IN A LITERARY TEXT THERE IS NO BEGINNING, NO END
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LITERARY ORIGINALITY JUST A SWARMING
POLYSEMIC PLURALITY
ALL LITERARY TEXTS ARE WOVEN OUT OF OTHER LITERARY TEXTS
ALL LITERARY TEXTS ARE WOVEN OUT OF OTHER LITERARY TEXTS
`THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LITERARY ORIGINALITY
FOR IT. THE WRITTEN WORK RESIDES IN ITS POLYSEMIC PLULARITY AND DESPITE AUTHORIAL
CLAIMS CANNOT BE RENDERED DETERNMINATE - ALL LITERARY TEXTS
ARE INTER-TEXTUAL- THE CRITIC IS JUST ANOTHER COUP DE GRACE TYPE TEXT LADLING ON
THE STRUCTURAL CEMENT OF MEANING , WHICH SOME, BARTHES, DEEM TO BE INHERENTLY TERRORISTIC, THE TEXT IS THE LAST ENCKAVE IN WHICH
THE SOI DISANT (so called\) intelletctual critic can voice their insights in their
blind narcissism
dismantling the power structures of Religious ideology as it no longer provides the social cement
Deconstuction is ultimately a political practise which endeavours to dismantle and bind the particular system of thought that maintains its power.
As RELIGION this extremely effective enormously powerful
ideological form was evaporating in the late
19th century, under the twin impacts of scientific
discovery and social change, such events were extremely effective in Religious ideology
which is an extremely effective form of ideological
control
r
Illusion of Probability from Post-Measurement Uncertainty
Illusion of Probability from Post-Measurement Uncertainty
Many important debates in contemporary ethics centre on idealized thought experiments in which agents are assumed to have perfect information about the effects of their actions and other morally relevant features of the choices they face.
If A takes a certain action one person will certainly be killed; if he does not, five people will certainly be killed (Foot 1967); how the one and the five got into that situation, whether blamelessly or recklessly (Thomson 1976: 210–11), is also a matter of certainty. If Betty conceives a child now, it will certainly have a life that is hard but worth living, while if she waits, her child’s life will certainly be better—and the two choices will certainly result in different children being born (Parfit 1984: 358)
Who am I ? Whether identity is fixed or wavering is a live philosophical, psychological question
Does one's personal identity waver or is it fixed?Short answer: it depends on what you mean by “personal identity.” Some senses of identity are relatively stable; others are fluid. Whether identity is fixed or wavering is a live philosophical, psychological and empirical question — and different frameworks give different answers.
Key distinctions- Numerical (strict) identity: the metaphysical claim that you are the very same entity across time. Philosophers debate criteria (body, brain, soul, or psychological continuity).
- Qualitative identity/self-concept: the set of traits, memories, values, roles and stories you take to be “who I am.” This is clearly changeable to varying degrees.
- Numerical (strict) identity: the metaphysical claim that you are the very same entity across time. Philosophers debate criteria (body, brain, soul, or psychological continuity).
- Qualitative identity/self-concept: the set of traits, memories, values, roles and stories you take to be “who I am.” This is clearly changeable to varying degrees.
Philosophical perspectives- Locke: personal identity = continuity of memory/psychological continuity. If you remember past experiences, you’re the same person in the relevant sense.
- Animalism: you are the same biological organism through time (the living human animal).
- Reductionism (Derek Parfit): there’s no simple “deep” self; what matters are psychological connectedness and continuity, not an indivisible soul. Identity can be a matter of degree.
- Bundle theory (Hume): the self is just a bundle of perceptions—no underlying fixed substance.
- Narrative identity: identity is the life-story you construct; it can be revised as you reinterpret events.
- Eastern (Buddhist) view: anatta (no-self) — the idea of a permanent, unchanging self is an illusion.
Psychology and neuroscience- Personality traits show substantial stability, especially after early adulthood, but change gradually across the lifespan and can change more abruptly after major life events.
- Memory and brain changes (development, injury, dementia) can substantially alter who a person seems to be.
- Brain evidence suggests continuity depends on ongoing physical and functional continuity of the brain, but the brain is plastic, so psychological identity is malleable.
When identity seems to “waver”- Adolescence and early adulthood (identity formation).
- Major life transitions (migration, career change, trauma, illness).
- Mental illness, addiction, or neurodegenerative disease.
- Moral or spiritual conversion: people can adopt radically different values and life narratives.
Practical takeaway- Some core continuity usually exists (biological and psychological), but personal identity is partly constructed and revisable. Think of identity as having both stable and fluid elements: enough continuity to hold a life together, and enough plasticity to allow growth or change.
- If stability is desired, practices that support continuity (narrative reflection, stable relationships, consistent values) help. If change is desired, therapy, new experiences, and deliberate reframing can facilitate it.
Needles-in-a-haystack examples and thought experiments- Ship of Theseus and Parfit’s fission cases probe strict identity.
