I feel a close affinity to Jack London. This biographical fiction came with perfect timing for me. I've now finally turned to Nietzsche and understandI feel a close affinity to Jack London. This biographical fiction came with perfect timing for me. I've now finally turned to Nietzsche and understand where that affinity comes from. Never too late to find where you belong. My mind isn't on writing convincing reviews but rather feeding my intellect with whatever is most needed at any given moment.
Now approaching my 52 second birthday (born July 11, 1969), I finally understand why I've been met with so much resistance most of my life: people need to reduce everything and everyone to what they can understand, and for the most part, that is very, very little of anything actually worth holding on to. I am larger than life. My life has always been surreal. Countless people want to make me out to be delusional, and the facts show this is a lie. I was dragged by force by police and ambulance to psych emergency in March, after ranting in the streets. Using our voice in Canada is seen as being dangerous.
There was a court order to keep me, and... I was released early because the fact is I'm hyper rational, I've always been on the autism spectrum and a child prodigy who was not given the proper tools to evolve early on. I'm now finding those tools and keys and allowing myself to come into my full powers. Anyone who is made uncomfortable with that only displays their own limitations. I've always been a mirror; people inevitably project their own limitations onto me. People also break their mirrors (ie artists) when they dislike what they see. So be it. I've been made that much stronger from the relentless abuse. You have created me this way. I believe in a higher power and I serve that power with my gifts, and none other. ...more
I liked the message of the story, about how everyone struggles and how difficult life is and how we each affect other peoples lives for better or worsI liked the message of the story, about how everyone struggles and how difficult life is and how we each affect other peoples lives for better or worse. Didn’t like how complicated all the pieces were and how surreal and unlikely it all was. Mostly found it annoying, quite frankly, but again, the message of hope is one we can all benefit from. ...more
“Might evil itself be sometimes prompted by genuine, real good?”
In Islam, the Devil is known as ʾIblīs (Arabic: إبليس) or Shayṭān (Arabic: شيطان)
“Might evil itself be sometimes prompted by genuine, real good?”
In Islam, the Devil is known as ʾIblīs (Arabic: إبليس) or Shayṭān (Arabic: شيطان). In the Quran, God made Iblis out of “smokeless fire or from the unadulterated fire of fire” (same as the other jinn) and made man out of mud. The essential trait of the Devil, is that he has the ability to cast insidious recommendations into the core of men, ladies, and jinn.
“Why do humans do evil? What is behind "man's inhumanity to man," the troubling fact of human actions that produce suffering and destruction? Is it ultimately a spiritual or cosmic problem? Is it a consequence of social systems or power structures? Or is it some inner deficit of human nature, lurking in the shadow world of our psychology? Why, in the end, does evil exist?”
In this engrossing lecture series about what we consider evil in Western society, Charles Mathewes, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, approaches this question from a number of discipline.
Why, indeed, does “evil” exist. Any person who has faced it knows it to be a fact of life. Whether we adhere to a religious group, are avowed atheists, or somewhere on the wide spectrum of spirituality, there is no question human beings are capable of doing great harm whether they directly intend to, and sadly (and more frequently) when they mean to do good. We aren’t mentally equipped to recognise, much less understand, evil, nor why individual, groups & sometimes entire nations are capable of causing irreparable damage to other life forms. Reason enough to pretend “evil” doesn’t exist; unanswerable questions are simply too uncomfortable to live with, therefore: deny. Whether we believe there is a literal devil or we understand humans are animals who can commit depraved acts which are beyond tolerable bounds, we know this is a negative force that exists.
I was brought to see countless original artifacts as a girl, saw with my young eyes irrefutable evidence: meticulous files kept by the Nazis, moving images, log books, products made from human remains, proudly kept by the original fascists to record their proceedings with the precision they are know for. Proud of ridding the earth of a large number of people they somehow decided were “impure” & inherently “evil” & "rat-like" by nature. The same antisemitic tropes about Jews being responsible for the degradation of social mores, still prevalent and made new again today by hateful people.
Students of history will readily tell you it was always about money and possessions. In short: greed dressed up in sharp uniforms. Art. Gold bullion. Banks. Elegant homes & cars. Large war debts. Conveniently made to transfer ownership by complicated means and a whole lot of propaganda. All genocides of all peoples throughout human history have been framed as necessary measures to remove unwanted bodies. Perpetrators of acts of violence must paint their targets as deserving of punishment; inhuman in essential ways. Trying to understand the mechanisms which lead us, inhabitants of this tiny fragile planet, to tolerate the kind of biases that lead to such needless brutality, has been a lifelong interest of mine. I take interest in this issue of "evil" at this time especially, with a prevalent "cultural moment" of gaslighting and abuse which many are vaguely aware of, but either choose to ignore, or feel justified in promoting to remain "relevant". Many of us, sadly better informed from personal experience, recognize these as DARVO tactics [1] enabled by the barons of social media. Those very same ones who enable us to stay in touch in times when human contact is more precious than ever, profit from antagonism & sensationalism, and truth be damned. Material truth is, apparently, boring.
