Natasha Mitchell: So it's not a little man or woman inside our heads...

Thomas Metzinger: ...that looks at pictures. But the experience of looking, of being directed to one's own feelings or to one's sensory perceptions of the outside world, this is itself an image. There is nobody looking at the image, it's like the camera is part of the picture or the viewing is itself a part of the process of viewing. This is how a first-person perspective emerges in our own case, the question is, okay, if it's not a thing, if it's not something in the brain, what kind of a process is it?

[more inside]
posted by y2karl on Oct 14, 2009 - 56 comments

100 Best Icelandic Pop & Rock Albums all streamable in full for free. Icelandic state broadcaster RÚV and Icelandic subscription music website tónlist.is have published what they, their team of experts and the Icelandic public consider to be the 100 best Icelandic rock and pop albums of all time. Björk, Sigur Rós, Múm and The Sugarcubes don't need much introduction but below the cut there are short description of the other artists. [via RÚV] [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on May 6, 2009 - 47 comments

First Person Plural. "An evolving approach to the science of pleasure suggests that each of us contains multiple selves—all with different desires, and all fighting for control. If this is right, the pursuit of happiness becomes even trickier. Can one self bind another self if the two want different things? Are you always better off when a Good Self wins? And should outsiders, such as employers and policy makers, get into the fray?" [Via]
posted by homunculus on Oct 25, 2008 - 27 comments

A great quick read from the NYTimes. Why making mistakes is sometimes the best thing for us, and why we avoid it anyway.
posted by SeizeTheDay on Nov 29, 2007 - 26 comments

Blogpoly What? No Mefi! Jerks.
posted by MiltonRandKalman on May 13, 2005 - 24 comments

That's enough about you.How about me? More from the New Int article (can't find a link) "comic books,films,mobile phones that take pictures all value the look of things much more than the meaning of things" Can't we all just love .... ourselves ? (don't mention blogging)
posted by johnny7 on Jul 5, 2003 - 7 comments

"Feminism" isn't the problem , it's Woman's Super Ego that's the problem. "...there comes a time in every relationship when a woman has to be tender and empathetic. If she can't or won't do that, it doesn't matter if she has the face of Helen of Troy with George Eliot's mind."
posted by vito90 on Feb 6, 2003 - 55 comments

Looking at an attractive woman swell's a man's ego. Looking even at a picture of an attractive woman is enough to dramatically boost a man's estimation of his earning prospects, career success, generosity and dominance --and research has found that women find them attractive.
posted by semmi on May 22, 2002 - 17 comments

These aren't your father's Objectivists -- they're WACKY! They like wacky rock music! They care for wacky birds! Being Objectivists, they believe themselves to be pundits -- but WACKY ones! I mean, look at these costumes -- these are Objectivists who knows how to have fun!
posted by tweebiscuit on Jul 22, 2001 - 40 comments

Play with yourself anytime you like... I don't know why, but I find myself wondering if I could afford the $250 or more they're asking for one of these. I can think of a thousand fun things I could do with a 'me' action figure (via Thirteen Labs).
posted by Markb on Jan 5, 2001 - 12 comments