#greatest event of humankind

[seekdestr0y]

i just smoked weed with my dad

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS AN ISLAND UNIVERSE??

Blog#422

Saturday, July 27th, 2024.

Welcome back,

No other science engages human curiosity like astronomy. From antiquity onward, attempts to comprehend the architecture of the cosmos have commanded a substantial fraction of humankind’s mental budget for intellectual endeavor. Only in the last century, though, have astronomers grasped the structure of the cosmos accurately. Just a hundred years ago, a great debate raged about the fuzzy patches on the nighttime sky known as “cloudy stars,” or nebulae.

Some astronomers believed that those cosmic fuzzballs resided within the Milky Way, the galaxy containing the sun and billions of other stars. In those days the Milky Way essentially comprised the known universe. But some experts suspected the nebulae to be very distant stellar systems much like the Milky Way itself — “island universes” populating the vastness of space. Skeptics argued otherwise, contending that the nebulae would be impossibly far away if they contained stars similar in brightness to the sun.

In October 1917, the prominent astronomer Harlow Shapley reported that the brightness of novae in various nebulae would place some of them millions of light-years away, in conflict with other measurements of rapid internal motion within the nebulae. (At such large distances, internal motion would not be perceptible.) “Measurable internal proper motions,” Shapley wrote, “can not well be harmonized with ‘island universes’ of whatever size, if they are composed of normal stars.”

The centennial of Shapley’s paper is not being widely celebrated, of course, because he was wrong — distant nebulae are, in fact, island universes (the measurements of internal motion supposedly ruling that out turned out to be bogus). But there is another anniversary worth celebrating this year — the dodransbicentennial (or dodrabicentennial) of the founding of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society in 1842. That event is noteworthy for its connection to one of astronomy’s greatest mysteries: who first coined the phrase “island universe.”

Often that honor is attributed to the philosopher Immanuel Kant. But Kant wrote in German, and he didn’t use any phrase that could be translated as “island universe.” He was among the first to figure out the nature of the Milky Way, though. From ancient times, skywatchers had wondered at the eerie dim glowing band of light visible across the nighttime sky (until modern light pollution drowned it out). Galileo’s telescope revealed within the milky glow a vast population of stars too distant and dim to discern with the naked eye.

More than a century afterward, in 1755, Kant reasoned that the Milky Way was actually a large lens-shaped disk, a system of stars (including the sun) analogous to the sun’s system of planets.In essence, the Milky Way was the universe, a grand collection of countless worlds — stars surrounded by planets, possibly inhabited. Kant further speculated that the Milky Way was not alone. Nebulae, it seemed to him, were too big to be merely dim fuzzy stars. He deduced them to be at a great distance (too far for their individual stars to be detectable), each of them another entire “universe” like the Milky Way.

But he didn’t call them islands. When he used the German word for island (Insel), he was referring to things like Jamaica, or an uninhabited planet. When Kant said “these elliptical figures are just universes,” the actual term he used in German was Weltordnungen, which is literally translated as “world orders” (or in some places Weltgebäuden or Weltsystemen, world systems).

Originally published on https://www.sciencenews.org

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, July 31st, 2024)

"DOES DARK ENERGY EXIST??"

[fate-motif]

what really launches jack crusher from "controversial but potentially interesting character" over to "insufferable tool of the writers" is the epilogue. like, alright, we can understand his state of mind when he breaks away from his parents and flees titan, because the implied threat is basically a lobotomy. fine. and maybe he did believe he would be able to kill the borg queen. also plausible. and, additionally, maybe under the circumstances and because you might not believe in a punitive justice system, incarceration or some other penalty like that would not have been the appropriate course of action to take with his character. all fine and dandy.

however, the following events were not what you would have wanted to have happenef if you want people to still like jack crusher

have him employed in the organization he almost destroyed along with the people it serves

insist he would have been accepted fine without any kind of serious training beforehand

make an offhand joke about him being a nepo hire, because in this case it's blatantly true

give him clear preferential treatment for his position as an ensign

assure the viewers that he's able to contribute something special and unique to the functioning of his starship to the point he has a special position to the bridge, and then give no evidence of that

make him command track when his greatest expertise in life is as a medical professional under the guidance of medical eminence beverly crusher, after having known his biological father with which he has had a complicated relationship with

give him a special role for the advancement of humankind courtesy of engagement with q, just like his father

[bravecrab]

I was just listening to a podcast about the Peter Thiel backed Enhanced Games, a proposed alternative Olympics in which doping would not only be allowed but be the whole point. It's not an original idea, as long as doping has been in the conversation about the Olympics, there's always been people flippantly saying that they should just do something like the Enhanced Games, see how far we can push it. What's the harm?

There are plenty harms related in using cocktails of drugs to push the human body past it's natural limits, and there are plenty people who have made these comments in regards to the Enhanced Games. However a harm that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is the normalisation of pharmaceutical drug use and associating it with "peak physical performance". The Enhanced Games would be more than just an exhibition of sport, it would be a marketing platform for the pharmaceutical industry. Each athlete would have their own team to build them into the perfect athlete, more like Formula One, although who knows if the athletes will have to wear the brand logos on all their gear, so the audience know who sells the best steroids.

Let's not beat around the bush, an event that focuses on finely tuning the human body into a "perfect" form, is eugenics. The proponents of the Enhanced Games will deny it, but they want it to be successful and influential. They want it to be more successful than the Olympics. And that will require a normalisation of Eugenics.

A philosophy of domination is behind both the Enhanced Games and the Olympics. It's always been about peak fitness, as well as geopolitical bragging rights. A mindset of domination has always been used to justify eugenics, domination theology stating that God created the Earth for human consumption, and that of all creatures, Man is closest to God. That's been weaponized as white supremacy and as patriarchy, amongst many other oppressive norms, making claims through pseudo-science, that white, cis, straight men are the pinnacle of humanity. Both events are an exhibition of dominance, and while the Enhanced Games is definitely worse, the Olympics still promotes an idea that the winners are just Great Athletes, and their winning has nothing to do with factors like national wealth and resources.

Another concern I have over an event that normalises enhancing bodies beyond human limits, is that it will attempt to normalise it in work places. Despite advances in automation, a lot of physical work is still done by humans, and will remain that way as long as it is cheaper. If one of the biggest sporting events endorses performance enhancers, it's not a stretch for them to become popularly used in physical workplaces. I've done many years of warehousing work, and guys in those jobs are very much into the idea of being the biggest and strongest. Employers will definitely be happy to exploit this.

