Love+FearEchoes ofHumanity and Hatred

Aki Gibbons

What Even is Valentine's Day?

-

Art, Ideology, Emotion, Spirit January June, 2015

Russell Brand CIA TortureImages of the Divine

Here at (syn)Thesis, were committed to scouring the undersides of the contemporary human psyche and rewiring the crossed circuits of over-saturated modern day ideological constructs.

We acknowledge that we live in an age in which information is suspect to constant falsification due to its overwhelming quantity.

We acknowledge that we live in an era in which everyone has an overabundance of thoughts, ideas, impressions, perceptions and opinions.

We endeavour to never hold back in expressing a thought, ideal or opinion, whether big or small, whether safe or dangerous, whether placed to a name or anonymous.

We seek to explore every possibility, however ugly it may seem.

Furthermore, we regard an idea or opinion as a platform; a precipice which is able to be explored further, for the betterment of all.

Let us not hold back from reaching into the unknown, let us not sit static in the fear of what might be, nor what might have been, of the possibility of offending each other.

We are strong, our wonder is eternal, and we are tired of bearing the brunt of a dilapidated system of repression.

Following is a number of discussions on communications, psychology, ideology, and social issues.

We hope youll join us on the journey, and share your voice.

(syn)thesis manifesto:

2 (syn)THESIS

edit

oria

l

Welcome to the first issue of this experimental platform for exploring thought, art, emotion and energy.

In this magazine, were hoping to approach radically opposed ideas and concepts to see if we can attempt to reimagine the problems posed into new working wholes.

For our maiden voyage, weve decided to focus on the motherload of all dichotomies: Love and Fear arguably the two most primal emotions experienced by the human species, and perhaps the most powerful forces contributing to the ongoing quest of civilization.

The idea, of course, is not to say that fear is as worthy an ally as love. Instead, the drive is to see how our ideas of love and fear are affected by, and at times condensed into, one other.

Why? you might reasonably ask.

Because the challenge today, it seems, lies not in solving predefined problems so much as looking at ways to come to terms with the nature of those problems, to test the fundamental precipices upon which we base our systems of information and modes of under-standing the world.

With some effort, we can hope to bring these two seemingly contradictory forces into focus in a way that will allow us to move forwards with a full, lucid understanding of our choices and actions.

Live freely, dare to dream.

Jonathan Payne,Editor, (syn)THESIS Magazine

The blind spot in your periphery.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by Chris Zielecki

THE crew:

EDITORJonathan Payne

CONTENT CO-ORDINATORHelena Xavier

ART DIRECTORAlberto Carcetti

LAYOUT MANAGERTina Reik

CONTRIBUTORsAki Gibbons Lena Aoyolae

COVER ARTImage: Arab Spring II, Oil on Canvas by Nir Hod Logo, Vector Art: Liz Fizz, Little Sky Design

DisclaimerAs a non-commercial project, weve tried to limit our selec-tion of media items to those made by contributors, or pieces found online distributed under collective commons licences. If, however, you see that weve used a piece of media wrongly, please contact us at corecop-yau@gmail.com and we well remove it.

Distributed under Creative Commons Licence.

Jonathan Payne Core CopyCreative Content Editorial Design

corecopyau@gmail.com

Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.

Marianne WilliaMson

(syn)THESIS 3

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zanthia/8263998049/in/photolist-dAg9GZ-fBYDF2-6ixKuG-98eBvT-eyug79-p9k9S-dAg9Pn-5XwWMR-fVRkYx-8YPxJ-7p8CH1-JcN1a-4PB6rE-S1oWq-86VpWv-5RtqQg-pWMW2A-dzyUmw-5b228m-6JUadU-fc27G-dAg9Kz-qEGCPd-5f3nDF-h2XFeG-oHp9r5-qe3oLF-48AbKZ-5hf6X-bjZexs-qobJJm-8UNtNB-8UKcbp-qEKAdt-qocmDj-95RhgF-e9Zpkq-mjVvPa-hYpvf6-bTLEy8-8UP5Ku-pHYKtp-5wua8H-97xrQm-e2Qif7-7WVntm-e3SH4K-8mxzUT-6s4B1U-7Y4tKDhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/zanthia/http://www.littleskydesign.com.au/http://www.littleskydesign.com.au/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

18

20

12

08

144 (syn)THESIS

24

0812141820

2224

26

26

22 russell Brand

hate and humanity

CIA Torture

Dark Valentine

Divine Signs

Comic genius, maniacal madman or socially charged catalyst? What does the comedian have to offer the world?

Is the human race defined by a narrative of hatred and fear? A look at how hatred connotates a fixed viewpoint towards self-loathing.

A brief look at the worrying track record of US detainment and interrogation of prisoners without fair trial or investigation.

Is Fifty Shades of Grey really the best we can do for our yearly celebration of the virtues of romance, and the ongoing quest for eternal love?

How can we reconcile eache persons unique image of the divine with the social order with which we rely to live a peaceful life?

