An important principle I have absorbed is that while the edifice of philosophy have their values, unless one is viewing them as an historian then they are also merely tools and words; useful but not to be confused with philo-sophia: love of knowledge. Let’s raise the question, “Why read philosophical treatises?” First, it can inspire. But it can be valuable even when approached...
On these days, I ask myself what I’ve learned, and often that prompts me to write. Sometimes it’s lessons. Lessons like, “Don’t think (often) about what other people are thinking,” I believe such lessons help me grow. Growth means clarity of experience, a loosening of bonds, and a dispersal of questionable cargo. As I expand, I want to incorporate into my reality a...
Editorial notes: The article begins with a comparison between the ‘self’ and the ‘soul’. The ‘self’ is a term usually used in psychological dissertations and is the subject of several developmental theories. The ‘soul’, however, is a theological/philosophical term that is not subjected to the same pattern of developmental changes. As far as the ‘positivist identifier” and ‘legalistic in its...
…you only fall from the point you allow yourself to sink. (Despite the phantom essay that had been unfolding in the back shadows of my mind, now that I’ve written that down, it seems like enough. Now I feel wrong for mocking god. Maybe it (seemed like it) was enough?) Let me add just the slightest of content, by adding some of the obvious: I’ve reason to believe this true. I...
Prelude: I call this post “Part one”, not because I have a second or extra content intended to complement this one. But rather to acknowledge the overwhelming observation that what I have achieved here is but a very basic introduction to the question. And so: There’s a switch I can sometimes feel for, somewhere in my mind. It’s just a single button. Nothing fancier than...
……………..awkward silences are (normally) invisible on the written page, but they still exist (an idealist would retort – who too would disappear but for the merciful hand of the author), they exist in the breaths taken while the keyboard falls silent. By that definition, they are the most invisible function of writing. The anti-thesis to writing. A black hole? It...
Not completely comfortable with the precise choice of that neologism. I’d have preferred post-scheduling or something. Although that is due to a difference in focus. In the original concept – from The Now Habit – the emphasis is on scheduling not-work, and filling in the blank spaces with work after each period. By contrast, I’m interested not merely in the category of “reduce...
I’ve rediscovered the value of local news channels. Via the Egyptian Ahram Online. In its capacity as a “local news channel” that I seek, I am looking for it to present its particular brand of foreignness (the type which knows that everyone else is foreign). Ahram Online achieves this via three means, each of which may be contrasted (partly for amusement’s sake) with...
Has content become liberated from medium? The Walking Dead is an example that can be imbibed as either/all of comic (read), tv show (watch), or game (play). However, as an example it begs the question. After all, to what extent did the franchise retain its essence across the media? I choose that nasty scholastic term as an obvious provocation. It is obvious that some cases fail to promote the...
This is a continuation of an effort to review Science 9 August 2013 Vol. 341 no. 6416. V. PubPeer is a nice, interesting, and new website, designed to allow readers to critique papers they’ve read. VI. P647, I read the full research paper, entitled Social Influence Bias: A Randomized Experiment – basically about how knowing about aggregated opinions affects our own, albeit in...
