Or, Why We Need to See More Grownups in Art and Entertainment There is no doubt that killing people—sometimes all of humanity—was a major theme of the 2026 Oscar-nominated films, from One Battle After Another to Sinners to Bugonia, and even the OBAA homage in which Conan was murdered at the end of the Oscars ceremony for no apparent reason. And we […]
Tag: evil
How would you rate humanity’s performance at fulfilling our potential, so far, on a pass/fail grading system? Has the pass/fail ratio for various parts of the world changed over the centuries? Are there some places on earth today where people are doing well-enough as a group to receive a “pass” grade? Are there other groups […]
The Reptilian Mind For the infant, disruption of its biological homeostatic balance needed to sustain life is “felt” at a physiological level as life-threatening, which it is. Similarly, for the infantile reptilian-minded “adult,” anything experienced as a threat to the status quo can also be “felt” as life-threatening, as much as asphyxiation would be for […]
(Understanding What Is Good, Great, Evil, and Human) Introduction Most of us believe that people possess one mind. Sometimes that mind has the wisdom and courage to declare in the face of widespread civil violence: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies”—a thought that surely comes to us from “the better angels of our nature.” Other […]
QM and Ugliness as Evil
A pretty little girl, about five years old, was out shopping with her attractive, well-dressed mother. The mother, who appeared rather in a hurry, was trying to get the girl to go with her more quickly. The girl, whose energy seemed to be drooping, resisted her mother’s verbal and slightly physical encouragement. Mother insisted, the […]