Episode 54: Lobsters, Pianos, and Hidden Gods
Episode 54: Lobsters, Pianos, and Hidden Gods  
Podcast: Weird Studies
Rating: Explicit Published On: Wed Aug 28 2019
Description: "All things feel," Pythagoas said. Panpsychism, the belief that consciousnes is a property of all things and not limited to the human brain, is back in vogue -- with good reason. The problem of how inert matter could give rise to subjectivity and feeling has proved insoluble under the dominant assumptions of a hard materialism. Recently, the American filmmaker Errol Morris presented his own brand of panpsychism in a long-form essay entitled, "The Pianist and the Lobster," published in the New York Times. The essay opens with an episode from the life of Sviatoslav Richter, namely a time where the famous Russian pianist couldn't perform without a plastic lobster waiting for him in the wings. In Morris's piece, the curious anecdote sounds the first note of what turns out to be a polyphony of thoughts and ideas on consciousness, agency, Nerval's image of the the "Hidden God," and the deep weirdness of music. Phil and JF use Morris's essay to create a polyphony of their own. REFERENCES Errol Morris, "The Pianist and the Lobster" (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/21/opinion/editorials/errol-morris-lobster-sviatoslav-richter.html) Sviatoslav Richter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sviatoslav_Richter), Russian pianist Nick Cave., Red Hand Files #53 (https://www.theredhandfiles.com/who-are-your-favourite-guitarists/) Thomas Kuhn, [The Structure of Scientific Revolutions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheStructureofScientificRevolutions) Bruno Monsaingeon (dir.), Richter: The Enigma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJVpjI3wJM) Bon Jovi, "Livin’ on a Prayer" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk) Brad Warner, "The Eyes of Dogen" (http://hardcorezen.info/the-eyes-of-dogen/6368) Gilles Deleuze, [Difference and Repetition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DifferenceandRepetition) Edgard Varèse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Varèse), composer Benjamin Libet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet#Implications_of_Libet%27s_experiments), neuroscientist Robin Hardy (dir), [The Wicker Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheWickerMan) Frans De Waal, Mama’s Last Hug (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/08/mamas-last-hug-frans-de-waal-review) Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, [A Thousand Plateaus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AThousandPlateaus) Sartre, [The Transcendence of the Ego](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheTranscendenceoftheEgo) Tarot de Marseille - XVIII: The Moon (https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/e/e38b53e4-e148-4e2d-b301-0b3bb15779ff/W4v2yByR.jpg) Marsilio Ficino, [Three Books on Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devitalibritres)_ Carl Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" (http://www.studiocleo.com/librarie/jung/essay.html), The Red Book (https://www.npr.org/2009/11/11/120129676/the-red-book-a-window-into-jungs-dreams) Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods (https://www.amazon.com/Food-Gods-Original-Knowledge-Evolution/dp/0553371304)