Clocks Ticking Interstellar

Underwater

Fr

ance

sco Tortorr

e

lla

(syn)THESIS 5

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. William Faulkner

6 (syn)THESIS

Whoso lovesbelieves impossible Elizabeth Barrett Browning

the...

by Marjan Lazarevski

(syn)THESIS 7

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlazarevski/9516757366/in/photolist-fuXSpy-4qDXsV-pzpgjM-3ToXS-iVvY69-afu67u-5Li2z1-ciBPtW-55q9Kq-bEwiUy-5sChN6-bjSVNQ-6VYv3G-cYQ841-4FnszP-9byzXJ-68DawN-aceGaf-8CPFwq-JvU2r-DcY2H-7H8gLN-9hudj-5sd2K5-7mVZ64-9od86b-drJtq-8dwz8q-nW7EG9-jbVMFV-hnAhUW-bKxQC-85PxTx-nhaWSN-8TwVRL-a4FLbD-akT57W-bUF1Cr-6c2MgC-hnp9qk-6qYmmq-6xhP1-bQ2QMc-pNZx6U-kmGoSX-jGMUs5-nb8aMi-dLcJAR-gNUwX-nkive5https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlazarevski/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Lena Aoyoale

Narcissistic self-styled messi-ah or revolutionary catalyst? whatever your opinion of him its clear that Russell Brands divisive

character is making waves.

Entertainment Politics: Has Brand crossed the line?

8 (syn)THESIS

fair indication of this is the constant barrage of media outrage aimed to discredit, de-fame and deride the character of the come-dian-turned-social-activist in an effort to call into question his possible intentions. These of

course lie alongside a plethora of news items aimed to applaud his recent call for revolution, thus placing him at a point of heated contention.

Much of the criticism revolves around Brands celebrity status (and associated wealth), labelling his support of working class peoples as hypocritical and indicative of a veiled attempt to publicise his media persona without adding anything substantial to the causes he purports to promote.

Others call his ideolo-gy of anti-corporate/media/government at odds with his status as a celebrity alongside allegations of funding from large institutions (see Brands response to such claims from Ru-pert Murdochs tabloid, The Sun).

Many also like to note that his lack of formal educa-tion and/or exper-tise in social matters make him an inadequate authority and thus inept to share his opinions in the manner that he does.

While I think some of these criticisms are valid to an ex-tent (for instance, we should of course be wary of any media persona, and scrutinise their voice/intentions thoroughly) I also feel that they obscure some of the issues at hand.

Firstly, I dont agree that anyone should refrain from ex-pressing their opinions based on a lack of expertise. While its fair to say that a person should take care in the way they present their arguments and analyses, such a criticism quickly becomes applicable to the media at large. One can only be so careful, and in the course of expressing difficult viewpoints there will always remain some who are misrepresented and left marginalised. Its the ongoing effort to right such wrongs that makes the difference.

Its also important to note that Brand is not an authori-ty in the issues he discusses, nor does he claim to be. Indeed, he often responds to his critics by saying that hes an entertainer and is not claiming an authoritative knowledge-base, but rather is following a deep-seated drive to face inequality with the means he has at hand.

Its here that I find the rhetorical dissociation from the established political system first expressed in his guest editorial of the New Statesman to be most valid. What he seems to be saying is that he lacks the

formal know-how to be a part of the political infrastruc-ture in place; a point that makes his raconteuring and rabble-rousing difficult, but hardly invalid.

Indeed, some commentators have even suggested that Brands struggles lie in tandem with certain elements of the political spectrum in the UK, and feel that given time, his support for (and collaboration with) such insti-tutions may become more solid.

What he is doing is expressing a critical viewpoint of modern mass-growth capital culture which, to be fair, is damn-near impossible to find echoed throughout the established media channels that proliferate our cultural

landscape. Every-one has the right to express these kinds of opinions our democratic ideals encourage this and from my view-point Brand does this with sincerity and enthusiasm despite whether or not (on some level) he is also promoting his own self-image, his book Revolution (2014), his YouTube channel The Trews, his Social Media out-lets, and so on.

The claim that because of his celebrity status he should shut up and enjoy his privilege, expressed by the likes of Jo from Northern Ireland, a disgruntled Royal Bank of Scotland worker (who, to be fair, had to endure a cold lunch) displaced (for an afternoon) by Brands protests outside of its London office doesnt seem to add any-thing to the issue except for an a-priori viewpoint on the social and ethical responsibilities of those with power.

Its true that Brand has more resources at his command than does the under-represented working class groups he supports. Its also true that he lives in a state of lux-ury compared to those he claims to represent. But that doesnt say anything about why he should or shouldnt help those who themselves lack a voice in the public forum. In fact, a pretty strong argument could be made that there is greater responsibility for those in positions of power to lend their voice to the unfortunate and un-der-represented within a society.