I think an event like Enhanced Games is easy to overlook. The concept has been the curiosity of a lot of people as soon as they're aware of doping. However it's the involvement of ghouls like Peter Thiel, people with a TESCREAL philosophy (Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effect Altruism, Long-termism), who want to control the future of all humankind, that make this worrying. These are billionaires who want to sell you your greatest sci fi fantasies, while maintaining a firm grasp on the controls. A future in which Peak Human Performance requires you to buy a steady supply of performance enhancing drugs, is one in which the Pharmaceutical industry is perpetually wealthy.

I'd also like to include that there is also the potential of a backlash to an event like Enhanced Games, it which all forms of alterations and modifications to the human body are labelled as evil and impure, which will likely be used to endorse transphobia.

[wisdomrays]

REFLECTIONS ON THE QUR'AN: Sūratu’l-Qasas (The Narrative): Part 3

Surely, He Who has entrusted you (O Messenger) with the (duty of following and conveying) the Qur’ān, will certainly bring you round to the fulfillment of the promise of returning (in victory to the home you were compelled to leave). (Al-Qasas 28:85)

This verse has been interpreted in two ways. One is that it reminds our Prophet of the things most pleasing to him such as the afterlife and “reunion” with God, for which he yearned most sincerely from the bottom of his heart. At a time when God’s most beloved servant and Messenger, upon him be the most perfect of blessings and peace, was in indescribable sorrow due to the fact that he was compelled to leave his hometown of Makkah and the Ka‘bah, which he loved so much beyond any description, God Almighty consoled him with the promise of reunion with Him and His approval and good pleasure, which was the greatest of glad tidings for him. We cannot comprehend to what extent these good tidings pleased him and made him rejoice. Thus, his All-Compassionate Lord changed his sorrow to rejoicing.

The other meaning of this verse is that God Almighty draws our attention to His Divine practice in recurrent events throughout the human history. That is, from the beginning of Sūratu’l-Qasas up to this verse, God Almighty relates the significant incidents and experiences in Moses’ life from his birth to his struggle against the Pharaoh in Egypt and reminds our Messenger that these are not meaningless historical events. They are repeated in the history of humankind, and, therefore, God’s Messenger will live them or their likes. Like Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, he will also be compelled to leave his hometown to live in another place. While this sūrah was revealed in Makkah, according to a report, this verse was sent down during our Prophet’s emigration to Madīnah. With this verse, God both breathes peace and assurance into the spirit of His Prophet, who is suffering the sorrow of leaving Makkah, and gives him the glad tidings that he will return to his hometown after eight and so years. This interpretation is more acceptable than the former and refers to the mission of Prophethood in giving news from the Unseen.

When the time was due, Makkah was conquered, and the enemies of Muslims suffered humiliation. The pride of humankind, peace and blessings be upon him, “returned” to that glorious town with his dignified Companions through a victory beyond description. As the very word “return” (ma‘ād) implies being in the same place as one was before, this interpretation sounds more accurate.

God knows the best and to Him is the return and homecoming.

[denimbex1986]

'Clocking in at just over three hours, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is his longest and arguably most ambitious film yet.

The biopic sees Cillian Murphy giving a sure to be Oscar-nominated performance as the titular physicist, who is known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.

Its not just the lead star who is being tipped for award season glory either, with his cast mates, director Nolan and the film’s sound, special effects and wardrobe teams also likely to make it onto shortlists.

We’re still many months away from the Golden Globes and Oscars nominee announcements but to tide you over, here are 15 behind-the-scenes facts that remind you just how impressive Oppenheimer is...

The Trinity Test recreation was filmed without special effects

Nolan is no stranger to recreating dramatic events on the big screen but in perhaps his most ambitious move yet, the director decided to film the atomic bomb test without using any CGI or visual effects. That means what you see on screen really did take place – although on a smaller scale.

Visual effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher has explained how his team created real ‘miniature’ explosions and filmed those.

He told Total Film: “We don’t call them miniatures; we call them ‘big-atures’. We do them as big as we possibly can, but we do reduce the scale so it’s manageable.

“It’s getting it closer to the camera, and doing it as big as you can in the environment.”

In order to create the intense burning created by the successful test run, Scott’s team used gasoline and propane, while aluminium powder and magnesium were added to replicate the blinding white light of a nuclear explosion.

Scott added: “We really wanted everyone to talk about that flash, that brightness. So we tried to replicate that as much as we could.”

The opening Prometheus quote is a nod to Nolan’s source material

Oppenheimer opens with an ominous opening caption, which reads: “Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

The film is based on Kai Bird’s 2005 Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus and explaining the comparison, Kai writes in his book: “Like that rebellious Greek god Prometheus—who stole fire from Zeus and bestowed it upon humankind, Oppenheimer gave us atomic fire.

“But then, when he tried to control it, when he sought to make us aware of its terrible dangers, the powers-that-be, like Zeus, rose up in anger to punish him.”

Cillian Murphy got his role without auditioning

Oppenheimer marks Christopher and Cillian’s sixth film together – following the Batman trilogy, Inception and Dunkirk – and given their close relationship, the Irish actor no longer needs to audition for roles.

During an interview with Radio 2, Cillian recalled the moment when he received a casual call from Nolan, who explained he had the perfect lead role for him.

“If you’re lucky you get one or two of those [calls] in your career, you know?” he said. “It was the best, best feeling. It was kind of euphoric, and then you go ‘oh that’s a lot of work’. So I immediately just started working.

“I had like six months before, between when he called me and we started the shoot. The script was solid and was there. It was one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever read. It was magnificent.”

The cast lived together during filming

Oppenheimer sees America’s greatest scientific minds living together at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico and for the movie, Nolan also moved his cast and crew into digs together.

Emily Blunt likened the situation to ‘summer camp’ and told People: “We were all in the same hotel in the middle of the New Mexican desert. We only had each other.”

But Cillian skipped their group hangouts

Longterm pals Emily and Matt Damon organised group dinners for the cast during filming – but the former’s on-screen husband RSVP’d with a firm no.

Mary Poppins actor Emily added to People: “The sheer volume of what he had to take on and shoulder is so monumental.

“Of course he didn’t want to come and have dinner with us.”

