Culture and Ideas
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Why Slogans Like “I Will Never Understand, But I Stand” Undermine the Fight for Racial Equality
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At least since Ancient Greece, humans have recognized that they are not always rational. One of the major legacies of the Ancient Greek intellectual tradition (most famously articulated in Aristotle’s Rhetoric) is the three-layered theory of persuasion: logos–pathos–ethos. In this school of thought, reason (logos) was only one of three–often equally important–modes of human persuasion, alongside with credibility…
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The Problem of Facial (Mis)Recognition
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In the past five years, facial recognition systems have frequently misrecognised the faces of minority groups. For instance, Amazon’s Rekognition API, during an experiment, failed to recognize 11 persons-of-colour who are members of US Congress, and misidentified them with criminal mug shots[1]. It does not stop there, with multiple instances reported around the world of…
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David Graeber (1961-2020): a take on his legacy as challenger of political common sense
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Beginning of this month, David Graeber, a thinker fitting many labels, passed away. “It might be said that all my work has been exploring the relation between anthropology as an intellectual pursuit, and practical attempts to create a free society, free, at least of capitalism, patriarchy, and coercive state bureaucracies”. These words highlight the dualism…
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Liberal Theory’s Neglect of Environmentalism
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It is no exaggeration to say that climate change is the most pressing issue facing the world today. This is a strong claim to make, but the scientific evidence is more or less incontrovertible.[1] Barring the emergence of an imminent nuclear war, an alien invasion, or a deadly coronavirus mutation, climate change will remain the…
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Why are young men obsessed with discipline?
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My male peers are becoming more concerned with discipline — with their own discipline, and with the discipline with others. They are referring to a kind of rigour they deem necessary for mental and/or physical excellence, a volitional tautness that goes into being a healthy adult. But I have had my suspicions that their concern…
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On the Lives That Matter
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Without a doubt, we live in a more connected and shared existence. Perhaps not spiritually, but definitely in the sense that we have a broader access to the world. From this, we gain perspective to various opinions or experiences, echoing similar voices, or seeking comparatively different views. For some, this is beneficial, for others, it…
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Fact, Power and Covid-19
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‘We’re following the science’ has been the constant chorus of the UK government. Unfettered by tired ideologies, their response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been determined by nothing but the very latest advances in public health and data-driven virus modelling. Or so if they are to be believed. This essay will contest the claim that…
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What Does a Statue Mean? Notes on Rhodes Must Fall
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Edward Colston was obviously an awful man: no one whose actions lead to the deaths of 19,000 people, actions motivated by (at best) a desire for profit, can be called anything except evil. At least, if evil is here understood as being broadly understood, as “deserving of widespread moral condemnation”. The same goes for Cecil…
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Major Transformative Technologies and the Five Dimensions of Security
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Cyberattacks and data theft have received a rating between 3.5 and 4 out of 5 in the 2020 World Economic Forum Global Risks report. Our societies’ ubiquitous reliance on technologies naturally comes with downsides. It is now commonplace to refer to new technologies as transformative forces in the 21st century – with the attendant discussions of opportunities and…
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Clocking off during coronavirus: why capitalism won’t wait any longer
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In normal times, the slightest dip in productivity is enough to bring even the most stoic of billionaires to tears. But when public health measures threatened to suspend the productive process altogether, the floodgates opened. As calls to re-open schools, shops, and workplaces were heeded, it became clear that the cost of billionaire counselling was…