popular culture Archives – Page 5 of 5

A review of “Lucy”: the film’s hidden meaning

November 16, 2014 November 16, 2014 / philosophy, popular culture, psychology, reviews / 1 Comment

From a first look, Lucy is not the most interesting film out there. Its tagline and the entire premise for the film, that "The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity" is a false and widely disproved urban myth. Not exactly a great start. And the synopsis, that this woman "transforms into a merciless warrior Read more [...]

The Toxicity of Culture

March 18, 2014 March 18, 2014 / libertarianism, morality, parenting, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, religion / 5 Comments

Culture (root word: cult) is toxic regardless of its content. At best a culture has kernels of truth and relates to objective reality. Even in this case, it is a terrible idea to teach it as you are teaching people what to think rather than how to think. Even if the culture contains some important virtues and good values Read more [...]

A short critique of Elysium’s economic tomfoolery

September 16, 2013 September 16, 2013 / economics, politics, popular culture / 3 Comments

It takes quite the movie to present such stunning visuals, yet mired by a premise so ludicrous that I become distracted and do other things, turning my eyes away from the screen to check my emails or read a thread on a forum. There are all kinds of ideas presented in this film that make no economic sense, but the one Read more [...]

Zurker – Analysis of The New Social Network You Can Own

August 14, 2012 October 15, 2012 / economics, popular culture / Leave a Comment

If you're just here for the Zurker invitation, the link you can use is at the bottom of the page. My dislike for Facebook caused me to delete my personal account a year ago, and I haven't looked back. Only since I've started blogging have I created social network accounts for people to be able to follow me. A new entrant Read more [...]

Predictive Programming in The Hunger Games

August 14, 2012 September 16, 2013 / libertarianism, politics, popular culture / 1 Comment

The message of films like the hunger games is simple – if you want technological progress, you have to accept the loss of your freedoms. Every film or TV show I can think of that shows technological progress does so within the framework of an increasingly totalitarian society. The purpose of predictive programming such Read more [...]

Rhode Island: “I knew someone that my parent knew that bragged that he killed in Vietnam. Come to find out he wasn't…” Mar 1, 18:23

Rhode Island: “The book is called the Big Question by Steven Landsburg.” Mar 1, 18:05

Libertarian Prepper: “Thanks! Yeah that's an interesting thought - that these people don't truly believe what they say because they're so hypocritical.…” Mar 1, 14:53

Rhode Island: “I read this book that talked about god. I do not believe in god and from what this book says…” Feb 9, 11:56

Libertarian Prepper: “I agree that people need to have self-control and be kind to each other. In real life, offline interactions, most…” Feb 8, 17:49