[Spoilers] nnihilation sticks with you. The film has certainly added new horrors to the thriller's lexicon. But it has some major problems. Other, better critics have pointed out the film’s faux wokeness; a diversely cast all-female team somehow manages to be entirely devoid of personality or dimension. Or its faux seriousness; the film purports to engage with … [Read more...]
The Big Story
Can We Change Civilization by Changing Its Origin Story?
ow did humans go from savanna-dwelling primates to moon-bouncing Tide Pod™ eaters? This is the big question that Big History has been trying to answer for millennia. Sure, other ages may have framed the question differently. Pre-Internet historian Herodotus may have asked, How did humans get from Promethean clay to Babylon? Mass death enthusiast Christopher Columbus may have … [Read more...]
To Win, Build Strong Ingroups
How group loyalty creates both political irrationality and victory
veryone belongs to social groups. Society – cities, counties, countries, churches, companies, art, science, food, sports, entertainment, memes: society – is organized around ingroup/outgroup dynamics. Politics is fueled by ingroup/outgroup conflict. Ingroup cohesion - the strong identification with a defined social group - is the way in which people organize … [Read more...]
Star Wars: A New Trope
May the Discourse Be With You
n Star Wars: The Last Jedi – solid movie by the way – Hope is the central motivation of the Resistance. It is the thing that sent Rey to find Luke so the latter could bring Hope to the beleaguered Resistance fighters, it’s the thing that Poe eventually evolved to value most in calling on Finn to retreat and follow the salt dogs to safety, the thing Leia emphasized … [Read more...]
Collapse Despair
Why We Should Talk About Climate Apocalypse
[All degrees in Celsius] I’m a downer. Due to frequently writing and sharing doom articles, I am not very popular on social media (15 twitter followers as of publication). Or in real life, probably. Most conversations I have about anything with anybody eventually alight on humanity’s imminent violent demise. Many things could wipe all people off the planet: meteorites, … [Read more...]