Welcome to Issue #83 of Rebel Intellects
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QUICK UPDATE
After a little bit of rebranding this week, ThinkSpace Thursday is dead, and Rebel Intellects has been born!
The name is a nod to Albert Camus’s notion of existential rebellion and what it means to be a rebel intellect (someone who challenges conventional norms, embraces intellectual curiosity, and seeks to think critically and independently).
It’s also the new name of our membership community, where we explore a maverick thinker from history each month. My new website is here if you’re interested.
👤 Rebel of the Week
Arthur Schopenhauer: “The great pessimist” with a sense of humour
Eloquence, pessimism, and a bad mood—these are the hallmarks of Arthur Schopenhauer, an outstanding German philosopher, misanthrope, inveterate bachelor, and one of the most famous thinkers of irrationalism.
📚 Light Reading
Is there such a thing as good taste?
If you want to discard the concept of good taste, you also have to discard the concept of good art. And that means you have to discard the possibility of people being good at making it. Which means there's no way for artists to be good at their jobs.
Stop dissing pessimism — it’s part of being human
Pessimism can offer philosophical tools to better understand our place within existence. It can help us come to terms with the idea that refusing to relentlessly pursue happiness is perhaps the most reasonable attitude.
The comfort crisis
While the news headlines cry constantly about any other number of things that suggest that life is hard these days, do we actually have a problem of ridiculous overindulgence and ease in our lives?
🔎 Study of the Week
Many people feel they work in pointless, meaningless jobs
The theory that many people feel the work they do is pointless because their jobs are "bullshit" has been confirmed by a new study.
The research found that people working in finance, sales, and managerial roles are much more likely than others on average to think their jobs are useless or unhelpful to others.
📺 Video of the Week
Boredom is an uncomfortable, unpleasant, and seemingly inevitable part of human existence. So why does it happen?
James Danckert is a professor of psychology, and his groundbreaking research into adaptive approaches to boredom can help us avoid its troubling effects and lead us to live fuller lives.
🎙 Podcast Episode
Western culture has placed thought at the centre of what it means to be human. We spend much of our time planning the future, reflecting on the past, puzzling about what to do, and talking about it with others.
But might this be a mistake? Should we focus on experience and live a bit more? Or is this romantic nonsense?
🗣 In Quotes
“Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer, Our Relation to Ourselves
👀 Perception Watch
Is the cat going up or down the stairs?
😲 WTF
Today, sunglasses serve as protective eyewear, effectively preventing bright sunlight from causing discomfort or damage to our eyes. Of course, they're also fashion accessories.
But sunglasses were originally made out of smoky quartz in 12th-century China, where they were used by judges to mask their emotions when they were questioning witnesses.
😁 In the Memetime
📖 Book Club
Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves.
From Sigmund Freud’s experiments with cocaine to William James’s epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism.
🤔 Contemplation Corner
🎧 The Song of the Week
Obongjayar — I Wish It Was Me
Listen to the Rebel Intellects playlist on Spotify.
🧠 Join Rebel Intellects
Elevate your thinking, one maverick at a time. Each month, we delve into a different philosopher's wisdom and its relevance to modern life. Click here to learn more and become a member.
August Workshop:
👍 Thanks for Reading
As always, if you enjoy Rebel Intellects, I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If you’re not finding it valuable, please consider unsubscribing—no hard feelings!
Live well, and I’ll see you next week.
John