AN idiot may be the name given to the ordinary man, who consistently misinterprets what happens to him, what he does, or whatis brought about by others. He does this so completely plausiblythat—for himself and his peers—large areas of life and thoughtseem logical and true. An idiot of this kind was sent one day with … Read more
Three fishes once lived in a pool. They were: a clever fish, a halfclever fish and a stupid fish. Life continued for them very much as it is for fishes everywhere until one day came—a man. He was carrying a net, and the clever fish saw him through the water. Calling upon his experience the … Read more
Zizek and Hegel Zizek is famously a Hegelian. His interpretation of Hegel’s dialectic is that the negation (or antithesis) does not just heal the break created, but removes the frame within which the antithesis appears as ‘merely’ a break. ‘“Negation of negation” is . . . nothing but repetition at its purest: in the first … Read more
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
In Dick’s world, it is hard to keep the police separate from the corporations or distinguish the state’s propaganda from capitalism’s. Or maybe they’re all space aliens. The idea isn’t so much to crush the citizens—Orwell’s notion of “a boot stamping on a human face—forever”—as letting them know who is boss, and getting another buck … Read more
Baudrillard and Theology by James Walters is a synthesis of the world of one of the most challenging and interesting thinkers of our time. And with the virtualization of the world, he has become more relevant. Baudrillard thought that our culture has become increasingly synthetic and artificial, and out of contact with what we used … Read more
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is about our relationship with our own minds, time, and fate. The foreword to the book starts the book by telling us about three myths. Myth 1: Humanity has reached the pinnacle of its development. Tolle cites Michael Murphy, who argues that humans have the potential to reach … Read more
On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt is a short book, that discusses the concept of bullshit, from a philosophical perspective. Frankfurt’s writing is academic and formal, but at times, funny. The seriousness and somberness of the tone, mixed with the nature of the subject matter, hits at the essential nature of comedy. You can expect to, … Read more
People like Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and Sadhguru speak in a way that is alien to the scientific-minded person. It is almost as if there are two separate languages used for describing the world. The owner of skeptic.com, Michael Shermer, once had a debate with Deepak Chopra, where they tried to discuss the nature of … Read more
Following in the great tradition of Nietzsche and La Rochefoucauld, Nassim Taleb has written The Bed of Procrustes. For those who are interested, the name of the book comes from Greek mythology. Procrustes “the stretcher [who hammers out the metal]”), was a rogue smith and bandit who attacked people by stretching them or cutting off … Read more