Why Should You Always Write under a Pseudonym? As an experienced writer, I am sometimes asked why I use various pseudonyms, and not my "real" name. Supposedly that is quite clear for those of you who already know me from what I write; it is a part of my ideological framework. But for the sake of clarity, and for those who do not know me from before, I will spend some words on this subject. I strongly oppose the notion of a name as "real" or "not real". The only name that can…
COLOUR & NEGATIVE REALITY: Do we sometimes see what is not? The fact that a coloured object absorbs all colours except the one we see arises an interesting philosophical question. Do we see a negative picture of reality? Do we see that *which is not* rather than that *which is*? Complicated? Let me give an example. A sunflower is viewed as yellow. That is, what we perceive is yellow. It also means that the pigment of the flower reflects yellow and absorbs every other colour.…
Paracetamol (Acetaminophen): A Warning Paracetamol, sometimes called Acetaminophen, is a substance found in many over-the-counter painkillers. Generally, its uses as a medicine overlap those of acetylsalicylic acid and it is commonly used for minor ailments, such as headache in connection with a cold, or toothache - often as an alternative to Aspirin, whose side-effects are sometimes feared. In most cases an unfounded fear. This is lunacy. Paracetamol is so harmful that it…
Satoshi & Sharaku I have previously written here about using a pseudonym. One very successful case of applied pseudonymity and secrecy is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency. He managed to cover his tracks so well that it is impossible to find the person behind the name. But he is not the first one, it has happened before. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/why-should-you-always-write-under-a-pseudonym-f49030df Unless you are a fan of *ukiyo-e,* a…
Suicide is not Painless Benjamin Franklin once wrote that "Nine men in ten are would be suicides." Perhaps we can go further than he did, and say that they are not only "would be" suicides; nine men in ten (or more) actually commit suicide, albeit in a slow and gradual way. A strange statement? It's a matter of definition - and of seeing things for what they really are. Given the human self-destructivity, it is no exaggeration to say that only few humans actually die of…
The Third Kingdom The third kingdom sounds like a religious or mythical prophecy or a political project. It is nothing of the sort, but something much more powerful. A form of life which might very well be the most successful on earth, while at the same time being a precondition for all higher life. Living organisms are usually divided into the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. This is just a human-made classification; there is no reason to consider it absolute. Say that…
Better Health - How to Begin (This is the continuation of "Suicide is not Painless" although it can be read in its own right as well.) https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/suicide-is-not-painless-debdda30 From people just on the threshold of beginning a new life from a health point-of-view, I often get the question "It is so much I have to do, ***Where Should I Begin?***" This question illustrates two things. One is that it is impossible to begin applying everything at the same…
Words are Power - But only if you Have Something to Say Words can both clarify and confuse, both reveal the truth and blot it out. Clear words should be like diamonds: carry weight while not being unduly voluminous; reflect enlightenment through every facet; and, if made sharp, cut with surgical precision through any material. Deceptive words, however, can knit a web of obscurity so tight that what dwells behind them remains a mystery forever. Words carry power, more than…
The Master of the Macabre We will look at one of the greatest of what is called the last generation of ukiyo-e-masters, perhaps **the** greatest: *Tsukioka Yoshitoshi* (1839-1892). He was a versatile artist, but is best known for his macabre contribution to Japanese art. Yoshitoshi stubbornly continued, and even developed, the traditional woodblock printing technique while others left it for photography and more modern graphic methods. Yet he was artistically innovative and…
The Mind of a Politician Only a very small mind takes undue interest in the private affairs of others. Politicians are no exception. These, the smallest of all humans, try to compensate their own human insignificance and their own absence of life with coercive actions against others, total strangers of whose values and needs they know nothing, and would not understand even if they knew them; people whose lives they force into a pattern where cog fits into cog, as in an…
Oops, she was ugly! How art can influence language. This picture, a painting by a 17th century Japanese artist ***Hishikawa Moronobu***, is one of the most famous and influential works in Japanese art history. It also contributed to the Japanese language. Ukiyo-e was the secular art style dominating Japan during the Edo period, which coincides with the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867). Hishikawa Moronobu was not the very first ukiyo-e artist, but he was the first ukiyo-e…
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