Aesthetics | Winter Edition 2019/20 by Maastricht Diplomat

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M A A S T R I C H T D I P L O M AT

AESTHETICS

TEAM Editor in Chief: Ella Goemans Co-Editors: Dan Edwards Matthijs Lenaerts Art Director: Steff Nagel Journalists (in alphabetical order): Radina Andreeva Florian Bachmann Agatha Bourdarias Clemence Chia Valentina Couceiro Carmen Critelli Dan Edwards Alara Ersoy Leonie Friedrich Ella Goemans Begoña Garay Gomez Katharina Haupenthal Brendan Hogan Marence Jurgens Parthabi Kanungo Michael Keith Roxanne Kroon Matthijs Lenaerts Peter Pelzer Roo Read Natasha Simpson Stella Theocharidou Sveva Valente Robin When Cover: Steff Nagel

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Winter Edition Copyrighted 2019 2

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EDITORIAL

Ella’s note Dear readers,

Another year has gone by, far too fast, and the Maastricht Diplomat has assembled a new team bringing you a fresh set of voices. I am already so proud of the new journalists and cannot wait to share them with the rest of Maastricht. In a year where Brexit has been extended again and again, Trump becomes more of a meme by the day, and where Hong Kong, Columbia, and Lebanon are in violent protests against corruption, and for freedom, it is sometimes difficult to see the beautiful side of life. Here at the Maastricht Diplomat, we believe it is important to always keep this in mind. That is why this Winter Edition is dedicated to Aesthetics. We explore the meaning of art, the elegance of mathematics, comics, and the more abstract idea of what a family should look like. Enough to help you evaluate the aesthetics of your own life. However, beautiful things aren’t always without their thorns. What happens when politicians care more about what they look like rather than the content of their campaigns? How do beauty standards push us to disregard our health? And how is it that we always fall for propaganda? The darker side of Aesthetics cannot and will not be ignored. Just as everything in life, Aesthetics aren’t just black and white. If you enjoy reading our little publication by students for students, our blog is open all year and provides you with a host of topics about Maastricht, politics, culture and more! Check us out at or follow us on Facebook, @Diplomat.UNSA and Instagram thediplomatunsa Enjoy!

ART

Banksy and the idea of art terrorism.

Smoking Aesthetics:

Why smoking looks so aesthetically pleasing?

The aesthetics of graphic

ideology.

Pyramids are weird: On the history of pyramids.

The elegant solution: How maths can be more beautiful than you think.

Body Marking:

Family: Chinese porcelain cup or Play-Doh.

Magic Earring Ken: How a sex toy became a child’s toy.

Propaganda: The art form of an

and scarification.

Politicians appearence over substance.

The origins of markings

Rise and Shine?:

Comics vs Manga: novels.

Body Standards: Health’s role in beauty.

Broken Perfection:

Aesthetics of Dying Day:

Poetry.

Biohacking: How human’s will be enhanced in the future.

Embracing body imperfections.

AESTHETICS

ART: From τέχη to the Robin Hood Enigma By Sveva Valente

rt is a “panthalassa” (ocean) of secrets: some hidden among the shades of colors, some concealed in the fake smiles of the subjects, some caged in the unconscious of the authors; some are timeless, and others are dropped in a specific time and should be revealed as soon as possible. According to Paul Gauguin “art is either plagiarism or revolution”. He highlighted the plurality of features of art: completeness and three-dimensionality. Art has multiple facets; it is impossible to state a dictionary definition: every artist has a peculiar and subjective concept of it. In the Greek tradition, art was defined as “tekne”. Today this term reminds us the concept of technique, in fact, in the past art was closely linked to the concept of manual skills. Nowadays, enormous weight is given to the implicit and enigmatic meaning of the themes art addresses and how it addresses them. The means that are used to express visual art forms are no longer canvases and brushes; they have radically transformed and conquered “fields” that we would never have expected: the network, social media, photography, glass, walls, streets, I could go on and on… One of the most discussed and controversial artists of this period is known under the pseudonym : Banksy. This controversial figure is one of the prominent exponents of Street Art. Part of his success is related to his identity shrouded in mystery and to the raw truth hidden behind his works. He created a real character and, who knows, maybe behind his works there even is more than just a singular person. Criminologists at Queen Mary University of London used a technique called geographic profiling to identify Banksy. According to them, he is street artist Robin Gunningham who lives in Bristol. Geographical profiling is a sophisticated and reliable statistical analysis technique used in criminology to detect repeat offenders.

Psychoanalyzing the “terrorist of art”, as he called himself in the “The Banksy Job”, revealed many ethical facets related to his art. In his entire artistic story, he tried to paint himself as the artist next door in order to be accessible to everyone. The location of his works, the street, is extremely peculiar and makes it possible for everyone to appreciate his art: interested merchants, rich businessman but also children and the homeless. This logistic choice is related to one of the main ethical aim of his art: “denouncing”. “Denouncing” in art is not something new, historically every painter and sculptor has the right and the duty to transmit his personality and his deeper thoughts. Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalì, Paul Gauguin and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo concretized art by making it a powerful means of making daily hardships known to the world. Also, nowadays performers decide to focus their art on reporting realities hidden from the eyes of ordinary men: the Spanish artist Luis Quiles with his satirical drawings on societal disputes or the Turkish Ugur Gallenkus the photographer documenting the contrasts of our unjust society. It is a contradiction that a public complaint is forced into a glass “cage” in the dark rooms of museums and this is the reason that led Bansky to exhibit his priceless works in a place so raw and depreciated. One of the extravagant habits of the anonymous revolutionary is going to the most famous museums and hanging clandestine works on the walls . Clandestine works realized an impressive aim to make the viewer reflect on the harsh reality that surrounds that museum, that city, that fake reality where everything has such a perfect air. Another feature that makes the “terrorist of art” unique is the deep antagonism towards the attribution of value to art. Unfazed by the usual diffusion and production systems our “Robin Hood” is a proud detractor of the commodification of art and collector fetishism. It’s

paradoxical evaluating something that by nature is priceless; it is absurd selling something whose addressee is the entire world; it’s senseless making a commentary on hate and the abuses of profit which only makes the rich richer and poor poorer. Why sell art to someone who is not able to appreciate it for his real nature? Selling something priceless means devaluing it completely of its real value. Thus, Banksy decided to choose his buyers himself and evaluate their ability to understand his creations through the question: “Why does art matter?” This profound choice is a symbol of how art should be depreciated of its economic value and enriched with the deepest moral value. Banksy therefore created an extravagant shop online where he sold his works until the end of October. He urged big art buyers not to participate in order to respect the real aim of the initiative. Today art has become a weapon. A weapon that can make you feel “pathos”; an unearthly feeling, it can make you cry, it can make you laugh, but it will no doubt make you think. We live in a society where we are less and less reflecting and more and more acting. We live in a time when everything can be bought, when nothing has value except economic value. We live in a time when walls are built to separate peoples and when identity is just something digital. Art has the power to put us vis-a-vis with these barbarities. The immediacy and silence of art give way to our sterile minds to travel. It makes us interpret and reinterpret deep messages rich in wisdom that often lead us back to that reality that overwhelms us and in which we are encased. One day perhaps human beings will be able to reveal the art’s enigma and lower it to reality. That day the world will become art itself because “Art is what the world will become, not what the world is” - Karl Kraus.

