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“Unless the republic is reclaimed, the time will come when all of us will be one incorrect meal, one interfaith romance, one unfortunate misstep away from being extinguished. The mobs that slaughtered ‘bad’ Muslims will eventually come for Hindus who are not ‘good’. India’s tragedy is that just when it is faced with an existential crisis, there exists no pan-Indian alternative to the BJP.”
― Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India
― Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India
“Girard discovered that most of what we desire is mimetic (mi-met-ik) or imitative, not intrinsic. Humans learn—through imitation—to want the same things other people want, just as they learn how to speak the same language and play by the same cultural rules. Imitation plays a far more pervasive role in our society than anyone had ever openly acknowledged.”
― Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
― Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
“Monogamous marriage changes men psychologically, even hormonally, and has downstream effects on societies. Although this form of marriage is neither “natural” nor “normal” for human societies—and runs directly counter to the strong inclinations of high-status or elite men—it nevertheless can give religious groups and societies an advantage in intergroup competition. By suppressing male-male competition and altering family structure, monogamous marriage shifts men’s psychology in ways that tend to reduce crime, violence, and zero-sum thinking while promoting broader trust, long-term investments, and steady economic accumulation”
― The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
― The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
“While we fight for equality in the areas that do matter: for fundamental human and civil rights, or for the freedom for each person to pursue their thick desires (in the United States, this is called "the pursuit of happiness"); we also begin fighting for equality in areas that do not matter, our thing desires: to make as much money as someone else, to have the same number of Instagram followers, to have the same amount of status or respect or professional prestige as any one of the nearly eight billion models on the planet.”
― Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
― Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
“Nationality is a social feeling. It is a feeling of a corporate sentiment of oneness which makes those who are charged with it feel that they are kith and kin. This national feeling is a double edged feeling. It is at once a feeling of fellowship for one’s own kith and kin and an anti-fellowship feeling for those who are not one’s own kith and kin. It is a feeling of “consciousness of kind” which on the one hand binds together those who have it, so strongly that it over-rides all differences arising out of economic conflicts or social gradations and, on the other, severs them from those who are not of their kind. It is a longing not to belong to any other group. This is the essence of what is called a nationality and national feeling.”
― Pakistan or Partition of India
― Pakistan or Partition of India
Science and Inquiry
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This Group explores scientific topics. We have an active monthly book club, as well as discussions on a variety of topics including science in the new ...more
The Brain and Mind
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This is a group for readers to recommend and discuss books related to real and/or artificial brains. Categories include but are not limited to: neuros ...more
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This is a group dedicated to the Personal MBA program detailed here: http://personalmba.com/
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Welcome to Sci Fi Aficionados. We love all things science fiction, with an emphasis on the classics of the genre. Members are welcome to discuss all t ...more
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A place to give your recent impressions of a TV show you just watched, a series you love or one you've just discovered. ...more
shal’s 2025 Year in Books
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