Some more Leunigs for you

The last one is probably my favourite, a glimpse of hope for those who move away from how our world tells us we must be, whilst overlooking all the problems humanity faces in keeping with an unjust system

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All from the appreciation Tumblr

10 for today

A German Danse Macabre from the 18th century. Everyone is taking part in the 'Danse Macabre' (dance of death) from the lowliest peasant to the royal family. No one escapes the dance of death.

A clock from the German town of Augsburg, 1640. The figure is wearing a funerary wreath, and is holding an arrow, the tip of which displays the time.

News from Nowhere. William Morris is pretty kickass

Mihoko Ogaki site here brilliant sculptures releasing starlight from corporeal forms, so beautiful

Michal Trpak sculptures. Truly brilliant! More here at his wonderful website

BRILLIANT!!! See here! Edible delicious Momento Mori's! What more could you want in cake?

In Finnish, Northern lights are called “Lights of the Fox”. It comes from the old beliefs, that says the lights come from the fox tail hitting the snow.

Artist: Linda Piekäinen, Link on artist's page: https://www.facebook.com/artbypiekainen

Read more about the brilliant Beltane here we need more festivals and feast days, they should be brought back! Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler and writer of some of my favourite books, champions the treasuring of old world customs and festivals. If I lived in the UK, I would never stop obscure festival-ing.

The strange tale of the green children of Woolpit, folklore? real? Decide for yourself here

And the dancing plague of 1518! What a brilliant piece of history this is! More here. History that seems to border on the edge of myth and myth that seems to have genuinely been a part of history, is one of my favourite spheres to exist in mentally!

What about you? :)

All pics from Tumblr unless linked to site

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Crisis of Meaning in the 21st Century: Part Two

 In a time of increased connectivity, how are people who feel disconnected from society meant to play a role in a confused system that they do not wish to participate in.

There is a 'crisis of meaning' that is palatable some days.

Status, social media and the ideas of success and failure prevail in all countries, but in industrialised or 'developed' countries, there is a sharp increase in suicides and social problems. How are we to assign meaning, or bring it back on our own terms, not just as individuals, but collectively so we begin to see a narrative that does not include just ourselves.

I will not pretend to have any answers, who does for such structural and social inequity.

The above chart perfectly demonstrates the onset of the existential crisis. 

What an eye-opener studying politics can be. I recommend it for those who are civic minded, I do not recommend it for people who believe the system is justified, perfectly balanced and working.

How is anyone meant to have a proper think about meaning and meaninglessness when the greats of the 20th century (well, those of prominent cultural influence and acceptance) offer polarised views?

One negative side effect of the industrial revolution was that it displaced many workers. Many people had to be a 'jack of all trades' or specialised in one thing above their other skill sets, which got completely replaced by machines. Automation and increases in technology are growing by the second, there are a series of videos available about robot bartenders. Many jobs will be replaced within a few technological generations, it will be interesting to see how quickly people allow machines to take even more jobs. The idea of working less with machinery around, in terms of the modern work week, is a myth. Poor Adam Smith actually had quite strong humanist views, and his economic papers got cherry-picked by economists and people who push for growth for growth's sake.

How are people meant to find meaning with their lives if they can't find meaningful work. We must define success in our own terms, and remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

If you start to talk to people about how machines are evolving rapidly, they just think you're a fundy whackjob, paranoid about Skynet. When firms adopt technology that decreases human costs to their business, and increases profit over employment, legislators will undoubtedly have an interesting time.

A great pictographic from Lapham's Quarterly, from here

This whole post is mainly a series of fracture thoughts, as I am sure is apparent. It is just demonstrative of the nature of the direction a large part of the world is heading into, the championing of technology and growth for growths sake, whilst ignoring the endemic social problems in their own backyard. We may have great innovation, but we have a growing suicide rate. We may have low funemployment levels, but technology is replacing jobs very quickly.

Confused?

Me too.

All pics via Tumblr

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