Cillian added: “You know that when you have those big roles, that responsibility, you feel it’s kind of overwhelming.”

Another contributing factor was the Irish star’s strict diet, as he lost weight to play the scientist, who in real-life subsisted on cigarettes, martinis and not so much food.

“He was losing so much weight for the part that he just didn’t eat dinner, ever,” Matt told Entertainment Tonight.

The hard to hear dialogue is (sort of) intentional

While Oppenheimer is very much deserving of its five-star reviews, cinema-goers have complained about one thing: the sound levels.

Posting on social media after seeing the movie, numerous fans noted that some of the speech sounds muffled and exchanges on-screen can sometimes be difficult to fully hear.

This is down to the fact the IMAX cameras used by Nolan aren’t soundproofed.

Most directors would work around this by getting actors to re-record dialogue in post-production to make it clearer, but this is something he isn’t a fan of.

“I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor re-voice it later,” Nolan told Insider. “Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.”

The script was written in first person

In another unusual move, Nolan wrote the script in first person in order to reflect how most of the film is being told from Oppenheimer’s perspective and using his memories.

Matt Damon told Vulture: “I’ve never seen that done before. Instead of ‘Oppenheimer walks across the room,’ it’s ‘I walk across the room.’ This was a way for him to signal that, Okay, this is what the movie’s going to feel like. It’s going to feel immediate.”

Kodak had to manufacture a new type of film especially for Oppenheimer

Film purist Nolan filmed the biopic on large format cameras with IMAX 70mm film, but there was one small problem.

Oppenheimer features two timelines with one in colour and another in black-and-white. Unfortunately, black and white IMAX 70mm film didn’t exist so cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema put in a call to Kodak.

He told Variety: “They came out with test rolls for us to run through our camera. We had to re-engineer our cameras a little bit, and we had to remake our pressure plates and our backend lab work needed to be readjusted.”

“I do remember when Chris and I were sitting in the cinema and watching the results of our first black and white test and it was just freaking amazing. We had never seen anything like it.”

Cillian had no physics knowledge – but one co-star was well-prepared

The Inception star has admitted that he doesn’t “have the intellectual capacity to understand quantum mechanics” but the same can’t be said for Benny Safdie, who plays Edward Teller.

Prior to becoming an actor, Benny was a budding scientist and studied nuclear physics in high school.

“I was working with a physicist at Columbia University,” he told Vulture. “I was doing cosmic rays. It is a deep passion of mine.”

And another actor previously starred in another Oppenheimer-inspired project

Christopher Denham, who plays Klaus Fuchs, appeared in the 2014 series Manhattan, which took its name from the project developing the atomic weapons.

We won’t spoil the TV drama but Christopher’s Manhattan character, the entirely fictional Jim Meeks, has parallels to his Oppenheimer alter-ego.

There are no deleted scenes and there’ll never be a director’s cut

Nolan’s love of IMAX cameras and 70mm film makes movie-making incredibly expensive, so he makes sure every single second of his movies is mapped out before yelling ‘action’.

Cillian told Collider: “There’s no deleted scenes in Chris Nolan movies. That’s why there are no DVD extras on his movies because the script is the movie. He knows exactly what’s going to end up – he’s not fiddling around with it trying to change the story. That is the movie.”

Oppenheimer features Nolan’s first ever sex scenes

Despite having directed 11 feature films before starting work on his latest, Nolan had never directed intimate scenes before.

Oppenheimer features sex scenes with the titular scientist and Jean Tatlock, a member of the communist party who was his lover before and during his marriage (played by Florence Pugh).

Justifying the intimate moments, Nolan told Insider they are “essential” to understanding Oppenheimer’s life as a whole.

“His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock [...] is one of the most important things in his life,” he said. “But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate.

“It felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.”

Florence Pugh’s topless scene is very different in some cinemas around the globe

The intimate scenes between Oppenheimer and his lover earned the film its R rating, but some cinema-goers noticed an odd addition to one scene.

In countries including India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, digital censoring has been used to cover Florence’s body with a CGI black dress.

Nolan had been thinking about Oppenheimer since he was a teenager

The director grew up in England in the 1980s when the scientist was “a part of pop culture then, without us knowing a lot about him.”

He told Bulletin: “I think I first encountered Oppenheimer in that relation; I think he was referred to in Sting’s song about the Russians that came out then and talks about Oppenheimer’s ‘deadly toys.’

“It was the peak of CND, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Greenham Common [protest]; the threat of nuclear war was when I was 12, 13, 14 – it was the biggest fear we all had,” he added.

And there’s even an Oppenheimer reference in Tenet

In the same interview, Nolan recalls learning of how the Los Alamos scientists were told there was a chance the atomic bomb could destroy the world.

He explained: “That struck me as the most dramatic situation in the history of the world, with any sort of possibility being an end to life on Earth. That’s a responsibility that nobody else in the history of the world had ever faced.

“I put a reference to that in my last film, Tenet; there’s dialogue, a reference to that exact situation by Oppenheimer. That film deals with a science-fiction extrapolation of that notion: Can you put the toothpaste back in the tube? The danger of knowledge, once knowledge is unveiled—once it’s known, once it’s fact—you can’t wind the clock back and put that away.”'

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: AN INTRODUCTION TO HADITH: Part 3

The Sahaba and the Tabi’un

DEFINITION OF SAHABA

The Companions of Allah’s Messenger are referred to as Sahabi (pl. Sahaba or Ashab), denoting ‘companion, associate, comrade, fellow, friend, or fellow-traveler’ in Arabic.

Those believers who saw and heard the Messenger at least once, and who died as Muslims have been referred to as Sahabi.

VIRTUES OF THE SAHABA

There are many verses in the Qur’an that speak of the virtue of the Prophet’s Companions. It is said of them,

“Allah was assuredly well-pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree” (al-Fath 48:18).

Due to Allah’s saying of them, “Allah is well-pleased with them,” it has become common to say, “May Allah be well pleased with them,” when one of their names are mentioned.

Allah has revealed that the Companions are sincere, straightforward and trustworthy, and indeed prosperous;( Al-Hashr 59:8–9) stating,

“You are the best community ever brought forth for (the good of) humankind,” (Al Imran 3:110)

He has praised them in the greatest possible way. Allah’s Messenger has echoed the same notion in his hadith stating,

“The best of people are my generation and then those who follow them and then those who follow them.”( Sahih al-Bukhari, Fada’il al-Ashab, 1)

Due to the Qur’an and Sunnah’s confirming the righteousness and morality Companions without any differentiation between them and it's attesting to their piety and fairness, all the Companions have been accepted as righteous.