- Real-world: severe amnesia can make someone seem like a different person; gradual personality shifts (e.g., after a stroke) illustrate partial change.
oppositions are necessary for meaning
v
Further, Derrida contends that "in a classical philosophical opposition we are not dealing with the peaceful coexistence of a vis-a-vis, but rather with a violent hierarchy. One of the two terms governs the other (axiologically, logically, etc.), or has the upper hand": signified over signifier; intelligible over sensible; speech over writing; activity over passivity, etc.[further explanation needed] The first task of deconstruction is, according to Derrida, to find and overturn these oppositions inside a text or texts; but the final objective of deconstruction is not to surpass all oppositions, because it is assumed they are structurally necessary to produce sense: the oppositions simply cannot be suspended once and for all, as the hierarchy of dual Further, Derrida contends that "in a classical philosophical opposition we are not dealing with the peaceful coexistence of a vis-a-vis, but rather with a violent hierarchy. One of the two terms governs the other (axiologically, logically, etc.), or has the upper hand": signified over signifier; intelligible over sensible; speech over writing; activity over passivity, etc.[further explanation needed] The first task of deconstruction is, according to Derrida, to find and overturn these oppositions inside a text or texts; but the final objective of deconstruction is not to surpass all oppositions, because it is assumed they are structurally necessary to produce sense: the oppositions simply cannot be suspended once and for all, as the hierarchy of dual oppositions always reestablishes itself (because it is necessary for meaning)
Alcoholics ANONYMOUS works through Group Therapy not though spiritual miracles
Alcoholics ANONYMOUS works through Group Therapy not though spiritual miracles
You're touching on an important and sometimes controversial topic in addiction recovery.
You're right that group therapy—including peer support, shared experiences, and accountability—is a core element of what helps many alcoholics recover. This is especially evident in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), therapeutic communities, and other group-based treatment models.
However, it's worth noting a few perspectives:
1. Group Therapy & Peer Support Are Evidence-Based
-
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Group Therapy are backed by clinical evidence as effective treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD).
-
Support groups help reduce isolation, increase motivation, and provide role models for recovery.
2. Spirituality Is Central to Some Recovery Models (Like AA)
-
AA incorporates spiritual elements, such as surrendering to a "higher power."
,are we really ready for a one of our character flaws to be described as a ‘wiring problem are we really ready for a one of our character flaws to be described as a ‘wiring problem
,,,are we really ready for a one of our character flaws to be described as a ‘wiring problem’. And if you are feeling happy would it make you irritated if someone described your state of happiness as ‘a cascade of reward neurotransmitters’.
Or, your state of depression described as a ‘chemical imbalance’, or of some heroic act you did that imperilled your own safety as, was no more than your ‘special altruism-boosting, mirror neurons,’ impelling you to act.
Or the moral hazards of the criminal pleading innocent on the basis that his brain made him do it, ‘look at my brain scan’. For many this might conjure up Orwellian “thought crime.” a Frankenstein science, leading to a post-human future and are we really ready for a one of our character flaws to be described as a ‘wiring problem’. And if you are feeling happy would it make you irritated if someone described your state of happiness as ‘a cascade of reward neurotransmitters’. Or, your state of depression described as a ‘chemical imbalance’, or of some heroic act you did that imperilled your own safety as, was no more than your ‘special altruism-boosting, mirror neurons,’ impelling you to act. Or the moral hazards of the criminal pleading innocent on the basis that his brain made him do it, ‘look at my brain scan’. For many this might conjure up Orwellian “thought crime.” a Frankenstein science, leading to a post-human futurevvv
How can anything be original?
a deep question! It ties into ideas about creativity, influence, and even what we mean by "originality." Some people think that nothing can truly be original because everything is built on previous ideas, experiences, or knowledge. In a way, originality is just a new combination of old things. It’s like how every song, painting, or movie feels “new,” but it’s often drawing on influences that came before.
IS TIME MAN MADE?
Scientific Perspective
Time itself is not man-made.
Time, as a dimension, exists naturally in the universe. It’s a fundamental part of how the universe operates — things change, decay, move, and evolve. In physics:
-
Einstein’s theory of relativity shows that time is relative (it can move slower or faster depending on speed and gravity).
-
Time is interwoven with space as spacetime.
So, from nature’s point of view, time is real, not invented by humans
When two dogs fight for a bone
When two dogs fight for a bone beware of the outcome, one of the dogs is full of the
venom of wickedness - guess its nationality?
Our minds can be overwhelmed by conflicts that cannot be resolved
Our minds can be overwhelmed by conflicts that cannot be resolved
like being torn between love and despair in a relationship
DANCING ONE OF THE HEALTHIEST PURSUITS
OR AS SHAKESPEARE WOULD HAVE IT:
'....the dance that timeless symbol of communal harmony'
Scans for your anger and fear, but not for love
Scans for your anger and fear, but not for love
There is something about
the idea of a dedicated love circuitry in the brain that rubs certain people
the wrong way. We accept readily enough the idea that our fear response should
have its own chemical and neuronal architecture, but somehow it seems demeaning
to suggest that a comparable physiological substrate exists for feelings as
rich as love.
