The 1997 book The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski identified Ukraine as the “geopolitical pivot on the Eurasian chessboard” whilst thoroughly analysing the Russian, American, and European implications for the future… which has now arrived.
The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, by Zbigniew Brzezinski (1997)
In the first article of this series on the Russia-Ukraine War, the prophetic TV series Years and Years (2019) was examined for its predictions relevant to the current crisis. In complementary fashion, this second article presents the insightful and prescient analysis of perhaps the most influential diplomat, political scientist and geostrategist of the 20th century: The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives (1997), by Zbigniew Brzezinski. For aside from the Years and Years ‘prophecies’ of a war between the two nations, as well as its wider ramifications, the breaking news of Russia’s intent to invade Ukraine in mid-late February 2022 recalled to mind Brzezinski’s seminal book.
The Russia-Ukraine War (2022) as highlighting the significance of the prophetic BBC-HBO mini-series Years and Years (2019).
Years and Years (2019): The Lyons family of this avant-garde prophetic dystopia, as they typically follow the (typically shocking) news.
In mid-late February, reports of Russian intentions to invade Ukraine began to occupy the news media—upon which one thought immediately came to my mind: Years and Years.
For those who have seen this 2019 mini-series, its relevance to what is now the Russia-Ukraine War should already be apparent, particularly to residents of the UK, since the show is primarily oriented towards developments in Britain. In this article, I first offer a summary of why Years and Years is generally significant, before revealing the specific details that directly relate to the currently developing Russia-Ukraine War and its wider ramifications.
What’s the meaning of this? Who’s to say? (Certainly not me…)
I don’t know what this is. Maybe it’s an inane mixture of things. Or something novel and deep. Guess it depends on who (or what) is reading it. Maybe it’s nothing but with something in it. Or something but with nothing in it. It’s not for me to say, even though I’m the author. Actually, because I’m the author. Just technically ‘the author’. See I wrote this here thing, I did, but who’s to say I am the authority of its meaning? (That question may or may not be rhetorical, according to preference.) As a matter of fact (technically just an expression, BTW), it’s each reader that decides the meaning of what(ever) he/she/it is reading, as determined by the law of Intertextuality (and quite authoritatively at that, FYI). See, this fantastic law ‘deconstructed’ (as it likes to say [not that I really know what it means]) the myth of ‘authorship’ by revealing that the actual producer of meaning is [drumrole]… thereader! Ergo (just using this word ‘coz I like how The Architect said it in Matrix 2), each ‘meaning’ is equally valid(praise the law of Equality!)—and, ergo, implicitly untrue. Case in point: commenter says this “post” is “garbage”. Therefore, he/she/it (‘they/them’ from now on) is actually right on both counts—provided only that they meant what they said. Then again… …what they said might be totally untrue—who knows? (Rhetorical?—who knows?)
My extracts from the classic nutritional and remedial guide to juices by Norman Walker.
Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices, by Norman W. Walker (1936, Revised 1978)
Introduction
For the improvement of digestion and elimination, I have found that the replacement of some solid food meals – primarily breakfast – with fresh juices helps to alleviate some of the burden of the digestive system, creating a generally improved feeling of physiological comfort. Using a centrifugal juicer machine, I have periodically incorporated raw juices in my diet using fresh vegetables and fruits, adjusting the proportion of juice to solid food meals as according to comfort at any given period.
Having recently decided to examine the subject of juice nutrition for the purposes of health, I read the book Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices by nutritionist and author Norman Walker, who I discovered by a citation as being a valuable expert in this field. Having read the digitized copy of the book, I extracted the highlights I made and arranged them thematically, in order to create a future reference for the information I found most useful for practical purposes; and which I now share here for the benefit of anyone who may find it similarly useful.
My notes taken from the book The Second Brain, by Michael D. Gershon, which concerns the enteric nervous system and the mind-gut connection.
The brain in the gut – the second brain – plays a major role in human happiness and misery—but few people know it exists. Dr. Michael Gershon, co-founder of the neurogastroenterology field, explains why on both counts.
“We all experience situations in which our brains cause our bowels to go into overdrive. But in fact, messages departing the gut outnumber the opposing traffic on the order of about nine to one.” Michael D. Gershon, M.D.
Introduction
Published in 1998, The Second Brain by Michael Gershon addresses an important and neglected subject within the field biology, and which carries especial significance to medical theory and practice. This subject is the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) – the nervous system of the bowel – and the complex role that it plays in the body. In fact, the ENS displays a complexity of functioning akin to that of the brain—hence “the second brain”. Throughout the book, Gershon also reveals how the second (or “lower”) brain has been overshadowed by the first (or “higher”) brain within the science and medical professions, in matters of theory, research, and medical treatment; and his book represents a most substantial effort to redress the balance. Most significantly, Gershon highlights the fact that gut problems are routinely blamed on the brain; that is, on neuroticism of one kind or another—when it has for long been scientifically established that the gut itself – which is, “with respect to intestinal difficulties, right at ground zero” – perfectly capable of causing “enteric havoc” independently of the brain. Indeed, the independent functioningof the gut is stressed throughout this work, illustrated by references to scientific experiments and biological knowledge. Although Gershon – who was part-founder of the new medical field called neurogastroenterology – has effectively raised the scientific and medical profile of the enteric nervous system from underserved obscurity, his work still remains both highly relevant and insightful today with regards to the personal and medical implications of a malfunctioning gut.