With all this in mind, it becomes far more important to analyse the mans actions rather than his character in determining whether or not he represents a sincere ef-fort to tackle issues of austerity and wealth disparity in the UK, and the world at large. Certainly in light of his support for the New Era Housing Estate who recently won a campaign victory against US investors Westbro-ok it seems hes doing something right. His recent video from his YouTube channel (The Trews E215) which depicts him talking alongside New Era estate organiser

total revolution of consciousness and our entire social, political and economic system is what interests me, but thats not on the ballot

A

(syn)THESIS 9

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/russell-brand-threatens-to-sue-the-sun-for-calling-him-a-hypocrite-over-rent-claims-9899571.htmlhttp://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/russell-brand-on-revolutionhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kieran-turner-dave/russell-brand-green-party_b_6328776.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/user/russellbrandhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/russell-brand-responds-to-hilarious-letter-from-disgruntled-rbs-worker-after-anticapitalist-publicity-stunt-left-him-hungry-9932015.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/48f47aca-8788-11e4-bc7c-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F48f47aca-8788-11e4-bc7c-00144feabdc0.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&siteedition=uk&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsynthesismag.com%2F2014%2F12%2F23%2Fentertainment-politics-has-russell-brand-crossed-the-line%2F#slide0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QRURAbAvWY

Lindsey Garrett certainly seems to depict a state of sol-idarity and genuine camaraderie in terms of the support he has shown. In an article penned by Garrett for the Independ-ent she revealed I dont think wed be here now without Russell Brands support.

Added to this is the ongoing mediation of a dissenting viewpoint that puts Brand in a hot-box of ridicule and anger from those who seem to have the most to lose from these battles on the streets. And while I do not agree with his sentiment that we should give up entirely on the system in place (which over a long period has landed many vic-tories for socialist reform even if at present it looks to be steer-ing in a tyranni-cal direction), I do understand the position of apathy towards the current polit-ical climate that Brand appeals to. If such an appeal to think outside the framework of the status-quo manages to turn a few heads and reach a few jaded youths (and god forbid get a few follows for his Twitter account) then who am I to criticise?

Ill admit that at the heart of Brands viewpoints, there emerges at times a worrying sense of hyper-drama and shit-stirring that serves to over-simplify complicated issues. But at heart, and from the passion evident in his interviews and media pieces, I think the entertainer is doing what he can to cross the line between a social amusement, and someone who is using his notoriety to make a real even if at times inevitably confused difference in the world.

To cry insincerity at someone who ap-pears to be facing issues of inequality and giving them sin-cere and dedicated attention seems bitter and unfair, especially when the detractors leave it to character-smear-ing and empty rhetorics to do their work for them. Such is the plight of anyone who wish-es to stand up for, and give voice to, something they be-lieve in, at least in our current media setting.

Apart from anything else, its amazing to be watching as Brands efforts seem to catalyse the present insti-tutions into action,

and for that he has my respect, even if he doesnt have my complete (non) vote.

The transition is from a para-digm of competition and dom-ination to one of symbiosis and cooperation, from greed to altruism. It begins with the realization of our shared re-sponsibility for the future of the earth, and our inherent unity with each other and with all of life.

10 (syn)THESIS

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/without-russell-brands-help-my-family-and-countless-others-would-have-been-evicted-from-our-homes-this-christmas-9938601.htmlhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/https://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan/15573152083/in/photolist-rchhg7-rtN2Hg-4oqsE8-4oqphK-6Gr3eV-2BdUY9-4gtTSJ-r6Stv-6739He-pJ9ty8-677obA-gVnwTj-4TG3L4-gVnwLW-gVnywt-gVnsh3-4oqqy6-4oqoxT-4ouqV7-4ousaw-4oqnst-4ourdW-4outBG-4oqo5X-4out7j-4oqqNZ-4ouur7-4ouu6f-4ourwh-4oqraD-4oqpsH-4ourES-4oqqF8-4outLo-4ouvDC-4ousCo-4ouugq-4ouvLy-4oqpVz-4our5N-4oqqZT-4ouvoC-4oqrq8-4ousMf-4ourPy-6738Yr-dwFFDM-jbrzE-6iqoFj-6vrzfP

by ButterflySha

PHILOPHOBIA:fear of emotional attachment;

fear of being in, or falling in love.

(syn)THESIS 11

This Valentines Day, I will...

a) Spend copious amounts of money on status symbols to prove my love to another who may or may not be compelled to do the same for me.

c) Sign myself into contractual slavery in a desperate attempt to cover up my growing fear of responsibility in an increasingly hostile world, or...

d) Recognise that the only way to achieve true love on earth is to approach myself and those around me with a balanced state of respect, mutual understanding, and willingness to recognise the unrecognisable.

b) Wallow in abject cynicism and self-disgust to hide my state of loneliness.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/butterflysha/99513156/in/photolist-9N2N5-7ABkxa-9ikiNh-9MtKk-bqdisR-btbyDr-5YUtrp-9bXUcR-qUnnKK-7Cgkxp-4s5YxB-7CNicE-bmUtU8-9gqaQ3-btEDnt-ffV6MB-4rRjVk-4satmQ-5ZD9Xh-5WxE2S-4s25KN-9RnFK-dUCPmt-7CcQJo-AbVMN-qTu4cW-dRrfrz-4rLzzb-7AKGNh-8Rmsn-ED9xq-4s9Hbr-9h2eB4-bS9Zep-5B3pWP-4s8HEM-7D61P7-9h2ise-4DxVZZ-k5KwyC-dUWdu1-btPj7r-9i9ijT-dUF1vV-btLZik-qTYWAa-62xJM3-8EUGQ-9i7xMe-9byn77https://www.flickr.com/photos/butterflysha/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Tina ReikPh

oto

by N

ikam

atto

on

Wik

imw

dia

com

mon

s

12 (syn)THESIS

Fifty Shades of

SAME

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Bondage_model_bound_and_gagged_LIMG_6024.jpg

within this story - an aspect which I find to be frustrat-ing, and more than a little infuriating. Instead of a genu-ine struggle for a deeper connection, were struck with an old tale of female weakness and male dominance.

