Hi, welcome to Dilemmas of Meaning, a journal at the intersection of philosophy, culture, and technology. This is October’s ‘Bookmarks’ in our Discovery series. In this month’s post we’re highlighting the game of the century, dancing the blues away, the future of sex, links, and lying on the internet.
Keep your recommendation coming. See you all next month.
Playing with Nature: On “Tears of the Kingdom” as Econfiction - Martin Dolan
Over the past four months, I’ve been slowly trying to save Hyrule in this year’s Tears of the Kingdom, a game that might be the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. After recently rolling credits, what has stayed with me is the way the game’s world feels. From its intricate physics system that allows you to solve puzzles by playing with fundamental forces like fire, gravity, and weather to the way the world’s climate changes as the story progresses. After years of games mimicking reality here is one so alive people are running research projects discovering how it all works. Tears of the Kingdom’s Hyrule feels alive. Martin Dolan approaches his review in a similar vein, seeing Tears –and indeed the medium of video games– as an answer to the question of whether it is possible to represent ecology and climate in our fiction. With climate change perhaps the challenge of our age, Nintendo might have created one of the first works of fiction that truly conveys the feeling of living in a world where the weather is as much of a player as you are.
Dancers in the Dark - A Brief History of Dance in Film
There’s something nostalgic about autumn. It recalls former beginnings: the first days of school, the beginning of Halloween and Christmas themes, remembering where you stashed your winter coats. Like any good nostalgic reverie, there is also a twinge, a pain you don’t quite recall. Long gone are the summer picnics, holidays by the sea, a world bathed in golden sunlight. For those that find the shorter days isolating and in need of warmth in their cold nights, BREADSWORD cut a montage of dancing throughout history on the silver screen. It brings a happy tear to my eye every time I watch it and autumn feels all the less isolating.
The Majority Report – The Future of Sex with Amia Srinivasan
Oxford feminist philosopher and political theorist Amia Srinivasan joined Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report to discuss her book The Right to Sex, the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the US, and porn and sexual freedom within neoliberalism. Their conversation touches the important topic, for her book and current affairs, of sex as inextricably political. But what are the consequences and benefits of reading sex through the political? There is too much in their rich conversation to note here, however we wish to point you to both this video and Amia’s book. More on Amia’s work soon in a future essay here.
Artifact. News
They’re calling it the TikTok of text, I think it’s a cool place to see random websites shared by real people. Either way, if you’re curious take it for a spin. You can find my links at Jedidiah Hungbeme. I’ll be sharing some links that don’t make the Bookmarks.
Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths” - Clare Malone
Hasan Minhaj’s personal anecdotes have conveniently matched his theme, blurring the line between the personal and the facts. As comedians become our truth tellers and reach for elevated topics, should we, too, hold them to higher standards?