The biblical narrative of Isaac’s sacrifice is unsettling from any point of view. God commands Abraham to kill his own son, Isaac. Without questioning, Abraham obeys. He rises early, prepares the fire, carries the wood, and leads his son to the designated place. Only at the very last moment, as Abraham’s hand is raised with […]
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Beyond Nothing: ‘Meta’ and the Illusion of Depth
The prefix meta- is often used to signal a higher level of discourse—a way of stepping beyond an ordinary subject to talk about it from an external vantage point. But how real is this elevation? Often, meta- creates an illusion of depth rather than adding actual substance. Meta-words are just words Consider the sentence: “A […]
Alice in Academia
(Alice walks past a grand yet imposing university building, a quiet confusion settling over her. Knowledge feels locked away. The experts know things she doesn’t. She hears claims that shape the world—about health, the climate, society—but when she tries to understand them, she finds only barriers. It is as if they are guarding something… A […]
All gender is male: An ethological perspective
When we observe humanity from a perspective of animal behaviour (ethology), we find something unusual: human females do not look or act like females in most other species. Instead, they exhibit behaviours and characteristics that, in the rest of the animal kingdom, are associated with males competing for mates. This might seem counterintuitive at first, […]
The ‘real’ father
Daughter: “What if you’re not my real dad? Like, what if someone else is my actual dad?” Dad: “Why do you say that? What made you think of this?” Daughter: “I don’t know… I just think I’d feel sad if you weren’t my real dad. I’d begin to like the other guy, even if I […]
The matrix of “money”
Imagine a simple scenario. Producer A meets Person B, who offers an item called “money” in exchange for A’s bread. At first glance, everything seems fair and straightforward. The item works as a medium of exchange, facilitating the trade between A and B. For simplicity, let’s define money this way, as most economists do: an […]