One of the most bizarrely naïve expressions of hope in the aftermath of the 2013 US Government Shutdown Fiasco has been a variant of ‘perhaps the Republican Party’s extremist faction will learn from this crushing public relations defeat–as evinced by opinion polls and the public statements of their fellow party members–and not engage in similar brinkmanship again.’Continue reading “Groundhog Day: The US Government Shutdown Version”
Category Archives: Philosophy
The Seductive Appeal of ‘Education’
In reviewing Jill Lepore‘s Book of Ages: The Life and Opinion’s of Jane Franklin, a ‘biography’ of Benjamin Franklin‘s considerably less distinguished sibling, Susan Dunn writes: The words “seduction” and “education” in fact share the same Latin root: ducere, to lead. Seduction leads astray (“se-”), while education leads out (“e”)—out of our unformed, primitive selves.Continue reading “The Seductive Appeal of ‘Education’”
Jesse Pinkman and Eklavya: Teacher-Student Relationships Broken Bad
The grand old Indian epic Mahabharata contains, among its thousands of stories, several which unsettle us by their moral ambiguity. One such story is that of Eklavaya. The Wikipedia entry for him notes: He is a young prince of the Nishadha, a confederation of jungle tribes in Ancient India. Eklavya aspired to study archery inContinue reading “Jesse Pinkman and Eklavya: Teacher-Student Relationships Broken Bad”
Social Networks and Loneliness
As a graduate student in the late 1980s, I discovered, in quick succession, email, computerized conferencing, and Usenet newsgroups. My usage of the last two especially–and later, the Internet Relay Chat–would often prompt me to say, facetiously, that I would have finished my graduate studies quicker had I stayed off the ‘Net more. That lameContinue reading “Social Networks and Loneliness”
American Horror Story and Torture Porn
Last night was Fright Night. I had plans to watch the opening episode of the third season of American Horror Story, a show that despite its disappointingly concluded first season and its at times too-lurid second season still manages to hold considerable promise for me. But I was going to watch Paranormal Activity first; somehowContinue reading “American Horror Story and Torture Porn”
Walter White’s Rage Against The Dying Light
Ross Douthat ponders the question of what makes Walter White the target of such sympathy–and perhaps even affection– even as it became clear that his criminality and amorality had run amuck: The allure for Team Walt is not ultimately the pull of nihilism, or the harmless thrill of rooting for a supervillain. It’s the pullContinue reading “Walter White’s Rage Against The Dying Light”
Turn Down the Comments; We’re Talking Science Here
A couple of days ago, Popular Science decided to turn off comments on news articles. In a blog post, Suzanne LaBarre explained why: Comments can be bad for science. That’s why, here at PopularScience.com, we’re shutting them off….[W]e are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of scienceContinue reading “Turn Down the Comments; We’re Talking Science Here”
Breaking Bad and the War on Drugs
A video made by the Brave New Foundation and titled ‘What Breaking Bad Reveals About the War on Drugs‘ is making the rounds these days. It is brief, well worth a watch, and made up of rapidly edited clips from the show. It features the following screen legends–designed in Breaking Bad’s trademark ‘chemical elements letters’ style–thatContinue reading “Breaking Bad and the War on Drugs”
Breaking Badder Than I Thought
Almost exactly a year ago, I speculated about how Breaking Bad would wrap up. I wondered about Walter White‘s eventual fate: [P]erhaps the writers will give Walter a glorious back-to-the-wall-defending-his-family-shootout kind of death, saving them from the depredations of a ruthless set of ganglords, thus redeeming himself in spectacular fashion even as he loses hisContinue reading “Breaking Badder Than I Thought”
CLR James on the ‘Surprisingly Moderate’ Reprisals of the Haitian Revolution
Here are two very powerful passages from CLR James‘ classic The Black Jacobins: Touissant L’Overture and the San Domingo Revolution (Vintage Books, second edition revised, New York, 1962, pp. 88-89): The slaves destroyed tirelessly. Like the peasants in the Jacquerie or the Luddite wreckers, they were seeking their salvation in the most obvious way, the destruction of what they knewContinue reading “CLR James on the ‘Surprisingly Moderate’ Reprisals of the Haitian Revolution”
Samir Chopra 