Let me define “objective art” as the art that exists, or is produced, without human intervention, i.e. without a human agent, conscious or otherwise. In other words, objective art is art without an artist. For the sake of simplicity I will focus on the visual arts and music, ignoring for...
Year: 2011
Some further comments on my article in The Washington Post
What has been happening with Greece over the past several months is not of significance to Greeks only.Greece is the canary in the mine; the metaphorical mine being in this case the European Union. Greece is dying because the European, social-democratic welfare state is falling apart.Greece is the first victim...
Reflections on a dead referendum
Referenda are a terrible way to take political decisions, particularly complex ones. A simplified “yes” or “no” rarely qualify as valid answer. Real politics is all about the gray areas in between. Furthermore in matters of importance for a society it is imperative to reach consensus, a requirement that cannot...
Notes on “Turing”
What made Alan Turing decide to commit suicide? This no-one knows. Although the official verdict is that he killed himself, there are too many gaps in the story. He was not depressed. The hormone therapy he was ordered to undertake had finished a year before. He had circle of good...
Αναζητώντας το χαμένο κέντρο
Τίποτα δεν ηχεί πιο ευχάριστα στα αυτιά από την υπόσχεση της αιώνιας ευδαιμονίας. Αυτό πουλάνε όσοι επιδιώκουν την υποταγή των ανθρωπίνων συνειδήσεων στον έλεγχο της εξουσίας τους. Αυτό υποσχέθηκε στο λαό ο σοσιαλιστικός πατερναλισμός που ρίζωσε στην Ελλάδα από τη δεκαετία του 1980 και μετά. Το μήνυμα ήταν τόσο ευήκοο...
The Bat Girl
The day before Victory Day we received a short, yet welcomed report, from our field agent on our northwestern borders, that distant place of fertile pastures, tranquil lakes and mythical beasts called Serprerps. Having spent the best part of the winter underground, living off his short supplies and sleeping off...
Why don’t they get it?
Whilst attending the World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha I fell ill with a cold and a fever. It was that terrible air-conditioning at the Conference Centre that did me in, and as a result I ended up spending a good time of my stay in my hotel room,...
In defence of Watson
Nobel laureate James Watson was attacked on April 14th 2011 whilst giving a lecture at Patras University. Hooded youngsters invaded the lecture theatre crying "racist!". One of them jumped on the stage yielding a stick and attacked elderly Watson. The Nobel laureate escaped unharmed thanks to students and academics who rushed to his...
The Secrets of the Lands Without: concept notes
The Secrets of the Lands Without is a novel about Religion meeting Science, a literary exploration into the latest theories of physics, biology and cosmology, as well as their relation to the World’s religious and esoteric beliefs. Around twenty billion years there was the beginning of Time, when the Word of God...
Archipelago Republic: concept notes
The 15th century was of tremendous importance to European affairs. It was the beginning of the expansion of "western civilisation" across the globe, through Renaissance and the Age of Discoveries. During the same time, the Greek Empire of Byzantium fell to the Turks - in 1453 - and most of the historical Greek lands...