Category: literature

[opinion] What Star Wars Disney Can Learn From TV Tokyo’s Boruto

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[Warning: Will Contain Spoilers!] Something that is hard for us to recognize nowadays is that the literature we call "classic", such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, were, during their times, popular forms of culture. With that perspective in mind, when we look at current stories, myths, and cultural products, we have to … Continue reading [opinion] What Star Wars Disney Can Learn From TV Tokyo’s Boruto

[posting][university essay]Digitizing Nature: Negotiating and Mobilizing the Virtual

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Meet Hydria, my virtual succulent garden in a pot which is looking rather dry. I would like to think that if Hydria were located on my smartphone and not on my tablet, I would care for her better. The truth is that my forgetfulness has killed more than one plant before, and Hydria may be … Continue reading [posting][university essay]Digitizing Nature: Negotiating and Mobilizing the Virtual

“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.”

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-Puddleglum in The Silver Chair (Lewis), 144-145.

[posting][original non-fiction] Artificial Intelligence and Human Enhancement: Exploring the Human in Alternative Identities

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“Knocking at the doors of human perception” is how Tim Adams describes the exploration of human selfhood in the form of transhumanism. As traditional notions of “human” have been challenged by postmodern thought, which questions universal modes of meaning and legitimation (New Keywords, 270), a complex discourse regarding “the human” has arisen thanks to increased … Continue reading [posting][original non-fiction] Artificial Intelligence and Human Enhancement: Exploring the Human in Alternative Identities

[review] Why Science Is Wrong …About Almost Everything (Alex Tsakiris)

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Recently, there has been an academic and social backlash towards the elitism of the scientific community as new slogans have arisen. "Science is a construct", taken at face value, is one of those popular buzzwords that should - and must - be brought into question. A better statement to theorize is: the trajectory of current … Continue reading [review] Why Science Is Wrong …About Almost Everything (Alex Tsakiris)

[conversation] Solo: A Star Wars Story – and the Kessel Run Conundrum

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I initially enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars story, and agree (along with Ben Shapiro and Redlettermedia) that Solo is by no means the worst Star Wars film out there. However, there were a few issues with it - and oddly enough, after a lot of thought, I came to the decision that I didn't like … Continue reading [conversation] Solo: A Star Wars Story – and the Kessel Run Conundrum