Equivocality

As far as I can tell, most Russian scientists do not believe in global warming. This was a shock to me. It’s one of those things that is obvious when you’re on the ground in a country, yet surprisingly little known elsewhere. I discovered this during an after-dinner discussion with my Russian host. I don’t even remember how the topic came up, except that I half-jokingly proposed a tour of all the great beaches of the world before rising sea levels swallowed them up.
I believe that humans are changing the climate, while Dmitri does not. Both of us can cite references and argue our positions fluently. How did each of us form our opinions, and which one of us is using a more reliable method to find the truth?

Enter YouTube. Enter MySpace, Facebook, and all the others. Enter blogs, cheap DV cameras, cheap professional-grade software, cheap everything. If the point of Web 2.0 is to blur the distinction between information producer and consumer, then surely that shift applies also to art. Just as the journalism establishment has been forced to rethink itself after the advent of blogs, the Art Establishment may very soon find itself forced to reconsider all aspects of not only the creation and distribution of art, but what it means to be an artist.

If not everyone has an equally sexy body, how do we deal with this fact in a fashion both healthy and realistic? This is the question I want answered.

no metaphor can say this
but I can’t stop pointing
to the beauty

The poet Jelal ad-Din Rumi does something to me, something wonderful. He makes me feel one of those feelings that I deeply cherish but can never quite describe. Certain works of art do this to me. It’s like being in love, […]

Are we all just selfish, evil creatures out for our own pleasure? Does altruism really exist, or do we always act in calculated self-interest?

“Pain is not optional,” she responded. “But suffering is.”

Here’s a little game you can play.

How do you know anything about anything beyond what you experience on a day-to-day basis? How can we ensure that our media is accurate?

I was in the Times Square Mall in Kuala Lumpur today, a huge ten-story edifice. While waiting for a companion to order their ice cream at Dairy Queen, I walked into a shop sellling Anime and picked up the case of the DVD playing in the store. It was an episode of a series called […]