From the point of view of complexity theory, or chaos theory, if you like, everything is interconnected. ‘Chaos’ is here regarded as just a very complex variety of ‘order’, unlike in earlier times — the ancient Greeks, for instance, opposed chaos’ and ‘cosmos’ (order), as most of us do in our daily lives. In Deleuzoguattarian […]
General
Posted inGeneral
The Great Unravelling
A few weeks before the May 8 elections, I got lost in central Joburg. I was on a highway I had driven dozens of times before, when, all of a sudden, I realised that it had been closed down. The entire highway seemed to be barricaded by concrete blocks. My rented car and I was […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Health, Media, News/Politics, Tech
So you think that Orwell’s ‘1984’ could only happen under a political dictatorship? Think again!
Many people — especially those who still read novels — will know George Orwell’s 1984, with its depiction of the brainwashing society of Big Brother, of Newspeak (the language designed to inhibit critical thinking), the Thought Police, and constant surveillance of every citizen, monitoring their behaviour (lest they should exhibit signs of discontent, or worse, […]
Posted inEquality, General, Health, Lifestyle, Media, Tech
Popular art and the homogenisation of viewing subjects globally
The global hype around the HBO television series, Game of Thrones (GoT), which ended with what was apparently generally perceived by fans as an anticlimax of sorts, made me reflect once again on the pertinence of the intellectual work of that indomitable French thinker, Bernard Stiegler, for grasping the way that contemporary electronic technology is […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, General, Media
Dear Western critics, your fake outrage about Botswana’s elephants is a colonial longing
By Lorato Palesa Modongo “Come Kitty. We want to empower you. No, your mother cannot do this. Your government cannot do this. Time cannot do this… We will teach you how to commune with nature, grow ecologically friendly crops, trade fairly with eco-tourists and receive visitors from United Nations who will clap when you dance.” […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media
Another important European conference for Afrikaans-speaking philosophers
About two years ago I wrote a piece for this site on an important conference for Afrikaans in Europe, which was held in Gent, Belgium, by the NAWG (Nederlands-Afrikaanse Wijsgerige Vereniging, or the Netherlands-Afrikaans Philosophical Society). We are at this biennial conference again, this time in Leiden, Holland, from where it will rotate to South […]
Posted inEnvironment, General
Johannesburg
Johannesburg, Johannesburg – City of Gold Of dreams and lives and stories told Bright lights and brighter paths Fulfilling its destiny through its arts Never asleep, never surrendered Always bustling, always unending Johannesburg, Johannesburg – City of Gold Of heartbreaking heroism and divided goals Far greater the riches held by a few Far simpler the […]
Posted inGeneral
Getting the African economy right
As we commemorate yet another Africa day, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on the African economy or economies in Africa. To start with, it is clear that part of the reason why development has not been good in Africa is that economies in Africa are constrained by the colonial character of the […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle
The first rule of large group awareness trainings…
By John Hunter, Ph.D If you have ever been invited by an enthusiastic family member, friend, or work colleague to attend the graduation of a seminar that “transformed” their life, but they refused to provide details about what actually took place in this seminar, then you were probably being invited to a large group awareness […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Media
Season 2 of True Detective — A ‘noir’ reflection of our broken society?
When the first season of True Detective was broadcast — with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives out to solve a case that seemed intractable in the extreme, with a gritty cinematic style and refusal to compromise itself for the sake of satisfying the usual Hollywood saccharine, sentimentalist demands regarding plot structure — […]
Posted inEnvironment, General, News/Politics
Only 26 475 people voted ANC — that’s not even one seat
I said right at the outset, in “New political party in its first election outing“, that: And now we get to 2019, the election that will settle once and for all, whether the ANC actually has ten million votes of its own or not. I followed this up, in “It’s not all GOOD“, with: The […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Media, Tech
Should one question technology’s drive for dominance?
In a sense, the titular question, above, is redundant. Technology is, after all, already dominant — a claim that hardly needs to be substantiated with evidence; it is there for everyone to perceive on a daily basis. Not that the objects of ‘perception’ are self-evident in any straightforward way. In social reality a good deal […]