Tom Storm

I can’t tell what any of that means. I’m immune to poetry… Nietzsche thought Emerson was a genius and they shared many themes. I'm immune to Nietzsche...

Like the rest of us, I have already not existed for billions of years, at least, and not a second of it bothers me. I have heard no good reason to bel...

No. In my experience suicidal people arrive there by many different paths. Many are simply angry and perform that anger upon themselves. Others want t...

This has always been my assumption - but not being a philosopher, I assumed it was common sense - that most dubious of systems. Nice. Thanks.

Is democracy a grand but failed experiment?

I guess that debate would focus on whether number and logic were invented or 'discovered'.

Thanks. Jungian archetypes would seem to belong to these universal cognitive structures too.

That is very interesting.

Although it is harder to see how Trump, say, a member of the ultra rich and an obedient servant of corporate interests (lower taxes, deregulation, oli...

But my point is that the zeitgeist is very much one of dissatisfaction with the status quo. Perhaps ultimately the collapse of the liberal consensus, ...

Why do you say this? Isn't this the era or radical identity politics? The Right have religious nationalism, the Left have trans issues, decolonization...

Sure. But I was interested in how the OP was using these terms. Terms like conservative and libertarian and right wing seem almost meaningless these d...

I wonder who'd get to pick up the soap.

Excellent. I think that covers it for me. Indeed. But we do seem to live in an era which is consistently selling the idea that this is the amongst wor...

I don't follow politics. What is American high toryism and what is American conservatism and how do they differ?

You've just raised the most common argument for relativism - the fact that morality varies from place to place and across time. Your examples appear l...

I would have thought that in the West at least, too many folk think of themselves as exceptional, with special skills and prodigious energy and positi...

I don't think this is right. It might be for some, but it doesn't resonate with me. I'm not sure what 'living better' looks like - what is better? I d...

Nice.

:up:

Ok thanks. When I say I don't believe in god, I also hold that I don't have a robust idea what the idea of god/s even means. It's pretty hard to belie...

I've mostly ignored this thread recently but I do have questions. Isn't the salient part of atheism's position, I don't believe in a god? It is for me...

Why the word 'fictional'? Fictional? Not sure what you are getting at with this word. Do you mean a creative representation? Duchamp was making a prov...

Indeed. Just imagine the value of the original if found.

Thank you. No doubt others will think my take is wrong headed. :wink:

But I doubt whether art is just this. I also imagine that art may bore us, make us complacent, erode cultural value and make us feel ashamed. At least...

Probably because humans are emotional creatures and many of our best moments are when we experience some form of aesthetic satisfaction or joy. The ar...

Fair points. I tend to think there is art in most things. Even things I dislike greatly. I agree that art is difficult, perhaps impossible to define. ...

Self-awareness for you, and perhaps mental masturbation for others. Just because I am questioning isn't an indication that I am not taking the discuss...

Some clarifications are useful and help us to manage our lives.

Interesting. I'm not sure the endless debate about what art, is or what it is not, matters. Except to people who fetishise definitions or aesthetics. ...

[reply="kazan;907493" Ok, now see I thought you were referring to an analogy I had made. The syntax confused me, not the idea. Yes.

Not sure I follow, can you clarify?

Old school, huh? As an artist myself, I don't believe that there is 'proper art', just good art and bad art and even this is subject to entirely debat...

I suspect that Idol could be seen as a type of art in its own right - in the genre of realty TV (whatever one may think of this). The music/performanc...

So for you art has to be something 'special'? I find nothing of merit in either of these performers but I would call them both artists. Whether I enjo...

No, I meant it as a general, mildly hyperbolic, observation. I think News Limited's approach and the way the news cycle works has helped foster this a...

I suspect most human interactions are like this. What I also suspect, however, is that we have become addicted to catastrophe and stories of doom and ...

I think the issue is that people often think art has to be elevated and intricate and for the cognoscenti. But if art is just ideas or emotion conveye...

Something doesn’t have to be good to be called art. But I’m not preoccupied by definitions, I would say Idol is also kitsch.

That's a very interesting reply. I wondered about that. Would you say Thompson's view is compatible with a post-modern understanding of 'reality'. Do ...

That's a wonderful quote. And adaptable to a range of matters.

Do we accept what Musk says as the actual explanation for his actions? I'm never sure how we assess such interviews. He is certainly adept at building...

How does the sublimation frame help you make sense of people? How do you think it works in Musk’s case?

I've seen him interviewed - seems like a douchebag. But that's not a diagnosis, that's personal taste. Are you saying that someone who is hyperactive ...

Sounds almost Dennett-like here.

How well do you know Musk in order to arrive at this?

Well, Spanish cuisine is some of the greatest in the world, so if we have dinner one evening, I will leave it to you to pick some favourites.

For me that's a different matter. That's the age old question of people lacking skills and/or an awareness of how they come across. There are many peo...

Really? Chicken liver has a rich, creamy flavour and has no odd odour. I dislike liver. I love chicken liver.