We live in a time when a lot is expected from science. It seems that because science solves technological problems and improves technological abilities of society, we expect from it to answer to some more…
Freud on the Fragility of Human Happiness
The programme of becoming happy, which the pleasure principle imposes on us, cannot be fulfilled; yet we must not — indeed, we cannot — give up our efforts to bring it nearer to fulfilment by…
The (Troublesome) Origins of Modern Newspapers
Staying away from daily newspapers is a matter of mental hygiene. One side of the problem is the news itself. Rob Wijnberg does an excellent job explaining what exactly is the problem with news in his article The…
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger on Studying Stupidity
If I could just avoid all the folly, maybe I could get an advantage without having to be really good at anything…And so this process I have gone through life identifying folly and trying to…
Leszek Kołakowski on The Source of Man’s Need for the Mythical
In his book The Presence of Myth, Leszek Kołakowski attempts to identify the source of the man’s need for myths. In enumerating the three forms in which the need for myth appears on the surface of our…
Robert M. Pirsig – The Metaphor of a Spiritual Mountain
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, a philosophical novel and a fictionalized autobiography, Robert M. Pirsig uses a journey through mountains as an elegant metaphor for one’s spiritual journey through…
Psychological Downsides of Democracy and Equality
Democracy has done a lot for humankind. It made people feel equal and equally important. It made them feel free. As I have just finished reading a great book by Alain de Botton – Status Anxiety,…
Richard Schweder’s Three Ethics That Help Understand Culture Wars
Many of the key battles in the American culture war are essentially about whether some aspect of life should be structured by the ethic of autonomy or by the ethic of divinity…
Nietzsche’s Attack on Socrates’ Daemon
One might say that Socrates was the first guy who fucked us up. Badly. And here is the reason. According to Socrates’ equation, “reason = virtue = happiness.” This is probably the single most powerful idea that even today shapes the ideals of a modern man, from our education to the rest of our lives.