What does it mean that something is sacred? That it has some special importance and significance to someone, that it has a special power or meaning. It is easy to see, then, why sacredness persists as a quality even today. It may inhabit different idols, but sacredness is part of the furniture of human meaning,Continue reading “Sacredness”
Author Archives: Mr Nobody
Comfort or courage?
You don’t tell someone that “It’s normal to be afraid” in the hope that they will continue to be afraid. When we comfort a child and explain to them that what they’re going through is normal, what we mean is that being afaird is a normal part of the progression from not realizing there isContinue reading “Comfort or courage?”
Optimistic modernism
In response to the optimistic modernism of Greg Lukianov and James Lindsay I listened to a great discussion between a couple of my favorite thinkers. But I can’t help but wonder if there are some things that are being assumed or ignored. The current historical and philosophical moment is the direct child of science andContinue reading “Optimistic modernism”
Looser clothes or tighter living?
My wife pointed out that maybe she should wear less flexible and stretchy clothing so she can feel where she is going and feel those limits. Maybe stretchy clothes aren’t the solution if you don’t want to keep getting more unhealthy. Maybe she should wear more unforgiving clothes. She also speculated about how big youContinue reading “Looser clothes or tighter living?”
Political parties that can’t lose…or win
People have forgotten how to strategically lose. There is so much pressure to always succeed, especially for politicians because you need to be seen to be doing something and to be a winner. Our whole society is too afraid to fail because we think that if we do it contradicts our entire value and existence,Continue reading “Political parties that can’t lose…or win”
The danger of agreeable people
In an extreme situation, one with high and terrible stakes, it’s highly probable that the most likely people to have caused it will be quite disagreeable, and the people most likely to resist and halt that situation will also be disagreeable. The agreeable people occupy a middle space. They are less obviously dangerous, because theyContinue reading “The danger of agreeable people”
Rehabilitating racism
Anti-racism is a problem because it represents a rehabilitation of racialized thinking. Rather than seeking to reduce the degree to which we assign value and make judgments and sort people according two race, it moves those judgments to the forefront. We’ve seen from history where that goes. The most likely result of such mental sortingContinue reading “Rehabilitating racism”
How Trump helped lose the culture war
As much as I despise Trump for his selfishness and degeneracy, critical race theory, postmodernism, fourth wave feminism, and various other popular ideological movements (which have all cross pollinated into something large enough to be considered a religion) make him look like a silly little middle school bully next to the Maoist revolution. But IContinue reading “How Trump helped lose the culture war”
The beauty of rock bottom
The advantage of reaching the point of having nothing is that it really allows you to take stock of yourself and your life and see what you’re missing and what you gave up. It makes you appreciate what you lost and what it was really worth. It gives you wonderful perspective. And if you wantContinue reading “The beauty of rock bottom”
A cut tangent from the entry about Untamed
The movie musical Rent does something similar. It has a song where the male singer, Roger, is clearly in the wrong and needs to change. The music becomes discordant when he sings, the style he uses is very harsh, the framing portrays him as separated and confined and in shadow. The girl, Miami, is free,Continue reading “A cut tangent from the entry about Untamed”
Speculation about the content of Untamed
I haven’t read the book Untamed, and in order to criticize something you should definitely read it. I’m just not sure I want to spend my time on it. But a quick glance offered me enough insight that I think I could get at a lot of its major take-home points. A book like thatContinue reading “Speculation about the content of Untamed”
The shifting strategy of socialism
If nationalism has some basis in racial solidarity, in the identity of the tribe (the French, Germans, Italians, for example), might it not make sense to infer that tribalism is itself part of the reason socialism can’t seem to cohere on a broader international basis? And if that’s an obstacle to the Marxist dream, thenContinue reading “The shifting strategy of socialism”
A personal story of political intuition
Plenty of people have explored the problems with socialism far better than I could. Problems like the free rider problem. But I do want to add one example from my own past that shows that I, at least, am not a good enough person to have in a system where outcomes are not closely tiedContinue reading “A personal story of political intuition”
An addendum to “meaning in life”
Life, of course, isn’t all about survival, any more than it is all about ambition or pleasure. But all of these are components of our lives. If there’s one peoole that we can learn something about finding meaning in the midst of uncertainly of survival from, it’s the Jews. It’s amazing that they are stillContinue reading “An addendum to “meaning in life””
Meaning in life
Meaning in life isn’t a function of how big and grand and special and unique a thing you’re doing, and what that makes of you. Meaning in life is a function of taking responsibility for and investing in the life you have, and what that makes of you. We can’t all be Shakespeare or KanyeContinue reading “Meaning in life”
Why we need the noble savage
We must believe in the myth of the noble savage. It is this story, this mythology, that allows us to maintain the great fiction that guards and preserves the deep psychological needs of our hearts. There is something deep inside us that it protects, a different story, a nagging doubt, a yawning void, that itContinue reading “Why we need the noble savage”
The Good Place?
I don’t think I’ve talked much about The Good Place before. I don’t really have the energy to, but somehow I’m going to do it for way too long. It doesn’t reflect well on me to be so hard on what is really a fine show with some decent laughs, but I’m going to anyway.Continue reading “The Good Place?”
Birth of the goddess
Spicy meatball warning. Offensive, personal, not at all polite or correct. Prepare for some shocking imagery. I believe it to be necessary to really adrress this subject honestly and unblinkingly. The unvarnished reality of it. I know that in some ways I’m violating my own points I made in my entry about Cuties. There areContinue reading “Birth of the goddess”
Response to the Dark Horse podcast
Here is the relevant clip. This is actually just a transcript of a comment I posted on that video. https://youtu.be/JZ_MEX0vtRE I just read a whole book on this subject called Cheap Sex. In which it is argued by a sex researcher that the economics of sex have shifted so that the cost of it, andContinue reading “Response to the Dark Horse podcast”
Are friends family too?
There an interesting cultural narrative I’ve long noticed but never commented on. The identification of friends as family (or family substitutes). Obviously, the narrative of lonely, lost, and dislocated people finding a home has a long history. Even the ancient story of Ruth from the Bible runs along these lines, although she substitutes an actualContinue reading “Are friends family too? “
Making Nobody Happy 