AESTHETICS

The aesthetics of smoking By Robin When

moking is an unhealthy and certainly through films. Especially addictive habit, yet it looks the films in the 1980’s seem to make cool, at least, that’s what smoking a cool thing to do. Almost some people claim. There are a every heroic or mysterious protaglot of different reasons why people onist in a film smokes. Generally, in actually do enjoy smoking. It can films, a cigarette can be a useful be simply relaxation, or it can even prop because you can use it as a have social or aesthetics aspects. way to describe the character. A cigBut how did that image of an aes- arette between the lips can be seen thetic smoker become so anchored a sign of rebellion or something in society? Probably almost every- “dangerous”. It helps to strengthen one has at a certain point in their life character traits and moods in certain heard someone saying that they find situations. Characters who smoke it attractive, or even aesthetic, when are usually associated with smoka person smokes. Even in photog- ing stereotypes: It is either a way of raphy smoking people are portrayed showing some sort of stress relief, for aesthetic reasons. A person romantic seduction, social interacbreathing out a puff of smoke can tion or just symbolically the “bad shroud them mysteriously or make guy”. If a guy smokes in a film, it is them appear attractive and seduc- most likely the bad guy. An example tive. The smoke itself is not under the for this is the film Face off. In this control of the photographer which film Nicholas Cage switches charis challenging, yet quite creative. acter between the good guy Sean On Pinterest, you can encounter Archer and the bad guy Castor Troy. “Cigarettes Aesthetics” as its own Only bad guy Castor Troy smokes. category, full of pictures of teenag- In the film Footloose, Ren only ers holding a cigarette in their hand. smokes when he is angry. Through Even on Wikipedia you find loads this we connect that smoking mitof different articles where a recog- igates stress and anger. Another nized fetish for smoking is explained. film, where the symbol of smoking “Smoking fetishism” (also known as is on a par with being cool is the film capnolagnia) is thus a form of fetish- Grease (1978). Here Sandy transism where a person finds the sight forms from the well-behaved good of a smoking person sexually excit- girl into a sexy girl with leather pants, ing and/or aesthetic. Despite this and again… she smokes! attractiveness, in the past years it has become socially more and more Smoking women were, in spite unacceptable to smoke due to the of everything, not always socially decrease of smoking in western cul- accepted. In the 19th century it tures and the education of the health was immoral for a woman to smoke. dangers. Therefore, a lot of people Smoking at that time was only do not like to admit their smoking accepted for men. Women who fetish and the actual spread of this smoked, were mocked as unfeminine and painted with pants and fetish is not definable. cigarettes in caricatures. It threatBut where does our image of smok- ened the ruling order but at the ing come from? One way our image same time it was a symbol of someof smoking has embossed us is thing dangerous and erotic. The

image of a smoking woman was further shaped by the literature of that time. In Carmen, an 1845 novel by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen is described as a smuggler and thief. That she also smokes seems to be a small detail, however, it is considered to be a symbol rebellion, erotic seduction and danger. The image of a smoking woman, which was traditionally not accepted, intrudes the male domain and paves a new way of women’s position in society. The tobacco industry used the association of smoking with aesthetics, sex, power, rebellion and independence for advertising purposes and also to recruit new smokers. The product placement of certain tobacco brands in entertainment media is a way to favour the attitude of adolescents towards tobacco use. Examples for this are the film My Best Friend’s Wedding where Julia Roberts pulls out a pack of Marlboros or the film Bridges where Clint Eastwood offers a Camel cigarette to Meryl Streep. Those actors are role models for teenagers and are considered to be “cool”. During puberty, the impressionable youths might copy behaviour of people they look up to. This almost leads to a glorification of smoking, which is dangerous because the negative health problems like coughing, addiction and cancer are barely addressed in films. Smoker in films are also usually portrayed healthier and younger than actual smokers are, which might provide a false image of smoking. A lot of countries reacted to the influence on people through product placement and advertising of tobacco brands with regulating this

in their jurisdictions. Governments nowadays put much higher taxes on cigarettes, and indoor smoking in public places and restaurants has been banned since 2007. In films, paid cigarette placement has been banned since 1991. The prohibition and restriction of advertisement and use of cigarettes in films and more might lead to a different thinking in society. The importance of the education of negative health effects of smoking becomes more and more important and the aesthetic of it might lose its significance. Even though smoking is still frequently used in contemporary film productions like Joker and Peaky Blinders, the awareness of the health effects increases. The knowledge that the smoking hero or bad guy in a film might also have serious problems with coughing and faster aging, and other side effects, might mitigate the aesthetic side of smoking. Until then, we should think of smoking more in terms of a risk to our health rather than appearance.

Comic v “A picture is worth a thousand words”. From stone-age cave paintings, renaissance portraits to modern-day art, each artist had one thing in mind, to be “remembered for what they did even after death”. This may be a bit morbid considering the subject of aesthetics. Let’s lighten the mood by talking about picture books! Suitable for all ages, of course.

“All right, let’s do this one last time. From the beginning.” Since the age of four, I have been reading the newspapers; minus the important bits. Delving straight into the lifestyle section for my daily dose of the “Garfield” comic strip. Needless to say, I was immediately attracted to comical yet minimalistic drawing. Hearing the thought projection of a lazy, orange cat was something that really intrigued me. What if all animals thought like this? Like every other kid, I wanted superpowers at the age of seven. And if the titles of this article haven’t already given it away, I am obsessed with the marvel characters, Spider-Man in particular. In 2002, the first ever wallcrawler movie hit the cinemas. Seeing a living breathing rendering of SpiderMan made me believe it was more possible to be him. “How can I become like Spider-Man?” I headed over to the local library to borrow a comic book, with the web-slinger in mind, only to be awe-struck by volumes of universally distinct Spider-People!

new publications are readable on a daily basis. “Baby Blues”, “Garfield” and “Peanuts” are some examples of comic strips that are still running!

genre. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics’ primary creative leader, once said: “After all, entertainment is one of the most important things in people’s lives”.

