koerth-Baker on critical thinking (or rather, its failure) in The New York Times recently. The article explored the psychology behind conspiracy theories, honing in on eight key reasons so many people believe in them: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged apologetics, atheism, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, philosophy, psychology, theism
1 Comment
The Lowdown on the Religions of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, Krishna, Moses, and Paul Kurtz
The six great world religions come with messages of good news and bad. Here’s the lowdown: Islam and Christianity. Good news: God and heaven are real and you can go there! Bad news: Get with the program or God will … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged apologetics, atheism, Buddha, faith, God, Jesus, krishna, Mohammad, secular humanism
8 Comments
Buckminster Fuller to the Rescue?
Dome homes for tornado country? And might geodesic–as opposed to rounded concrete–domes provide at least some of the same benefits for a fraction of the cost? I wonder why Buckminster Fuller-style dome homes aren’t more popular everywhere. _____ _____
Entered Emory, Fell Out of Emory, $60,000 in Debt
A cautionary tale of students from lumpen proletariat American families (families that sell their labor but have no assets to speak of) in the New York Times recently: Angelica Gonzales marched through high school in Goth armor — black boots, chains … Continue reading
The Diligent Shall Rule
Or at least annoy. Focus and never give up.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged comedy, humor, life, music, Nietzsche, struggle, war, will
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The Ghost Army Trailer
This documentary, soon to be aired on PBS, looks really good. 1000 people–some of whom would go on to have careers in art, fashion, and design–were commissioned to do a head-fake on the Nazis late in World War II, simulating … Continue reading
What It Feels Like To Be Beautiful Without A Mirror
Kjerstin Gruys explains: I remember the time I felt most beautiful. […] I was camping with my husband. We were on a long hike through a forest in California, and I couldn’t help but admire all the redwood trees surrounding … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged beauty, Buddhism, Jacques Lacan, life, mirrors, philosophy, psychology, Slavoj Zizek, women
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Rush Limbaugh: “Bill Nye is not a scientist!”
Rush Limbaugh, in the last hour of his show today, unhappy about Bill Nye’s views on global warming, said the following: “Bill Nye is not a scientist!” Is this true? If Nye’s Wikipedia page is to be believed, it is … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bill Nye, climate change, global warming, rush limbaugh, science
9 Comments
Hell Belief
Three problems with it: Hell belief is authoritarian. If it is true that most people go to hell, and it is eternal torture over flames to be there, then the only way to save yourself from such a ridiculous fate … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, Christianity, God, hell, Islam, Jesus, religion
28 Comments
An Interview with Charles Hood
__________ Poet and photographer Charles Hood’s most recent book, South x South, based on a trip he made to Antarctica in 2011, has just been published by Ohio University Press (2013). Jordan Davis, poetry editor of The Nation, writes the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged art, authors, books, Emily Dickinson, life, literature, poems, poetry, travel
1 Comment
A Film That Appears To Be Worth Seeing
This looks good and has gotten a lot of recent attention and critical acclaim. It has also generated controversy. It opens in New York and Los Angeles May 24, 2013. Directed by Rasha Burshtein, an Orthodox Jewish woman who lives … Continue reading
Monster with Big Testicles in House Next Door
Quite a thing to discover. A man who participates in neighborhood barbecues also kidnaps and imprisons women. This is Hannah Arendt’s “the banality of evil” right next door. Charles Ramsey gives a compelling interview on his rescue of Amanda Berry: … Continue reading
The Tao of Emily, the Calm of Lao Tzu, and Trouble from Blake
Below are two couplets of flower power yin-yang from Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine,” written in 1850 when she was aged nineteen. Insofar as anybody knows, it’s the first poem she’d ever written … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, Buddha, Buddhism, Emily Dickinson, Lao Tzu, literature, poetry, Tao, William Blake
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Is Mind a Fluke of Nature?
According to atheist and University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne, probably: As for mind being nothing but a fluke of nature, well, that’s probably true, at least the human mind, since I don’t see our evolution as inevitable (it may … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, creation, God, mind, philosophy, psychology, theism
56 Comments
David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” 2005 Kenyon College Commencement Address
Wallace is totally the Buddha in this speech, preaching attentional choice, vigilance in looking, and imaginative awareness. It’s a shame he hit bottom in 2008 and, in the grip of a severe depression (a recurrent scourge that plagued his life), … Continue reading
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Tagged Buddhism, college, david foster wallace, experience, life, literature, seeing, work
4 Comments
Emily Dickinson’s Poem, “My Life had stood–a Loaded Gun–“
I’d like to offer an existentialist interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s famously perplexing poem, “My Life had stood–A Loaded Gun–” (poem 754 in her collected works). Here’s the poem: My Life had stood–a Loaded Gun– In Corners–till a Day The Owner … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged death, Emily Dickinson, existentialism, God, life, Loaded Gun, poems, poetry, Terror Management Theory
9 Comments
Prometheus Unbound 