Stares at the World

My Collected Writings on history, science fiction, philosophy, and women.

6

Society

The Importance of Forgiving Gammas

…the Sigma serves as a check on society’s delusions about itself. He’s the necessary critic that shows up when everybody decides that the cool thing to do is drink bleach, but when society isn’t that far gone, he’s just the disagreeable jerk who knocks over everybody’s Jenga tower for the sake of pointing out how stupid it all is. The Gamma is the other outsider, but unlike the Sigma who hates the social order for being ridiculous, the Gamma hates the social order for failing to crown him king.

12

Society

Why the Political Left is Losing its Mind

The political divide between the Left and the Right in America (as well as all other Western nations) is growing wider by the day.  This should be a major concern to everybody; first of all, because an inability to communicate makes violence inevitable (and we’ve certainly been seeing a growth in intra-American violence lately) and second, because an inability to communicate means an inability to coordinate.  The Democrats and the Republicans are not the only actors on the stage: while these two halves of the body politic fight amongst themselves, other interests – foreign, corporate, criminal – can take advantage...

3

Society

The Tide is Returning: Logos is Rising

Ever since Charlottesville ended in disaster, things have been anemic in these parts of the Internet.  Little of significance has been happening with “the right”, and the left have been mustering their forces, pushing increasing levels of insanity and sowing seeds of misery that will bloom over the decades to come.  As of late things have even begun to accelerate – an ephemeral observation, based upon too many vague data points to specifically point to, but nonetheless an observation made by myself and many others.  The manifestation of the Honkler meme should be sufficient to prove that the observation was...

4

Philosophy

Gnosticism in Contemporary Culture

Gnostic. It’s one of those words that many people know, but few can define.  It has the whiff of mystery to it; of secrets kept in old tomes, and wizened scholars – perhaps of a dubious moral bent – who guard their secrets from the unwashed masses, those who’d rather enjoy the vulgar hoots of a carnival horn than the rarefied strands of an Elysium melody.  It appears as a ‘technobabble’ adjective in fantasy works (“The Hammer of Gnostic Strength”), and is used by psychonauts who promise personal enlightenment.  But despite its emotive and flavorful characteristics, it is a word...

4

Philosophy

Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age by Fr. Seraphim

Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age by Eugene (Fr. Seraphim) Rose This will not be a typical book review.  Were it a normal review, I’d tell you what the book was about, I’d select a few quotations from it, and then recommend that you purchase it for yourself.  This will be far more extensive than that; in fact, what you’re about to read are my edited notes on the work.  Were I to write this way about a self-help book, I could justly be accused of plagiarism – of giving away all their core ideas.  But...