Implied in the term “righteous” (adil) is the reliability of their testimony, their truthfulness, faithfulness, piety, trustworthiness, and steadfastness.

The Ahl al-Sunnah scholars have unanimously accepted all the Companions to be righteous.

On account of this, speaking ill of or insulting any of the Companions has been considered as one of the greatest of sins. The Prophet has stated:

“Do not curse my Companions! Do not curse my Companions! I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is that, even if one among you had as much gold as Mount Uhud and spent it in the way of Allah, this would not be equal in reward to a few handfuls of them or even to half of that.”(Sahih Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 221)

The Companions have been grouped into various categories among them, based on their level of virtue.

The Meccan Companions have been referred to as the Emigrants (Muhajirun), while the Medinan natives have been called the Helpers (Ansar). They have been ranked in accordance with their participation in such important events as the Battle of Badr and the oath of allegiance. The Prophet’s household (Ahl al-Bayt), children, wives, and relatives hold a distinct position and esteem. The Messenger of Allah said that his daughter,

“Fatima is the mistress of the women of Paradise,”

and in another hadith, stated,

“Fatima is part of me. Whoever makes her angry, makes me angry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Fada’il al-Ashab, 29)

He also revealed that Archangel Jabrail gave his greetings to his wife Aisha and said in one hadith,

“Do not injure me regarding Aisha.” ( Sahih al-Bukhari, Fada’il al-Ashab, 30)

The most virtuous of the Companions are the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, respectively.

One of the most well-known gradations is the ten Companions who were promised Paradise while still alive (Ashara al-Mubashshara). They are ( may Allah be well pleased with all of them. )

Abu Bakr (d. 634 CE),

Umar (d. 644 CE),

Uthman (d. 655 CE), 

Ali (d. 660 CE),

Abdu’r-Rahman ibn Awf (d. 652 CE),

Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah (d. 639 CE),

Talha ibn Ubaydullah (d. 656 CE),

Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (d. 656 CE),

Said ibn Zayd ibn Amr (d. 671 CE),

Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas (d. 675 CE),

THE TABI’UN

Those succeeding the Companions and following in their footsteps have been referred to as Tabi’i (pl. Tabi’un), being a person who met with one of the Companions and spent time in their company.

Allah declares that He is well pleased with those who follow in the footsteps of the Companions:

The first and foremost (to embrace Islam and excel others in virtue) among the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who follow them in devotion to doing good, aware that Allah is seeing them—Allah is well pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them Gardens throughout which rivers flow, therein to abide forever. That is the supreme triumph. (at-Tawbah 9:100)

Allah’s Messenger states that the best generation after his Companions is the one succeeding them.

The generation of the Tabi’un is of utmost importance with respect to the history of Islamic religious studies.

The greatest Muslim scholars lived in this generation and the principles of the Islamic studies determined by them. The following seven Medinan scholars known as the Seven Jurists of Medina (Fuqaha al-Medina as-Sab’a) have special importance in the Hadith Sciences:

Said ibn al-Mussayyib (d. 723 CE),

Qasim ibn Muhammad (d. 723 CE),

Urwa ibn Zubayr (d. 713 CE),

Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 718 CE),

Abu Salama ibn Abdu’r-Rahman ibn Awf (d. 722 CE),

Ubayd Allah ibn Utba ibn Mas’ud (d. 717 CE),

Sulayman ibn Yasar (d. 722 CE).

Relatives of the Companions and raised among them, these Tabi’un scholars became known through the consultations they held among themselves in resolving issues. With a strong command of the Qur’an and Sunnah in terms of both transmission (riwaya) and critical perception or cognition (diraya), Tabi’un scholars established the Islamic studies on strong intellectual grounds.

[nohaynat]

hidden behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue

it was the media again. a viral stream of pictures that gave us content to nib on for a while: contagious – HH the Dalai Lama teased a kid in his own style, sticking his tongue out in the a way a (Tibetan) grandparent would tease their grandchild, and the world stuck their eyes out pointing their projecting fingers at an institutional leader. 

yes, we all want to bring down institutions when they install more harm than good. but the Dalai Lama, do “you” really know the man “you” are talking about? it is not unreasonable to cringe at what could seem an abuse of a “spiritual master” to a “student”. this type of abuses happen across the board, in all institutions, religions, and spiritual traditions, sadly. it has also happened within buddhism, and it hurts to learn about it each time around: it hurts because there is an immeasurable, simmering, potential of transformation that the practice and philosophy of buddhism could bring to us, humankind, and yet, we fall down into the old pit, old rut, old patterns... c’mon, we could’ve stayed in drugs, sex, and rock&roll for that! so let's come out of the old pit.

when sticking his tongue out, HH brought buddhism to the spotlight: not a bad thing at all. he also brought the discussion of institutional abuse to the spotlight: not a bad thing at all. he woke up the feminist intercultural chats of anyone who wants to see a real transformation in the world of politics, economics, and climate decline: not a bad thing at all. he stretched dialogues and strengthened bonds: not a bad thing at all. 

as i write this, the first international buddhist conference has just ended. it was the largest meeting of its type, with people with a plethora of inspiring backgrounds and stories, from cave meditators, to wandering yogis, political figures, scholarly accomplished geshes, and practitioners whose path we would wish to emulate; people looking with deep honesty and interest into the nature of mind, life, joy, meaning, mingled together for a couple of days – this is behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue.

as i write this, another, the most, the greatest, the unsurpassed event is taking place. a Nyingma accomplished lineage holder, Gyatrul Rinpoche (1925-2023), has died in California (US). Rinpoche is now manifesting one of the rarest realisations: rainbow body – the body, after death, not only does not decompose, but shrinks to the size of an 8 year old, through days of the meditative state known as Tukdam. it has been 14 days since he died, he is there, and people can visit the place for prayers. his “sea burial” has been postponed from April 20th until May 30th because of his meditation. this is the first time we, in the west, witness the phenomenon... rainbow body... that this is happening now simply shows how alive the teachings are. buddhism is my dharma, it is not, and need not, be everyone’s. but if buddhism is alive, all spiritual paths are. they are true. they are here. they are ours: liberation is our soul’s right and hidden behind the Dalai Lama’s tongue lies our spirit, ready to be awakened. 

ps. the “world” demands the Dalai Lama to “adapt” to our projections. is it that what we really wish for? or would we rather transform our minds to start seeing a glimpse of the purity of the world that stands before the Dalai Lama’s gaze? open question.

