Homework

This is a part of the homework feature of my blog, which is an ongoing conversation with my mate S.F.

Hey mate. Lovely to see you again, as always.

You mentioned this paradoxical thought: “Grieving the loss of something you don’t want back.”

One thing about evil is that it only cares about itself; it doesn’t care about you.

The RAND Corporation is an American think tank and the name “RAND” is from “Research ANd Development”, I don’t believe it has anything to do with Ayn Rand. The RAND Corporation is the first entity to be called “think tank”, it defined the category.

The parody metal band I mentioned, in the spirit of Spinal Tap, is Ten Times Your Master. Check it out, it’s pretty funny. :P

ur an aligned philosopher

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? is a 2009 book by British philosopher Mark Fisher. It explores Fisher’s concept of “capitalist realism”, which he describes as “the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it.” This book is available on archive.org.

My theory about contradiction is that when someone becomes aware of a contradiction they can either:

  • Laugh
  • Cry
  • Deny

Well adjusted people laugh. Some people get sad. Others suffer cognitive dissonance and deny.

But as you say some people just “don’t get it” and never become aware of the contradiction.

My theory is that at the heart of all humour is a contradiction, and not everyone will choose to laugh when they see the contradiction, some people will get upset about it or refuse it.

I have a note here “consistency with variation”, I think we decided that was a good idea?

David Graeber wrote a book called Debt: The First 5,000 Years. He presents his ideas in this video: Debt: The First 5,000 Years | David Graeber | Talks at Google.

When we were chatting I said that the father of Subjective Idealism was Bertrand Russell but of course it was George Berkeley.

Look forward to seeing you again soon! <3

The Problems of Philosophy, further reading

At the end of The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell says:

The student who wishes to acquire an elementary knowledge of
philosophy will find it both easier and more profitable to read some
of the works of the great philosophers than to attempt to derive an
all-round view from handbooks. The following are specially
recommended: