Ray Wu's Blog

Islam: birthed during the time of tribal division Qur’an: 114 Surahs, meant to be heard just as much as it is meant to be read One text shaping entire cultures God appears in Muhammad’s life multiple times Faith and morality (Meccan Surahs) Law and community (Medinan Surahs)  

it never occurred to me that during the transition between Pagans and Christianity, where the Roman and the Christian God were accepted to be in some sort of co-existence. Augustine says God allowed Rome to rise because of its discipline and order, even though it didn’t worship Him. How does this compare with Stoic or […]

commercialized surrealism, avant-garde devices that fascinated a small bohemian group, is now a direct pipeline to the occult, mass youth. Counterculture was popularized, updated, and mass-produced surrealism. Variety described Flaming Creatures as a 58-minute montage of a trasvestite orgy. Tomkins Mekas: “The public, which had been largely oblivious of the underground’s existence, assumed that ‘underground’ was synonymous […]

linear diophantine equation: ax+by=c refer to the integer solutions

For Pharaoh, Moses’ freeing the Israelites affects the stability of the Egyptian state. For Marcus Aurelius, the belief of Christians affects the stability of the Roman religion, and by extension, the Roman state. Is Pharaoh choosing to do this, or is God intervening? Plague’s rule. Burning bush and the parting of the Red Sea. Both […]

logos Telos, the final purpose, end of something studying of the actual ruler in CC extend the ideas beyond the people of Polis irrationality of man Is Marcus Aurelius’ perspective skewed because of his position as the emperor? On space and time: it seems completely impossible to live in the moment. Both democrats/liberals & conservatives/republicans […]

“We must therefore study the means of securing happiness, since if we have it we have everything, but if we lack it we do everything in order to gain it.” Here, Epicurus seems to indicate that the study of philosophy will lead to happiness. From my limited observation, I am doubtful. “A life that is […]