What percent of current political conditions results from the scaled up and transposed familiar instincts in men and women? Those instincts, at the most basic level of society, are fundamental. They’re hard coded into humanity. All subsequent levels of complexity build upon them and extrapolate them. And traditionally society was built from the bottom up,Continue reading “Modern expressions of innate sexual instincts”
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The goal of politics
The goal of proper political discourse shouldn’t be victory, but equilibrium.
The seperation of reproduction and pleasure
Do we need to ask, what are the possible long term psychological and sociological consequences of separating the pleasurable experiential functions of sex from its biological reproductive functions? Having cut the cord that united the two and divided them into separate categories by means of technology and cultural acclimation, what are the likely results toContinue reading “The seperation of reproduction and pleasure “
The value of symbols
An example of an essay in utero, not yet developed. Just a sketch of ideas and a framework of threads to follow. The gods and their symbolic value Pagans, not as dumb or as different as you think The appropriate level for understanding and addressing reality Where humans live Culture heroes as a touch pointContinue reading “The value of symbols”
The value of parents, and the failure of their substitutes
The great contribution of parenthood is the ability to convey the greatest depth of love in complement with the greatest of expectations. Nothing less is sufficient to raise human beings to their fullest potential. And neither separately is a stable strategy. It is only by advancing them together, in balance, that the greatest levels ofContinue reading “The value of parents, and the failure of their substitutes”
Art is not necessary
Art seems to stand as a peculiar and bizzare feature of humanity, because it is not necessary. It did not have to be. It is an act of creation, of interference in and addition to nature. When you attempt to reduce human behavior to simple, biologically deterministic routines scaled up from basic animal routines, thereContinue reading “Art is not necessary”
Aladdin and modern Disney anthems
I’ve been trying to untangle what bothers me about the “I won’t be silent” song from Aladdin. I suppose a lot of it is context. The movie is a pale imitation of its predecessor, it adds almost nothing to the story and subtracts much. The title character is clearly the weakest in the whole movie.Continue reading “Aladdin and modern Disney anthems “
What does saying something evolved accomplish?
I am trying to understand a linguistic and logical problem with the way we talk about certain positive traits we describe as evolutionary products. The problem is, that is some sense we seem to be saying that the cause of the causes are their effects. That in some sense the trajectory of time was inevitablyContinue reading “What does saying something evolved accomplish? “
Why is dissatisfaction so easy?
It is a strange and disturbing observance that, despite the ease and comfort of my own state of life, it is so profoundly easy to hate everyone and everything, including myself, with my buzzing thoughts and fragile, needy body. And that pleasures enjoyed seem to serve only to delay or extend that state than toContinue reading “Why is dissatisfaction so easy? “
The difference between making excuses and understanding
Why this distinction can be complicated when it comes to understanding the past. The following response was provoked when, on remarking that certain practices of the past were not the result of special malignancy, but rather the result of unexamined habit, someone else responded to me that it wasn’t necessary to make excuses; the practiceContinue reading “The difference between making excuses and understanding”
The limits of political power for securing happiness
Political power as a strategy is far less useful for producing personal well-being and success then it is for protecting personal well-being and success. This is partly a structural feature, simply because actual human production of capital, human capital or otherwise, takes place at the individual and not the collective level. It may be aggregatedContinue reading “The limits of political power for securing happiness”
On acts of courage and defiance and stubborn people
I walked away from my masters degree the week of graduation because I wouldn’t agree to the demands of my thesis committee, since I saw them as fundamentally compromising my beliefs. Now, maybe that’s because I was an idiot and a jerk and a coward. And I always want to keep that as my primaryContinue reading “On acts of courage and defiance and stubborn people “
Marriage as a test for parenthood
Is it possible that being married is, in some ways, the best test of and training ground for whether you’re capable of being a good parent? Especially for men, but likely for everyone? Children demand so much and offer so little back. If you can’t accept a different person’s interests as your own and fleshContinue reading “Marriage as a test for parenthood “
The relative value of violence
Is it possible that violence is the cheapest price it’s possible to pay for personal freedom? That seems counter intuitive. It depends what you mean by costly, and for whom. A society that allows the greatest extremes of personal freedom would mean a society that involves itself the least amount possible in other types ofContinue reading “The relative value of violence”
Why is instability comforting?
Why do I find Coronavirus comforting? Because it resets expectations and excuses any personal failure to produce the stability and consistency everyone else seems able to produce. I can fail, or not t be doing as well as everyone else, and feel fine about it. Is there, then, an instinct to welcome disaster in theContinue reading “Why is instability comforting?”
Violence as a creative force
Does war and competition generate as well as reflect belief in a society? Is it the mechanism by which periods of stability are generated, by forcing us to test our capabilities and develop means for survival? Is peace ultimately conducive to stability, or does it inevitably produce long term instability? Does long peace actually driveContinue reading “Violence as a creative force”
Dawkins and atheistic optimism
The problem with Richard Dawkins’ speculation that “Perhaps I am a Pollyanna to believe that people would remain good when unobserved and unpoliced by God” is that, if his own theory is correct, people actually are unobserved and unpoliced by God, but nevertheless have achieved the sum total of human suffering and evil across theContinue reading “Dawkins and atheistic optimism”
The fear of God and wisdom
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom means that being wise is about being afraid of the right things. This is a fact of such broad applicability that it’s impossible to know what else to say about it. It applies in every possible area of life. There are always things to be afraidContinue reading “The fear of God and wisdom”
Justice (part 2)
What is it about this incorrect idea of justice that is correct? Because Marx wasn’t on to nothing. There is a sense of injustice that he and others like him were attempting to correct. We’ve just shown, and history has also shown, that despite its best intentions, when used as a guiding, defining moral calculus,Continue reading “Justice (part 2)”
What kind of justice should we seek?
There is a problem with justice, in that because the world is what it is and because people are what they are, you can’t get both kinds of justice that people seem to want. People think everyone should have a fair, as in equally advantageous, shot at success. Each person should have as much ofContinue reading “What kind of justice should we seek?”
Making Nobody Happy 