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A labyrinth of ideas,
A diary of curiosities

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Forwarded from Lab Rats In Lab Coats (Haidar A. Fahad)
Michael Jackson suffered from lupus (the discoid type) that causes photosensitivity. Which is likely why he used to carry an umbrella and wear long clothes.

Also, lupus shows a higher prevalence among African Americans.
Forwarded from Lab Rats In Lab Coats (Haidar A. Fahad)
Selena Gomez also suffers from the disease (lupus nephritis) and had to undergo renal transplant.
For in laughter all that is evil comes together, but is pronounced holy and absolved by its own bliss; and if this is my alpha and omega, that all that is heavy and grave should become light; all that is body, dancer; all that is spirit bird—and verily, that is my alpha and omega: Oh how should I not lust after eternity and after the nuptial ring of rings, the ring of recurrence?

— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
A humorist possesses a precious and praiseworthy talent. It is a talent with which civilized societies have at times been uneasy, however. In making the world comedic and a matter for joking, the humorist has been called not only a fool, but also a dangerous influence upon the masses. Comedy, jokes, and humor are potentially subversive tools that, in their power to make the dangers of the world look small, also have the power to overthrow and destroy the serious spirit of reverence that tradition and authority have bestowed upon our leaders and social institutions.
Its power to bring all that is serious and threatening down to earth makes it both the perfect weapon against arrogance and the perfect tonic for the oppressed.

— Laughing at Nothing
But methinks I hear the philosophers saying ‘tis a miserable thing for a man to be foolish, to err, mistake, and know nothing truly. Nay rather, this is to be a man.

— In Praise of Folly
I wish to stress that the humorous attitude is not simply a passive reaction to the world’s stimuli. It is, rather, a talent or a capacity for reinterpretation. The humorist, upon encountering an incongruity, demands of it that it make some contribution to the enjoyment of life.
Of course, just as a person can be overly serious, so too may a person be insufficiently serious. A person incapable of seriousness is just a buffoon who refuses to think things through or to deliberate over consequences and implications. However, a humorous attitude is not the same as an attitude lacking in seriousness. It is, rather, an ability to see things within the context of multiple perspectives. Humor, as Bakhtin has pointed out, in its fullest sense “purifies and completes”our seriousness rather than denying it.
Human dignity, it seems to me, is not so much a matter of what we accomplish successfully, but of our willingness to continue striving toward what we think is good and worthy. In remaining dissatisfied and discontented with the world as it is, the nihilist retains a strange sort of rebellious, heroic, and admirable dignity.
— Laughing at Nothing
The world view of the nihilist suggests that we must despair of ever attaining ultimate and final satisfaction with ourselves or our place in the world. Life is a vain and unending struggle culminating in nothing, and all that seems beautiful and worthy is mere illusion, subject to decline and decay.
The pain of longing for what will be is chronically replaced by the pain of mourning for what was, and our lives are lived in a tense and unsettled state of unending desire for the ideal, which does not, and never will, exist in our here and now reality. The nihilist desires perfection but realizes that perfection is beyond reach. This incongruity between what is desired and what is actually possible lies at the heart of the problem of nihilism. Because it emphasizes frustration, pain, the vanity of struggle, and the hopelessness of attaining perfection, the philosophy of nihilism has traditionally been criticized as a doctrine advocating despair and depression.

— Laughing at Nothing