If anything, I think its this call-back to old models of weak and dependent forms of the feminine that really betrays the true essence of Fifty Shades: its story hinges itself on the back of old-world models of patriarchy and capital, and further, flies in the face of countless gen-erations of strong women who have fought to release themselves from such dilapidated grand-narratives. It hints at the interesting fear/love nature of romantic rela-tions and the power struggles inherent therein, but after setting the premise, it reverts into pulp fiction.

Sure, we all have guilty pleasures and wild desires. Sometimes these fly in the very face of our explicit eth-ical codes. Sometimes we gorge on foods we know we shouldnt or take the easy option out when we know that we could work a little harder to make the world a better place. In a similar sense, we can understand that some might find some measure of excitement in the premise of being car-ried away into the world of the powerful, even if as a passive object without real human qualities. But its im-portant to understand the reasons behind the outcry to such a film being made and celebrated so explic-itly.

Of course it is fantastic that this is a film which has broken through the collec-tive psyche and brought the combined talents of three amazingly committed women into the limelight (director Sam Taylor-Johnson, writer Kelly Marcel and author of the novel, E.L. James). But the fact that it took a one-dimensional softcore production to make this happen is almost too much of an insult to bare.

For all its worth and despite its box-office popularity the film itself plays out like a quick-gimmick cheap-trick sexcapade into the world of BDSM, and is lacking in a convincing storyline or permissible dialogue. The idea that its grimy kink mise-en-scne is new or even enticing is not entirely accurate, nor is it true that it is represent-ative of much that is interesting about the darker side of romance. But sometimes the cheap fantasy sells.

I can live with that, after all I value our social commit-ment to artistic freedom and Im hesitant to say that any story is in and of itself immoral, or just shouldnt be made. But I also want to make sure I know what Im buying into this Valentines day.

n Valentines day this year, Fifty Shades of Grey brought home a huge box-office return of an estimated $85 million over the holiday weekend. For an R-rating movie, this is al-most unheard of. Its confusing to think of a

modern tale of bondange and helplessness as the go-to romance movie of the year: is this indicative of some-thing other than creative marketing?

What is it about this story of a confused and weak-willed woman entering into a contractual agreement subjecting herself to the brutal dominion of a wealthy, socially unhinged, male that has enthralled the imag-ination of such a mainstream audience? On the face of it, much of the buzz surrounding the novels popularity seemed to stem back to the idea that this was a new form of romance, combining the disparate poles of love and fear into a working whole.

The BDSM premise of such stories, however, is nothing new. Pick up any number of Mills & Boon titles and youll find (at the very least) undertones of a fragile, wilting sense of femininity that is begging, body and soul, for a strong, decisive masculine figure that rises above the common minutiae of social constructs and radically transforms her world with as much kicking and scream-ing as one can imagine.

In fact, the whole premise sounds surprisingly like any number of embedded gender combinations passed on throughout the ages: a weak female, confused and tired of her humdrum life brushes with a powerful male force and is hypnotised like a moth to a flame. Her love makes her weak.

Furthermore, the depiction of BDSM in the text hinges on the stuff of rape fantasies and snuff films shunned by (healthy) practitioners of the dark side of romance, who while embracing the idea of pushing ones limits instead espouse to a model of mutual play based on understanding between consenting adults. Its here that the subject matter of Fifty Shades begins to restructure itself into a sick kind of manipulation.

But in todays world, a world in which were so focussed on working as hard as humanly possible to keep our-selves above a rising poverty line, a world that glorifies competition and individual transcendence of the herd above any sense of community, its perhaps unsurpris-ing that some take comfort in a tale of surrender in which a meek anti-hero gives in to the age-old pres-sures of a patriarchal control-structure.

Perhaps this view is a little unfair though, a little too reactionary: it could alternatively (or even simultane-ously?) be read as a story depicting the transformation of the modern privileged elite into a caricature of hu-manity in which the values of control, intimidation and manipulation are pushed to their extreme, resulting in something distinctly (and frighteningly) inhuman.

Either way, whats clear is that the genuine struggle of mutual respect and co-dependence between females and males is distorted and almost completely ignored

O

Ideo

logy

(syn)THESIS 13

Jonathan Payne

14 (syn)THESIS

Recognising Hatred for the

Weakness that it is

A Na

zi a

bout

to sh

oot t

he la

st Je

w le

ft a

live

in V

inic

a, U

krai

ne. P

hoto

: Lib

rary

of C

ongr

ess

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/holocaust/photoessay.htm

tred seems to be a fixation of sorts towards something which an agency sees as having some determined effect on itself and its general modus operandi. In the case of ha-tred, it is a fixation on something one sees as being detrimental to themselves in a rad-ical and intense manner. We could also rea-sonably say that hatred is a misunderstand-ing between the ego (or self-identification) of an individual and an outside element with which it is forced to relate.

We must distinguish here the difference between a dislike and a hatred towards something. Having a dislike for various as-pects of existence seems inevitable. Even a Zen Master has preferences. All organisms dislike going without food or being denied the chance to mate, and yet it seems inad-equate to say that the wolf hates the idea of starvation, or her prey, or even her com-petitors, although that might be the closest she comes to the complex emotional state in question.

Hatred seems intrinsically different from a mere dislike in that it requires a continued state of attention towards some outside element of an agents reality. Such intense aversion requires a recognition of a fixed el-ement the being who hates believes that they know the object of their hatred, and in

What makes groups like the Ku Klux Klan or the Talib-an so prone to destructive forms of behaviour?

t would seem that there are a few key differences that separate the human spe-cies from non-human animals. Advanced self-consciousness (the mediation of our instincts) is arguably the prime of these

differences. Along with this remarkable ca-pacity emerges the development of complex emotional states. From a perfunctory analysis, its undeniable that a large range of these emotional states arise from the recognition of a tendency to feel one way or another under specific circumstances in this way, many of the emotions weve come to rely upon seem wildly obsolete when viewed from outside the context of human nature. One of the most in-teresting yet worrying of these emotional states is hatred.

Try to think of a lion or an orangutang hat-ing another organism. It doesnt really work, right? It seems absurd, if only because we can see how little a non-human animal has to gain from cultivating such intense feelings towards other groups or individuals. While it might be fair to say that a lion has built up a compli-cated relationship with another of his pride even one in which competitive behaviours are pushed to the point of savagery there lacks a point of fixed awareness to such a relation-ship. This form of competition seems rather more natural than what wed associate with a form of hatred per se.

What then does the human animal gain from this unhealthy disposition towards the other? When viewed objectively it seems that much like other species humans have very little to gain from this emotion. So why do we (all of us) continue to succumb to this strange, out-moded form of social energy?

Throughout various stages of history some of the worst and most inhumane aspects of our civilisation have come to fruition via means of the tumultuous impact of mass hatred from the Christian inquisitions, to Nazi death camps, hatred is a force which is both perva-sive and exponential in terms of the hysteri-cal effects it can cause. Today were seeing some of the after affects of hatred seeping out onto the surface layers of our society. Racial attacks in the US by police against African Americans have dichotomised entire states, and have the world scrutinising the worrying aspects of certain sections of American An-glo Saxon culture. The recent Taliban attacks killing 132 school children are a testament to the damaging effects, and outright stupidity of hatred, by which it is reasoned that the killing of innocents will aid in the abetting of further murders.

But what is hatred? Where does it stem from? Along with other complex emotional states (envy, anxiety and love to name a few), ha-

PsycheI

(syn)THESIS 15

An ongoing dedication to the ideology of us vs. them.

Innocents die when nations find themselves backed into a corner.

Stop the cultivation of a primal mindset of domination and intimidation.

16 (syn)THESIS

this respect are not open to the potential fallibility of their own subjective position in relation to an objective reality. The victim of hatred suffers a repetition of emo-tional reactions to an assumed situation (thing, place, behaviour, object, person) dialectically past and pres-ent that has become (for the most part) unconscious, and which in turn changes the way the hate-ridden in-dividual relates to their world. In a sense, the object of hatred is often more related to the individual who hates rather than the external world in which they live. People who hate, we might say, hate themselves as much as anything else.

A healthy individual is one who is able to pool their re-sources into living a life which is open to complex situ-ations and problems as they arise. This becomes much harder for the individual who is committed whether consciously or otherwise towards the destruction or dissolution of something outside of themselves. A man who hates women, for instance, will undoubtedly have trouble relating to the rest of a society in which gen-der differences are approached through mediation and self-restriction. Such a man will struggle with his own ideas relating to women and to society in general, and will likely suffer from an emerging sense of dissonance; an alienation from those surrounding him. Rather than being open to learning new ways to deal with unique problems, such a man is fixed in regard to some prior assumption which has been left unresolved and often ignored. Whether such fixation leads to a conscious outlash or a life lived in quiet confusion and suspicion is anyones guess.

Its not hard to see how this bears relation to destruction. Groups like the KKK fixate upon communal feelings of fear that are encouraged and passed along between group

members in an effort to maintain a sense of cohesion in relation to a particular outside element. Theyre driven only by a shared sense of weakness. They hate the oth-er, those who are radically different in terms of history and ideology from themselves foreigners, homosexu-als, non-Christians etc. because those are the shadows of fear that are the easiest and most convenient to design in order to maintain groups of individuals like themselves. When the Taliban attacks groups supporting the education of children, its because theyre lashing out in a wave of reactionary violence. They are incapable of dealing with a situation in a manner which we would describe as human. And the whole of humanity suffers.

It is clear to see that hatred does nothing for our social situation besides disrupting and distorting the underlying sense of connection that life-forms need in order to con-tinue living together in harmony. If were honest, we need to accept that, on some levels, we all act on these primal emotions from time to time. The Taliban would not (at least to the same extent) be attacking others if they lived in a world that didnt perpetuate violence. The KKK might gain some intelligence if more people would come forward and talk to them reasonably, rationally and without the nega-tive emotion that is attached to their ideology. The Nazi party would not have gained its insane foothold had the sanctions of the Versailles treaty not left a broken country to pay $132 billion dollars in reparations.

Whats required is not a quixotic message of love thy neighbour, even if s/he is a psychopath, but rather vigi-lance balanced with understanding. Compassion balanced with stoicism. And a well constructed understanding of hatred which when viewed through the context of the animal mindset, is indistinguishable from an infantile fear.

