“Boy, call Charmides and say that I want to introduce him to a physician, in relation to that ailment he told me he was suffering from yesterday.” Then Critias turned to me and explained, “In fact he said recently that he has a headache when he gets up in the morning, so what is to […]
Blog
Domestication of Humans: Abduction
Recent observations of white-faced capuchin monkeys on Jicarón Island in Panama have documented a particularly telling case of a broader behavioural theme. Over a 15-month period, juvenile male capuchins were seen abducting infant howler monkeys. They carried them for days, sometimes until the infants died. This behaviour does not resemble caregiving, nor does it fit […]
Christianity and the Maternal Fantasy
My mother had now come to me. Moved by her faith, she had followed me across sea and land, trusting entirely in You through every danger. When we were at sea, she was the one who comforted the sailors—even though it’s usually the sailors who comfort anxious passengers—because You had shown her in a vision […]
Freedom and the Unloved
Imagine you could go back in time tens of thousands of years, to a time that represents the vast majority of human existence as a species. You find yourself alone in the wilderness, self-sufficient, when a band of hunter-gatherers spots you. What happens next? Assuming they don’t kill you, they are likely to offer you […]
The Dog Is Your Father
In Plato’s Euthydemus, a young man named Ctesippus is trapped by a sophist (paraphrased from Plat. Euthyd. 298e): You have a dog? — Yes, a mischievous one. And the dog is a father? — Of puppies, yes. So the dog is a father. And you have a father? — Yes. So you have a father, […]
The State and its Blood Ties
Moving to Finland and acquiring Finnish nationality were, for me, decisions I made freely, choosing my own path as an individual. However, when I notified my country of origin, it didn’t take it very well. Spain gave me an ultimatum: sign a declaration of loyalty to the fatherland or lose my nationality. That’s right — […]