1 February 2013

Welcome back to another edition of Filosophy Fridays for your Saturday mornings.

The Daily Quota for today is not a big one, but it does provoke a lot of thought.
Once again we douse ourselves in the wisdom of Plato, mentor of Aristotle and student of Socrates.

In Plato's Republic, he paraphrases Socrates as he describes his Allegory of the Cave.
Basically, he describes a cave populated by a set of 'prisoners', lined up and facing the cave wall.
Behind them, a number of objects move around in front of a fire, causing their shadows to project onto the cave wall.

These shadows obsure the objects, sometimes causing them to appear normal and proportionate, other times not. This is all these prisoners know, so their perception of reality is distorted by their lack of insight. A projection becomes their reality, and they know of nothing else.

Plato had initially discussed this concept as part of his Theory on Forms, but I've taken a much greater lesson from this - our reality must always be doubted. What we are trained to know, the words we use to describe an object, the 'facts' that we bet our lives on...are facts until we turn and see the fire.
It is a lesson in favour of open-mindedness, an omen against dogma, and a lingering reminder of Kierkgaard's famous quotation - everything must be doubted.

According to Plato, the role of the philosopher in society is to enlighten these prisoners to the true nature of the Forms that they perceive - similar to the snake in the Garden of Eden.
Enjoy the explanation below, and form your own lessons from this anecdote; as I have.

READ IT HERE

31 January 2013

Today's Daily Quota is a link to a good friend's blog.
Now, as thinly veiled as it may seem, this is no attempt to shamelessly advertise her page. Rather, it's my attempt to promote local talent.

It does take guts to blog, especially in a personal capacity. We all seem to follow a blog or five, and it just wouldn't be the same if it were in a big, commercial context. Too many sponsors spoil the broth, and so forth.

As such, take some time out to sample the local produce. It may not be Christopher Hitchens, but it's there to be enjoyed, and it's ripe for your support. I assure you, the support will not fall on deaf ears. There are several times I've sat down with this friend of mine and given her constructive criticism, and I expect her to do the same.
It's about mutual support, mutual respect and facilitating the growth of that big pie. I hope everyone enjoys it.
Stay tuned tomorrow as we get back into Filosophy Fridays!

READ IT HERE

30 January 2013

Today's Daily Quota is a mid-week collection of vintage photographs from Paris, France.
As part of their Rewind segment, Buzz Feed release such collections a few times a week. This one is one of their better posts, immortalizing the beauty of Paris in an era that suited it so, so well.

Unfortunately for us, Buzz Feed likes to add their own stupid captions at the bottom of each photograph, lest they appear too cultured. Because then they would lose a lot of their predominantly US audience.
Heaven forbid we should appreciate foreign culture without making a mockery of it.

Enjoy them, guys. These are the kinds of photos 20-something females put as their cover photos, so at least half my reader base will appreciate them!
Romanticism at its finest. Woody Allen would be proud.


VIEW THEM HERE

29 January 2013

For today's Daily Quota, we touch on a topic that has gotten health officials very, very worried.

Basically, it's the fact that many strands of bacteria are doing what nature does best and adapting to their enemies - in this case, antibiotics. 

A lot of strands of common diseases and infections are developing a resistance to the drugs used to treat them. This is bad news; really really really bad news. Imagine the simplest infections being fatal. Imagine routine surgery being fatal. Imagine an influenza variant becoming fatal. Yep.

What's caused this, though?

Alfonso J. Alanis wrote a very educational piece on the topic in 2005. He outlined the natural mechanisms of resistance, as well as the causes - the main one being overuse and abuse of antibiotics.

Notice how you need more and more Codrals to tackle that bigger and bigger flu? Or the fact that almost everything is cured with penicillin these days? Well, both of these examples spell big problems for you, and for humanity.

I was brought onto this topic by the lovely Cassie, a friend of mine. As such, I thought it appropriate to let this long-term reader have her say on the topic.

Everyone shut up and hear her wordmusics. Take it away Cass.

The year is 1837 and the immigrant ship 'Lady McNaughten' docks the shores of North Head, Sydney infested with Typhus Fever and Scarlet Fever. The first of thousands of ill-fated passengers depart the ship and enter an atmosphere teeming with infectious disease and death. There is nothing anyone can do to cure these women, children and men so why not quarantine them? Separate them from the rest of society while they await their inevitable, slow and painful death.

Not long after, small pox, tuberculosis, the plague, pneumonia and influenza hit the shores of sydney. Between 1828-1984 at least 580 ships were quarantined, more than 13,000 people were quarantined and hundreds upon hundreds of people died. As each ship hit the shores, many tried to do all they could to help eliminate disease. Each and every person was showered in Phenol a type carbolic acid used to literally burn and strip the skin with the hope that in doing so the disease would magically diminish. There was no antibiotics to fight off these diseases, no medication, there was nothing but sheer panic. There was no cure, there was no treatment. Thousands of people fell victim to such infectious diseases all over the world.

