https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/big-idea daily 0.75 2020-07-25 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5efce2a3676aed0760469e4d/1593631571546/covidAlone.jpg The Big Idea The feeling of extended social-isolation is not just sad, it is existentially terrifying. The inexplicable confusion that results from social-isolation is, I think, a window to the extent to which the “Me” betrays a “We.” Here a provide the example of COVID lockdown because it is perhaps very relatable, but the longterm Psychological damage resulting from solitary-confinement in prisons (no doubt a modern form of torture) is perhaps a much more visceral example. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5efc15370680b224f460b470/1595692431481/IcebergPhoto.jpg The Big Idea This universally recognizable image provides a good framework for thinking about social-consciousness. We are always and only aware of our self-consciousness and therefore also of our “being a conscious individual.” However, although our brains presents us with a “conscious I,” it hides from our awareness the social-framework upon which it is built . Self-consciousness is, much like this iceberg, deceptive. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5eddb999181ec82b51cf3c9d/1591589279506/FeelingOfAcquiringBelief.jpg The Big Idea https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5ee8eedfd49a18233d8534d5/1592323897938/chineseDrama.jpg The Big Idea Theory of Mind has been of great service to the creators of period drama. But are these dramas more story than History? https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/5eddaa1830d909160d49fa38/5eddad9dc796372e5362862f/1591634990849/RosenbergAndHarari.jpg The Big Idea - Alex Rosenberg (Left), and Noah Yuval Hariri (Right) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5eddcc8374da2f6b54bff3ad/1591594121151/CoverPage.jpg The Big Idea https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5eddba67a357687217cf6181/1591656838111/FriendsPhoto.jpg The Big Idea All of the characters in Friends are trivially easy to mindread — except, perhaps, for Phoebe. But if you think about it, this is her entire shtick. Phoebe balances out the show by being the one character whose actions and intentions are not totally transparent. And this lack of transparency never worries us, the audience, because she always carries a smile on her face, and because the lack of transparency alongside this aloof smile is, after all, “the joke.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5eddafd9df6d132badf128ac/1591586902806/RosenbergInitialProblem.jpg The Big Idea https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5ee81f908e3835315ae1206c/1592270741260/TheBigIdea.jpg The Big Idea https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5eea5ba15e04714364ec5ff9/1592417204629/HarariVsRosenberg.jpg The Big Idea https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5ee994afbe9fa770088a8df2/1592366631453/romusAndRemulus.jpg The Big Idea A Roman Coin featuring on its front Emperor Philip (“Philip the Arab”), the Emperor of Rome during the first have of the third century CE. On its back side, it features the iconic image of Romus and Romulus, the mythic founders of Rome, suckling at the teeth of their wolf-mother. From Roman lira to American pennies, has there every been a coin that does not carry some symbol of collective-narrative? https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5eba38fa03776a69be5fa4d9/t/5ee9a28415fa7b5d4c4533f0/1592369815893/ConsciousnessImperative.jpg The Big Idea https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/coverpage daily 1.0 2020-06-06 https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/howrosenberggetsitwrong daily 0.75 2020-06-08 https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/hararireview daily 0.75 2020-06-06 https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/backup daily 0.75 2020-06-08 https://www.thelivinghistory.blog/onantidepressants daily 0.75 2020-07-02