Our primate relations on the tree of life go on raiding parties. (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/21/chimpanzees-territory-killing-neighbours) They have a deep instinct to conquer and dominate, establishing rule over territory. So it is with us. None of the empires in human history (Roman, Chinese, Persian, Mongol, British) got established without violence, massacre and repression. And if one had to […]
American novelist Christpher Bollen (http://www.christopherbollen.com/) writes psychologically probing fiction in the style of John Updike and Jeffrey Eugenides. His third novel is a swift moving thriller. The summary is as follows. Arriving on the Greek island of Patmos broke and humiliated, Ian Bledsoe is fleeing the emotional and financial fallout from his father’s death.
Modern science proceeds on the basis that we live in a material world, and its methods of investigation have been spectacularly successful on this basis. It’s somewhat embarrassing, then, that the interior world of consciousness has so far eluded the categories of natural science. This is the so-called ‘hard problem of consciousness, summarised here https://www.iep.utm.edu/hard-con/.
The Really Hard Problem by Owen Flanagan Read More »
The whereabouts of snails under knee deep snow in Clydesdale in March 2018 is not known to me. One assumes there must be some survival strategy. Perhaps the little critters dream of a sun dappled terrace in Las Palmas Gran Canaria, having retreated within their shells and battened down the hatch for the winter. Confined
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Tova Bailey Read More »
The similarities between between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace are not hard to point out. Both men had been ardent beetle-hunters in their youth; both subsequently had become travellers, collectors, and observers in some of the most remote parts of the world; both were drawn to asking the big questions (such as why there
In Darwin’s Shadow by Michael Shermer Read More »
Dinosaurs have held a vivid presence in popular culture since the first remains were displayed in The Natural History Museum. The subject of countless primary school projects, fridge magnets, children’s books and, recently, computer animated films – everyone knows their diplodocus from their tyrannosaurus rex. Or, do they? This book could claim to be
The Complete Dinosaur Read More »
The human capacity for art, religion and science didn’t come from nowhere. Nor did it drop from a cloud one day a few thousand years ago. It has been millions of years in the making. Steven Mithen (https://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/s-j-mithen.aspx) offers an account of how we got our creative imagination, our passion for metaphor, and how we
The Prehistory of the Mind Read More »
The reality of Winter in Scotland has been brought home in these early days of March 2018. Perhaps at home with a few hours to kill between blizzards, you could enjoy an appropriate piece of fiction by Bernard MacLaverty. This is Midwinter Break, and the summary is as follows. A retired couple, Gerry and
Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh argue that ancient Chinese wisdom has relevance for us today. They give us three chapters of Confucian thinkers and three chapters on the Taoist tradition. In each case, the authors explain how these ideas challenge our modern Western assumptions in ways that could have an impact on our everyday decisions.
The Path by Michael Puett Read More »
