Existential
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Cortisol and insult
Cortisol, the stress hormone. I’m not a doctor, and I’m not one of those nitwits that has “done my own research” on the internet. There must be a reason to believe something, some science behind it. Luckily there is a lot of good evidence that how you feel psychologically will contribute chemically to how you… Continue reading
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Humiliation
In the development of the self everything matters, in realising this we must then decide on the approach to punishment and discipline. How will it play out in time? When we choose to correct a behaviour that we see as undesirable or in error in a young person, we must choose wisely so as not… Continue reading
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Directed shame
I wanted to explore an idea, that of shame being a weaponised human emotion. This thought came to me while talking to my partner Em about a social news article we heard in the car while going somewhere. Sparked by the subject matter I asked Em what she thought, as I often do, primarily because… Continue reading
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The religion of Em
My partner Em has done much less research into religions than I have, because she doesn’t value argument the same way I do, yet she certainly is as strong an atheist as I am despite that fact, and she does make good points if pushed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that she couldn’t… Continue reading
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Roast beef and mustard memories
We visited a farm shop, the Rhug estate near Bala in Wales. We’re not really wealthy enough to shop there regularly, but we call in for coffee sometimes on the way back from the Welsh coast. Or should I call it the Welch coast, since our trips are always focussed on history and we had… Continue reading
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Rendered Useless
Some of the joy in life is provided by going forward in a meaningful way. It is a beautiful and worthwhile thing to grow as a person, to develop new skills, to have new conversations, to become a better person or operator of the tennis racket. What AI, big data, and bio-metric interventions (technologies built… Continue reading
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Watching
The panopticon was a theorised building that Jeremy Bentham came up with, its purpose was to watch without being watched. He imagined a structure designed so that any person within it could be observed at all times, that all persons would realise that this was so and therefore assume that they were always being watched,… Continue reading
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Am I mine?
It’s easy to act within accepted moral expectations when your circumstances are comfortable, but this breaks down easily when those circumstances change. Imagine a circle, where we start at any point and work our way around until we arrive back where we started. Let’s say we begin at the point where we ask “what would… Continue reading
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Inventing our own stupidity
I watch a lot of YouTube videos, not the ones with cats though, the ones where ideas are posted and discussed. I, like everyone else, form my ideas and thoughts as a mash-up of other people’s thoughts and output, that which I find compelling, not pleasing, compelling in an intellectual sense, then I perform a… Continue reading
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A distinct lack of options
We visit a lot of historical sites, it’s our thing to be curious about why things have turned out as they are, and history provides a great perspective in understanding ideology and structure. I’ve said in previous posts that I think belief underpins ideology, but what of the situations that these ideologies create that affect… Continue reading
