Ellinas @Ellinas@social.ukpagan.com
Former fundamentalist Christian who escaped around 2000. My interest has always lain with Mediterranean mythology, so that was a natural next step. My main focus is Hekate (whom I see as providing also a link to pre-Hellenic beliefs) but I steadfastly refuse to accept any orthodoxy, orthopraxy or group wisdom as to what I should believe or do. Here as an extension to UKP. Learning Greek is an ongoing project.
Joined Nov 2020
A bit of philosophy from Aldous Huxley here: https://www.brainpickings.org/2021/05/11/alxous-huxley-knowledge-understanding/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
Ants may be able to evaluate their own memories, according to an article to which I was pointed recently. Perhaps they should be credited with greater intelligence than we have accorded them, traditionally.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2015.0679
Free will puzzle
If free will is as illusory as some suggest here - https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/27/the-clockwork-universe-is-free-will-an-illusion?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB - how do the philosophers concerned suggest that students might choose not to study the issue?
Hmm
Romans...
They knew how to kill people, it seems. At least, according to https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/stabbing-crucifixion-eaten-by-eels-learn-all-about-murder-the-roman-way/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
Antikythera
Not the first time I've seen this, but it's good to marvel at the ancients.
I’ve spent the day in a mindset of considerable annoyance over a mid-contract price rise on my broadband, and have finally signed up for a new supplier offering considerably faster speeds (moving to fibre for c. £12.00 a month less than I would be paying otherwise.
Tomorrow, however, I have a day off work, and may well be in the garden. Though there is a limit to what I can do until our garden waste bins are collected on Thursday (first collection of the season).
Kids! Even when they grow up they cause chaos. The crash from the kitchen about 10 minutes back was my son pulling out the hood above the hob to get the extractor fan going - and completely removing it from its hinges in the process. Ho hum...
Wood carvings
One is a Welsh lovespoon, historically a gift from a male to the object of his affections.
The other is a carving of owls and a cat in a tree, obtained from a market in Zakopane, Poland. The owls have eyes created by shallow drill holes with deeper drill holes in the centre - the result is that the eyes follow you as you walk past the item.
Self awareness??
My question - how can we say what “self awareness” might exist when we have no way of knowing how other creatures think. Of one thing I am reasonably sure - a lot of species are cleverer than we credit.
Oh the indignity... A Christmas card from a neighbour was pushed through the door last night. Inside it was expressly to my wife and son by name, but referred to me as "Hubby" with the words in brackets "Can't remember hubby's name".
Having said that, I quite like being anonymous...
Monday to Friday I usually have a morning bicycle ride. Friday was quite excruciatingly cold - by the time I got back, my fingers were too cold and numb to unfasten my helmet. Took these pictures along the side of the local river.
This was a very windy day, a couple of months back. British Camp, Malvern - an ancient hill fort.
This is also an experiment in what happens if I try to upload more than one photo.
I’ve been wondering about a question raised elsewhere - is "melancholy" more poetic than "sadness"? The concepts are not the same, but what is the difference?
I suppose I would tend to see melancholy as an innate trait and outlook, whilst sadness is more a reaction to circumstances. Which is the more poetic? Depends on the poem.
Former fundamentalist Christian who escaped around 2000. My interest has always lain with Mediterranean mythology, so that was a natural next step. My main focus is Hekate (whom I see as providing also a link to pre-Hellenic beliefs) but I steadfastly refuse to accept any orthodoxy, orthopraxy or group wisdom as to what I should believe or do. Here as an extension to UKP. Learning Greek is an ongoing project.
Joined Nov 2020
