Zizek in How to Read Lacan does not merely articulate the philosophy of Lacan but adds his own philosophical slant. The book begins with a description of a major development that occurred at the turn of the millennium in the year 2000. With new advances in the brain sciences, there was a proclamation of the … Read more
Below are excerpts from Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis. I feared for my soul; especially on certain blazing moonlight nights in that curtainless dormitory—how the sound of other boys breathing in their sleep comes back! The effect, so far as I can judge, was entirely good. I began seriously to pray and to read … Read more
Why Materialism is Baloney is an original and engaging work. Bernardo Kastrup neatly pokes glaring holes in the dominant scientific narrative of our age: materialism. Below are some highlights. There’s No Consciousness, Obviously In the pursuit of an external truth, scientistic materialism has forgotten the internal, most fundamental reality of human existence: we can know … Read more
Life After Life by Raymond Moody explores near-death experiences (NDE’s). Throughout his conversations with several people who have reported these experienced, Moody has drawn several interesting comparisons. It is also worth noting that he has found similar reports in the Bible, ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato, and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The … Read more
The Evolution of Desire by David Buss discusses the different mating strategies implemented by men and women based on evolutionary psychology. Regardless of what men and women are wired to desire, there are still many ambiguities concerning the right strategy to choose, such a strategy is informed by geographical location, age, social standing, and availability … Read more
The Craving Mind is a book about meditation. Judson’s background as a scientist and researcher is juxtaposed against his interest in meditation. The first part of the book is the story of how he came to embrace meditation as a source of healing. The second part is his attempts as a scientist, to uncover the … Read more
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker is about the nature of the human mind. Throughout history, there have been many different conceptualizations about the human mind, and these have had real consequences of politics, law, ethics, relationships, and religion. The way in which we choose to define the human mind is no mere intellectual exercise. … Read more
During the decade to come, we will see the ebbing of the demographic tide that helped to drive the prosperity of the immediate postwar period. The age cohort known as the baby boom—the children born during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations—will be in their sixties, beginning to retire, beginning to slow down, beginning to get … Read more
A lot of carbon emissions are coming from developing countries. They will not cut down since conservation would permanently relegate them to Third World countries. Recycling doesn’t help. We need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Fracking technology also makes it possible to get at enough quantities of natural gas in a short enough period … Read more
Friedman does not think that Europe will go back to concentration camps and trenches, but the next decade will see more geopolitical tension, with the roots of a more serious war. The Americans also had a vested interest in European prosperity. Through the Marshall Plan and other mechanisms, the United States created a favorable environment … Read more