Archives for October 2025

"The equivalent of commodity fetishism in the psychological life of the individual is narcissism. Here the term does not only denote adoration of one’s own body or one’s person. It stands for a serious pathological condition well-known to psychoanalysis. An adult preserves the psychological structure of the first years of his childhood, when there is no distinction between the self and the world. Every external object is experienced by the narcissist as a projection of his own self.” Anselm Jappe (The Writing on the Wall) "No one should underestimate the dangers of courting the displeasure of a savage and jealous God.” Andrew Scull (Madness in Civilization) "To lull public attention, … [Read more...]

"Most octopuses live only a year or two, depending on the species.Humans, obviously, live much, much longer. And because length of life and intelligence seem connected in some way, a question naturally arises. What use is intelligence in such a very short life, especially since, as Godfrey-Smith puts it, “the machinery of intelligence is expensive, both to build and to run”? This conundrum has led to some questionable conclusions, including “a hypothesis of ‘accidental intelligence,’” as though octopuses had mistakenly developed “‘too much brain’ for animals living such brief and asocial lives.” But if their intelligence is accidental, then in what sense is human intelligence not accidental? … [Read more...]