Göbekli Tepe, Atlantis & Ancient Tech (Daymakers S02Ep28)
The Daymakers continue their discussion of Göbekli Tepe based on The Secular Heretic article by Martin Sweatman, "Mother of Invention: Decoding Göbekli Tepe." This time, the focus is on the unavoidable implication that it could not have been a spontaneous undertaking, but instead, must have been grounded in knowledge from a previous civilisation. Atlantis? Another subject of interest is how belief colours technology and what we might be able to deduce from the ancient, megalithic ruins. Given our society's priorities and beliefs, what are we likely to invent. . . and what are we likely not to invent? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Continuing with Ted Hughes’s essay “Myth & Education,” the Daymakers consider the limits and dangers of the objective imagination, the potential hollowing out effect it has upon the psyche, the dehumanising effect it inflicts on the human heart. Want to understand how our society has arrived at a moment in which it despises the human body, in which we fear our own breath? Watch this episode. Let us know what you think about objectivity in the comments below.
The Daymakers found Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry so beautiful and compelling, they couldn’t help doing another episode on her work. Here’s more in-depth biographical information and three more poems. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
This week, the Daymakers discuss what it means to be a poet. There's a pretentious, shallow way of being a poet, by dressing and acting the part; and there's truly being a poet with one's soul. But what does that mean? The Daymakers look at some historical and anthropological materials on the subject and consider a number of poetic role models along the way.
As the Daymakers continue to discuss T. S. Eliot’s famous essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” they question the author’s injunction to remove all trace of personality from the writing. Is this possible? And if so, is it truly desirable? What does poetry without personality look like? Wouldn’t it be flavourless and boring? So what might Eliot be trying to get at here? Check out the video and tell us what you think of these matters.
T. S. Eliot’s famous essay, “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” gets very cumbersome and confusing in the second half when the poet attempts to distinguish “feelings” from “emotions.” The Daymakers wonder what Eliot might be on about. Are the feelings we experience in poetry the effects of imagery? Perhaps this is what Eliot meant when he spoke of “the objective correlative.” And what of the emotions we experience through poetry? Do these have anything to do with the emotions we experience in the world? Or are these art-produced emotions entirely their own thing? Food for thought. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
The Daymakers discuss the rudiments of the sonnet form and pay particular attention to the work of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Let us know the title of your favourite sonnet.
Join the Daymakers for this inspiring introduction to C. S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. After Marko introduces C. S. Lewis and sets up our discussion, get ready for a dive into William Blake’s brilliant “Marriage of Heaven & Hell.” Does the Devil have something to teach us through apophasis? Lewis tells us the Devil is a liar. So how do we read the Screwtape Letters? The Daymakers consider the parable of The Prodigal Son, which Marc reads to us from the consummate King James Version. How is being lost, then “found,” so central to personal growth? The Daymakers wrestle with the problem of suffering.
Please note the following corrigendum: the line from Blake, "The vision of Christ that thou dost see / Is my vision's greatest enemy," does not in fact occur in "Auguries of Innocence," but in "The Everlasting Gospel."
Don’t miss the next episode on Screwtape’s Letter 1, which focuses on (a) the evil of bureaucracy, (b) what Screwtape calls “jargon” or “propaganda” as well as (c) the problem of the sensual world of experience.
Put on your drysuit and get ready for a deep dive into metaphysical waters as the Daymakers discuss entropy, geometrical order, organic order, the eukaryote, the city, intellection, intuition, instinct and spider memory, consciousness, matter, IQ, creativity, innovation, evolution, mathematics, the sensual and the spiritual, myth and story-telling, and Goethe’s active seeing! How are all these connected? Watch this episode of Daymakers and find out as we continue to think about Steve Robbins’s insights into Henri Bergson’s Holographic Theory of Mind!
This week, the Daymakers continue their discussion on the true poet, springboarding from ideas expressed by Robert Graves in his tour de force book, The White Goddess. Graves expresses a commitment to the ancient poetic theme of dedication to the Supreme Goddess and to the creative spirit of nature. Poems that manage to evoke this theme most successfully have an actual physical impact on the audience. Watch the video to discover more on this subject.