(syn)THESIS 17

is killing us

a mentality of

Furthermore, this prolonged system of interrogation seemingly contradicts the CIAs former judgement that inhumane physical or psychological techniques are counterproductive because they do not produce intelligence and will probably result in false an-swers, which it expressed to US Congress in 1989.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks of 2001, public opinion propelled itself into a whirlwind of knee-jerk reaction, at once explosive and incendiary favouring a quick reaction over careful investiga-tion. George W. Bushs declaration of war in Afghan-istan was met with broad public support and media outlets seemed ready to condemn the entire nation which surrounded Al-Qaeda to a destructive fate.

Public opinion regarding the invasion of Afghanistan, as well as the entirety of the ongoing War on Terror (now dubbed the Overseas Contingency Operation by President Obama) has waned considerably since then, following 13 long years of unstable inhabita-tions, swathes of military and civilian casualties and lies regarding hypothetical WMDs.It is through the eyes of hindsight that we must look firmly at this travesty of rational life; the severity of

ohn Brennan, current director of the CIA, used the term enhanced interrogation techniques to describe the agencys treatment of de-tained terror suspects in his public response to the harrowing report released December,

2014 detailing the intelligence units use of illegal practices in black sites throughout the world.

This semantic delineation seeks to nullify the severi-ty of the practices revealed in CIA documents which included waterboarding and extended periods of sen-sory and sleep deprivation, among other brutal and humiliating techniques imposed upon the prisoner population. EIT sounds so technical, so formal, as if implemented as part of an advanced procedure well thought out and executed to precise standards.

But the procedures which were considered acts of torture by human rights lawyers as well as cur-rent President of the United States, Barack Obama seemed rather to be executed with a wild sense of abandon and justified only by a growing hyperbol-ic sense of fervour surrounding the potential threats posed by individuals to the security of the US and its allies.

Psycho-logical torture breeds fal-sity and perpetu-ates the sense of terror it seeks to prevent.

J

18 (syn)THESIS

CIA Torture: Interrogation+ Manipulation

the techniques utilised by the CIA should be of grave concern to anyone who lives and breathes on this planet.

Such severity can not be overstated when we consid-er that 34 percent of the 119 known CIA detainees produced no intelligence reports, or when we con-sider the imprisonment of detainees such as Dilawar of Yakubi, a taxi driver handed over to authorities by Afghan militants who died after 5 days of brutal treat-ment at the hands of interrogators (Taxi to the Dark Side, 2007).

Were left to consider, of course, how many other lost souls found their way into the hands of torturers for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How do we live with this great injustice, which invariably creates the hatred its purported to stamp out? Which leads to what Dr. Alfred McCoy (au-thor of A Question of Torture, 2006) calls a darkly erotic sense of empowerment in the eyes of those who are asked to undertake the role of the torturer?Its inevitable that these inhuman acts, although carried out in secret, change the nature of the social reality we strive to uphold. It perverts our sense of justice with

which we claim to legitimise invasions of supposedly dangerous, militant nations, and through which we seek to gain the moral high-ground over states that bru-talise and dehumanise their citizens.

It cheapens the word of the individuals and parties that praised the war mentality, and pushed for a complete disregard of restrictive measures in the wake of death and terror, favouring instead a might is right mindset in response to a difficult geopolitical situation.

Out of the whole endeavour theres only really one thing that really makes sense: that a militant mindset will continue to breed enemies of the free life, despite whether we label those who engage in such mindsets as terrorists or simply officials doing their jobs.

If you dont want to see your children growing up in a world where torture is institutionalised, let the people representing you know that you categorically oppose the inhumane treatment of any persons, be they prison-ers or otherwise.

Wor

ld

(syn)THESIs 19

CIA Torture: Interrogation+ Manipulation

or an overarching sense of fear or hatred towards the groups that criminals appear to represent.

Free emotion is for the personal realm, care-ful stoicism for the social. The most rational approach (I believe) is to understand that at their core, all organisms desire most strongly to live without constant threat from outside forces. To allow other people the freedom and security to reach their own conclusions is to allow them to achieve this ideal.

So we might instead say that if your Ultimate Ideal includes the proposition that others should behave or think in the same way that you do, then your concept may (for who am I to say for certain?) not have reached its final destination.

Spirit should be a place of personal empow-erment. Dont let those who claim superiori-ty in any matter cloud this for yourself.

from this model), is a group who claims to represent the state of an entire faith who as-serts dominance in representing that entire faiths belief structure.

When groups such as this (or any group of people who claim authority over the unknowable) assert dominance, whether psychologically (by claiming to represent the ideas of others and threatening to harm those who believe otherwise) or physical-ly (by gunning down or blowing up those who appear to mock/oppose said truths or those who lie outside of its lines of inclusion) they show the weakness of their own belief structure to achieve the perfect ideal.

Of course its difficult to point fingers only at certain groups without realising the ex-tent to which everyone does this (although thankfully most do it in a non-violent fash-ion, at least in the explicit sense).

Our task is to understand how our own ver-sions of paradoxical, metaphysical thinking give rise to such tensions, without giving in to a sense of guilt for the crimes of others,

t might easily be said that if your idea of god can be mocked, you have not achieved a true understanding of the concept.

