We, humans, are remarkably flexible beings. Sometimes, we surprise even ourselves if we pay attention. For example, take Jacques Derrida's idea of deconstruction. As a way of thinking, it takes a settled meaning we accept as true and dismantles it to show how inherently arbitrary any one such interpretation is. In other words, its opposite … Continue reading Disrupting and Creating Meaning
Search for Self as Search for Home
"It might be youth. It might be the reptilian impulses of a species with migration encoded in its DNA. It might be your inferiority complex or the boredom of small-town claustrophobia or the exhibitionist streak you’ve never told anyone about. It might be the hungers of ancestors whose aspirations have sunk into your bones, pushing … Continue reading Search for Self as Search for Home
Who Am I? Poets Answer
Is there a question more perplexing than "who am I"? I am as close to myself as anyone could ever hope to get. The most intimate relationship, perfect unity and identity is "I". I am I. I = I. And yet, who is that "I" on either side of the equation? Who is behind the … Continue reading Who Am I? Poets Answer
What is More Real – Experience or Measurement?
What's the temperature outside right now? How would you check it - look out the window, perhaps open it to get a feel, or look into your prefered weather app? I'm from a generation that still remembers life without mobile phones and the internet, but that got quickly used to all the comforts these technologies … Continue reading What is More Real – Experience or Measurement?
Are Stand-Up Comedians Street Philosophers?
This question came up in one podcast where a couple of stand-up comedians join forces with a philosopher to discuss various topics. The idea was to determine whether a comic can be considered a philosopher who draws public attention to seemingly obvious everyday experiences (hence, the street epithet) and challenges our common assumptions in an easy-to-understand sort … Continue reading Are Stand-Up Comedians Street Philosophers?
Meaning of Our Life-Meaning Questions
What do we mean when we ask "what's the meaning of life" and "what's the purpose of life"? The way we pose these life-meaning questions indicates a silent assumption - that there is an inherent meaning and purpose to life as such. That these are hidden features of life itself waiting to be discovered by … Continue reading Meaning of Our Life-Meaning Questions
Experiencing The Writer’s Block
What to write when you have no ideas? Or when you have so many that none comes to a halt for long enough so you can focus? I don't know. But I have committed to developing a daily writing habit—500 (or so) words per day. So I write this today to honour my own commitment. … Continue reading Experiencing The Writer’s Block
Brief Reflections on Free Will
Free will is one of those philosophical questions that everyone feels strongly about. Before we start reflecting on it, most of us have established opinions about the existence or nonexistence and the extent of human freedom of will. It is almost intuitive. After all, if I do not have any free will, then how can … Continue reading Brief Reflections on Free Will
Quote about Time
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On This Day: June 13
Today is special for me and my family. My husband and I, along with our dog and cat, have moved to Malta. This morning we woke up for the first time at our new home on this tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. After 9 years in Munich, Germany, the time has … Continue reading On This Day: June 13
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