This is something which I was reading in parallel to other books during commuting.
It is marked as a classic or the firs one in drug addiction writing but this doesn't go very far beyond the clouds, memory of some moments, general apathy, and all the senseless ideas which keep people hooked to an addictive substance.
This is more like a self-aggrandizement statement rather than a record of experiences.
Not worth a read even if it so small.
Peace
Does gender defines the way a person behaves? What is the difference between gender and sex? Do people born with gender irrespective of sex?
Chimps and bonobos are human's closest relatives in the evolution cycle. Primatology is an observational field which records the interaction of any species to understand its behaviour. Chimps and gorillas have very clear physical distinctions between male and female, and they are known for the male aggression. But if we set aside the alpha male theory, there is a lot in their behaviour that trumps the whole idea of male domination. The male is more territorial and hungry for leadership (which leads to more mating opportunities) while female are seen as the pilar of social cohesion, and in this role they do perform a lot of negotiations/power balances that the idea of alpha male sounds ridiculous.
Additionally, if we turn our attention to bonobos, the whole idea of any domination, authority, sexual definition/preferences etc just goes for a toss. Bonobos are rarely in conflict for power irrespective of gender. But this is something which doesn't sell, and to add injury to insult - their hypersexuality is something which is always whitewashed in any documentary about them.
Ultimate question - does the behaviour of closest primates tell how humans inherit their gender? Maybe or maybe not, depending on whom you're asking. But an observational primatologist can tell you that we've more in common with chimps and bonobos than we can accept.
This might not be the best argument defining gender dynamics but something worth a thought.
Love
The devil's element is Phosphorous and it is called so because it glows in dark, and can catch fire on in air with moderate temperature.
The whole ecosystem which supports the life as we see is a very fine balance between all the elements in nature. The human consumption behaviour at a large scale can disturb this balance which results in catastrophic events which is not just global warming but others as well.
This one is focused on Phosphorous which was part of this balance but the imbalance due to human activities (industries, agriculture and even dairy farms) has tipped the balance, and once this phosphorous shows up in the fresh water lakes and rivers, its immediately puts the life around it in danger. Not just the marine life but human life as well. The books explains the results of free phosphorous in the nature, and does explore its historical origin when the humans started using at an industrial scale.
Ozone layer was a victim of such industrialisation and a restriction over CPC set the path for its recovery. This can be done again with Phosphorous but it needs more efforts and coordination not just with the industries but people's consumption habits as well. This requires education not only for the policy makers but it also needs wider visibility among consumers.
Peace
Any explanation of causation which is far from fact can or can not be called conspiracy theory. But does the facts make much difference? Does a plain hard fact changes the perception of a believer in conspiracy theory? Maybe not because that unfounded belief is the first thing that nurtures such theories.
Having these theories in all spheres of society is not a new thing. Humans believe in these theories since long when we started playing make believe games. It just got amplified with the help of social media which provides a fertile field to spread far and wide. A probable reason for people latching on to a theory is that it explains things in such a way that it potentially absolves the adopter from any real or imaginary guilt. It also provides a narrative which is more easier to follow with less mental acuity, and no efforts. Once sold it propagates on its own.
The good news is that these theories wither on their own in the face of time but not until sometimes causing some great damage. The bad news is that there is no way of fighting these apart from real cold facts which has less chance of success due to the mental blockage which favours such theory over a fact.
Most of the times there is some vested interest in propagation of such theories which can be financial or political but there are times when it just part of a thought without serving any purpose which may sound harmless until it moves into more violent domains.
It would be so easy to say that all such narratives should be judged by rationality but a fertile mind for such theory just doesn't have the interest or inclination for any rational judgement. Which is why once settled, it just needs to be waited out. It can be a long wait but it will go away just to be replaced by something new.
Peace
Its a mix of a memoir and a case for women in philosophy. The overall narrative is good but it falls victim while not doing justice to any genre. A book is never about a genre, and a writer rarely starts with a category while writing fiction. But this one fails to deliver the message by adding to many things in one place.
It does provide well documented references of how women were blocked from getting enrolled in schools and colleges, and got the least support even when they did crack the glass ceiling. But this was true not just philosophy but for any subject during those times. The prejudice against females did injustice to a lot of brilliant women, and philosophy was just one of these subjects. The arguments given against women's entry in any subject was same (lack of intelligence/brilliance, non-competitiveness, inefficiency or sometimes just not being man).
In modern times when the women have far bigger opportunities, they are outshining any other male in their field of specialisation. Which gives the hope of equality in the future. However, the recent trends of boys falling out in their development has been a concern (though not addressed yet) needs closer monitoring to avoid any over correction.
The world will keep changing and the dynamics of a society will favour one or the other every time. This book gives the example that even after all the blockers there were people who pursued their passion even at a higher cost, and they were the one who set the foundation for the future.
