I'm in a biparasocial relationship with you. I'm not certain either of us exist, but I'm glad we're'nt together....
Albert Camus's "The Myth of Sisyphus" was cathartic in my early 20s. It laid out the characteristics of "the absurd", a term describing the collision of a conscious being's desire to impose meaning on the world and the inherent lack thereof. In both fiction and philosophy, Camus observed two common and internally consistent responses: delusion or suicide. "There is but one truly serious…
Shockingly, women exist. They've existed in parallel with men since the extrication of our species from the primordial muck. This incredible discovery was made by Simone de Beauvoir in 1949. I've been reading disparate pockets of continental philosophy, much like one might eat a continental breakfast, since my youth. I felt Madame Beauvoir had escaped my tonsils for far too long. I'm only half way…
I travelled across China recently. It's nothing like other countries on Earth in some respects and remarkably similar in others. If you've spent any time in a major Chinese city, you've likely seen the "dress up": young ladies in culturally distinctive garb suited to the region simply going about their business. If you're in Xi'an, you'll see ladies of the Tang Dynasty court. If you're in Beijing,…
I recently had cause to rewatch Mulholland Drive and was staggered by how little I remembered. The other edge of that sword was how much I got to enjoy it a second time. It's the best of David Lynch: balancing classic dream-like storytelling and mystery with enough cohesion to not lose an attentive viewer. There's nevertheless much left to interpretation. If you've not seen it, please read no…
Sam Bankman-Fried was a rather poor spokesperson for the Effective Altruism movement. He defrauded investors who didn't realise they were investors en masse, presumably under a utilitarian extremist pretence. E.g., "if I could flip a weighted coin that had a 49% chance of tails and 51% chance of heads, I ought to flip it, regardless of fail case costs". Model it all you will and season with as…
A tale in reference to one of the ghastly inspirations for Sleeping Beauty, “Sun, Moon, and Talia.” A well-dressed man in extravagant, purple riding garb plodded up the step ladder reaching into the manor’s first-story window. His face was incongruously scruffy, with dark patches marking his tunic and cloak. A throng of dishevelled attendants on the ground holding crossbows, counting coins, and…
“Footfall” is a science fiction invasion tale by platonic power couple Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It takes place in the revised “present day” (1985), wherein humanity gently caresses the stars through the likes of the “Kosmograd” space station and other paraphernalia. The most distinctive feature is its alien species, the Fithp, a culturally diverse group of baby elephant-esque travellers…