The mind-body problem: no mind, no problem

It’s a mark of our animal nature that we’re physically persistent in the face of meaninglessness.

I get up, work, eat, shit, wash myself, socialize, and take care of business despite abundant evidence that there’s no point in any of this. The executive brain says: “This makes no sense; why do we continue?” The soul says “I’m empty; this has no future”. But the colon and the leg muscles and the jaw keep clanking along obstinately, dragging the rest of me around.

I’m Galvani’s frog leg jerking to the current. And, maybe, so are you.

HONOROUBLE MEDALS WILL SHINE

JUCHE! Flash

The crying wolf?

So, Naomi Wolf says that Harold Bloom groped her 20 years ago. And she was made ill and afraid by this and it hurt her academic career, but she couldn’t do anything then. And now, apparently Yale would have nothing to do with her complaint.

And, you know, people have opinions. Some people are mad at her for being mean to an old sick man. Some people are mad at her because they don’t like “victim feminism”. Some people are mad at her because she waited 20 years. Some other people are mad at her because she trades on her own physical attractiveness a lot and is obsessed with her youth and won’t stop talking about sex, and they think she has a double standard.

I’ve never met her, and I have no idea if she’s a nice lady or not. But I still think you shouldn’t grasp the thighs of your undergraduates. I had a prof in college who sexually harassed his (male) students, and I was lucky he didn’t find me attractive. What a situation to be in! My dad knew him, too, and they were on inter-campus committees together. What would I have done?

So, yeah. Maybe she is a publicity whore, and maybe this and maybe that, but if Bloom really does this stuff as much as is rumored I don’t care how eminent he is, or how old and feeble; that ain’t right. And sometimes you have to wait 20 years so that you’re famous and powerful yourself and you can say something without having powerful people trash your new career.

Good blawg.

The loud and talented Laura Kramarsky is writing at http://homepage.mac.com/adept/blog and syndicated here as adeptblog

She writes about politics and rhetoric mostly. An old friend of mine and well worth listening to.

Implied Camaro (slight return)

My proud heritage of gas-huffing tweeker nitwits on welfare must be celebrated!