Welcome to this week’s 5BF: humankind’s new agenda, war and
cat philosophy, feminism and building a house, and more…
1 – what I am reading
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari – war, famine, diseases,
these have been existence-long agendas of human beings. But now that we have almost
conquered all three of these, do we just sit and write poetry all day long, or
will new agenda replace the conquered ones? Harari book is fascinating with
shocking yet arguably grounded insights into the future lives of us.
2 – movie recommendations
Note: by the next 5bf, I’d have created my favorite movies
list of 2020.
Waking Life (2001) – with its wobbling animation and elusive
storytelling, this animated movie based on the state of lucid dreams where the
protagonist, moving from one dream into another, finds himself listening to
profound philosophical, economical, psychological, and moral discussions – is one
of the most original movies I’ve ever seen.
Judas and the black Messiah (2021) – the true story of Fred,
chairman of the Black Panther party created against the racial discriminations
of 1950s onwards, where we can see what it takes to for a revolution to occur. This
movie provides many perspectives on the case of freedom fighting: Fred’s pregnant
wife’s, a rat-member of the party, and the FBI. A must watch.
Herself (2020) – feminism is a lost cause; this movie is
not. A gender-ignoringly powerful movie about a single mom with two daughters,
who after being beaten under domestic violence, leaves her husband to live
alone with her daughters, doing different jobs all day. But it’s her dream of
building a house herself that drives this movie. Powerful, emphatic, worthy of
viewing.
3 – this week’s articles
Reading John Gray in war @aeon – the author of this essay
relates the (cat) philosophy of John Gray, a living English philosopher, to his days
of being the military and fighting a fight of idealism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Beautifully and inquisitively written, this articles shows the necessity of living
with lack of meaning, where having meaning might cost other people’s lives.
What I’ve Learned from Dating Every Sign of the Zodiac by ChiomaNnadi – a spicy and gossipy articles by Nnadi about her life-long experiences of
dating one guy from each zodiac sign. What you read about your sign might
surprise you, for better or worse.
Pause. Reflect. Think @aeon.com – building on the unsung philosophy
of L S Stebbing of using our critical thinking to get free from the caging imprisonment
of ignorance, author Peter West shows how understanding can lead to true form
of freedom, that of our thoughts.
4 – poem: A Grey Day by William Vaughn Moody
Grey drizzling mists the
moorlands drape,
Rain whitens the dead sea,
From headland dim to sullen cape
Grey sails creep wearily.
I know not how that merchantman
Has found the heart; but ’t is her plan
Seaward her endless course to shape.
Unreal as insects that
appal
A drunkard’s peevish brain,
O’er the grey deep the dories crawl,
Four-legged, with rowers twain:
Midgets and minims of the earth,
Across old ocean’s vasty girth
Toiling – heroic, comical!
I wonder how that
merchant’s crew
Have ever found the will!
I wonder what the fishers do
To keep them toiling still!
I wonder how the heart of man
Has patience to live out its span,
Or wait until its dreams come true.
5 – this week’s quote
‘history does not tolerate a vacuum’. – Harari (Homo Deus)