On the face of it, this critique can sound par-ticularly condescending. But I think that at the end of the day, this stands as the true downfall of the position espoused by ex-tremism (of all kinds).

What makes a religion? What makes a re-ligious position? From my perspective it comes down to holding dear a sense of par-adox, a sense that something is so, when it cannot possibly be proven in the material sense.The bridge between this metaphysical stance and the material world is infinitely complicated and in constant need of re-newed thought.

Simply put, what makes a group of people believe the same thing is often a linguistic avowal to believe in (and to know) the same (materially) impossible things.What we are seeing today then (carrying on

Spir

it

we all live with our own interpretations of the divine

I

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere... They're in each other all along.

20 (syn)THESIS

faith+reality

Spir

it

Rumi

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere... They're in each other all along.

(syn)THESIs 21

They want us to believe that the clocks are still ticking....

Universal Surveillance Individualised Competition

Mediated Hysteria

Financial States Reliance on Old-Worlf Sources of energy

22 (syn)THESIS

by James Vaughan

Lets make sure they know that ours have stopped for good.

Revitalising Communities Responsible Socialisation Embracing Renewable Energies

Meditation & Spiritual Revolution Internet Freedom

(syn)THESIs 23

https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4152356464/in/photolist-https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/page1/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

24 (syn)THESIS

Interstellar

Jonathan Payne FireSight Media

ship and sets themselves off into the great black of the night, a few inches of steel sepa-rating them from billions of lightyears of anni-hilation.

This heroic quest takes him and his fellow cosmonauts on a journey of incredible sacri-fice and emotional suffering as they traverse desolate worlds, the relative time dilations of black holes, and long lost wanderers facing the eternity of existence on their lonesome. As the audience is taken along on this journey, whats affected most strongly is the sheer unlikeliness almost impossibility of life anywhere in the universe, whether on Earth or otherwise.

The wonderful cinematography of Interstellar is often largely desolate and denoting the in-herent fragility of life. And while this adds to the emotional severity of the situation of its narrative, its visuals remain spectacular to the last, effacing a sense of wonder and possibili-ty existent within the cosmos, even amongst a growing sense of urgency.

Prevalent in the thematic journey of the film is the cyclic nature of love, and the the inconsist-encies of simple cause-and-effect versions of time. Through the exposition and contrast of these two ideals, the film manages to take on a panoramic view of the human race and its ef-forts of civilisation the ways weve succeeded and failed as a species.

Although ending on a refreshingly optimistic note, the film is drawn out in its long emotional spaces of psychological isolation and material desolation. The heartache caused by the split in their home structure is felt throughout the en-tire film and lasts a lifetime for the characters.

While most certainly created within the visual

realm of recent sci-fi films such as Gravity (2013) as well as in mind of classic films such as Stanley Kubricks seminal epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), director Christopher Nolan manages to take what Kubrick started and create something wholly fresh and original out of the structure of its civilisational thesis. In this way, Nolans work stands more as an elaboration on such works rather than as a simple post-script.

Interstellars story is nuanced to the degree that its hard to pinpoint an exact message behind the film. While it clearly asks us to engage in the ongoing political struggle of our time: to wrestle with the environmental and climate im-pacts made by the human race on our planet, it doesnt give an explicit answer on how to solve these issues in any pragmatic sense, but rath-er opens up an emotional spectrum of human mortality and need that brings a new light to the issue, and charges it with an earth-shattering sense of significance.

Along with McConaughey; Anne Hathaway, Michael Cain, Matt Damon and Mackenzie Foy round out the cast of outstanding performers that give the film a feeling of sincerity: frail, yet overly human. Also worth a mention was Nolan and Nolans involvement with Kip Thorne, a the-oretical physicist who advised on much of the effects depicted (huge planetary tidal waves, the effects of black holes on neighbouring plan-ets and the universal effects of gravity, to name a few) giving the entire ordeal a strangely ad-missible feeling of hyper-reality.

Some great ideas are presented in this emo-tional space bazaar, and science fiction wonder. The movie is worth checking out even if only for its amazingly confronting yet beautiful im-agery, but if you engage with the whole pack-age, Im sure youll find much else to amaze and inspire. 8.5/10 stars.

n this latest film written by the Nolan brothers (Jonathan and Christopher) Mat-thew McConaughey plays Cooper, a for-mer engineer and fighter pilot living as a farmer on a dying world some ways in our

future. He resides and works on his corn farm (corn being the only crop able to survive the incessant dust storms that plague the earth), struggling to feed his two children a son and a daughter and their ageing grandparent.

The society in which they exist is far removed from our own. Military power has been abol-ished and schools train children either for sci-entific pursuit or farming, both in an effort to combat the worlds ongoing food crisis. The hills are covered with corn fields, and dust covers everything.

Coop struggles with echoes of the life he once led and the prospects of a grim future for his children. As his son, Tom (played by Timothe Chalamet at 15 years old and Casey Affleck in his older version) is set to follow his father as a farmer, his daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy at 10 years, Jessica Chastain as an adult, and finally Ellen Burstyn as a senior) faces her own anachronistic challenges: in her insatia-ble search for knowledge shes faced with in-consistencies between her experience of the world and the abridged versions of learning they teach in schools.