American comic books were popularised by the superhero genre, AKA superhero comics. Each comic book issue has roughly 32 fully coloured pages accompanied by dialogue, narration, a vibrancy of sound effects, like the famous “Boom! Pow! Crash!”; and is read from the top left panel onwards. Each superhero has an origin story like no other, injected with a “Everybody knows that the best way different mix of action, comedy and to learn is under intense life-threat- subtle romance; a masterpiece is ening crisis” waiting to be created.

“You got a problem with cartoons?”

You might be wondering what is a comic book? Comics come in so many different forms, but the ones that resonate with people most would be American comics. The most popular ones being comic strips and superhero comics. Comic strips are easy to read. Little prior knowledge is required to get you hooked on one of these; although getting to know the characters better might cause you to develop a deeper attachment to the comic. They are also known as newspaper comics as

However, American comic books are not without flaws, as much as I love comics, the dreaded words: “To be continued” still haunt me every time I complete a chapter. This meant that I will have to wait another week before the next release.

The ever-expanding universe of characters also work as a double-edged sword when it attempts to attract new readers; you just don’t know where Superheroes comics are just like the to start! Picking up a random volume universe, it is ever-expanding with from the shelves will not ease you into character development, sidethe storyline, especially if you cannot recognise a single character! stories and parodies. In the case of your friendly neighbourhood Spider- Comic books don’t come cheap Man, what if Mary Jane was bitten by a either; and especially if you’re a colspider instead? In addition, crossovers lector. Owning all the comic books happen all the time! For instance, the from a beloved franchise could cost “Civil War” comics are where marvel well over 2000 Euros; and take up a comic fans get to see their favourite huge amount of space. superhero pit against one another. The ability to formulate different outcomes and fantasies is what makes American comics famous for the superhero

sManga When I turned sixteen, I stopped following comics and watching cartoons altogether; not because I was bored of them, but because an alternative was found. And the consequence resulted in sleepless nights from an addiction to reading manga. And what better way to contest this with a tribute to marvel vs capcom, the battle between western and eastern comics! “Here comes a new challenger!” Popularised in the 1950’s, Japan’s graphic novels, manga, has since taken the world by storm. Manga is fairly similar to American comics; it is a comic, after all. However, manga is almost always printed black and white and, unlike your traditional comics, it follows the Japanese style of reading. Manga is read from top-to-bottom, right-to-left. So, you can imagine the transition I had to make when reading manga, it was like reading a book upside down! While American comics directly correlates to superhero books, manga is more diverse and caters to everyone regardless of age, gender or genre preference. “All right ‘Manga’, let’s see what you got.”

AESTHETICS By Clemence Chia

Unlike the weekly printed issues of American comics, printed manga is sold by the volume; and each volume has a conclusive end to that particular story arc. Similar to superhero comics, but way more organised. Think of it as a linear expansion into the universe of manga.

Another thing that manga has is “Fanservice”, these are special chapters that is completely irrelevant to the story and solely exist as filler chapters to visually please readers. As much as I like short stories, this gets really annoying especially when the flashbacks occur right before the start of the most anticipated scene of a Another thing mangakas, the artist of manga. a manga, like to incorporate is foreshadowing. You could consider this an Easter egg that lines up with the plot “That’s All Folks!” of the story and is commonly done in Japanese comics. This is why reading Osamu Tezuka, the man who popthe same manga issue never gets old. ularised the first translated manga, said that “Comics are an international “OBJECTION! Oh man, that is really language; they can cross boundaries fun to say!” and generations. Comics are a bridge between all cultures.” And this is true. Like all things, there is imperfection in Aligned with Stan Lee’s view of entermanga. As great as the attention to art tainment, this is what modern-day is, sometimes a manga fails to keep artist are creating, comics and mangas readers interested in the dialogue. exist to spin tales beyond our wildest There’s just too much text com- imaginations. Just as Renaissance pressed into one speech bubble, and Art continues to hang on the walls of the visually pleasing stimulus does not museums, these works of art created help me process the words any faster. by modern artist will be remembered Manga is also made to cater the for generations to come. Japanese market, so innuendoes and misheard words cannot be explained properly in English.

Unlike American comics that places emphasis the environment and storyline, the essence of manga is captured by immense character development. These hand drawn characters are often portrayed weak in the beginning and, as the manga progresses, they to become stronger. A famous example would be “Tokyo Ghoul”; as the main character becomes progressively stronger, his facial expression intensifies accordingly.

AESTHETICS

the beauties of

By Roo Read

t seems the world today has developed a society where identity is often expressed through appearance. Whether that be in a more mainstream field such as fashion consumption, cosmetic surgery and Botox, or rather on the fringes of society in tattoos and piercings. Either way, body modification does not seem so strange or unusual anymore and is often admired or encouraged amongst the artistic generations.

But why is this so? The rituals of body art have been around for 5,000 years through scarification and tattooing. The aesthetics seen once as uncomfortable to look at and alien are now described as desirable and in fashion. In 2016 a US poll found that millennials - those born between 1982 and 2004 - 47%, nearly half, have a tattoo. Body art has become a mark of contemporary urban identity rather than an intrinsic cultural one, but if you look closer into the origins of body marking traditions, you will find the countless forms of

significance body art holds.

Sepik region, these men have their backs, shoulders, and upper torsos Our bodies are not simply a prod- sliced by razor blades to resemble a uct of nature but also products of crocodile’s hide - a symbol of power cultures. For generations cultures initiating the men into manhood. from around the world modify and reshape our bodies in order to mark Before the world’s major religions our identity, societal-status, spiritu- emerged, it would have been diffiality and beauty. The Tsáchila Tribe cult to find indigenous people who from Bua, San Domingo Ecuador, did not practice the art form of use Jagua body art to express the body marking. As cultural isolation importance of their spirituality and became a thing of the past, these indigenous identity. The juices from practices began to disappear, but the Jagua fruit are traditionally used many remain in the cornerstones of by Native tribes in the Amazon such today’s society. Tiv women found as the Tsáchila Tribe for body orna- primarily in Benue State in Nigeria mentation. The juice from this fruit continue to elaborate exceedingly contains a natural black dye similar beautiful patterns of scarification. to that of natural henna which stains The women’s long scars emphasise the skin. the bone structure of their faces and curves of their bodies as they In India, the Dhanuks of Bihar, used are positioned to catch the light. It is tattoos as a form of protection for important for both the Tiv men and women. As they were traditionally women that new patterns emerge belonging to the low caste com- every decade, keeping tradition munity, they believed that tattooing and evolving the marks over time. disfigured women would make them Other groups in Nigeria continue to undesirable for sexual predators of use scarification such as the Igbo the upper caste men. In Papua New people living chiefly in south-eastGuinea, where the traditional ritual ern Nigeria as an important symbol of scarification still survives in the of identity. The ritual scarification

