Presented on Tuesday 17 December 2019 at Behind Eyes Wide Shut, a symposium. Organisers: University of the Arts, London Archives and Special Collections Centre andthe Centre for Film, Television, and Screen Studies at Bangor University in Wales Abstract Stanley’s last message to the viewer, the grand finale of his cinematic statement, is the word fuck. […]
Volume 1 (2019)
Money is a Token of Cooperation
The biology of indirect exchanges:
Cooperation requires the situated ability to choose partners.
Morality confuses altruism with cooperation.
I propose a game theoretical definition of these concepts.
I provide evidence from anthropology, history and cryptocurrency.
Social Destructionism
Psychosis and the limits of dialogue:
We introduce a view of mental illness as a conflict with society.
Psychiatry also reflects a conflict between worldviews.
The existence of ‘society’ is questionable.
Therefore, we should understand those who cannot adapt to it.
The Nature of Kinship
From dad and mum to god and society:
Kin terms appear to be a language universal.
They are transmitted through child-directed speech.
They conflate natural concepts and social concepts in our minds.
They are the moral essence of human cultural evolution.
Children’s Pretence
A scientific perspective on social reality:
We illustrate how scientists confuse society with nature.
Institutions are fundamentally like children’s pretend play.
The moral nature of language makes that social reality appear objective.
We propose a definition of morality as a linguistic cognitive conflation.