epistemology, philosophy, theology, religion
A fascinating argument by Stephen Holmes and Ivan Krastev on the symbolic function of rigged elections in Russia: Thus, by far the most important political role of sham elections during the past dozen years has been the way they have allowed Putin to display his capacity for manipulating them in an orderly and predictable way [...]
One way to explain the moral panics of our day: a society governed primarily by old, rich white men of European descent apprehends an economy driven by single, working moms, weighed down by unemployed single men and traumatized by the reckless mass incarceration of the poor. Their imagined community is obsolete to an increasingly multiracial, [...]
Soderbergh’s Contagion is a movie about the ills of globalization, right down to the ridiculous closing sequence in which deforestation by a multinational is blamed for a viral pandemic. But viruses are more than a MacGuffin, they’re the intersection between the organic and the inorganic, between that which lives and that which exists. Viruses may [...]
perhaps, eating is inherently social – that is, we are hardwired to eat with others. how then to justify “indulging” oneself with food? perhaps, by believing, however remotely, that one is in the company of the very food we are consuming. What’s crackin! Wassup, bro!!!!! Hey pal, can I join you?
Elif Batuman in the New Yorker: The findings at Göbleki Tepe suggest that we have the story backward—that it was actually the need to build a scared site that first obliged hunter-gatherers to organize themselves as a workforce, to spend long periods in one place, to secure a stable food supply, and eventually to invent [...]
Wherein I argue that the best way to learn, apart from painful personal experience, is via a story filled with colorful characters. Exhibit A: The Firearms Philosophy of Ivan Chesnokov I didn’t know I had any desire to learn about firearms until I stumbled on this collection of satirical forum posts penned in the style [...]
Nature: Chadwick relates the story of a wolverine kit that perished during its first winter. Researchers later found the tiny body in a depression scraped from the ground, and covered with pieces of wood chewed from a nearby log. It was, in the words of the researcher, undoubtedly a wolverine burial site.
Daniel Rybakken, Daylight Entrance Glass Milk Half Pint Creamer Olive, El Bulli Soy Darks The cast of Jersey Shore Italy korean tacos
Many religions offer the promise of a supreme and perfectly fair authority. Such an eternal and just arbiter offers relief for people who live daily under unjust, biased and/or inhumane authorities. Consider who is keeping Christianity and/or Catholicism alive in many parts of the United States. Undocumented migrants live in terror of being seized and [...]
I wonder if scientists have looked at epidemiological records for evidence – if there is any – of a correlation between political extremism and mental illness. That is, has anyone tested the hypothesis that those who have broken with reality are more likely to participate (and possibly even to lead) groups that advocate for a [...]