[menagerie-of-monsters]

Character Intro: Celyn

Read his story in The Gardener and the Water-Horse, a full-length novel set ten years before the events of The Sorceress and the Incubus.

Name: Psalytaemanthe, goes by Celyn Age: ~10,000 years Gender: Male Species: lake elemental - water-horse

Celyn is the water-horse of Tsirisma Lake, the caldera lake surrounding the island on which Barixeor Spire stands. He is a shapeshifter, capable of taking the shape of a horse or of a nearly-human man, and his consciousness is indelibly linked to the lake and its waters.

Unlike many of his kind, Celyn is fairly friendly towards humans, and allows people to conduct their activities freely on his waters, as long as they don't cause him harm or attempt to bridle him.

Like all water-horses, however, Celyn is possessive and vengeful. His tolerance for humankind is limited to minor interactions: those who interact deeply with him will either belong to him, be killed by him, or both.

The humans never left, though there were never more than a few. Great powers replaced each other, one after the other, a chain of them. I wondered what they thought of their small lives. They burned so brightly, like flashes of lightning. Did they think of themselves as the bolts of light in a great thunderstorm, as I saw them? Or did they believe themselves to be edifices of their own? Sometimes they spoke to me. Sometimes not. On occasion, one would choose to bargain with me, and I often agreed to the things they wanted out of curiosity. All of them treated me the way the elk treat the wolf, as if I might leap out of my water without provocation and carry them into the depths to tear the flesh off of their bones. It didn't trouble me. I knew what I was. Even the greatest of those who carve paths for the ley cannot stand against the forces of nature. They called me different things. Water-horse. Fey elemental. Tsirisma Lake. None of these names were mine, but I answered to them, nonetheless.

[mjilightworker]

All God Wants

All God Wants

All God wants is for His Created Souls to follow the two greatest commandments.Mark 12:28b-32 Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:Understand the purpose of negativity, the purpose it serves in life.

Avoid judgement and love for oneself (ego), and establish love for all of humankind because we are all connected. We are all one.

1Co 12:12 

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 

Luke 23:34a Then Jesus said; Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Isiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

A soul is in their own life. Living life in their own freewill way. God is allowing it because it is part of His Plan. Questioning events that go on in the world is like saying the Creator has no control, or doesn’t know what is happening next. Questioning God is a faith and trust and issue.

Have faith and trust knowing God's love for you is at all times and is eternal. If the appearance is of something different, question yourself, not God. Any thought processing that is not in the framework of love, it is not in truth.

The eternal expanse of Creation is within His self. It allows His self to live love through His Creation, with full control; yet His Creation has life to freely live through Him, (if they so choose), in their own “time”, or freely choose to live through the flesh.

Humankind with total freewill decides how much love flows from the soul back to God. God’s love never changes with His souls. Obviously, God would want a 100% return on love because, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:” (2Co 11:2a)These words are from Paul. He had a jealously he learned from Jesus. Jesus has a jealousy over all His souls.The purpose of the flesh is for experiences, keeping apprised at knowing there is only one God, and the soul through awareness denies the god within itself.

MJI (LightWorker)

[writer59january13]

After drenching biblical rainfall...

verdant green acres covered the planet of the apes like a petticoat junction donning barrel of skinny dipping monkeys. Once drought stricken vast landscape far as the eye could see suddenly flush with promise of budding new shoots and ladders for vine companions harkened prelapsarian Edenic prominence, when mother nature resplendent videre licet morning glory of primeval Earth pregnant with multitudinous color pallette regaled bipedal forerunners

of humankind with panoramic pristine kingdom, where legendary tropical verdure availed countless plant and animal species teeming with flora and fauna offering veritable Smörgåsbord to plethora of herbivores and omnivores, where expansive webbed wide world subtly hinted, negotiated and suggested horn and hardart of good and plenty. Lush vegetation adrip with downpour aftermath tempted all creatures great and small all things wise and wonderful to emerge from their respective hideaway courtesy the palpable pulsation of Gaia exuding potential power to proliferate gifting superlatives linkedin to survival of the fittest blessing natural advantageous propensities to buzzfeed capital one reproductive traits redeeming symbiotic qualities with generations of beneficial mutations at evolutionarily optimal junctures though devoid of thinking beings to witness or record phenomenal events. Nasty short beasts proliferated refining technique to do the wild thing stir (fried) crazy as concupiscent bison teen in estrus while shuffling off to Buffalo, (or where that city in the United State of America would take shape) hashtagging where x marks the spot made within man/woman caves

that did be hoof anthropologists even nearly a bajillion years later.

Imagine dragons galumphing during flintstone age culture club wielding proto humans impossible mission their mental acuity to gauge

of Homo neanderthalensis

very intelligent and accomplished humans, Whereby current evidence from both fossils and DNA suggests that Neanderthal and modern human lineages separated at least 500,000 years ago. Some genetic calibrations place their divergence at about 650,000 years ago,

nevertheless amongst the scattered clans there probably lurked an anonymous sage smart enough to induce quantum leap did jump/kick start scattered population with wits about them to sustain their existence.

Appearance of super duper wiseacre invariably punctuated Homo sapiens progenitors as an unknown mover and shaker,

who helped fledgling forebears of contemporary people to discover trappings to weasel out from being between a rock and a hard place and squirrel away linens and things for anticipated future creature comfort or necessity.

Imponderable and inscrutable poetic philosophical meanderings of mine (expounded upon while I nourished myself on a snicky snack prepared by the missus – graham cracker with Almond butter plus Rhubarb jam) found me most unexpectedly tangentially linkedin with the invaluable scientific knowledged bequeathed to civilization courtesy the greatest thinker for Grecian formula(s).