Fortunately, in 1928 Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist in London discovered 'Pencillin' a mould that had an antibacterial action. Consequently, in the 1930's the first antibiotics were prescribed and between the 1940's-1970s death due to infectious disease decreased. Scientists were certain that the war against infectious disease was won. In 1969 William Stewert a US surgeon General valiantly told the US Congress that it was time to "…close the books on infectious bacteria." Happy Days?

What if I told you that in the year 2013 scientists, doctors and governments were in fear of an apocalypse. Not the sort that most of you imagine. A type of apocalypse that is becoming dangerously real. In the year 2013, the whole world is in danger of taking a massive leap backwards. So far back, that we will land right back where we started, into a pre-antibiotic era. Superbugs are on the rise and are stronger than ever before. So what are superbugs? Put simply, they are a strain of bacteria, so strong that antibiotics have no effect on them anymore. How can this happen? simple really, the misuse and abuse of antibiotics.

Imagine a world without antibiotics, a simple cut that becomes infected can become deadly, simple medical procedures such as surgery and operations becomes deadly. Simple treatments of everyday illnesses such as pneumonia could be eliminated. Back to square one we go.

This could be our world in the near future. Scary.

Today's Daily Quota is a recent article from The Guardian on the topic. It's very brief, very gloomy and should very much be on our radar. 

Have a read, put down those tablets, and start showering with Dettol. 

READ IT HERE

28 January 2013

I fucking love Batman. I don't know how else to say it.
My bookcase has an entire tier dedicated to Batman comics, graphic novels and memorabilia pieces. Batman statues accompany Lionel Hutz statues in my study.

As such, today's Daily Quota is an article I dug up from the July 2012 edition of The Atlantic. It's titled How the Dark Knight Became Dark Again and explores the evolving image of Batman from the Golden Age of comics, through to the Adam West caricature of the 60's, up to Nolan's most recent revamp.
For those of you that have read the comics before, you'd know that most of them are very dark indeed. Any Joker adaptation since Alan Moore's The Killing Joke has been melancholy, psychotic and outright disturbing. Batman has to keep up with his foes, lest the Biff! and Pow! days return.

What I love about this article is the articulation of an otherwise 'childish' fictional character; who is often dismissed as one without merit.
Nolan has done much to resurrect Batman from the postmodern shambles of the 90's; his sole intention being to restore the 'Dark Knight' character that first emerged in the 1980's through such writers as Alan Moore and Frank Miller.

This article is fantastic. It's on the ball, it's well researched and it's a real treat for any Batman fan - Nolan or otherwise.

READ IT HERE

27 January 2013

Superficial Sundays on The Daily Quota - where we pursue the trivial!

Today's Daily Quota is a music video from one of the most talented bands out there. However, what makes them so special is that they do not take themselves seriously in the slightest.
Steel Panther is a contemporary metal band that exists to take the absolute piss out of 80's rock bands. They take a satirical hit at everyone from Iron Maiden to Guns'n'Roses to Bon Jovi. They're the Spinal Tap of a new generation.
The thing is, they're actually very, very talented.

For anyone that has listened to Steel Panther, you'll find that their music is actually fantastic. Almost all of their songs have been smash hits amongst fans - and not just for their satire.
To put it another way, if it wasn't for their blatant vulgarity and sexism, they'd be on the radio.

For instance, this is their track list from their most recent album Balls Out, and this is the track list from their previous album Feel the Steel.

The link below is to one of their biggest hits - Community Property.
Just listen to the first few lines. Look at these guys. You can't hate them. In fact, you can't not love them.
Enjoy!

WATCH IT HERE

26 January 2013

Well it's Australia Day, so that means a not-so-Sardonic Saturday edition of The Daily Quota.
Today, we discuss why we're the Lucky Country; and what better way to prove this than by internationally recognised quantitative data!

Presently, Australia is ranked second in the world on the Human Development Index (HDI). We are second only to Norway. This is an international measure that attempts to measure standard of living by collecting socio-economic data.

As of 2010, HDI is calculated by comparing three big quantitative factors;

1. Life expectancy at birth (how long and healthy our lives are)
2. The Education Index (the amount of years spent in school, and therefore access to and quality of education)
3. GNI per capita (to ascertain how 'wealthy' each individual citizen is compared to overall economic input/output)

Today's Daily Quota is the up-to-date list of HDI rankings per country, calculated using the criteria above. So today, be proud to call yourself a citizen of the 'Lucky Country', because you officially are.

And there's Norway of denying that.

Sorry.

SEE THE FULL LIST HERE