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Neel Burton

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“Both the European Union and the United States are in some sense the heirs of Rome. Like Rome, the United States is founded on a republican myth of liberation from a tyrannical oppressor. Just as the Rape of Lucretia led to the overthrow of the last Etruscan king, so the Boston Tea Party led to the overthrow of the British crown. The Founding Fathers of the United States sought quite literally to create a New Rome, with, for instance, a clear separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government—with the legislative branch called, as in Rome, the Senate. They even debated whether the executive branch would not be better represented, as in Rome, by two consuls rather than the president that they eventually settled for. The extended period of relative peace and prosperity since the end of the Second World War has been dubbed the Pax Americana [‘American Peace’], after the Pax Romana which perdured from the accession of Augustus in 27 BCE to the death of the last of the Five Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius, in 180 CE. The United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union can be accounted for, in part, by the ghost of the nineteenth century Pax Britannica, when the British Empire was not merely a province of Rome but a Rome unto herself.”

MythUnited States Of AmericaEuropean UnionRoman EmpireBrexitFounding FathersThomas JeffersonBoston Tea PartyUs Senate
Book:The Meaning of Myth: With 12 Greek Myths Retold and Interpreted by a Psychiatrist
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“It is quite natural to think of the self as something concrete, but it is, in fact, nothing of the sort. Rather, it is an abstract product of our minds, a convenient concept or schema that enables us to relate our present self with our past, future, and conditional selves, and thereby to create an illusion of coherence and continuity from a big jumble of disparate experiences. Indeed, one could go so far as to argue that the self is nothing but the sum total of our ego defences, and that it is therefore tantamount to one gigantic ego defence, namely, the ego itself. The self is like a cracked mask that is in constant need of being pieced together. But behind the mask there is nobody at home.”

PsychoanalysisMasksPhilosophy Of MindEgo Defences
Book:Hide and Seek: The Psychology of Self-Deception
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“In 1949, neurologist Egas Moniz (1874-1955) received a Nobel Prize for his discovery of ‘the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses’. Today, prefrontal leucotomy is derided as a barbaric treatment from a much darker age, and it is to be hoped that, one day, so too might antipsychotic drugs.”

FutureMental HealthMental IllnessPsychiatryMental DisordersLobotomyAntipsychotic DrugsAntipsychotic MedicationAntipsychotics
Book:The Meaning of Madness
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“In refining their senses and aesthetic judgement, blind tasters become much more conscious of the richness not only of wine but also of other potentially complex beverages such as tea, coffee, and spirits, and, by extension, the flavours in food, the scents in the air, and the play of light in the world. For life is consciousness, and consciousness is life.”

PhilosophyWineBlind Tasting
Book:The Concise Guide to Wine and Blind Tasting
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“The oldest Vedantic school, Advaita [‘Not two’], represents an extreme and purist position in arguing that Brahman alone is real. The self and the world are within Brahman, with any apparent difference arising from illusion [maya] and ignorance [avidya]. It is as with a rope, which seems to be a snake, or a seashell, which seems to be of silver. This world is like the foam on the sea, or a peacock’s egg, created simply for play [lila]. Since Brahman is all, Brahman is without attributes. When the mind, which is given to maya, tries to conceive of Brahman, it sees Ishvara in one of his many forms. If certain Upanishadic statements appear to be theistic, it is because their author (nominally, Brahman) is catering to his audience. Only in deep sleep, when we are no longer dreaming, might we experience something of the formlessness of Brahman. We are then pure, disengaged consciousness, like the sun after it has set. This is the experience of disembodied Atma, of death, of home.”

DeathSleepConsciousnessHinduismVedantaBrahmanAtmanVedasThe SoulUpanishads
Book:Indian Mythology and Philosophy: The Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Kama Sutra… And How They Fit Together
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“The notion of dream interpretation far antedates the birth of psychoanalysis, and probably served an important function in most, if not all, historical societies. In having lost this function, modern man has also lost the best part of his nature, which he obliviously passes on to the next generation of dreamers.”

IfsMenImportantDreamNextLostGenerationsModernBirthFunctionHistoricalNotionInterpretationDreamerNext GenerationPsychoanalysisModern Man
Author:Neel Burton
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“Self-deception is a defining part of our human nature. By recognizing its various forms in ourselves and reflecting upon them, we may be able to disarm them and even, in some cases, to employ and enjoy them. This self-knowledge opens up a whole new world before us, rich in beauty and subtlety, and frees us not only to take the best out of it, but also to give it back the best of ourselves, and, in so doing, to fulfil our potential as human beings. I don't really think it's a choice.”

ThinkingWorldGivingHumansMaySelfWholeAbleFormChoicesEnjoyHuman BeingsCasesRichHuman NatureVariousDeceptionNew WorldSelf KnowledgeRecognizingDefiningReflectingSelf DeceptionSubtletyReflecting Upon
Author:Neel Burton
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“According to the Buddha, the failure to recognize the illusion of the self is the source of all ignorance and unhappiness. It is only by renouncing the self, that is, by dropping his ego defences and committing metaphorical suicide, that a person can open up to different modes of being and relating and thereby transform himself into a pure essence of humanity. In so doing, he becomes free to recast himself as a much more joyful and productive person, and attains the only species of transcendence and immortality that is open to man.”

MenPersonsDifferentSelfHumanityIgnoranceSourcePureEgoIllusionEssenceSuicideSpeciesImmortalityProductiveUnhappinessJoyfulTranscendenceDroppingDefenceMetaphorical
Author:Neel Burton
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“While conversion of sugars to ethanol is the predominant reaction, it is only one of potentially thousands of biochemical reactions taking place during fermentation. As a result, wine contains trace amounts of a large number of organic acids, esters, sugars, alcohols, and other molecules. Wine is, in fact, one of the most complex of all beverages: the fruit of a soil, climate, and vintage, digested by a fungus through a process guided by the culture, vision, and skill of an individual man or woman.”

MenFactsCultureIndividualProcessResultsNumbersVisionAmountSkillsWineClimateComplexesFruitAlcoholConversionReactionsSoilSugarAcidMoleculesLarge NumbersVintageBeveragesFungiFermentationEthanol
Author:Neel Burton
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