Thursday, May 7, 2015

What I'm Reading/Watching

I finally got around to reading Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.  Salinger's ability to simultaneously show Holden's perspective and a more objective adult perspective is extraordinary and reminds me of some moments in The Sun Also Rises where Jake's denial takes center-stage.  Holden personifies the adage that "we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intent."

Saw the Avengers sequel.  It's a solid action/superhero movie, and I admit to being a bit of a sucker for those.  

Season three of Orphan Black is getting underway on BBC America, and it's one of the best sci-fi shows currently on the air (and Continuum looks like it's getting the ax, so the competition is narrowing).  

Started listening to the podcast: The History of Philosophy without Any Gaps (well, Western philosophy anyway.  But, like, all of it).  The episodes are generally 15-20 minutes long, so some guys like Aristotle or Plato get a dozen episodes apiece, but all the lesser figures still get at least half an episode, and their often very interesting.  Anaximenes, for example, thought that humans couldn't have been created in their original state, because no one would have been there to care for the children.  Hence, the first humans gestated in the belly of a fish before erupting at adulthood.  Anaximander thought the Earth was surrounded by a sphere of fire, and the light we see from the sky was due to a thinning and thickening of the air.  While it's easy to laugh with hindsight, the reasoning leading to these conclusions is fascinating.

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