“It’s me, skin deep and a combination of everything I have been.”

body markings known as ichi (facial scarification) performed on the male members takes place for over an hour and a half and is made with long furrows, cut out with a sharp, leaf-bladed knife. Traditions of body marking as a form of initiation, beauty and highly ritualised ornamentation has been intrinsically linked to culture for hundreds of years. For the large part this important form of identity history has been left undocumented. Nadine Ibrahim, a Nigerian documentarist, is looking to forge a new awareness to not only champion the beauty aspects of ritual scarification but also generate awareness to these ancient marks which are centred at the core of many traditional societies. Today’s society has moved away from stereotyping those with tattoos… why is this? I guess, as time moves on we move away from what is expected and towards what we want. Identity becomes a centre point of conversation and something we now celebrate. No matter

how ‘good’ we feel on the inside, tattoos express what we want to say about who we are. Whether people choose to honour others who have impacted them in life; a friend, a loved one or an iconic individual who inspired them like the Pope, Angelina Jolie, Ronald Reagan, Princess Diana or Che Guevara whomever they choose, it tells us something about who they are. For others they use tattoos to commemorate significant occasions or journeys in their life stories. A dear friend of mine got a tattoo to honour her adopted parents when she turned 18 by getting her adoption date tattooed on her wrist. Her parents, who weren’t so inclined to the idea of a tattoo, recognised the significance of this tattoo, not only for her, but for them as well, which meant more than the simple wordsshe could ever say to them. The idea of tattoos in western society has traditionally changed as more and more people seek to portray who they are to the rest of the world. For women, especially the idea of getting a tattoo just some

decades ago would have been scandalous. Now as traditional roles are changing, women have become more outspoken with new attitudes towards life and are unafraid to show the world who they truly are. The true reasons for getting a tattoo in modern society is not so different to that for ancient markings; beauty, identity and spirituality. As society evolves, so does culture and the way we express who we are crosses those once solidified cultural boundaries. As you decide to join on the millennial bandwagon of tattooing, I hope you can keep in mind a way to honour your culture, identity and spirituality in a form of beauty your ancestors once created many years ago.

Family

Chinese porcelain or ‘Play-Doh’ plasticine outlook? By Valentina Couceiro

ociety brought us up with the idea that a family was supposed to look like the Ingalls family. But what if the producer of The Little House on the Prairie would have shot the last season with Charles and Caroline divorcing. Would it still have been a family? Actually, what is a family supposed to look like? Can we still define a family as like the Oxford dictionary defines it “A group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit” when one million divorces occurred in the EU in 2013? Or is there another outlook for a family? A family always goes through a lot of changes either with or without the divorce checkbox. Indeed, the family goes through six “development stages” which are : (a) the young adults life; (b) the couple; (c) the family with young children; (d) the transformation of the family system in adolescence; (e) the family launching children and moving on; and (f) the family in later life. All these changes mean challenges and times of crisis to overcome. Fortunately, modern families are, generally speaking, based on true love unions contrary to the “ideal” Ingalls’s type families based on economic unions. This means families manage these challenges through dialogue and responsible decisions, which sadly might lead to divorce. Yet, is the break of this nuclear family the end of the family?

cup.Some sociologists like Popenoe would probably believe that family is a Chinese porcelain cup. Indeed, they suggest that divorce is often a matter of destruction. It alludes the view that our society became so individualistic, that we are not able to love anymore. These philosophers understand that this shift in families is due to selfish parents’ behaviours. In this case, parents would neither care about the economic well-being of their children nor about the emotional one. This could be argued in single mother households where the economic situation is often quite precarious. Meanwhile, other sociologists would tend to believe that family is actually a ‘Play-Doh’ plasticine cup. In that sense, as soon as you stop moulding the plasticine, it dries up and breaks. Hence, it is the same for a family. Divorce is neither the end of love nor of the family. Some parents find love

after divorce and even remarry. A lot of western countries have increased their rate of remarriage such as the Netherlands. In this European country, 60% of the men and a little over 40% of the women will eventually remarry. Therefore, we could talk about the reconstruction of the family. According to Ahrons, this type of family emerging brings a balanced, child – supportive family context. Perhaps, it gives the child another family perspective but a family. In other words, divorce is the break of the nuclear family but not the end of the family. Well, this all depends on wherever Of course, remarriage is not the only you consider family as a Chinese por- solution and can bring other troubles. celain cup or a ‘Play-Doh’ plasticine While this may be the case, I do not

claim remarriage is a bad thing, it even seems to make the parents happier. Remarriage does not mean we have to forget the times when our parents loved each other and our life as a nuclear family. However, we have to take into account that life is not fixed. On the contrary, life is made of ups and downs and maybe it is probably better to go through a divorce than living in a stable masquerade. Besides, with the decrease in mortality, children are more likely to have grandparents and other relatives. Since grandparents are in better shape than before, it is more likely that they will be part of their kids and grandkids lives. They can bring a certain form of support to their grandchildren especially when parents get divorced. Hence, they usually play a big role in the socialization and education in children’s lives. I know, we tend to think that our grandparents are too old to understand us and sometimes in western countries we forget how important they are. Yet, they went through the same things we did, maybe in a different setting, but they are part of us and part of our families. Actually, they hold the traditions and the love of our families which makes them the mainstay of them. If you are going through a divorce and you wonder what your family is supposed to look like, I suggest you do not only look at your ancient “Ingalls’s family” but look at all your family and you will see that it is not destroyed or in decline.

SOCIETY

If for instance you don’t have any connections with your relatives, you can easily make your own family with the people you love. “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.” People with different skin colour, believes, ethnic, political ideologies, food customs, language, culture can be part of your family. You are the one who can decide who will be the ones on your Christmas card. If your relatives live too far away for you to see them often, you need to know that a part of them will always be in your heart. Besides, with the new technologies, you can meet up on the internet almost every day. For someone who lived all her life 11,043 km away from her family, I can definitely tell that it is possible. A family does not have any specific look and neither is there a perfect family, even the Ingalls family. If we look at the real story that inspired the producer of The Little House on the Prairie, there were a lot of sordid scenes of domestic abuse, love triangles ending very badly with a violent alcoholic father. At the end of the day, a family has the look you want it to have. At first, I thought that having my father living in Luxembourg with his wife and my brother on one side, my mother living in France with her boyfriend and his kids on the other, and most of my relatives living in Argentina, Chile and England was turning my family in a not proper family. But I realised that a family is the people you love and cherish no matter what: divorce, age difference, cultural difference and distance.

