Philosophy
Had my 8 a.m. Logic class translating dialogue from Casablanca into first order predicate logic the other day and then Confused, Maybe Not pops into the office and we started talking about the cultural legacy of decades. When we turned to our decade, the 80s, he said that looking back it seems like the entire decade is dark, just nothing there. Everything was so clearly corporately constructed for marketing purposes that there seemed to be so little that was novel and bold. It all seems so embarrassingly dated when it is looked at now, nothing that seems a timeless contribution to the collective consciousness of the culture.
We tried to think of what will be the iconic works, the lasting impact of the 80s. We couldn't think of much. TV-wise, there was "Cheers," "Hill Street Blues," and "St. Elsewhere," but are any of them really going to stand the test of time? Musically, in terms of mainstream success there were the Talking Heads, early U2 and REM, maybe Tom Petty. On the fringe was American punk and the early days of hip-hop, but what from any of them will take on a life of its own? Film-wise, The "Breakfast Club"? "Back to the Future"? We did mention "Brazil" a few days back. Literary works that define the 80s? Non-fiction? In terms of social activism, we had Apartheid rallies, Ethiopian hunger, and homelessness come to the fore and with it stadium-sized rock fundraisers featuring artists from the 60s and 70s. There was cable tv which freed us from the triopoly of the networks, but is that really it?
Can anyone cite anything that will culturally justify the Reagan years or is it all just one big Flock of Seagulls haircut?
- What Is Classic Rock?
I was flipping around the radio channel and when I got to the classic rock station, they were playing some late 90s hair band and it immediately made me think "hey, that's not classic rock." But then I started thinking about the referent of that vague...
- Meta-auto Mechanics To Quantum Mechanics
Michael Schmidt asks, "In the context of your classroom, what is the significance of Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics? What is the intended significance, and have you found there to be unintended consequences?"It does three things for me in terms of...
- Gandhi's Legacy
Yesterday was Mohandas Gandhi's birthday. A brilliant man who was also a stunningly capable leader, two things that do not often get combined, much less come together at the right place at the right time. Now, though, it seems that Gandhi is simply...
- Boo Who?
Let's end the week of questions with a Halloween special from Aurora Geoes to Washington: What is it that we should be scared of the most? And of course, why should this be our biggest fear?The answer, of course, is contextual. If you are one of my...
- Pawel Kuczynski's Thought-provoking Illustrations
As you've seen in this fascinating lecture by Slavoj ?i?ek, the logic of the reigning neoliberal corporatist hegemony requires that people become mindless, selfish, individualistic consumers and automata in a zero-sum game rather than thoughtful citizens...
Philosophy
Were the 80s a Cultural Wasteland?
Had my 8 a.m. Logic class translating dialogue from Casablanca into first order predicate logic the other day and then Confused, Maybe Not pops into the office and we started talking about the cultural legacy of decades. When we turned to our decade, the 80s, he said that looking back it seems like the entire decade is dark, just nothing there. Everything was so clearly corporately constructed for marketing purposes that there seemed to be so little that was novel and bold. It all seems so embarrassingly dated when it is looked at now, nothing that seems a timeless contribution to the collective consciousness of the culture.
We tried to think of what will be the iconic works, the lasting impact of the 80s. We couldn't think of much. TV-wise, there was "Cheers," "Hill Street Blues," and "St. Elsewhere," but are any of them really going to stand the test of time? Musically, in terms of mainstream success there were the Talking Heads, early U2 and REM, maybe Tom Petty. On the fringe was American punk and the early days of hip-hop, but what from any of them will take on a life of its own? Film-wise, The "Breakfast Club"? "Back to the Future"? We did mention "Brazil" a few days back. Literary works that define the 80s? Non-fiction? In terms of social activism, we had Apartheid rallies, Ethiopian hunger, and homelessness come to the fore and with it stadium-sized rock fundraisers featuring artists from the 60s and 70s. There was cable tv which freed us from the triopoly of the networks, but is that really it?
Can anyone cite anything that will culturally justify the Reagan years or is it all just one big Flock of Seagulls haircut?
- What Is Classic Rock?
I was flipping around the radio channel and when I got to the classic rock station, they were playing some late 90s hair band and it immediately made me think "hey, that's not classic rock." But then I started thinking about the referent of that vague...
- Meta-auto Mechanics To Quantum Mechanics
Michael Schmidt asks, "In the context of your classroom, what is the significance of Auto Mechanics to Quantum Mechanics? What is the intended significance, and have you found there to be unintended consequences?"It does three things for me in terms of...
- Gandhi's Legacy
Yesterday was Mohandas Gandhi's birthday. A brilliant man who was also a stunningly capable leader, two things that do not often get combined, much less come together at the right place at the right time. Now, though, it seems that Gandhi is simply...
- Boo Who?
Let's end the week of questions with a Halloween special from Aurora Geoes to Washington: What is it that we should be scared of the most? And of course, why should this be our biggest fear?The answer, of course, is contextual. If you are one of my...
- Pawel Kuczynski's Thought-provoking Illustrations
As you've seen in this fascinating lecture by Slavoj ?i?ek, the logic of the reigning neoliberal corporatist hegemony requires that people become mindless, selfish, individualistic consumers and automata in a zero-sum game rather than thoughtful citizens...