Dale Lowery
@drblue42
Dale Lowery
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (Russian: Николай Фёдорович Фёдоров; 9 June 1829 – 28 December 1903), known in his family as Nikolai Pavlovich Gagarin, was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, religious thinker and futurologist, library science figure and an innovative educator. He started the movement of Russian cosmism which was a precursor of
... See more“You may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is that incompetent people don’t have the skills to recognize their own incompetence.”, writes David Brooks, NYT, Jan 30, 2025: “The 6 Rules Of Stupidity”
30Nov24-MINOR EPIPHANY
🥳 Anxiety is the flip side of the awareness coin. And vice versa, obviously. 😂🥸
🥳 Anxiety is the flip side of the awareness coin. And vice versa, obviously. 😂🥸
Getting hi is such a revelation!
Critics and readers tend to be insufferable nostalgics. In a letter he sent from exile in 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli described his evening routine: After coming home from the “vulgarity” and “trifles” of daily life, he donned “garments regal and courtly” to commune with the dead. Reading those before him, he was “not frightened by death,” and instea
... See moreNiccolò Machiavelli’s inspirations? Or condolences?
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2024
nytimes.com
Best SciFi of 2024!
Find & consider buying INDEXes on each
William Butler Yeats, perhaps his most famous work, The Second Coming. Most quoted are the lines 3 thru 8.
ChatGPT gives us this history & context:
The Second Coming was written in 1919 and published in 1920. It was composed in the aftermath of World War I and during the early stages of the Irish War of Independence, both of which deeply influenced W.B. Yeats. The poem reflects his sense of foreboding about the political and social upheavals of the time.
Historical Context:
1. World War I (1914–1918): The war devastated Europe, leading to widespread disillusionment and a loss of faith in traditional structures such as religion, monarchy, and societal order.
2. Irish Struggles: As an Irish nationalist, Yeats was witnessing the turmoil in Ireland as it sought independence from British rule, culminating in the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921).
3. Global Chaos: The Russian Revolution (1917) and the subsequent rise of communism, along with other political revolutions worldwide, contributed to a sense that the old order was disintegrating.
Personal and Symbolic Context:
• Yeats was influenced by his interest in mysticism and the occult. He referred to Spiritus Mundi (the collective soul of humanity) as the source of the apocalyptic vision in the poem.
• The “widening gyre” reflects Yeats’ theory of history as cyclical, with periods of order inevitably giving way to chaos. He believed the world was moving from one such cycle to another, heralding a new, darker era.
• The “rough beast” slouching toward Bethlehem symbolizes a violent, uncertain future, possibly reflecting Yeats’ fears of emerging totalitarian ideologies and societal decay.
The poem captures the pervasive anxiety of its time, while its themes of upheaval and uncertainty continue to resonate in modern contexts.
Peter Turchin, in “War & Peace & War” (2006) explains (p281) the social mechanism of inequality, in whc envy & resentments are the fuel of social conflict, & ultimately of revolutions
“WHEN RICH GET RICHER AND POOR get poorer, cooperation between social classes is undermined. But the same process is operating within each class.
When
... See more