Magic Earring Ken By Roxanne Kroon

Cock rings in my daughters’ Barbie house? It’s more likely than you think.

e all know Barbie as the feminist icon she has been for the last 80 years. Of course her body proportions can be criticised, but you can’t deny that the girl has been running her own business for a while. She’s been a business woman, a fashion designer, a cook, an architect, and most importantly she’s been Ken’s sugar mama ever since he got introduced in 1961. After 30 years of seeing the same Ken next to the ever-changing Barbie, little girls got a little bored of Ken. Mattel, the manufacturer of the Barbie dolls and merchandise, knew it had to revitalise Ken for their target audience. In their quest to make Ken “as cool and hip as Barbie” they relied on the help of five-year-old girls. The girls described the vision of a cool man based on video clips and programmes that they saw on

SOCIETY MTV, which was the highest gross- of nightclub fashion, in all its seeing network among children and through, provocative, queer-coded teens at the time. glory. And Mattel, in their hurry to publish a marketable version of MTV in the 90s was the culmination Ken that would boost sales, blindly of the flaunting, tacky decadence followed the advice of a group of and fashion which represented the five-year-olds; a mistake that led booming nightlife. Nightclubs and to the beauty that is Magic Earring bars were no longer just places of Ken. entertainment; they were places to be seen at. And the culture sur- Magic Earring Ken, as you can see, rounding it was more open than ever. is a sight for sore eyes. Whether it’s Two things needed to happen to the overachieving spray-tan, the shape the nightlife culture into what see-through shirt, the purple vest or it ended up being. The first of this the glimmering earring, there’s just is the rapid technological develop- something about him. Personally, I ment of this time, allowing televised think it’s the gigantic -to scale- cock distribution of pop culture in every ring that is hanging from his neck. household. The second necessity for the shaping of 90s nightlife cul- So while Mattel had certainly sucture was the post-AIDS attitude of ceeded in achieving the cool, the LGBTQ community, and then nightlife culture look for Ken that especially that of gay men. After the they aspired to give him, they also tragedy that was the AIDS crisis the made him a gay icon in the most lithomosexual community refused to eral sense. And a twink. leave their newly acquired spot in the limelight, demanding to exist in Magic Earring Ken serves as a nice the public sphere. example of copying a culture without understanding its roots, and the This led to a mixture of pop culture embarrassment that follows. Mattel, and gay culture shaping the iden- once complaints from horrified tity of the 90s nightlife. Fashion that parents about cock rings started was more associated with LGBTQ coming in, stopped manufacturing culture, like mesh, short clothing, the doll immediately and tried to pull pink colour pallets were now identi- everything back from the stocks. fiers of nightlife culture and were no They issued multiple statements, longer tied to sexuality. In an effort apologising for the vulgarity of the to still distinguish itself, “homosex- sex toy and also tried to distance ual fashion” changed, taking form themselves from the LGBTQ culof gay men wearing earrings in their ture, as a company with “Christian left ears as an indicator. When this values”. too “caught on” too much, LGBTQ people resorted to integrating cock Unfortunately for Mattel, one canrings, the sex toy, into their look. not pull back from stock what has There was a whole system to it. already been sold. Magic Earring Lesbians would attach them to their Ken had become a kitsch cultural zips. “Leather Daddies” would wear hit among LGBT people, especially the biggest and darkest rings they gay men. The doll had sold out two could find and attach them to their weeks after the release date, with pierced nipples. Bisexuals would the statements made by Mattel only attach them to their earrings. And creating more hype for the product. gay men, and especially “twinks” In a turn that showcases the beautiwould wear their cock rings on a ful irony life sometimes lets us have, necklace, in effort to find each other Magic Earring Ken became the besteasier among the nightlife crowds. selling Ken doll to this day, and the For those of you who need to brush bestselling Barbie doll, in general, up on their gay slang, a twink is a until Magic Hair Barbie became a hit skinny white boy with great fashion in 2003. Because Mattel closed the sense and absolutely no body hair seller information on

the title of bestselling Barbie toy until 2003, one can imagine that the amount of sold Ken dolls is nothing to scoff at. Magic Earring Ken returned home; to the houses of those who inspired his creation in the first place. Having the doll became a statement of pride in your identity, a collector’s item that only certain people had and could immediately be recognised in the house of others; making Magic Earring Ken the same kind of iconic gay artefact that the cock ring necklaces had been.

So when little girls were watching this product the exact amount of MTV, they were seeing the image sold Ken dolls is unknown, but with

Broken perfection By Carmen Critelli

hat is perfection? What do people mean when saying the world “perfect”? Try to answer these questions. As soon as you do, you will realize that there is not a satisfying answer to these. Then, you’ll rather ask yourself: What is perfection to me? If you cannot find a way to climb back to the mountain of confusion that is in your mind, just breathe. We are living in a consumer era in which all the multinational corporations sell their products promoting standards that can’t define the various characteristics we each have. During the last years, industries have been selective: the advertisements exhibit women or men, figured by bodies sculptured as Barbie dolls and Greeks sculptures. These don’t represent the realistic human features, masking an unhealthy way of life. Plenty models that promote

clothing lines and brands stress their well-being ignoring, for instance, the essential role of a balanced diet. Unfortunately, this may end up causing mental health problems. Sensible people can end up believing in these messages and getting influenced by them. However, things have changed over time. An excellent example would be the fashion model Winnie Harlow, born with the name Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young. She is affected by an illness called vitiligo, a long-term skin condition characterized by patches due to lacking pigments, certainly contrasting the brightness and the purity of an immaculate skin. Throughout her childhood, she fought against bullying reportedly called a “cow, zebra, and all manner of other disparaging slurs”. Verbal harassment put her into a stressful and humiliating position that led her

thinking about committing suicide. Nevertheless, she won. Some years later, Willie was discovered by Tyra Banks, who hosts America’s Next Top Model. Since the show, her career is flourished. Willie become an inspiration for all the girls who believe they aren’t enough, showing them that beauty can also be unconventional. Thanks to Winnie Harlow the concept of beauty is starting to change: perfection isn’t a standard, it is without any scheme or imposition. In Japan, there is a technique called Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery by filling up the broken areas with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. There is a theory that considers shogun (prince) Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the first to practise this technique. In the late 15th century, he sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repairs. When

