The Bad Ending of a Good Idea

Posted on July 16, 2020 by jimmie

image for neoliberalismSometimes ideas born out of an apparently sensible necessity evolve into something diabolically inevitable. On the other hand, the history of the formation of ideas is, or could be, what frees the mind from a blind search for explanations. For the alternative is to (dis)-content ourselves with effects without knowing their causes, other than attributing the faults of the system, for example, to the greed and covetousness of man. Which is as much as saying that a great cause of the night is lack of the sun (1) – or the equivalent of when medicine, unable to explain an illness or disease, says it is ‘genetic.’ Continue reading →

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Race, Economy and Viruses

Posted on July 5, 2020 by jimmie

Whatever busies the mind without corrupting it has at least this use, that it rescues the day from idleness, and he that is never idle will not often be vicious.

The previous unnecessary remark is intended as a pre-emptive application for absolution from the reader whose views expressed hereafter may not mirror his. We live in explosive times and some believe that diseases desperate grown should by desperate measures be relieved or not at all (1). Furthermore, historically, some of the deadliest conflicts centered on metaphysical disputes. And some of the current arguments may border, if not with metaphysics, at least with what is invisible to most of us. Continue reading →

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The World Upside Down

Posted on June 8, 2020 by jimmie

Image of a medieval grotesque figure as metaphor of a world upside downThe Coronavirus phenomenon has left so many attired in wonder that they know not what to say (1) – including the undersigned who runs the positive risk of losing some or all of his 25 readers.

Writing objectively about the reported death of thousands and the predicted demise of millions is impossible. For the very questioning of the figures triggers a perception of callousness, cynicism or indifference, however alien these sentiments may be in the mind and soul of the questioner. Continue reading →

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Anatomy of Absurdity

Posted on May 8, 2020 by jimmie

The life of peoples are a vague and inexhaustible subject, and I should tell the reader that I am not presenting here yet another opinion on the Coronavirus phenomenon and its broadened effects on society. For, when examining current affairs, I am eroded by subtle remorse, weakened by rationalizations, laden by perplexities and constitutionally prone to be a martyr of doubt. Continue reading →

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The Coronavirus and Galileo

Posted on April 11, 2020 by jimmie

Images of Galileo & a CoronavirusAs the following content may be controversial, I do not pretend to truth, even to the truth of him whose thought and findings I report. My basic knowledge rests on the understanding that the property of rain is to wet and of fire to burn, and that a great cause of the night is lack of the sun.(1)

Furthermore, given the current rapidity of the information flow, it is possible that what I relate here, by the time it is published, may have become the majority’s opinion. Though probably not, for we should keep in mind that, historically, the fabric of superstition (religious or even scientific) has often defied the feeble efforts of reason. Continue reading →

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Science and Fiction

Posted on April 1, 2020 by jimmie

In all mass phenomena it is uncertain whether to believe the scientists as the infallible voices of truth, or if, in their explanation of some events, we see but the dimming of the light of reason. For in the current currents of the world, science is often an improper verbal expression, used by sundry technocratic dictatorships to suggest unquestionable infallibility, leading to the imposition of very questionable restrictive measures Continue reading →

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The Vatican Gorbachev

Posted on March 6, 2020 by jimmie

Picture of St. Peter's Square in RomeMen judge by the complexion of the sky, the state and inclination of the day (1). Yet, to the perplexed observer it was difficult, in 2013, to guess what Pope Bergoglio was up to. For one, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was puzzling. After all, the last Pope to resign, 719 years earlier, was Celestine V, five months after his election, in 1294 AD Continue reading →

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The Power of Myth

Posted on February 5, 2020 by jimmie

Image of Plato, the author or chronicler of the allegoty of the caveIt is sometimes easier to ascertain the ambiguities, disentangle the intricacies, and recover the meaning of events long past, than it is to recover the logic of events now current.

For one, the information industry can easily muddy the waters of the understanding, thanks to their arsenal of weapons of mass confusion.

But there is another subtle cause at play. The human mind does not mirror a computer, nor it functions according to the Boolean logic, whose operators are ‘and’, ‘not’, ‘or’. It has others, such as ‘almost’, ‘maybe’, ‘some’, ‘as if’, ‘in part’, quite, not quite, etc. Which demonstrates a certain mind’s penchant for randomness. A randomness that is transposed into the natural languages, and is conveyed by the lexical operators of ambiguity.

Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations | 1 Comment

Quantitative Easing

Posted on December 29, 2019 by jimmie

cartoon of quantitative easingThe godfathers of modern banking have a lively lexical imagination. They invented a brave new vocabulary that simultaneously informs and misinforms, leads and misleads, darkens and enlightens, depresses and amuses – while inevitably taxing and confusing the understanding of the uninitiated.

Take ‘quantitative easing,’ for example. Scrambling for a meaning, the average mortal could possibly think of it as a sudden, massive, impetuous and welcome relief from lingering and oppressive constipation. Continue reading →

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Questionable Anniversaries – The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Posted on November 18, 2019 by jimmie

Distance of time or place can reconcile complacent minds to wonderful narratives. Besides, the greatest part of mankind has no other reason for their opinion than they are in fashion.

The man involved in life is sometimes forced to believe without verification, and obliged to choose before he can examine. He is surprised by sudden alterations of the state of things, and changes his mind according to superficial appearances. He is led by others, either because he is indolent, or because he is timid; sometimes he is afraid to know what is right, and sometimes he finds friends or enemies deft and diligent in deceiving him. Continue reading →

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