I have been in close contact with people who devote their lives to "good works" & helping "the most oppressed & needy" (third world illegal immigrants come to mind, as do political prisoners). These same well-meaning people can do irreparable harm in the name of "good intentions", visions of utopia & various ideologies. Some are simply heedless. While others know how to manipulate their image and show themselves in the best possible light. I take an interest in studying why sociopaths are the way they are; why we, as a social animals, allow these people to rule our politics, our largest institutions and companies, let these people guide our culture towards ever more ways to make us buy things we don't need. Let these people decide what we are allowed to believe in, or not. Let them decide on matters which impact our daily lives.
In this 36 half-hour lecture series, Mathewes explores different aspects of the question of evil. Early scriptures and tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam are explored for their different interpretations of the nature of evil. Lecture 11 on Islam was of particular interest to me. Mathewes points out how Islamic early scholars ensured a continuity between the vast sum of Roman civilization & philosophy and Western thinking. A fact known to students of history, but generally unknown to the masses, who view Islam with suspicion as a great menace. I found the Islamic origin story of the Devil particularly revealing. Their take on Satan is that he was originally a djinn (or angel) called Iblis Shaytan, who refused to bow down to his Lord's creation, Adam. It reveals a subtle understanding about the complexity of our motivations for doing malice.
"In Islam, the Devil is known as ʾIblīs (Arabic: إبليس) or Shayṭān (Arabic: شيطان). In the Quran, God made Iblis out of “smokeless fire or from the unadulterated fire of fire” (same as the other jinn) and made man out of mud. The essential trait of the Devil, is that he has the ability to cast insidious recommendations into the core of men, ladies, and jinn."
"(Allah) stated: “0 Iblis! What keeps you from prostrating yourself to one whom I have made with Both My Hands. Are you excessively glad (to fall prostrate to Adam) or are you one of the high commended?” (Iblis) said “I am superior to he, You made me from fire, and You made him from dirt.”[3]
The more commonly & simplistic, and I would say, patriarchal belief about Iblis / Satan is that his refusal to obey his master points to a depraved nature. He is portrayed as one who was led by vanity and pride, when humility & acquiescence were called for. It isn't very difficult to extrapolate why women are so reviled in some Islamic nations where the more humane aspects of Islam aren't much prized.
Notes https://www.thegreatcourses.com/cours... 1. DARVO: acronym used to describe a common strategy of abusers. Deny the abuse ever took place; Attack the victim for holding the abuser accountable; lie and claim that they, the abuser, are the real victim in the situation, thus Reversing the Victim and Offender. Victim blaming is a form of DARVO. Also a common form of gaslighting. [2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARVO 2. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or group covertly sows seeds of doubt in their targets, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes, including low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim's beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to belittling the victim's emotions and feelings, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. The term originated from the British play Gas Light (1938), performed as Angel Street in the United States, and its 1940 and 1944 film adaptations (both titled Gaslight). The term has now been used in clinical psychological literature, as well as in political commentary and philosophy. 3. http://www.quranreading.com/blog/shor......more
This was an interesting journey. A man goes visiting a foreign country with his wife and young son, somehow gets separated from them and can’t find thThis was an interesting journey. A man goes visiting a foreign country with his wife and young son, somehow gets separated from them and can’t find them again despite repeated searches by officials. We journey into human anatomical studies and the science behind the preservation of living tissues after death. A narrator who lives a peripatetic existence between airports describes some of her experiences, including lectures she attends on “travel psychology” (or it it the psychology of travel?) given in those small international islands connecting all the world. We attend the funeral of Chopin and learn about what happened to his remains after the fact.
Very much a thought experiment for readers who enjoy discovery for its own sake and peregrinations of the mind, the comparison to W.G. Sebald is perfectly apt. I’ll be looking for more books by Olga Tokarczuk. ...more
Recommended to follow up with Book 3: Brian's Winter, then Book 2: The River.Recommended to follow up with Book 3: Brian's Winter, then Book 2: The River....more
Excellent reading. Everyone will have their opinion. I enjoyed it a lot. That's about as intelligent as I can be on the topic of this book on day-I'veExcellent reading. Everyone will have their opinion. I enjoyed it a lot. That's about as intelligent as I can be on the topic of this book on day-I've-lost-count of a migraine which is stripping me of the will to live. Great literature and stories you can't stop reading is one reason to keep going in a world gone mad, with debilitating pain as the cherry on top. The audiobook was very good too....more
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