HEALTH

it was returned, it was repaired with ugly metal staples. These imperfections were inspirational because they embody the beauty through which the history behind the broken things is revealed, such as a light among chinks. Thanks to this culture, in Japan, fixed ceramics are recognized as meaningful symbols thanks to the encouraging message that they give with their new lives. Moreover, the “golden glue”, putting together all the pieces, doesn’t hide the story behind it, but outlines it. Throughout the centuries, the bowl became valued even more thanks to its veining. This story demonstrates that a “broken thing” doesn’t necessarily mean something not perfect, or that should be thrown away, as Ashikaga Yoshimasa could have done. However, he decided to repair it and to remodel it in something not

only ‘’beautiful’’ but significant, such Simply by being ourselves, we can as Wille has chosen to pursue with achieve what perfection means, weakening the concept of appearher profession. ance. It doesn’t have to determine Life is a complete mess, and we the direction in which we want to live cannot decide what it will reserve our lives. Following actively mesfor us. This is clear in Willie Harrow’s sages such as Winnie Harlow’s one, case. She did not choose to be what can better help express ourselves society generally considers ‘wrong’ and not only being passive actors of or ‘ugly’. Hence, she represents an the fashion industries, enforcing us inspiration for contemporary society, how we should appear. Such as the showing us that the aesthetic canons Japanese art expresses the beauty lack beauty if they are used as eti- through the imperfection of the potquettes, leaving out the originality of tery, we shall do it as well: only by a person. Beauty is something alive bringing light into what we consider that doesn’t represent a standard our “chinks” we will completely recbut multiple shapes and liveliness. ognize the power of beauty, not as Thus, there isn’t an exact answer to something perfect but as something my questions because perfection is alive. relative. We should follow the example of Willie Harlow, breaking the chains of this consumer culture, giving value to the person, not to his/ her look. She discovered that perfection, even in the fashion industry, was subjective.

Body Changing Beauty Standards By Alara Ersoy

odies; we all have them, and we all have opinions about them. Our opinions don’t just fixate on our own, but also on those of other people. These thoughts we have are both coming from our instincts as well as our personal preferences; but they are also effected by the media. Historically, the standards of beauty have changed multiple times. From curvy to boxy, slim to fit; the beauty ideals have been changing. The main factor behind these changing ideals is the fashion industry. Recently, the people who have been mentally and physically harmed by these beauty standards decided to take the matters into their own hands. Thus, they started a movement: body positivity. What they initially supported was the end of these standards and that we should appreciate every body type. Also, this sounds like a great idea. In fact, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and thus, beauty in every size is possible. They highlight the importance of differences, that we all have quirks, and those differences are what make us beautiful. Whether the quirks be our facial features, our skin, our disability, or our body type, the body positivity movement tries to hug everyone and give them a pat on the back.

like Ashley Graham, Iska Lawrence, and Barbie Ferreira are examples of the women who are representing other plus-sized women in the fashion industry. The rise of body positivity also raised the selection and amount of plus-size clothing stores. Since there are more plus-size women; there is also more need for plus-size stores to accommodate the needs of the “plus-size” population. Fast-fashion brands like Forever 21 and H&M also came out with a new section in their stores in order to sell these types of clothing.

In my opinion, one of the biggest movements related to this issue was singer Rihanna’s lingerie line Savage x Fenty’s 2019 fashion show. The show included so many women from so many different races, shapes, and sizes. Rihanna’s main motto behind this show was to display “Real women, with real bodies”. Whilst giving representation to the plus-size community, Rihanna did not forget to include high-profile super models like Bella & Gigi Hadid. Moreover, she also gave space to LGBTQ women on The body positivity movement its her runway, like Laverne Cox who is creating quite some noise. We can a transgender actress, and a LGBTQ see its effects in the fashion industry advocate. very clearly. High-end fashion brands are now hiring different models, from The whole movement seems pretty a wide spectrum of looks. Winnie nice. Everybody is accepted, supHarlow, who has vitiligo, an illness that ported, represented, and beautiful. causes skin discoloration, has worked From people with disabilities, skin diswith famous brands like Desigual, orders, different body types, to people Swarovski, and Victoria’s Secret. On from different racial, ethnic, and relithe other hand, the biggest increase in gious backgrounds; all are cherished. representation an “out-cast group” is However, a lot people are opposed to getting, is the “plus-size” community. this movement. At first, this confused With the obesity rates rising, espe- me since the movement is “all inclucially the US and the UK, the demand sive”, which means that it is trying to for representation in the runways is accommodate everyone, including rising. Models who are also activists, the people who disagree with it. Thus,

I examined their main concerns and tried to understand the reason behind their strong opposition. First of all, they ask this question: “Why does everyone need to be beautiful?”. I found this point very interesting. Why are we trying to declare everyone beautiful when, on the other hand, we can actually take the power from “beauty”? We place so much importance on beauty, while in fact being beautiful in everyone’s eyes is impossible. So we can represent everyone, however we cannot change people’s ideas and preferences on beauty.Why don’t we go out and say “I don’t have to beautiful to be valuable” instead of saying “I am beautiful”. If you think about it, we don’t have to please anyone; and we don’t owe beauty to anyone. There are so many qualities to us like intelligence, kindness, ambition, and sense of humour that can make us successful and worthy of love that it makes it ridiculous to talk about beauty this much. Second, they further ask “Should we represent everyone?”. If you look at the “plus-size” part of the body

Positivity HEALTH

positivity movement, It is very clear that they are disturbed by the display of “anorexic” models in the social media, media, magazines, adds, and many more. However, they cherish the representation of obesity in the same platforms. People who are against this movement are not happy with the exposure of models like Tess Holiday, who are morbidly obese. Just like the “body positivity haters”, I was also confused. If we are promoting everyone, no matter healthy or not, won’t anorexic people also deserve this representation just like obese people? Since these eating disorders can influence young girls and boys, body positivity should not come at the cost of denying health risks. Furthermore, a group of activists, who call themselves “fat activists” took this movement to another level and started to promote “Health in every size”. Yes,

sounds unbelievable, especially since they are also the same people who don’t want extremely skinny bodies in the media. Now, beauty in every size is something I also agree with since everyone is free to deem anyone they want to be “beautiful”. However, just as we can look at an anorexic person and say that they are unhealthy, we should be able to do the same thing to overweight people. I think that perhaps this is a coping mechanism for overweight people. They argue that they are healthy, and they declare that you are “body-shaming” if you disagree. The last argument I will mention is that people believe that the obese people are enlarging their comfort zone by demanding more plus size fashion, larger chairs, larger stores, and basically the production of bigger products. They want the market to adjust to people’s bigger bodies, instead of adjusting their bodies to the existing objects. Yes, I also think that more variety and size in the plus size fashion is crucially important and everyone deserves to feel beautiful with their fashion. However, if you are at a certain size that you cannot fit into a regular chair, you must take action. Not for beauty but for your health. By accommodating to these type of needs, the motivation to get healthier diminishes and people will feel more comfortable getting larger and less healthy.

