The all-inclusive blend of life means that it has both good and bad. For a dramatic touch, some might add the ugly too. From Homer’s “Odyssey” telling the tale of a warrior returning home, to Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”, a story of an orphan boy thrust through life’s woes, it is clear that we have always
Month: October 2019
The Ugly Truth About How Hate Attracts Hate
Martin Luther King Jr. was once quoted as having said that, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” In the French film La Haine (Hate), director Mathieu Kassovitz shows how hate towards a person or people based on their religion, status, and
Utopia Now!
Pithy title, but is a utopian society achievable? Or even desirable? First, yes – it’s almost unavoidable. We’re so close to it now, globally. Consider what Marshall McLuhan write in The Gutenberg Galaxy, in 1962: “What we have called ‘nations’ in recent centuries did not, and could not, precede the advent of Gutenberg technology any
Uncaged: The Beginning Of A New Dawn
Aisha was the only child of her parents. But she was no ordinary child. She was considered a genius by everyone who met her- well, that was what they thought before she started school, at the age of five. Aisha was a curious child who would ask the most intelligent questions. At the young age
Ask or Do?
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” – Henry Ford. In this quote Henry Ford implies that people do not know what is best for themselves. An American industrialist, innovator, entrepreneur and founder of the Ford Motor company, he did not invent the car to replace slower forms
Transforming into a better version of me
Albert Einstein once said that “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking”. When I read this quote, I realized that I was trapped in a circular loop neither pursuing meaningful goals nor creating any. I was constantly in a hurry to
The Nature of Hate
Hate. Revulsion at an entity, from the very fibre of your being. Deep breaths. Rejection, from within the depths of your subconscious. Reconciliation seems to be an impossibility. Like matter with antimatter, the only solution would be annihilation, in the form of radical action. The initial impulse passes away. It settles into the depths of
What Are Conflicts and Stories
The word ‘conflict’ often carries with it a negative connotation. In the modern lexicon, the word ‘conflict’ is synonymous with confrontation and violence, often involving some amounts of physical or vocal altercations between the two parties involved. I would argue, however, that conflict carries a second, more nuanced, meaning. The Latin word conflictus, meaning ‘contest’,
Discord Is Not the Only Driving Force
Why is it that, all over the planet, the world-view of otherwise vastly diverse societies is grounded in conflict? Nearly every culture has their own lore about good and evil; a myth of origins in which a benevolent creator in some way gives birth to our Earth, which is then hijacked into a metaphysical darkness
Does Hatred Have the Upper Hand?
Many years ago, I had what some might call a moment of enlightenment, in which I was briefly touched by what I can only call, for lack of better terminology, a feeling of universal love. For the first time, existence, both in general as well as mine in particular, appeared to be endowed with a
He Never Knew Who He Was
“For the first time in my life – I was then eleven years old – I felt myself forced into open opposition. No matter how hard and determined my father might be about putting his own plans and opinions into action, his son was no less obstinate in refusing to accept ideas on which he
Mapping Out the End Product: Ourselves
A blank slate: that’s what we start off as. We get to choose what, and whom, we want to be as the end product. If we do not take the butterfly’s example, sitting wrapped in our cocooned mistakes until we learn, what is the point of living? We each want to emerge as our best
La Haine Attire La Haine
As a word, ‘hate’ is so overused that we almost forget what it means. Its constant repetition desensitizing us to its gravity…I hate the rain, carrots, my hair, myself. But the real feeling of hate when embedded in our core is highly corrosive. People talk in terms of being consumed by it. Apparently we have
The Functions of Conflict in a Story
Writers employ various literary elements to achieve a desired or specific effect. A literary device can be defined as a technique or structure a writer uses to achieve a certain effect or purpose. Some of the literary devices are: flashback, foreshadow, irony, hyperbole, understatement, symbolism, imagery and so on. Conflict is one of the literary
The Strongest Men on Earth
In one of his trendy quotes, Henry Ford said, “If you asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” It would be difficult for anyone to make a clear judgement of this statement without unravelling the initial context of its use. For instance, why would one of the world’s most influential innovators
Expanding And Persuading The Mind
We have habits, we are scared of the unknown and these combine to make trying new things seem like a waste of time and also seem impossible. When Samsung launched its S Series, I remember telling a former colleague of mine that I would never be able to use to a touch screen phone because
Discovering “What I Am”
“I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning.” – Michel Foucault. Discuss What I am is a question we ask ourselves over and over again throughout life. The unknown of why
Ford’s “faster horses” Reveal the Buying Psychology Secret
Apparently, the whole idea of turning a dream into reality is far from what a human being truly needs. Communities always wish for better dress and better food, larger houses and longer lives – not because the dresses they wear create discomfort, or the food they eat cause digestion problems, nor because the houses they
Our True Selves
“I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning.” – Michel Foucault. Growth is vital within every stage of life and this universe. Amongst this inevitable expansion is inescapable ignorance and oblivion.
The Burden Of Progress
One thing I have become painfully aware of in the past few years is that we as a society have become adept at spouting off platitudes that sound extremely profound. The most egregious of these are #notallmen in response to #menaretrash, and #alllivesmatter in response to #blacklivesmatter. I thought of these when I first read