Peace
It is not called an idiot box because it serves stupid content but it is so non-interactive, short on serious discussion and as brief as profitably possible.
This may sound a bit harsh on TV, or any screen for that matter apart from a book reader in the evolution of media since it began with printing but this is true. And this book even being really old (published in 1985) puts all the right arguments forward. If only he had a chance to rewrite this today he'd have more arsenal in his attack.
TV as a medium could have been a better compared to what it is today only if it had been invented in a different time. It grew to what it is today in the time when everything was expected to be commercialised, and it lost the opportunity of being as meaningful as a book. The commercial aspect moulded its content to be short, fuzzy, entertaining, and eventually serving the wrong sides of business, religion and politics.
A different observation from my side was that all the modern studies show that the TV doesn't have a quality of holding anyone's attention for long unlike books. Which led to the further technological developments of recording, OTT, and what not. But this is still a proven fact that TV doesn't have people's attention for long which we attribute to its non-interactivity. All the stories that we've ever heard are cherished because they were read by us to told to us. And, even when the books don't have the interaction built-in it, it has the higher engagement quotient and depending on the writer's excellence they can stick for real long time.
All the digital mediums don't suffer the same attention span problem. Think of video games which keep the people hooked for days at a stretch but they latch on to a different hook in the brain.
This is worth a read for anyone, and hopefully if you're big on any screens (not just TV) it will give you some pointers on why it is the way it is.
Peace
Reading this book in 2023 is a kind of standing up to what happened to the writer. That incident is not unprecedented, and it was bound to happen one day. But the sad part is that the words (not even an argument) can cause people to act in this way.
About the book, it has as much magic as Rushdie's any book. The funny part is that if you're well versed with Indian history, geography, and mythology then you can understand a lot of it without much efforts. That symbolism goes deep into the overall narrative.
Noting beats the Midnight's Children but a frequent reader can get the hang of his writings and, there will be instances where it sounds like something you've already heard before. And the good thing is that that most likely you have, it is just told by Rushdie in his own style of storytelling.
Worth a read.
Love
The normal discussed in this book is what should be considered normal in healing. Does the advance medicine turned the people in a mere subject which can be treated for the ailments it suffers? Or can we look at the human life, and its ailments as a whole, and focus on a process which focuses on improving human life ad not on just giving medications for symptoms.
Are diseases an indicator of past sufferings that a patient has gone through? Does a medical practitioner needs to get to the bottom of the cause what is causing this disease?
Writer gives a lot of accounts where the patients denied the modern medicine, and rather worked on their own life to start the healing. This did get the due support from the modern medicine in some cases but for a lot of them the cure was not in medicine but in identifying the cause of it.
It is a well established fact that thoughts do alter the response of our bodies. Different mental conditions cause or cure the sick. There is a whole new field of faith healers who are trained in alternative procedures apart from their own speciality. And one of the appealing feature is that it changes the whole being rather than just the body. And the road to recovery starts from the thoughts. The positive thoughts of forgiving, letting go, accepting and welcoming new are the building blocks of it.
Peace
Stories and myth are part of a culture. And suppression of a culture is not only the loss of a tradition, it is also a decay of a unique, vibrant and different society. Which makes this book unique.
It is a memoir of a family which traditionally deals in magic, myth, and surrealism. A modern mind may not accept the magic of supernatural events but that doesn't make such events any less beautiful for someone who sees them as a second nature.
This books sounds a lot of quackery but the deeper meaning is how we look at our own life, past and present, from an outsider's perspective. How we connect our life events with the lives of others which gives us a sense of connection with this world.
It is not a vey recommended read but it does give you some perspective of life. Even if you don't believe in magic.
Love
For a very long time, art was a medium of expressing beautiful feelings. A medium which let's an artist express her/his thoughts as s/he sees it. It can be music, painting, sculpture, poem, story and what not. And in different places these artists were valued differently. They were not the richest person but considered as a person who looks the things differently.
And a lot of these artists expressed their thoughts which are more inline with the human condition. They have always been very vocal about the absurdities in the society which are rooted in power, cynicism, or superiority. These statements always challenging the status quo.
The history is full of examples where the artists started, and nurtured the revolution for the betterment of the common people. And there has been many who never even got a mention in the history. But they all paid a price. A price of being different, and rejecting any top down idea.
There is nothing wrong about a piece of art being beautiful, and easy to understand. But it is the other ones which don't fit in the definition of art being synonymous to beauty, and these are the ones which need more attention and deeper understanding to identify what it stands for.
Peace
Alisson is no Lolita. Her story is not what one might have read/heard of Lolita. The only connection is that this was one of the hooks her teacher dropped.
But this doesn't mean her memoir is any less shocking. Its a sad truth that so many young people (boys/girls) fall victim to the predatory practices of people whom they look as a role model, a friend, a family member or a teacher. This not only betrays the innocence in that belief but scars the victims for life.