To conclude, I want to say that I want to see different body types and I want to see our quirks and differences on the media. I want an inclusive and accepting community. However, I do not want to promote unhealthy lifestyles. No matter the unhealthy lifestyle is an anorexic or an obese lifestyle, they are both deadly serious and can end lives. I think that we should see the middle size bodies like European size 34 to 44 since they are healthy sizes that the majority of women have. This would be the middle ground and cherish different body types in a healthy manner, which we can all perhaps enjoy.

tirred, not shaken. When you heard this phrase from a middle-aged and more importantly, sharply dressed middle-aged man, you were probably sitting laid back in a cinema chair watching the new James Bond movie. In recent years, however, it could very well be that you just attended a campaign event of one of the numerous male politicians, who base their political appeal more and more on appearance and style rather than on their substantive policy ideas. It cannot be denied that, also in the past, male politicians were especially vigilant regarding their style. The best examples are former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was famous for his inclination towards Brioni suits, or JFK who is still remembered for being the youthful and handsome president as opposed to his successors like Lyndon B. Johnson or Richard Nixon. However, the number of politicians who firstly built their campaigns based on their appearance before convincing their voters of their policies, has arguably increased over the last years. One of the most prominent examples for this phenomenon is Justin Trudeau, Canada´s prime minister, who has this disarming smile and juvenile charm that makes him look like the benevolent counterpart to his American colleague. Indeed Trudeau is a far cry from the orange-faced, wild haired Trump whose suits always seem a tad too big for his already bulging gut. Christian Lindner, chairman and savior of the German liberal party also needs to be mentioned within this context. His election posters, crested with the motto `dress for the job you want, not the job you have’, almost entirely

By Florian Bachmann

RISE AND SHINE OR SHINE AND RISE?

POLITICS abstained from any political message and created the impression of running for a model job at H&M instead of for a seat within the German Bundestag.

he got elected. By refusing to adhere to the fashion standards, however, he showed his electorate that they elected him to bring down the status quo and procure real change. Wearing The question is, why do politicians more comfortable shoes might have feel the urge to act this way, when in been an added bonus for him. general the common consensus in our society has shifted away from judg- The more important question that ing a book by its cover. One possible must be asked is the following: Is this explanation might be that this gen- strategy successful? Superficially, eration of politicians tries to change there are a few undeniable upsides. the game of political campaigning by Christian Lindner for example actuleaving the given paths and trying to ally managed to reanimate the FDP, establish campaigns that are focusing which had been down in polls and more on the political narrative than election results in the last decade, in on the politics itself. South Bend City the German general election in 2017. mayor and aspiring presidential nom- Surprisingly, the FDP managed to inee Pete Buttigieg explained in his connect with the young voters that newly released memoir Shortest Way the party would arguably not have Home that he believes people have to reached without election posters that get to know the person who is running resembled your Instagram feed rather first, rather than being convinced by than something you would expect to his policy ideas. Another reason could see in your lower parliamentary chambe that fashion allows these politicians ber. Also, Justin Trudeau`s appeal, to connect with groups of voters they especially in the global community may otherwise be unable to reach. and outside his home country, is Though, it has to be noted that this undeniable. While being celebrated is no new development. In 1985, abroad as the political icon who cares Joschka Fischer, who went on to have about the environment, immigrants a successful career in German politics, and social policies, his domestic poliincluding serving as vice-chancellor cies and numerous political scandals, and foreign minister, was sworn in like the blackfacing incident, brought as minister of the Hessian provincial him enough criticism that he barely government while wearing simple survived in the general election last blue jeans and tennis sneakers. The month. uproar in the conservative political landscape was considerable. But From these two examples we can see if you look past this media bluster, that the appearance of a politician can his wardrobe choice actually made at first glance overshadow the undersense. As a representative and leader lying policies. At least, this seems of the green party, which was still in to be true for voters who are not as the starting blocks, had he chosen inclined or required to thoroughly a more business-like wardrobe, he inform themselves of the policies. may have seemed like an opportun- However, severe repercussions can ist. People would get the impression he wanted to play the sneaky political game like everyone else as soon as

also be seen in the latest developments. Christian Lindner, for example, reached his climax of stardom the day of the general election, before refusing to enter into coalition talks with the leading conservative party. While this would be a familiar fate for many politicians over the years, in connection with Lindner´s person cult, the criticism arose, within the party that Lindner was more of a superficial poster boy without political ideas or ideals. The flamboyant clothing styles of politicians also function as a target for mockery and malice by satirists and comedians, as Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, experienced after wearing trendy sneakers combined with a tight leather jacket to an evening event, as he became the center of tabloid news coverage and late-night shows for the following weeks. Lastly, politicians who try to have a solid narrative before thinking about their wardrobe are also in danger of being labeled as actors by their political opponents. Justin Trudeau, for example, has been in office for four years yet still gets lampooned as Canada’s political lightweight. He gets the blame for any minor misstep even though he may not have been involved. In a nutshell; while humans are naturally inclined to value the superficial aesthetics of another person first, we would be well-advised to remember that, in the end, political ideals are still more important than perfectly matching sneakers. And to all politicians who think about going down the path of the aforementioned examples when the next election appears on the horizon: You would be well-advised to remember this as well!

S C I T E A D H N T A G S A P E O A OF PR eva

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ad yR

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he word propaganda evokes images of old Soviet posters, ones with bold design, big letters and a noticeable red background. We should be careful, however, propaganda can be so much more than that. From memes and art to heavy school reforms and control of the press. Propaganda can be defined as a form of purposeful persuasion that wants to influence the feelings, opinions and actions of others and it has been present in every historical period. What better way to start than to look at the birth of the Soviet Union and its use of propaganda? Of course, any study of Soviet propaganda will be incomplete without analyzing Marxist theory which laid the bedrock for the Soviets. Nevertheless, it would be hypocritical to criticize Marxism without taking a look in our back garden –the West.