After a strange anomaly plagues his daughter, Coop is engaged to undertake a mission into deep space through a wormhole to another galaxy in an effort to find a planet suitable for colonisation. Seeing this as the only tenable future for his family (and for the human race), Coop risks his life on Earth to undertake this mission, knowing fully well that he may never return. The crew packs themselves into a tiny

I

(syn)THESIS 25

B r i m m i n g w i t h t h e c o m b i n e d v i v a c I t y o f a S p a c e E p i c a n d t h e e m o t i o n a l i n v e r s i o n s o f a d i s a s t e r m o v i e , I n t e r s t e l l a r a c h i e v e s a t r i u m p h a n t v i s i o n o f t h e s o u l ; i t s l i m i t s a n d e x t r u s i o n s w i t h i n t h e s p a c e - t i m e c o n t i n u u m . Fi

lm

http://www.firesightmedia.com

We meet at our reserved room, this time at a different hotel. Once

a year for nearly ten years weve met. This is the first time weve changed our meeting

placefor reasons I dont understand you want to meet at a spot on the other end of the

city. Not our usual part of town. Its a small business hotel across the street from a grey park with unused swings and uninhab-ited benches. The entire street has an aban-doned feel. The hotel has been left behind by time, its dim lobby and plain dcor seemingly unchanged for decades. Our room is on the fifth floor. I arrive first. I turn the key in the lock and enter a room empty of furniture, except for a chair standing in the middle. A plain wood straight-back chair. There is no bed, no dresser, no prints on the walls. I look through the window facing the park. A child is sit-ting on the swings, but he doesnt swing. He sits, holding the chains of the swing, legs dangling, staring off at nothing. I watch him, waiting for him to move, until I hear the door open. You enter the room with just the trace of a smile. I step towards you, but instead of greeting me you say, Why dont you sit down? I suppress a smirk. I decide to comply with your games without question just to see where we take it. I sit on the chair. As soon as I sit, the lights go out and the room goes dark as if with a switch. But its a darkness beyond ordinary darkness. Its as if all light from the outside world has been sealed out. A small, nervous laugh comes out of me. I try to lift a hand to my eyesfor a terrifying moment it occurs to me that Ive lost my sight. But I find I cant move, as if my wrists and ankles have been bound to the chair. Panic floods my veins like cold water. What are you doing? I ask. This isnt funny. Its not meant to be funny. Your voice is filled with a terrifying calm. Just sit still and pay atten-tion.

I stop trying to move and strain to detect any movement or light in the dark. Youve become

completely still and I have no way of knowing where you are in your silence. Then I feel something, a stirring in the upper left corner of where I guess is the ceiling. Like a deep, slow current of monochromatic water. The dark-ness shifts in slow motion waves so there is no longer complete blackness but rather gradations of it, moving across my field of vision. The movement swells closer until its in front of me, then surrounding me. All around, the shift-ing of something in the deep. The deep what?

Water.

Im underwater. These are creatures that have dwelled here since before time, before humanity. Where we all come from, before consciousness as we know it. Now the terror has shifted from the unknown to the known. The mystery isnt whats taking place anymore, but rather who or what I am: how am I part of this shadow realm? The movement comes closer along with a sense of drifting downwards, deeper, beyond imagining or tolerance. Im entrenched here now in this sub-terranean world of primal forces, of existence beyond the realm of reason. The creatures range in size from massive forms of cold flesh, the size of houses, to small, flitting organisms darting between currents of shadow and darkness. They entrench me, swimming around and around and around, crushing closer to me, barely discernible from each other in the deep gloom: a morass of dark energy.

Sweat is covering my body, or what I recall as my body. I start sensing your presence now, not very far from me at all, observ-ing. I dont know how much time passes before I can force words from my mouth or what I think are words but a strained cry comes out, a hoarse yelp. Still you say nothing. I know were far from done. Were going deeper.

Underwater

26 (syn)THESIS

by S

unda

ram

Ram

asw

amy

We go so far back that the crush of timelessness is unbearable. The excruciating loneliness of an aquatic netherworld where there is nowhere to go but onward in the darkness. No choice, no determination, just part

of the endless cycle of being. The grief comes from remembering my choices from another life. The re-maining kernel of my mind clinging to the memory of what I used to be or will be smothered by forces beyond my control. If I had tears left I would be drowning in them. Finally, through eons of paralyzing torment, your words reach me.

This is what loving you is like. Aki GibbonsScent of a City,March 2, 2015

Fict

ion

(syn)THESIS 27

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/holocaust/photoessay.htmhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/legends2k/https://twitter.com/akigibbonshttps://scentofacity.wordpress.com/

28 (syn)THESIS

https://www.flickr.com/photos/azrasta/4622185776/

by a

zras

ta

Imag

e

(syn)THESIS 29

https://www.flickr.com/photos/azrasta/https://www.flickr.com/photos/azrasta/4622185776/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

30 (syn)THESIS

If were the total sum of our Emotional connections...

Then nobody diesalone.

digi

tal a

rt b

y Ste

phan

ie B

urg

@ L0

ST_G

1RL

in the next issue of (syn)THESIS:

Information + Alienation

https://twitter.com/L0ST_G1RL