Noah (way) did Archimedes

(born c. 287 BCE, Syracuse, Sicily

[Italy]—died 212/211 BCE, Syracuse)

discover flood insurance nor prevention, but hands down he ranked as the most famous mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece. He is especially important for his discovery of the relation between the surface and volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is known for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle (known as Archimedes’ principle) and a device for raising water, still used, known as the Archimedes screw. There are nine extant treatises by Archimedes in Greek.The principal results in On the Sphere and Cylinder (in two books) are that the surface area of any sphere of radius r is four times that of its greatest circle (in modern notation, S = 4πr2) and that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds that of the cylinder in which it is inscribed (leading immediately to the formula for the volume, V = 4/3πr3). Archimedes was proud enough of the latter discovery to leave instructions for his tomb to be marked with a sphere inscribed in a cylinder.

Measurement of the Circle is a fragment of a longer work in which π (pi), the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, is shown to lie between the limits of 3 10/71 and 3 1/7. Archimedes’ approach to determining π, which consists of inscribing and circumscribing regular polygons with a large number of sides, was followed by everyone until the development of infinite series expansions in India during the 15th century and in Europe during the 17th century.

[mexisco]

Adding my 2 cents to this: the film makes it abundantly clear that the creation of the atomic bomb was a catastrophic event for humankind. It also makes it clear that what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn’t necessary and that it was one of the greatest tragedies in human history.

Oppenheimer does not include any footage of the actual bombings and it does not include japanese people because it is supposed to be about American imperialism and how easy it was for them to commit this senseless act of violence against innocent Japanese people because of how removed they are from them.

In one of the scenes, a top US official asks that they don’t bomb Kyoto simply because he and his wife had their honeymoon there. It’s supposed to be about white men’s selfishness, and specifically about the horrible things that happen when white men (in this case, Oppenheimer) do things without even thinking about the repercussions.

It is not Christopher Nolan’s place to make a film about the experience of Japanese people. It would be disingenuous. Besides, there are many, many movies by Japanese directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu that deal with the consequences Japan faced before and after the dropping of the atomic bombs. And they are films a white man could never possibly make.

okay okay so like i don’t wanna kill the party but i just saw an instagram shop selling a shirt that says now i am become death the destroyer of worlds in barbie font and i just sigh i just like i get the novelty of barbie and oppenheimer weekend but i have got to stress the bomb changed the entire world forever and wiped out over a quarter of a million people i think maybe we gotta kinda take a step back here when we start selling it as if it’s fun hot girl summer fodder

[yuexuan]

[Review]大世界

Title: 大世界 Great World

Author: 颜凉雨

Length: 61 chapters + 5 extras

Tag: Modern, sci-fi, slice-of-life

Summary:

130 years ago, the mysterious fog that covered the Earth brought about a ‘Wild Awakening’. Humans have thus entered the ‘Animal-morphing Era’.

A hundred years ago, the climate suddenly changed. Natural disasters became frequent, extreme weathers became common, leading to a sharp decline in food supplies and the lapse of technological advancement.

Humankind used 30 years to adapt to the change, evolving half-creature, anthromorphized etc. forms. But they didn’t expect to be faced with the crossroad of survival, instead of a new era.

But the 19 year old Tong Xiaonan (Family: Penguin) and Nie Bingyuan (Family: Polar bear) haven’t started considering the fate of humankind yet. As the freshmen of the century-old No. 4 Creature Awakening University--

Tong Xiaonan’s greatest trouble was: my friend thought I saw him as a brother.

Nie Bingyuan’s greatest trouble was: my friend spoiled and tolerated me, but he always looked at me like a dummy.

Novel

Comments *contains spoilers**

Set ~100 years after the second book, the third book focuses on the school life and world of Nie Bingyuan and Tong Xiaonan. Unlike the first two books, the third book builds a more apocalyptic world, where humankind is slowly moving towards their demise. Despite this, the tone of the book is still largely light and the first half of the book is centered around smaller scale events in the school. The second half of the book deals more with the antagonist’s ploy to change the genetic makeup of humankind so that they can awaken mythological creature attributes. MC and ML resolve this by bringing the main couples from books 1 and 2 to battle with the antagonist.

Highlights

Similar to the previous books, the main couple have pretty silly personalities. Nie Bingyuan is super smart, but at the same time superstitious and completely obtuse to his feelings for Tong Xiaonan. Oftentimes he would get jealous at other people who got too close to Tong Xiaonan. Tong Xiaonan, on the other hand, embodies the physical awkwardness of penguins, oftentimes slipping and falling while walking. He has a crush on Nie Bingyuan, but doesn’t dare to voice out his feelings. However, the other students are fully aware of their feelings for each other and basically couldn’t stand them constantly doting on one another.

The evolution of human’s abilities to turn into animals from the previous books provide a nice continuity in the trilogy. The first book depicts the start of humanity’s exploration towards their newfound abilities to attain animal traits; the second book showcases ongoing struggles as new societal hierarchies are created related to the different animal traits; and the last book explored how, aside from animal traits, humanity also obtained additional superpowers in a quickly declining world. It’s kinda sad - but also cool - to see the progression of human civilization - by the third book, conditions have deteriorated so much that people no longer have the internet and they rely only on seafood and potatoes for their staple.

Since I liked the main characters from the previous books, it is cool to see old characters making a debut again. I suspect that the author’s favorite child is Hu Lingyu, given the important role he holds for two books.

In the last part of the book, characters obtain the abilities to transform into mythological creatures. I like the added detail about how the origin of the characters determine the type of mythological creature they are (e.g. western characters turned into western mythological creatures, and Chinese characters turned into Chinese mythological creatures). This is despite the fact that their animal type had nothing to do with the region they live in lol.

Things I didn’t like

The two sections of the story don't quite flow into one another. It’s a bit jarring to read about the daily lives of the main couple and their classmates in the first part, only for those classmates to take on a very peripheral role in the second part of the story. In particular, the second pairing started strong, but quickly became forgotten in the latter part of the story.

And perhaps this is just me, but the ending of the story seems strangely nationalistic, touting China as the only country that had ever done any agriculture research in harsh conditions of the world. Which doesn’t make sense, because anyone could see that agriculture is a natural course of action for ANY country to ensure food security when food supplies are low.

[denimbex1986]

'During the countdown to July 21, 2023, much merriment was made about the Barbie versus Oppenheimer double feature. Each film came from a seasoned indie-turned-blockbuster director — Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, respectively — with expansive visions, distinct thematic flairs, and a knack for captivating audience attention in an increasingly distracted world. The internet seized upon the meme opportunities as the internet is wont to do. Creatives on both sides of the metaphorical aisle expressed excitement over their "rival" film. And fortune favors the bold, for this mini pop culture zeitgeist probably helped push both films into impressive opening weekends during a summer box office that's seen as many misses as it has historical hits.

