- Philosophical Fun Facts
Fun Fact 1
The mathematical technique called proof by induction, despite its name containing induction, is in fact deductive—shocker!
Fun Fact 2
In the philosophy of language, there’s a theory called referential semantics, which says that the meaning of an expression is the object (or objects) the expression refers to. But this leads to a problem: either a sentence refers to an object, or it does not. Consider the sentence:
(A) “The current King of France is bald.”
or its negation:
(not A) “The current King of France is not bald.”
We realize that neither (A) nor (not A) is true, because France currently has no king. On this dilemma, Russell famously remarked:
Hegelians, who love a synthesis, will probably conclude that he wears a wig.
- Burn Bright
Do you see – how bright I burn?
- City of God (2002)
Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s alright—a dog-eat-dog world. 6.5/10.
- Citizen Kane (1941)
This is a black-and-white movie. It’s an interesting character introspection. Our protagonist is whisked away from his happy family home to New York, where he lives under the guardianship of a bank. From that point on, he never experiences love again. The only affection he receives from his guardian is material—based on money. As a result, he lives a wealthy but deeply unhappy life, unable to buy back the peace of mind he once had as a child in his family home. He pushes away all his friends and his wife, trying to fill the emptiness with material possessions—statues and paintings he collects from around the world.
Kane: You know, Mr. Thatcher, if I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
Thatcher: Don’t you think you are?
Kane: I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
Thatcher: What would you like to have been?
Kane: Everything you hate.For a film considered one of the greatest of all time, I expected more. That said, for its era, it was probably very innovative. 7/10.
- A Prophet (2009)
I like it. Just the French-Algerian setting already makes the movie interesting. Add to that the grim prison atmosphere and, at times, uniquely stylized imagery—it really nails the mood.
Leave day in prison is wild: they send you out for a day, you do whatever, and then at the end of the day, you just go back to prison.
The actors are great too. The whole thing has a special vibe, that gets really enhanced by the fantastical elements. 7.5/10.