The “Prince of Nothing” trilogy by Scott Bakker, consisting of “The darkness that comes before”, “The warrior prophet”, and “The thousandfold thought”, is fantasy unlike I’ve ever read it. The story and storytelling are outstanding, but what makes the book series so special is the constant philosophical/psychological discourse about freedom of choice, and consequences thereof (e.g., religion, beliefs, and biases).

To give you an impression, some quotations below. Overall: highly recommended reading!

The Darkness that comes before

The thoughts of all men arise from the darkness. If you are the movements of your soul, and the cause of that movement precedes you, then how can you ever call your thoughts your own? How could you be anything other than a slave to the darkness that comes before?

Because they cannot see what comes before them, they assume nothing comes before them. They are numb to the hammers of circumstance, blind to their conditioning. What is branded into them, they think freely chosen.

Volition is one more thing moved in the soul, and not the mover we take it to be. While few dispute this, the absurdities that follow escape comprehension altogether.

There were two pasts, he understood that now. There was the past that men remembered, and there was the past that determined, and rarely if ever were they the same. All men stood in thrall of the latter. And knowing this made them insane.

I am my thoughts, but the sources of my thoughts exceed me. I do not own myself, because the darkness comes before me.

By definition, the future cannot anticipate the present. What comes after cannot come before.

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“Whenever I take off for somewhere new, I feel I’d like to keep moving forever. But there are other wonderful selves that nestle in routine – I try to remember that too.”

“I hope that you are a disaster. I’m sorry, but I do. I hope that you are thunder and lightning. I hope you are a forest fire, I hope you kill the dead wood and burn off the rotting leaves. With the canopy gone, the sun can get in. You need new growth. I hope you’re terrible and broken and perfect.”

– Joey Comeau

“If we are to have another contest in our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixons, but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side, & superstition, ambition, & ignorance on the other [...] Resolve that either the state or Nation, or both combined, shall support institutions of learning [...] sufficient to afford to every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education.
[...] Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and private schools entirely supported by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.”

– Ulysses S. Grant, 1822 – 1885, 18th president of the United States of America

(via spacegirl)

Die bayrische Regierungskoalition aus CSU und FDP hat entschieden, die Studiengebühren in Bayern abzuschaffen, die Teil des Koalitionsvertrages zwischen FDP und CSU waren. Die CSU hat ihre Position geändert, nachdem das Volksbegehren gegen Studiengebühren im Januar 2013 (Wahljahr!) positiv ausgefallen ist. Die FDP hingegen hatte sich standhaft und lauthals geweigert, mitzuziehen, mehrere Monate lang auf den Koalitionsvertrag hingewiesen und sogar mit einem Bruch der Koalition gedroht.

Heute sind sie umgeschwenkt, und der bayrische FDP Fraktionschef Thomas Hacker erklärt im bayrischen Rundfunk, wieso:

“Studienbeiträge sind unserer Meinung nach sozial gerechtfertigt, damit sind wir allerdings in der bayrischen Politik alleingelassen mit dieser Position. Deswegen, um auch vernünftiges Regierungshandeln zu zeigen ist es jetzt wichtig den Weg in die Zukunft zu zeigen. Die FDP hat die Bildungsinvestitition immer vorangetrieben, auch heute.”

Popcorn (mit Video!).

(in English: there are no study fees any longer in Bavaria!! Booya.)

From the amazing Sam Brown:

A CALL FOR FUNNY PRESENTATIONS
for the world’s first
FESTIVAL OF BAD AD HOC HYPOTHESES

What is it?
The Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses (BAH!) is a celebration of well-argued and thoroughly researched but completely incorrect evolutionary theory. It is put on by Zach Weinersmith (cartoonist of SMBC) and breadpig (publishers of SMBC and XKCD), and sponsored by EvoS Consortium and “This View of Life”magazine (Editor-in-Chief David Sloan Wilson). It will be held on the MIT campus on the evening of April 20th, 2013.

Do I need to be a scientist to submit?
Absolutely not. However, you do need to be able to talk in a scientific manner and speak well.

Are there things I can’t say?
It’s evolution, so there’ll no doubt be plenty of talk of sex. However, since we’d like a large potential audience, we’d prefer you not do anything too grotesque or horrifying.

Details at: link

Link of the day: wtf evolution

My two favorite entries of the first page:

(1)

(2)

“A parasitic louse that crawls into your mouth, vampirizes your tongue, then clamps itself onto the withered stub so it can ride around inside you and drink your mucus for the rest of your mutual lives? Why, yes. It’s called symbiosis and it’s beautiful.

What? Relax. It’s going to be fine. This isn’t going to hurt. You won’t even miss your tongue—once the louse is latched onto the muscle, you can simply use its body as a tongue instead. These are exactly the kind of details that evolution has worked out for you, because evolution loves you and it wants you to be all right.

Link of the day: “before I die I want to …” street-art

(via Adela)