Philosophy Wire: Past. Eruptions. Memory.

Stromboli, the 'lighthouse of the Mediterranean', is known for its low-energy but persistent explosive eruptions, behaviour that is known scientifically as Strombolian activity. Occasionally, however, more intense and sudden explosions occur, most recently in July and August last year (2019). These are known as 'Strombolian paroxysms'. During such events several of Stromboli's craters are active simultaneously and much greater volumes of pyroclastic materials are erupted than is usual for the volcano. [1] Old erruptions. New explosions. Predicting the future. Through viewing the past. A past whispering gently in your ear. "There is nothing to predict. But the things you do". Sleeping man. Watching the eruption. Can you smell death? Waking up. Predicting the past. It is the only way to dream of flowers as long as this morning lasts...

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Philosophy Wire: Calm kids. A dark forest. A universe born…

A research team has identified a brain-wave marker associated with aggression in young children. The finding could lead to earlier identification of toddlers with aggressive tendencies before the behavior becomes more ingrained in adolescence. [1] We try to control rage. We try to tame the wild horses. Because we are afraid of explosions. We are afraid of destruction and death. Because we love creation. Because we adore life. But Midas has forgotten the long-told secret. Wander again in the forest and you will be reminded again. That we were born in anguish. That the cosmos was created in absolute silence. Watch out for the quiet people. They love this cosmos. They will soon bring it down to ashes…

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Philosophy Wire: Change causing life. And death at the same time.

Scientists have discovered that DNA contains a kind of built-in timer that clocks the frequency with which mutations occur. They show that DNA bases can shape-shift for a thousandth of a second, transiently morphing into alternative states that allow the molecule's replication machinery to incorporate the wrong base pairs into its double helix. Such mismatches, though rare, serve as the basis of genetic changes that drive evolution and diseases like cancer. [1] Life and death. Creation and destruction. Opposites. And yet part of the same cycle of existence. There is no stability without constant change. There is no life without constant death. There is no being without the dark void of nothingness. Existence sustaining the illusion of being. The emptiness of the universe (yourself) breaking that illusion into small unimportant pieces. And it is then, while drifting away into the void of the cosmos, that you realize that being was not about being in the first place…

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Philosophy Wire: Volcanoes. Eruptions. Collapsing civilization.

The eruption of a volcano may have sparked the downfall of the Egyptian civilization. [1] A cosmos in turmoil. A cosmos which is dissolving. Every moment a moment of destruction. Every moment a moment of creation. There is darkness in every speck of light. There is death in every moment of life. A civilization destroyed. A mountain rising up to the sky. People dying. People being born. A volcano of consciousness and nothingness. Erupting in a dark silent void of existence…

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Philosophy Wire: Étienne. Spartans. You.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-04-09]: Étienne Fourmont is famous for destroying all ancient Sparta monuments so that no other traveler could see them (!) and he could have all the glory for revealing Sparta to the future generations! [1] Some thing you can you destroy a whole people. That you can  erase it from collective memory. But how can you do that when everything that happened in the past is already an integral part of today? Perhaps all monuments of Sparta are destroyed, but we are all Spartans! And Athenians! And Corinthians! And...

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