The most common negative question is why these youngsters don't come out of such toxic situations. There is no exact answer but it takes a lot of support from everyone else to come out of it, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't get it when they need it the most.
Of course, young age makes you feel in control, rash or even over confident which is why the line that comes in the end (when the writer sees other teenagers of her age) is that even an 18-19 year old person is just a kid who is starting in life, and needs a lot of guidance and support from everyone.
Lolita was never a romantic novel. It was always a crime story irrespective of what any readers draws from it. The egg and chicken situation of what inspires what between the society and fiction is an old discussion. So, censor is never going to help but raise a kind of awareness where people have the mental faculty of judging right from wrong, and everyone gets a big enough support system in friends/family to pull through such situations.
Peace
Death is a sensitive topic, and choosing it makes it more sensitive.
This is a record of how her husband, who had Alzheimer, choose to end his life while he was still in charge of his body. It is a difficult read because this was the first time I read such a record of someone choosing his death.
The most sensitive part is where his journey ends, and that takes the minimum space and leaves the most profound impression. It is a book of journey and not the destination.
However, the larger thought here is that do we've the right to die? All the advancement in science, tech, and medicine enables us to understand the aspect of life/death better than we ever did. Life is an endeavour but death is a more philosophical thought not just by contrast but because after it, there is nothing more than a thought left. Life needs nurturing but death doesn't need anything other than a thought.
Capital punishment is still a lawful instrument in many countries which terminates somebody's right to live. Of course, it is given in the most dire circumstances. But is this a valid argument that if the social agencies like court of law has the power to terminate a life, why the life itself doesn't have the choice of self termination? Can people with terminal illness opt for an easy way out when they still have a control over it rather? What can be the other situations when people should be allowed to exercise this right?
These are the questions which only a person with sound mind with not so sound body can answer. And it ends at making a choice, and everyone else respecting the choice.
Peace
It sounds a bit odd that the society needs some revolution for helping males on the scale of what was done in feminism.
Which is why it is a bid different read. It puts forward an argument which brings the problem of boys/men in context of the new gender dynamics and change in societal norms.
But do we really need an overall reform of how genders are treated or the men in margins need some additional systems in place? Is it possible that while correcting the gender imbalance the policy makers over corrected it, and the girls have an added advantage with the system in place now?
It is difficult to agree to a lot of points given in this book specially when a lot of references are coming from having three boys of his own. It also sounds like a misplaced idea that a girl hits the maturity faster than the boys even if the testosterone is a villain in the narrative. Seeing some professions as man dominated or women dominated is a narrow view. It definitely needs to make all professions being lucrative to any worker irrespective of gender. The argument that there are not many male nurses or teachers should be more aligned with the arguments that the compensation in such jobs should be more appealing to any job seeker, and once that is achieved, people from all gender will pick it.
This book seems to be jumping the guns too soon while we're still in discussion of gender inequality. It makes complete sense that everyone has the support system in place which covers different aspects/stages for anyone (for employment, health, education, compensation etc) but to put this in gender brackets is going to do more damage than help.
This is worth reading even if a reader doesn't agree to it.
This is such an amazing memoir specially after the recent memoir which left a distaste.
It doesn't talk about the author's whole life but more focused on one person of author's young age. A friend who was loved, respected, and valued but unfortunately end up dead in a petty crime.
Do we over think our pain or is it something that an incident out of the blue completely changes your perception about people, life and everything involved? Loss, specially of our loved ones - related or not, changes us at a deeper level. It leaves a void that can't be filled, an unfulfilled emotion which nobody else can evoke.
If anyone who knew him picks a pen and write about him, it is going to be a similar account but it will have a different take on how that incident changed their life.
But how long does it take to get over this loss? Can it take a lifetime, and make you think that you have your best days behind you? This is a question with no one answer.
Only the love, support, and time can heal this. It will heal but it is not possible to wipe those ordinary moments which in the hindsight makes the best of the memories that we can cherish.
Love
What does it mean to be a cosmological being? Can we really break down the life to Carbon, Oxygen and Potassium?
Birth of a universe and its continuous expansion is an event which is very difficult to comprehend irrespective of scientific intelligence because after a point it is difficult to go beyond numbers and equations. But does this incomprehension gives us the flexibility to choose an interpretation which is more philosophical or religious in nature?
Its a difficult question to answer and depending on whom you're asking, the answers can vary over a wide range.
This is a semi autobiographical book which gives us the glimpse of how the author nurtured his conscience from a human being to a cosmic being. It mostly cover the initial struggle of identifying what the author was searching for until he found a person to guide him in the right direction.
It doesn't try to be to mathematical or scientific but its full of examples of our growing knowledge about universe in a broader sense when we overturned a lot of older theories in the light of new findings and evidences.
Maybe not a difficult read but you need a philosophical bent to follow the narrative.
Peace
