Contents: Some scribblings Per IEP article. Per SEP article. Per NDPR: The Kantian Sublime and the Revelation of Freedom. Some Scribblings… It’s not a priori obvious why Kant should concern himself with beauty, especially not with the regard and the significance with which he describes it within his overall architectonic. There are of course historical reasons for his focus (esp...
To you whom this concerns, I don’t know where to start. Which reminds me of how I began one of my journals. And so, to quote myself:* There’s something satisfyingly indulgent about copying words that had already been finished, but are being given a new meaning in a new context. So: Allow me to pause the proceedings – really no more than a preface, an elaborate digression into...
In 2011, Universe published the ghoulishly-titled book 1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die[1]. The obvious question then follows, “Well, what’s number one?” The list’s ordered chronologically, but even so, it’s a game called The Oregon Trail. It’s from the mid 70’s. Today that makes it vintage, ten years ago it was old school, and ten years before...
A comparative review of a competitive NMDA receptor agonist and a film by award-winning Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Oshii First off: spoilers. If this was the future that word would be flashing right now[1]. Some background to set the scene: Ketamine[I]: it’s a drug best known as “that horse tranquillizer”, and although still employed in human pain management it is no longer employed routinely for...
Editorial notes: This Book Review was found as a ‘draft’ entry in Everything2. It was last updated on 03/05/2011. Away in the big city, people still sometimes glance up hopefully from the sidewalks, glimpsing a distant speck in the sky… but no: it’s only a bird, only a plane. Superman died ten years ago. This is an imaginary story. Aren’t they all? Whatever Happened...
Editorial notes: This Book Review was found as a ‘draft’ entry in Everything2 with the Summary section missing. It was last updated on 03/05/2011. C.S. Lewis is the British author best known for writing the Narnia series of books, but he also authored a number of books that discussed his religious beliefs, including this one – Mere Christianity. The book evolved out of a series...
Many drugs, and most drugs that are directed at cognitive processes (e.g. anti-depressants, hallucinogenics) target receptors. Receptors are proteins involved in the way cells in the body signal to each other. The following is a review of one particular type of receptor called the 5-HT2A receptor, and it’s role in mediating the effects of LSD. What is a receptor? Our body is made up of...
The central dogma of biology says that DNA encodes RNA which encodes proteins In the beginning, you were a single cell made up from a fused sperm and egg. This cell had 23 pairs of chromosomes which together made up all your DNA – chromosomes are what DNA looks like when it’s tightly wrapped. DNA is a long code made up of four nucleotides that form a four-letter alphabet – ACGT...
Editorial notes: Shai was always fascinated with cartoon characters and, at least as his written coverage is concerned, mostly with Superman. Between March 2011 and December 2014, Shai writes nine articles dedicated to this superhero and in November 2014 he starts a blog dedicated to reviewing Superman novels. Superman came first, anyone else came later. It all started with...
The Ancient Greeks who presaged our philosophies, political systems, and arts emerged in a land that had already been settled by mankind for tens of thousands of years. Despite what some of them believed the Greeks were not been born out of the Earth, but rather from the ashes of earlier societies. In Greece’s prehistory – the time before writing – entire societies, including...
