Tom Storm

There's a great 2010 book on the question of culture's obsession with authenticity called The Authenticity Hoax by Andrew Potter. By elevate I simply ...

I don't see why we would. Every era has its own spin on things. This is an era which elevates the subjective and the 'authentic' and feelings and natu...

Yep - I think this is what romanticism looks like when it has collided with marketing and post-modernism. :wink: Agree, and this is one of the key cha...

I found the public grief over the empty Princess Diana absurd. This was the first time I was aware of this kind of OTT phenomenon. I would probably po...

Good points. There seems to be a hierarchy of duty. How does one determine which one should override the other?

I don't think neo-liberalism is incompatible with fascism. Not enough of a choice there for me. I can't make much sense out of your definition of duty...

I'm referring to the only experience we can talk about with some authority - the mortal life. I don't think anyone knows what the allegory of heaven m...

Suffering is kind of the point of most forms of Christianity, isn't it? 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV): Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal t...

Charles de Gaulle once said that old age is a ship wreck. I find this quite vivid and poetic. I feel I am already taking on water, and the fatal coast...

:lol: 86 is very specific. Why that and not 85 or 88?

Wow, he sounds like an amazing man. Like you, I don't want/need that much life. Looks like Main Street, Universal studios, or one of those antiseptic ...

It's confronting. I have lost my first wave of friends and companions to 'premature death' which still claims some of us. Unlucky genes and bad health...

Have a lovely break!

No, I think most of us know this is wrong. Trump doesn't appear to give a shit about anything but getting elected and he knows his base is comprised o...

:up: :up: :up: :up:

I don't see that. I am referring to his work as a politician, doing the work of a politician - infrastructure, clean energy, mental health, healthcare...

That's interesting, I can't imagine Trump ever appearing more sensible or competent than Biden. I'm not an American, so the matter is largely academic...

Fair enough.

OK. Are you saying that there is a positive and effective side to Trump's Presidency, or just that these items listed are also part of the popular per...

I imagine that for some Chinese, Trump is popular because he promises to drag America down. I've met a number of hard core Marxists who hope he'll get...

I think this is right. This is a more hair-raising idea and I agree, that's some riddle.

I know hating the media is a popular sport amongst people, right or left-wing. No one ever seems satisfied that the media properly represents their in...

The discussion comes around halfway through this. Both men also see movies like The Matrix, Dark City, Blade Runner as belonging to a tradition dealin...

Yes, a fair depiction. I noticed that academic and theologian David Bentley Hart, in a conversation with Peter O'Leary, calls this a modern reworking/...

Yep. No question. Here too (Murdoch's Sky News). I hear you.

I got ya. Fair call.

That looks exceptionally interesting and vast. I guess I hadn't factored in the idea of cynicism as the era's worldview, a kind of coping mechanism ag...

I hear you but I suspect they are unable to do differently and are part of a faith-based value system, not unlike the Catholic Church in its prime.

Reasonable questions but is it apathy and cynicism from supporters? Or do you think many of them accept the Trump narrative as true believers in a war...

As you would imagine, there's a good deal of money to be made out of the UFO speaking/writing circuit. I've watched Ross's various 'documentaries' he ...

Interesting. I hear this often and I think what you say is fair - but I just can't think of a single example of where I have yielded useful knowledge ...

But what percentage of these will vote? I am somewhat reassured by what @"Wayfarer" and @"180 Proof" are saying. I have no connections to America and ...

I doubt it, but how could we know? I did see an interview with (I think) Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins talking about potential alien intelli...

What countries do you have in mind and can you provide an example?

Yep. That's about it.

You put that very well.

Agree. Not trusting government to the point of paranoia is a popular culture trope and a bit convenient. You can ask that question about anything - re...

I'm not sure what you mean by the word 'reality'.

:up:

I undertand. Sometimes people need medication. We would not take this view with a diabetic who needs regular insulin medication.

No question. I think we tend to set odd limits on our speculative thinking when it comes to potential alien technology. I keep hearing people talking ...

Yes. I think the default setting for most emotional states is to accept it - happy or not. We often assume how we feel is normal. We may not even be c...

I'm not entirely sure what you are asking or trying to communicate. Is it what reasons people might have to pursue philosophical enquiry? Philosophy m...

I hope you're right, but what I see (and I hope I'm wrong) is that the Trump phenomena isn't about putative power exactly. It's that Trump and Trumpis...

From where I'm sitting Trump looks more and more the undefeatable superhero, the rebel, the outlaw, the legend. Where we're going, we don't need facts...

I used to have the same approach as yours. Side hustle as a writer some years ago now - I wrote some TV drama and a lot of newspaper journalism and an...

Nice! Thank you again.

That's helpful and succinctly written. Appreciate it. I read a paper and saw a lecture by Simon Blackburn on the deflationary account of truth and was...

I don't judge. I just don't watch... :wink:

Wasn't this the song that bloody awful Stranger Things revived?