An uncut, feature-length discussion about the movie medium; packed with bonus content—and LOTS of movies.
There’s Something About Movies: Special Edition (packed with bonus features!)
PART 1 Embedded-Archetype Recycling
Introduction
More so than any other medium, the motion picture – also known as film, cinema, and most commonly, movies – has the capacity to convey ideas and themes whilst bypassing the viewer’s awareness of having done so; meaning that even the reception of the content generally remains unperceived, i.e. let alone its affect and techniques thereof. This principle can be observed by the substratum of archetypal themes from which movie* narratives are constructed upon; by the industrial recycling of these archetypes, evident in movies that are differentiated by time and genre; and by the common obliviousness to embedded elements and the pervasiveness of this practice.
*Although most of this article concerns movies, the discussion generally applies to television fiction too, particularly since it has become more cinematic in recent years. Movie narratives, however, are the primary form of embedded-archetype recycling.
I have termed the principle behind this practice ‘embedded-archetype recycling’, where “archetype” refers to a type of character or theme that is ancient, or at least pre-modern (hence being adapted into modern form); where “embedded” refers to the concealment of the archetypes within the overt narrative; and where “recycling” refers to the institutional practice of reapplying these archetypes to the narratives of “new” movies (hence, archetypes pervade the medium irrespective of era divergences and genre differences between movies).
“I am not a “free” number: I am a WILLFUL MAN!” (Image from The Prisoner, 1967-1968 TV Series)
I
Over the last century, general discourse concerning the topic of ‘free will’ has become increasingly more pronounced in Western culture—a trend that reflects the rapid development of societal complexity during this period: for especially since the postmodern era, the organisational phenomena of bureaucracy, specialisation, and compartmentalisation have intensified the diffusion not only of responsibility but also of knowledge. Concomitantly, scientific theory has supplanted philosophy as the locus of epistemology, producing theoretical phenomena such as relativity and quantum mechanics and instilling them into the foundation of Western ideology. Effectively, such theories have undermined not just traditional knowledge and wisdom but the very basis for their acquisition, i.e. the subjective perception of an objective reality. In concert, postmodern developments have thus created a culture of disintegrating knowledge and implicit indeterminacy, wherein matters both philosophical and practical are deemed – tacitly more so than explicitly – to be fundamentally uncertain. Crucially, this ideological domination includes the dimension of institutional contradiction; as in, for example, the periodical turnover of scientific axioms, many of which are treated as dogma until they have been deemed falsified and replaced by new axiomatic ‘truths’. Within this culture of impenetrable systemisation and philosophical confusion, the question of free will has arisen to prominence: For at least the last half-century, Western culture has been affirming an inherent inability to determine anything at all, let alone an ideology that is clear, consistent, and stable. Adversely, it has instilled a societal paradigm of reactionary measures against the flux of indeterminable existence, which thus represents the postmodern ideology of Western culture—an ideological inversion of Ideology.
An essay on Understanding (or, understanding for an Understanding of UNDERSTANDING)
Understanding—is of most importance to understand.
I
For the proper philosophical discussion about any particular thing, the identification of the thing itself is more important than the word used to refer to it: A word is merely a tool used to approximate the meaning of a concept, thus enabling an expedient means to refer to that concept in conversation or writing. In a way, this conventional approximation of conceptual meaning highlights the purpose of Philosophy, which I define here as the unmotivated, uncompromised expression of the innate need to Understand. And, Understanding is perhaps the most important concept to philosophise about—which I define here as the pure and thorough attempt to clarify the essence and significance of a thing. Thus for this essay, a cluster of related ‘things’ I consider worthy of discussion are most closely approximated by the word ‘understanding’, with each of these things representing a particular aspect of that concept, thereby being a different sense of its meaning. Hence, I will use the word ‘understanding’ in multiple senses, supported by my definition of each one; and by which I attempt to describe these particular aspects of Mind and Life.
In the third and final part of this article series, I describe four notable aspects of books; followed by various methods for assimilating information and thoughts generated through book-reading; whilst including examples and photographic samples throughout for illustration.
I read; therefore I am—but how can one assimilate?
INTRODUCTION
As someone who began to read books regularly for the purpose of intellectual stimulation, I naturally discovered various ways to improve my conduct of book-reading towards higher degrees of efficiency. In this article, I describe the principles and methods derived from my experience in book-reading, which I offer for the potential benefit of similarly oriented individuals. Essentially, these principles and methods* concern the effective assimilation of information and thoughts from one’s reading experiences. However, as individuals tend to differ in their purpose for reading and capabilities of assimilation, factors of and methods for assimilating literature can apply differently on an individual basis—hence, the methods here are offered as tips for anyone who regularly reads literature; or at the least, as a stimulant to one’s thoughts on ways to make more effective use of their literature and more efficient use of their reading time.
An analysis of a psychology documentary based on the work of Prof Daniel Kahneman (—and not without a touch of sarcasm! 😉 )
Prof Daniel Kahneman in the psychological documentary: How You Really Make Decisions, based on his book: Thinking, Fast and Slow
The 2013 Horizon Documentary (BBC) How You Really Make Decisions features several psychologists providing their insights on this theme, most prominent of which is Prof Daniel Kahneman, whose best selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow serves as the basis for the programme.
Stepping Stones 