Author Archives: rsree
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The Ruins of America
Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension. The state of ruin is temporary by nature, the volatile result of the end of an era and the fall of … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged cheap foreign labour, Detroit, economic decline, ruins, self-interested politicians, Wall Street bandits
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A Sad Day For Humanity
Salman Taseer – a senior member of the governing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – was assassinated by one of his bodyguards angered over the governor’s opposition to blasphemy laws. He had recently angered Islamists by appealing for a Christian woman, … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged assassination, blasphemy laws, Islamists, Pakistan, religion, Religion Kills, Salman Taseer
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