Showing 624 articles
Recycling the Planet Earth
Author: Istvan OrbanAugust 22, 2016
The recently released Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, Interstellar, which is about the possible future of mankind, has a strong premise that staying on the Earth is senseless, because natural disasters will make impossible to sustain life here. So the heroes of the film set off to find another galaxy where humanity can carry on (presumably a [...]
The Myth of the Cave
Author: Miha KosirAugust 3, 2016
In one of Plato’s most well known works – The Republic – we find a short story known as the Myth of the Cave. Socrates asks his listeners to imagine a world under the ground where people live in chains, facing the end wall of a cave. Because they are chained they can’t move or [...]
Saying it Right – Doing it Right
Author: Michael LassmanJuly 30, 2016
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” was a little ditty chanted in the school playgrounds of the 1960s as a retort from one child to another after being teased or taunted. In truth, it should have been “…but words will really hurt me” – why? Because they can [...]
Ultraviolet – the Invisible Light
Author: Florimond KrinsJuly 26, 2016
Produced by the sun and invisible to the naked eye, ultraviolet light can cause sunburn and skin cancer by damaging the genetic material in our skin cells. However, its effects are not only negative, as it kills many of the bacteria and viruses in the atmosphere. It also induces the production of vitamin D in [...]
Renaissance Art and the Enigmatic Genius of Giorgione
Author: Agostino DominiciJuly 25, 2016
The Royal Academy of Arts has recently put together an excellent exhibition presenting some of the greatest painters of the high Renaissance (c. 1490-1530) in a single show. The main intent of the exhibition was to revisit in particular the enigmatic figure of Giorgione, considered by many to be the founder of Venetian painting of [...]
Gobekli Tepe – A New Look at Ancient Civilisation
Author: Florimond KrinsJune 16, 2016
A German archaeologist called Klaus Schmidt found the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey in the early 1990s. It took Schmidt almost two decades of digging to unravel only a small part of the site, which is huge (around 30 times larger than Stonehenge). It is composed of large circles of T-shaped columns, most [...]
At the service of philosophy – Manly P. Hall’s life and teachings
Author: Agostino DominiciJune 13, 2016
A few years ago, while browsing on YouTube, I happened to stumble across some old recordings of lectures covering an array of metaphysical and mystical topics. I was quickly taken by the depth and breadth with which the speaker, effortlessly, delivered his talks. Soon I learned that the person behind those words was a very [...]
The Brilliance of the Bard!
Author: Siobhan FarrarJune 10, 2016
It is quite remarkable to consider how many words and phrases in regular use today were first penned by William Shakespeare. The literary critic Bernard Levin picked out a few of them: “If you have ever been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a [...]
Prometheus the Awakener
Author: Natalya PetlevychJune 10, 2016
Busy as we are, it’s not easy to stop to admire the awakening of life in nature, but the growing light seems to be rekindling us too. Ancient myths tell us a story of another awakening that took place a very long time ago – the awakening of the human mind. One courageous, quick-witted and [...]
Accepting our Differences, Accepting Ourselves
Author: Gilad SommerJune 1, 2016
We are all different. This seems like an obvious statement, but it is often the obvious statements which require the most scrutiny and investigation, exactly because they are the ones we take least time to consider. Even though we all share the essential experience of a human being, each of us filters this experience through [...]
The Philosophical Meaning of the Theory of Reincarnation
Author: Pierre PoulainJune 1, 2016
In most ancient civilizations – like in an important number of faiths – we find the idea of reincarnation, the process that follows physical death. Modern occidental cultures consider death as the opposite of life, and in logical consequence reject death. Death is considered an aim, a disaster, and today most of us are afraid [...]
The Pursuit of a Work-Life Balance
Author: Rahil MehtaMay 26, 2016
Human Beings have a natural need to improve and grow. Certain moments in our lives are decisive where we feel we made a breakthrough and in hindsight we may recognize the inspiration and experiences that guided us in those moments. Often we find that in such moments we are more goal-oriented and focussed, thereby able [...]