https://slackersmuse.com/tags/cerebrum-mens-spiritus/ Recent content in cerebrum-mens-spiritus on Slacker's Muse Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thesocietyofthespectacle/ Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thesocietyofthespectacle/ A Review: The Society of the Spectacle Title of Work: The Society of the Spectacle Author: Guy Debord Format: Published: 1967 Started: 2026-04-01 Finished: 2026-06-02\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Book club w/ David, took us a really long time for such a skinny book. Plenty packed in to 221 atomic, information dense theses but it’s also written in a deliberately inverting, subversive… inversive? style. Hegel/Marx dialectic tradition. Negation and some syntax thing called the reverse genitive, perhaps meant to mirror the upside-downing of values in capitalist systems. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_becomewhatyouare/ Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_becomewhatyouare/ A Review: Become What You Are Title of Work: Become What You Are Author: Alan W. Watts Format: Published: 1955 Started: Finished: 2025-09-22\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 3/5 One of those you-are-what-you-aren’t, do-nothing-to-have-everything, become-empty-to-be-full type books which makes it difficult to say one way or the other if it’s recommendable or not. In this everything is its negation way, it is: useless ∴ priceless overly general ∴ hyper-personal obvious ∴ obscure https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecoddlingoftheamericanmindhowgoodintentionsandbadideasaresettingupagenerationforfailure/ Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecoddlingoftheamericanmindhowgoodintentionsandbadideasaresettingupagenerationforfailure/ A Review: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure Title of Work: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure Author: Jonathan Haidt Format: Published: 2018 Started: Finished: 2025-07-02\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Four stars for the content related to childhood development, educational environments, pedagogy, CBT, and mindfulness. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_mythologies/ Tue, 03 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_mythologies/ A Review: Mythologies Title of Work: Mythologies Author: Roland Barthes Format: Published: 1957 Started: Finished: 2024-09-03\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 The modern myth, for Barthes’ purposes, seems to fall somewhere between the traditional/folk story (think Greek myths: Icarus, Pandora, Persephone and Hades, etc.) and the more contemporary usage meaning a widely held belief that is, in fact, false (think: goldfish only have a three second memory, MSG is bad for you, Mythbusters in the good ol’ days of Discovery channel). https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_dumbingusdownthehiddencurriculumofcompulsoryschooling/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_dumbingusdownthehiddencurriculumofcompulsoryschooling/ A Review: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Title of Work: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Author: John Taylor Gatto Format: Published: 2002 Started: Finished: 2024-04-16\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 5/5 Finished on the plane. It’s a skinny book of essays but with big ol’ implications and ideas. Has me feeling all transformed and revolutionary, sheesh. Recommend to any teachers, students, citizens, parents, or folks just feeling like there must be something more, like the life we’ve been given, told is the best way, the only way, sounds a little hollow when you wake up long enough to knock on the shell.