When Power Becomes a Burden: Cyclic Patterns of Crisis, Delegitimation, and Elite Exodus Introduction In the history of major social crises—wars, economic collapses, and political breakdowns—a recurring pattern emerges: the search for a “culprit” to swiftly diffuse systemic tension. This “scapegoating” mechanism does not explain the root causes of a crisis; instead, it […]
Varanasi (ancient Kāśī), also known as Banaras, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world (see: Eck, Diana L. 1982. Banaras: City of Light. Princeton: Princeton University Press). The archaeological layers associated with the area of the modern city are reliably dated to the 9th or 8th century BCE, although there are […]
What makes me the same person throughout my life, and a different person from you? And what is the importance of these facts? I believe that most of us have false beliefs about our own nature, and our identity over time, and that, when we see the truth, we ought to change some of our […]
From an emirate to space travel (and back again) I did not intend to write about Afghanistan, or the land of the Afghans, or as they call the tomb of empires, but, I felt obliged from another perspective to write a word or two about this country of disobedient peoples living in it, unlike from liberal […]
An interview with Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe Conducted by Dr Predrag Slijepcevic, Brunel University London Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe is best known for his work on the modern version of the panspermia theory – life in the form of microbes has the cosmic origin – conceived and developed in collaboration with his PhD supervisor and a long-term […]
I was that old gringo. I was driving south in my own car in Mexican sunshine along the straight sloping road through the thinly populated valleys of the Sierra Madre Oriental – the whole craggy spine of Mexico is mountainous. Valleys, spacious and austere, were forested with thousands of single yucca trees, the so-called dragon […]
Volumes of vintage erotica are wasted on academics. Just think how many beautiful books filled with lusty, erotic engravings are moldering away under lock and key in some dark, dusty archive. They’re not for our eyes of course but rather for those of a disinterested professor or an ambitious Ph.D. student looking to reinterpret ancient […]
“The body provides something for the spirit to look after and use.” “The void horrifies: so we are all immortal,” Simone de Beauvoir scoffed at the religious escapism of immortality in explaining why she is an atheist, adding: “Faith allows an evasion of those difficulties which the atheist confronts honestly.” But there exists a certain orientation of spirit that […]