Many cinephiles, myself included, had no stake in the game; two seemingly contradictory films premiering on the same day just celebrated cinema's versatility. But despite the piercingly insightful Barbie serving as an uplifting contrast to Oppenheimer's necessarily solemnity, there's only one true match for Christopher Nolan's twelfth film. If Oppenheimer singles out one man's existential dilemma and the apocalyptic ramifications of the atomic bomb's creation, the 1988 animated classic Grave of the Fireflies from Studio Ghibli and noted director Isao Takahata focuses on two siblings in the wake of the United States's systematic bombings of Japanese cities. It's easy for subsequent generations to feel distant from an event they didn't experience. Fireflies grants no such mercy even to the unaware. Takahata's film makes history as unignorable as it should always be, applying the unbearable weight of honesty and a prevailing intimacy to an atrocity that's inseparable from J. Robert Oppenheimer.

How Are ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ Related?

Hailed by many as Christopher Nolan's magnum opus, Oppenheimer is an exquisite three-hour biopic executed by a consummate master of his craft. True to its title, the film follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist dubbed "the father of the atomic bomb." As part of the top-secret Manhattan Project and the overseer of the Los Alamos Laboratory, Oppenheimer proved pivotal in the successful designing of the world's first atomic bomb. Evaluating Oppenheimer as a piece of cinema divorced from history, it's an amalgamation of everything responsible for Christopher Nolan's household name status. He's a distinct, beloved, and sometimes controversial figure, and Oppenheimer stands on the pillars of Nolan's established strengths. The writer-director wields Oppenheimer the man with the precision of a scalpel to vivisect history: he interrogates the casualty of human nature with vicious questions about the banality of evil, the corruptive influence of power, and humankind's culpability for the current state of our world. It leaves one feeling appropriately desolate as well as awe-struck.

Released in 1988 by the revered animation house Studio Ghibli, Grave of the Fireflies is often regarded as one of the greatest animated masterpieces and one of the best war films of all time. Since art is subjective by nature, Fireflies is one of the few fictional pieces capable of earning a descriptor like "universal" praise. Unlike Western media, Japan doesn't infantilize the animation medium. Artists and fans treat it like an art form worthy of passionate execution and critical respect comparable to a live-action exercise. Grave of the Fireflies could undoubtedly match any live-action film in sheer artistry and the severity of its lasting emotional impact. It's an experience only animation could render, and it's somehow all the more devastating for that fact: human hands drew a story this unrelentingly affecting.

Grave of the Fireflies derives its story from the semi-autobiographical writings of author, singer, and politician Akiyuki Nosaka. Having come of age during World War II, Nosaka based Fireflies on his experiences as a survivor of the March 1945 firebombings of the Japanese city of Kōbe. At the time, Kōbe was one of Japan's most populous cities as well as home to one of the country's most important ports. Kōbe's citizens were unprepared for and helpless against multiple air raids from American Allied forces that killed thousands of residents and left even more homeless. One of these attacks caused the death of Akiyuki Nosaka's adoptive father while Nosaka's little sister Keiko perished in the aftermath.

Kōbe was one city among many ruthlessly decimated by aerial bombardment (and executed by far too many American soldiers who held no regard for Japanese lives). Days earlier on March 9, Tokyo had suffered what the Encyclopedia Britannica calls "one of the most destructive acts of war in history." In one night alone, tens of thousands perished in an act of unfathomable cruelty described as "the worst single firestorm in recorded history" with "human carnage [...] so great that the blood-red mists and stench of burning flesh [...] wafted up."

What Happens in Studio Ghibli’s ‘Grave of the Fireflies’?

In Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies adaptation, two siblings are orphaned by the Kōbe bombings after their mother passes away from catastrophic burns. Older brother Seita Yokokawa (Tsutomu Tatsumi), a young teen, and his younger sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) struggle to survive in a world overrun by apathy, indifference, and evil. There are the adults who wage war without care for human casualties, the aunt who treats her nephew and niece with selfish cruelty, the strangers who refuse to help two starving children, and those so accustomed to dead bodies that the sight barely elicits a reaction let alone sympathy.

Since Setsuko is barely more than a toddler, Seita tries to preserve his sister's innocence as a parental caregiver as well as a brother. He helps her rediscover beauty even while both siblings are slowly, inexorably dying of starvation: they celebrate a buoyant moment on the beach and gaze in rapturous wonder at nature, specifically a group of fireflies' dazzling light. These everyday insects illuminating the night are transcendent, especially for Setsuko. The little girl cares as much for her beloved brother as Seita does her; she tends to him within her limited comprehension, because in such circumstances, children understand enough. No matter how agonizing life becomes, their relationship is one of unconditional tenderness. This contrast between wider malice and concentrated intimacy is Fireflies' thesis statement about the harrowing duality of human existence: the best of life and the worst.

When Setsuko realizes how fleeting a firefly's life is, the metaphor for these human children is unambiguous. The movie never allows viewers to entertain the hope Seita and Setsuko will survive because it opens with their ghosts reuniting. The flashback that follows is a eulogy capturing their lives' tender brevity while depicting their inevitable slide toward death. Being equipped with the knowledge these children are doomed makes Fireflies' outcome no more palatable. Instead, watching every increasingly desperate moment leaves you hollow, with a festering raw grief few movies can hope to match.

What Makes ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ So Devastating?

Writer-director Isao Takahata based Fireflies' air raid imagery on first-hand experience. In 1945, a nine-year-old Takahata lived through the United States bombing Japan's Okayama Prefecture. Takahata remembers waking his sister and stumbling "outside barefoot while still in their pajamas" before witnessing "a sea of fire." Approximately 1,737 civilian lives were lost. Takahata described the memory to Mainichi Shimbun in 2015: "I could not stop shaking, faced with a situation in which I could have died at any moment."

Each of Fireflies' elements is a masterpiece. Assembled, they make a devastating, haunting, and unforgettable experience. The framing of every shot, the colors utilized, the characterization beats, the animation's fluid pacing, the performances, and the script's meticulous nuance contribute to an atmosphere of candid humanization. Takahata's touch is delicate yet ruthless: grave diggers tossing away a candy jar in the first act becomes unbearable with context.

