Nietzsche’s Opposition to Pity and Comfort

In much of his writing, Friedrich Nietzsche railed against pity – which he saw as a soul-crushing, enfeebling emotion and ethic – and comfort, which again he thought was the enemy of strength, health, and vitality. Nietzsche’s fierce opposition to Christianity originates from the centrality he believes it places on pity, and how this feeling…

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The Privacy Pitfalls of Zuckerberg’s Metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg’s unveiling of his metaverse, a virtual reality (VR) environment created by Meta (previously Facebook), has garnered a lot of attention. Zuckerberg’s rebranding of Facebook as Meta signals its aim to build a new version of the internet, one based on people interacting with each other via VR headsets.  What is the Metaverse? The…

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Meshuggah, Transhumanism, and the Allure of Cults

In one of Meshuggah’s most well-known tracks, New Millennium Cyanide Christ, we find an exploration of the themes of transhumanism and cults. Drummer Tomas Haake, who writes the lyrics for the band, said of the track in an interview with Greg Prato: That’s more of a dystopian take on a sectistic or extremist kind of…

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The Debate Over Plant Consciousness

The idea that plants have consciousness, sentience, or intelligence would be unthinkable to most people. How could an organism without a nervous system or brain possess these capacities? A minority of scientists are challenging this assumption, however, leading some people to accept the possibility that the spectrum of sentience is more inclusive than previously imagined.…

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The Will to Novelty: Ennui, Neophilia, and Whitehead’s Metaphysics

Ennui is the feeling of boredom, listlessness, dissatisfaction, and fatigue that results from a lack of occupation or excitement in one’s life. Ennui has been felt by many of us over the past two years. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions, many of us were forced to lead quite repetitive days:…

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