This is a painting by the 20th Century American Painter, Edward Hopper. It is titled, “Night Hawks.” To ask in the spirit of Captain Obvious: is this real? The answer, though, is not so obvious. It is “real” in the sense that it is a painting that one can see, touch and even smell. In…
On the flight on the way back from Europe I was able to watch two movies. One was “Hypnotic” about a sinister conspiracy to use the mind’s power to control others through the telepathic creation of “hypnotic constructs.” The other was “Corner Office,” which depicts a middle manager who could be extremely effective in his…
Arthur Yavelberg In times of terrible tragedies—whether personal or world-wide—many in the West think of the Bible and pray. While the text of the prayer may be general–”Please fix this!”–there is usually the hope that there will be some dramatic, divine intervention—much like, say, God splitting the Red Sea in the Book of Exodus. However,…
Voltaire was an 18th Century French playwright. Highly influential regarding the French Revolution, he was a rabid atheist and satirist. He wrote: “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” Ironically, it is also said that, some 50 years…
“Peaky Blinders” is a show on Netflix that takes place in Birmingham, England, with a largely poor Irish community in the ’20’s. The main character, Thomas, is essentially a gangster–into bookmaking, murder, and whatever may be necessary–but is very bright and may have a good heart, maybe softened or hardened by experiences in World War…
That translations of any sort are supposed to facilitate communication is rather obvious. However, to truly make something in one language understandable in another requires much more than a good dictionary. There are idioms and nuances that make perfect sense in one language that, when translated simply word for word, come across as totally ridiculous…
While the question of “free will” takes up a fair amount of energy and thought in scientific, spiritual and philosophical quarters, I have never understood how there can be any doubt. To be able to ask the question–“Is there free will?”–is to assume the existence of free will as the question itself, as all questions,…
There are books and stories and sacred texts and parables and all manner of words used to describe and explain “enlightenment.” However, if Marshall McLuhan is right that “The medium is the message,” all such linguistic gymnastics may be inadequate for that kind of consciousness that is not conscious. Consider the picture below. See how…
Arthur Yavelberg “We don’t need no education.” (Pink Floyd) Pink Floyd’s iconic song is an anthem to those who see schools as assembly lines to produce brain dead cogs for the factories of industrialism. “We don’t need no education.” flouts the decorum of what goes for “civilized” society—claiming that such rituals are artificial at best…
(Published in the Arizona Daily Star, June 4, 2023) In the wonderful fantasy movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion and Dorothy are all seeking something they believe is lacking: a brain, a heart, courage and the way back home. While they lacked the terminology to discuss their despair as “existential…