Author: UnexaminedGlitch

Part 1: Atomic Bombs So long as national States exist and fight each other, only inefficiency can preserve the human race. To improve the fighting quality of separate States without having any means of preventing war is the road to universal destruction. ––Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy When a country creates the first nuclear bomb, the rest of the nations, confronted by these pressing circumstances, have to ask themselves whether they should make their own in response. Those who decide not to develop a nuclear weapon run the risk of being subdued militarily, politically, and economically by the other nations who chose to create one. Although the usage of these weapons could put an end to human existence, this hasn’t stopped those who engage in the creation of these atomic weapons from continuing to devote large amounts of resources towards programs that aim to expand these military technologies….

Historically, philosophy and science started out as one body of knowledge. Over time, scientists distanced themselves from philosophy, arguing that it lacked the rigor of the scientific method. Philosophy was then slowly discredited, and considered speculation akin to theology in the eyes of many academics.   As science made remarkable progress towards deciphering the natural world, it was only inevitable that the study of humanity, once a fundamental affair of philosophers, would be studied “objectively” through scientific lenses [1]. Since then, other ways of inquiring about human nature were seen as less valid.  New fields emerged from this rupture between science and philosophy, an ambiguous group referred to as “humanities”, “social sciences” or “liberal arts”, which were then seen as more credible than the less fashionable philosophical methods. These methods would  focus on “empiricism”, or verifiable facts about humanity, rather than “mere speculation”, and they generally fall into three categories.  First,…

When you are dealing with mental illness, you might defer to a psychologist or psychiatrist to help you figure out what precise mental illness you have. You may imagine that the mental illness represents a lack of a certain neurotransmitter, or even that you are about to finish a personality test, and find a new group of people just like you. Maybe you hope you don’t get “misdiagnosed” and the psychologist or psychiatrist gives you the wrong treatment. But what if most of the diagnoses were pretty much, semi-secretly, the same?  Before the Enlightenment in Europe, judges lacked standardized procedures and legislation that would enable them to create uniform sentences. If two people committed the same crime in different geographical areas of the same State, judges would come up with completely different punishments, at a time when monarchies kept unlimited power. Meanwhile, merciless tortures were an integral part of the…

Nowadays, “go to therapy” has become the progressive phrase in our society to deal with any issue that anyone has. If you are feeling sad, you are told to go to therapy, maybe even in place of some condolences. If you are feeling nothing and empty, of course that’s where you should go. Even if you are feeling too happy, anything shorter than going to therapy will be met with “Why aren’t you going to therapy?”  Many people presuppose psychology and psychiatry are scientifically objective, special bodies of truth tailored to help you succeed in life. Why wouldn’t you trust them? However, their history might reveal that they’re not best cataloged as branches of science, but a branch of law.  Imagine the following thought experiment. There is a Medieval slave working in the fields. Everyday, if he doesn’t accomplish the unreasonable goals set by his master, he’ll be harshly whipped….