It's not uncommon for even the most casual movie watcher to feel changed by certain films. Most of these experiences are affirming, as if the story unlocked a door to previously undiscovered realizations about yourself. To watch Grave of the Fireflies is to be permanently wounded. It's something you carry in your heart afterward — and, by that right, possibly one of the most important contributions to film.

‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ Have Different Goals, Same Outcome

If Grave of the Fireflies portrays dying innocence within a cruel world, then Oppenheimer deals with the full weight of knowledge. White men in the American government have the power to sanction hundreds of thousands of deaths as easily as ordering breakfast. They decide that the lives of Japanese civilians are justifiable losses and debate which cities make the best targets — opting for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Christopher Nolan doesn't depict the catastrophic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; arguably, it's not an affluent British man's story to tell. Even if Nolan's intentions were good, graphic imagery might exploit and dehumanize Japanese civilians. The other side of this argument is that it's irresponsible to make a movie about the atomic bomb's creation without showing the ruin it inflicted upon Asian-Pacific lives.

Despite its flaws, Oppenheimer never aims to be anything but a critical incitement. Neither does Grave of the Fireflies, but Fireflies prioritizes the perspective of innocent Japanese children caught in a conflict they neither sought nor participated in. War is an act of unadulterated evil. This has been our world's reality, and it remains a reality. A movie like Grave of the Fireflies is why both the creation and the introspective consumption of art will always be a vitally important part of the human experience. It's why cinema exists: to inform, move, challenge perspectives, and tell the truth.'

[bartoszbeda]

Two Minutes Before Midnight - Solo Exhibition

Two Minutes Before Midnight, Bartosz Beda - Solo Exhibition at Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, TX

Dallas- Ro2 Art is proud to present Bartosz Beda: Two Minutes Before Midnight. For the exhibition, Two Minutes Before Midnight, Bartosz Beda introduces new paintings which explore humankind and the issues that society grapples with from the past to the present. In his artist statement, Beda recalls that there is a sense of tension and emptiness of life itself, where individualism and narcissism are a commodity rather than  a prophecy of failure. It feels as if it is” two minutes before midnight,” before a significant cultural, spiritual, and intellectual reset that will bring a new beginning. It is not doomsday but a nature correcting its course of ‘life’.

Poet's Dream 05, 183x243cm (72x96 inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Poet's Dream 07, 152x203cm (60x80 inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Poet's Dream 06, 122x152cm (48x60 inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Poet's Dream 04, oil on paper canvas, 30x23cm (12x9inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Poet's Dream 03, oil on paper canvas, 30x23cm (12x9inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Poet's Dream 01, oil on paper canvas, 30x23cm (12x9inches), 2022, Two minutes Before Midnight, solo exhibition at Ro2

Artist statement

When I was a teenager, my Polish teacher told a story about archeologists who discovered hieroglyphs that described the youth as uneducated, sluggish, and unable to sustain civilization. I never followed up with the resource of the story and its accuracy; however, it made me think that two things seem to be repeating themselves. One is the lack of attention and inability to have common sense and comprehensive discussions on current issues. The second thing is the "warnings" and emptiness of life itself, where individualism and narcissism are a commodity and not a prophecy of failing. It feels as if it is two minutes before midnight, before a significant cultural, spiritual and intellectual reset that will bring a new beginning. It is not doomsday but a nature correcting its course of "life." The cautions and disbelief that the time we have now is perhaps mismanaged were given to us by great philosophers and thinkers who saw patterns and seasons in human nature and the history of humankind. Paintings explore the concept of historical patterns following the quote by the German philosopher Georg Hegel who famously said, "The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history."  The Greek word "eudaimonia" reverted its meaning and assigned new rules of happiness that are now associated with extremes of joy, external achievements or events, and a lack of capacity to maintain a calm disposition no matter what. Perhaps rational and irrational elements of ethics bring us closer to two minutes before midnight. It all brings us to the great paradox of human nature. Humans as a complete whole and not a collection of parts are prone to false reasoning and mistaken beliefs that create a failure of reason and attachment to the universe's formal logic and rational will. Imperare sibi maximum imperium est (The greatest empire is to be emperor of oneself" or " The greatest kind of power is self-control").

About The Artist

Born in Poland in 1984, Bartosz Beda relocated to the UK in 2008 to study at the Manchester School of Art. After graduating in 2012 with an MA in Fine Art, Beda was selected for the 2012 Catlin Art Guide as the most promising emerging artist in the UK. Short-listed for the Title Art Prize, the Door Prize, and selected for The Saatchi New Sensations 2012, group exhibition in London for most exciting graduate students in the UK. He won the esteemed Towry Award for the Best of the North of England 2012. Beda was a finalist for the Williams Drawing Prize in Connecticut, the USA in 2014, won second place in the Viewpoints 2014 competition at the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in New Jersey, USA, 2014. Recently, Bartosz won first place for Interstate Group Exhibition, CWU Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA, USA, 2017 Beda was awarded a six-month scholarship from Manchester Metropolitan University to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, Germany in 2012/13, and received a fellowship from Fondazione per’l Arte, Rome, Italy in 2016. In 2018, Bartosz Beda was awarded a fellowship residency at Goggle, Center for the Arts in Reading, PA. He has participated in group shows including Microarte. El tamano si importa, Galeria Liebre, Madrid, Spain, 2012; Schools of Art. Voll.3, Oktogon der HfBK, Dresden, Germany, 2013; Petty Theft, Launch f18, New York, USA, 2013; ING Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK, 2015 and At the Surface, Foundry Art Center, St. Charles, MO, 2018. Beda had solo exhibitions at Galleria Liebre, Spain (2013), BAC Gallery, Colombia (2015), Jackson-Teed, England (2016), Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, USA (2017), Mildred M.Cox Gallery, USA (2018), Brownsville Museum, USA (2019), Hopkins Center for the Arts USA (2019), Execute Project, USA (2019). Beda’s works are in public collections at Reading Public Museum, Brownsville Museum, Siena Art Institute, and Fondazione Per’l Arte, as well as in private collections throughout Europe, the United States, South Africa, and Asia. Before relocating to England, Beda worked on animation in the film industry, including two movie productions, Ichthis by Marek Skrobecki (2005) and Peter and the Wolf by Suzieh Tempelton (2006), which received the Oscar Prize in 2007. Read the full article