Yes, Ok then for lying,
anger, fear, these new fangled science but not love, not the spiritual, no, not
that, for that is sacrosanct. For many the human emotion of love has a
justifiable cordon sanitaire around
it. Yet, are we not being Luddite here?
Neuroscience is not murdering love as it scans for brain patterns. For
instance, we accept our fingerprints are open to scientific testing yet we also
know they are unique; the same may apply to love. Love as a universal but
arranged in novel ways for each individual.
Readiness potential when you pick up a pencil
You pick up a
pencil to doodle as you answer but you don’t think that when we pick up a
pencil we have no experience of the fine control of individual muscles yet
large areas of the brain (cortex and cerebellum) implement this. There are many
other examples which indicate that our brains are constantly performing
functions that are not part of our conscious experience.
Research done through EEG’s (Electroencephalography) from subjects who were about to move a finger and discovered that there
is an increase in scalp potential before the movement takes place. The increase
in potential can start as long as 2 seconds or so before the movement and is
known as the "readiness potential" (Bereitschaftspotential).
Your Brain and its attentional blink
Now you are asked for your opinion/decision on some
important matter by the boss. You used to think that your reply was fairly
instantaneous, but now you are aware that there is an ‘Attentional Blink’; an 0.5 second delay required for the cortex to
model an event. Clearly this has implications for the role of conscious
experience in the control of our lives. If experience is always 0.5 seconds
behind the true present instant then how can we be said to control anything?
The brain must be acting automatically whilst performing most tasks.
And this 0.5 second delay also seems to contradict our everyday
experience, for we certainly feel like we are aware of things in less than 0.5
seconds. And what is the brain (cortex) doing in the 0.5 seconds between the
start of stimulation and the report of awareness of the stimulation? It is
probably synchronising its various processors and creating a waking dream, a
structured set of events that accounts for the activity.
How can a cat be alive and dead at the same time?
Schrödinger's Cat: The Idea
Physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed the thought experiment in 1935 to illustrate the weirdness of quantum mechanics:
A cat is placed in a sealed box with:
A radioactive atom (which may or may not decay),
A Geiger counter to detect the decay,
A vial of poison that breaks if decay is detected.
If the atom decays → poison is released → cat dies.
If the atom doesn’t decay → poison is not released → cat lives.
Quantum mechanics says that until we observe the atom, it exists in a superposition — both decayed and not decayed.
Therefore, before the box is opened, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time — in a quantum superposition.
the trick of fame - a fantasy that many have been drawn into.
the trick of fame - a fantasy that many have been drawn into....
Putin, anger is the mother of injustice
Putin, there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your
pathological murderous philosophy it would do well to
remember anger is the mother of injustice,
we must all learn to reconcile competing claims
Shakespeares' Hamlet
Is a play poised between a Religious past and a Secular future. In Hamlet Shakespeare found a
compelling way to internalise contrasting forces
YOU AND YOUR BRAIN
For most of history, the
software of the mind, the brain, has been a deep mystery. True, people have for
long suspected that the brain, that three pounds of tissue behind their eyes,
was somehow responsible for the decisions they made and the emotions they felt.
But as to its workings, that was best left to those ‘white coats’ in the
laboratory.
And the ‘white coats’/scientists,
have been busy, so much so, that what was formerly shrouded in mystery, the
brain’s workings, are gradually being unveiled.
And this transition is being brought about, in major part, by
Neuroscience and its associated advances in MRI (Multi Resonance Imaging) brain
scanning techniques.
communication media has transformed the spatial and temporal constitution of social life,
What role have communication media played in the formation of modern societies? How should we understand the social impact of new forms of communication and information diffusion, from the advent of printing in fifteenth-century Europe to the expansion of global communication networks today?
the development of communication media has transformed the spatial and temporal constitution of social life, creating new forms of action and interaction which are no longer linked to the sharing of a common locale. The consequences of this transformation are far-reaching and impinge on many aspects of our lives, from the most intimate aspects of personal experience and self-formation to the changing nature of power and visibility in the public domain.
SHAKESPEARE A MAN WHO MINGLED COMFORTABLY WITH PAUPERS AND PRINCES BUT DEEP DOWN
WAS DEEPLY PRIVATE AND INSCRUTABLE (IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND)
THAT MAN WAS SHAKESPEARE
Your best protective Armour is SILENCE
IN SHAKESPEARE'S DAY CIRCA 1599 WHEN THE NOBLES WERE SETTING OFF
TO WAR, THEY WERE ADVISED BECAUSE of ALL THE PLOTS AND INTRIGUES
THEY WERE ADVISED THAT THEIR BEST ARMOUR WOULD BE SILENCE
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