Author Archives: rsree
Religious Zombies
Zombies are undead creatures, typically depicted as mindless, reanimated human corpses with a hunger for human flesh (Wikipedia) Zombies are purported to be mythical creatures – nevertheless there is abundant evidence that they exists, but then more so as religious zombies, by … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture, Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged mindlessness, religious beliefs, zombies
Comments Off on Religious Zombies
WWII – Liberation Day
Today, May 5th, is National Liberation Day in the Netherlands to commemorate the capitulation of the Nazi forces in that country exactly 70 years ago on May 5, 1945. It is a national holiday, although not a statutory day off … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged Arthur “Bomber” Harris, civilian refugees, Dresden, Liberation Day in the Netherlands, WWII, WWII Bombing of civilians
Comments Off on WWII – Liberation Day
A Depressing Part Of Being Human
I think often about the human condition – and maybe too often – and in particular about what it would take to move beyond the current state of affairs that appears to be largely defined by an insatiable desire for … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged human being, insatiable desire, personal gratification
Comments Off on A Depressing Part Of Being Human
Before The Law
Franz Kafka’s Before the Law is a deliciously ambiguous parable that is part of his 1925 novel The Trial – about a man from the country who goes to the king’s castle in order to gain entry before the Law. … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture, Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged allegory, Before the Law, Existentialism is a Humanism, fate, Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, meaning of life, parable, reason for being
Comments Off on Before The Law
Religious Terrorism
It was reported in the news today that Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts. The Saharan town’s mayor described the incident as a devastating blow to world heritage. Apparently, al-Qaida-allied … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged al-Queda, book burning, critical thinking, independent thought, Islamic Jihadist, Islamic Militants, religious terrorism, sub-Saharan history, Timbuktu
Comments Off on Religious Terrorism
The Human Body is Largely not Human
This was a headline in the Scientist of June 13, 2012. The corresponding article by Ed Young based on The Human Microbiome Project Consortium, Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome (Nature, 486: 207-214, 2012) went on as … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged evolution, microbes, symbiosis, symbiotic, The Human Microbiome Project Consortium
Comments Off on The Human Body is Largely not Human
Creatures Made Of Stardust
This realization strikes me every so often, and continues to fill me with awe: as this is what we are in the larger scale of things, in addition to being a creature made of flesh and blood here on earth! … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged cosmology, evolution, People, Politics & Culture, stardust, the human body
Comments Off on Creatures Made Of Stardust
Every Time a Child is Born
Every time a child is born the human race gets another chance to discover some aspect of existence that goes beyond the needs of basic survival and is part of the larger context of which we are an intricate part … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged future of man
Comments Off on Every Time a Child is Born
Getting Organized for the Future
You would think that – if life is inherent in matter – and evolution drives the process of reaching ever higher levels of organizational complexity within it, there would be a continuation of this process in the collective consciousness that … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged collective consciousness, evolution, the future
Comments Off on Getting Organized for the Future
Creatures of Flesh and Blood
So, yes, that is what we are, basically – but am I alone in thinking that this is little more than arrangement that happens to work for the moment, insofar this appears to be a somewhat hastily coddled together assembly … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged complexity, consciousness, evolution, human body
Comments Off on Creatures of Flesh and Blood