Another pointed article from Nassim Nicholas Taleb. My view as follows. It is correct to say that any attempt to define religion is a problematic enterprise. For a start, Judaism strictly speaking, is not a religion in the same sense that Christianity is. Christianity historically, turns on belief as the criterion of identity, an emphasis on a theology.…
The always entertaining, provocative, scathing, analytical, cultured and funny Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the quote below worthy of John Kennedy Toole: I was flaneuring in New York, and I dropped by the office of a friend I wanted to prevent from working, that is, engage in an activity that when abused, causes the loss of mental…
Perhaps this rates (see video below) as the greatest musical performance that I’ve ever witnessed — crikey, has it really been almost 30 years? (12th Sep, 1986). That year I think I attended some 30 concerts as a promenader but still never made it into the hard core club (not even close). Read the very excellent Peter…
Discovering that there were African-Americans in the 1970s who were also offended at the outrageous notion that ‘Zionism is Racism’, and voiced their loud and eloquent opposition, I was comforted. I took great pride in knowing that Black leaders in the U.S. not only condemned that ‘Zionism is Racism’ lie, but stood boldly with their…
Rubin’s show has become one of the leading venues for discussing what he sees as the left’s betrayal of true liberalism . . . “You can’t stay you’re for gay rights but then be OK when certain people throw gays off roofs in the name of religion,” Rubin said. “All religions are a set of ideas.…
Play it again and again Sam. The first hour of this podcast focuses on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the political implications of the recent terrorist attack in Orlando. Podcast #38 — The End of Faith Sessions 2 beliefcoherence theory of truthcollective beliefconceptual analysisepistemology of religious belieffree speechilliberalismislamLiberalismneurosciencePhilosophyregressive leftReligionreligion and sciencesam harris
Roger stylishly and lucidly outlines the timelessness of The Ring’s significance — especially salient to our troubled current times. aestheticsconsciousnessDer Ring des Nibelungenfreedommusicpolitics and religionpolitics of faithpolitics of skepticismReligionRichard WagnerRoger Scruton
The great Bernard Lewis is 100! Two pieces are worth reading: his essay The New Anti-Semitism and a review of Lewis’ memoir from whence the quotes below are from. The regressive left is in denial that at most Edward Said’s Orientalism is only making a socio-psychological claim about all self-conscious cultures and not as he would have us believe that only occidental cultures…
Steven Nadler writes in Aeon that “At a time of religious zealotry, Spinoza’s fearless defence of intellectual freedom is more timely than ever.” This fundamental liberal value is of course foreign to the regressive left. In his distress over the deteriorating political situation in the Dutch Republic, and despite the personal dantheoger he faced, Spinoza…
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manwithoutqualities 