Initially, the Soviets’ goal was noble. They wanted to model a new highly democratized government, with a separation between church and state, and economic equality for all workers including women. In a pamphlet written by Lenin in the summer of 1917, he proposed a radically democratic commune state in which society would be governed by the common people. However noble, they were idealists. Russia was not ready for communism. It was vast and undeveloped. In the wake of 1913, The United States was more than eight times richer per capita than Russia. It boasted a literacy rate of 40%. The situation worsened after the beginning of the First World War. In addition, a bloody civil war soon followed. As means to deal with the war and prepare the Russian society and economic system for a transition to socialism, the Soviets increasingly started employing totalitarian practices. By the end of the civil war, the Soviets, now controlled by the Bolsheviks, one of the parties constituting it, officially started favoring a centralized state and a party that is favored over the state. Lenin, in a newspaper, proclaimed the place for the other parties, once comprising the Soviets, was in prison. In another he declared that he laughs at the idea of pure democracy or freedom of press. Propaganda became

frequently utilized due to several reasons. Firstly, the Soviets massively underdelivered on their promises and the masses were meant to be persuaded the opposite was the case. Secondly, most of Russian society was seen as backward by the Soviets and they tried to change that through use of propaganda. Even though Soviet communism was inspired by Marxism, it also took many elements from capitalism to fight the unsuitable circumstances. Therefore, we should look at Marxist aesthetic theory before determining whether propaganda is inherent to Marxism as well. We should first consider Marx’s stance on art. He sees art as a response to socio-economic conditions which should be looked in a historical context. However, he does not go further to endorse use of propaganda and moreover, he defends the freedom of press. Unfortunately, Marx’s writings on how art should be used in society are sparse. Instead, Marxists try to construct a theory based on the hints gotten from his texts. One of the most influential Marxists thinkers was Walter Benjamin, a German philosopher of Jewish descent who was heavily affected by the Fascist regime. According to him, mechanical reproduction of art, devalues the art itself since it no longer has a unique presence in time and space. Prior to the modern reproduction of art, paintings were characterized by the building to which they belonged. They were part of the individuality of the building. Moreover, they were immovable, you had to go to them. Mechanical reproduction of art not only copies it and brings the image to you, but also can easily rearrange it into a different narrative by adding text, taking quotes out of context or focusing only on a small part of the whole. That makes it very easy to influence the masses. Walter Benjamin, notes that fascism utilizes mass production. He argues fascism gives expression to the masses without changing the economic structure; fascism is the introduction of aesthetics in politics. Communism, according to him, responds by politicizing art which can be seen in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, Walter Benjamin

POLITICS

is against complete freedom of speech. His beliefs are not uncommon among Marxist circles, implying a society built by Marxists will be plagued by propaganda just like the Soviet one. If you live in a western country, freedom of speech is a given right. Yet despite, or maybe because of it, propaganda is still present in these countries. Does that mean propaganda is inherent to our system as well? It is a controversial statement with no definitive answer. Moreover, by the definition of propaganda, any piece of art that wants to carry a meaning can be considered propaganda. A way to break away from it, then, might be by treating art as an end of its own. Sadly, art for art’s sake is no solution either. It severely benefits the privileged, or as Marx would say, the bourgeoise. Art for people of disadvantaged background cannot just be aesthetically pleasing, it is a tool to express their side and impact the others. Accordingly, art for art’s sake could only work in a completely egalitarian society. However, this classless society will require homogeneity among individuals that can be maintained only by use of propaganda. Class society, on the other hand, will always have an underlying power structure which must be fought against with art. Therefore, regardless of political systems, there will be no escape from the grip of propaganda. Escape might not be possible, but my goal is not to make you despair. Propaganda can be used by all sides of the political compass. Is the Soviet aesthetic one of colorful posters and harmony, or is it one of grey buildings and hopelessness? Either case has been displayed by the opposing side to persuade a targeted audience what life in the Soviet Union entailed. The answer, therefore, is not to try to escape from the grips of propaganda but instead stare directly at its face and study it. An awareness of what it is and how it is used will have a massive impact on the individual, one that cannot be replicated with the prohibition of propaganda and therefore art.

HISTORY

By Dan Edwards

The pyramids are

weird

onspiracy theories have fascinated majority of people at some point. They appeal to one of the most natural human conditions, curiosity. This is the first article of a series concerning the most intriguing conspiracies that individuals and society have devoted their time to over the last 50 years. With this in mind, what better place to start than the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. It seems natural to focus on ancient civilisations, such as the one of the Egyptian’s. This is a result of a common historical dichotomy. On the one hand, we see these mysterious ancient civilisations as advanced for their time. Ancient Egypt, in particular, is considered as one of the first great civilisations in human history. On the other hand, we see civilisations like Egypt as primitive, unable to live up to today’s standards of technological glory. This leaves us with mysteries such as Stonehenge, the great structures of the Aztecs, the ruins of Ancient Greece and, the subject of this article, the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The pyramids are a spectacle of mystery. They stand tall above the Egyptian plain and are a monument to engineering. Human or alien? We just don’t know. Do we possess psychic powers, or did the Egyptians have even more advanced technology than we have today? We just don’t know. What we do know is that these behemoths of ancient engineering

are unimaginably complicated. The Great Chamber has five marble pillars sitting above it, holding the structure together, with each pillar weighing 75 tons. Along with 2 million blocks used to construct it, with estimates that they are around 2.5 tons each. This gives it an overall weight of 6 million tons. An enormous amount to lift by modern day standards, let alone roughly 5 to ten thousand years ago. But we have the solution, don’t we? It was the slaves. Poor slaves had to drag all of these immensely heavy bricks and pillars up a ramp. Well, this just scientifically can’t be true. It is impossible to pull something that heavy up anything more than a ten-degree slope without a power source, which is significantly more powerful and stronger than humans. A ramp of ten degrees would have to be almost the same size, if not double, that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in order to place these mammoth sized bricks and pillars in place. Also, the inside of the Great Pyramid is stunning, clearly the work of architectural masters at the peak of their powers. Not a labour force who were compelled to build such beautiful structure.

precise. They line up with true North, with only 0.05 degrees off the modern-day statistic. The dimensions, if multiplied by 43,200, equal the diameter and circumference of the Earth. The pyramids give us the dimensions of the planet, which are defined by the planet itself. They also display interesting characteristics during a lunar eclipse. The Great Pyramid of Giza even works as a sundial, casting shadows on rocks and can state what hour of the day it is. Most modern architects would not burden themselves with creating such a large structure, as well as lining it up with these statistics. Whilst all of these facts are extremely impressive, what is more impressive is that there are even more characteristics discovered every decade. Thus, providing archaeologists with constant excitement and intrigue for over 100 years. The pyramids do contain human errors, but they are miniscule and are comparable to today’s modern-day standard of construction.

It is also important to note that experts are still uncertain about how old the pyramids actually are. Certain historians such as Graham Hancock believe that it is quite posDespite all of this, the pyramids sible that the pyramids are older than stand, and they are incredibly the estimated time of construction of 4500 years ago. It is important to remember that Cleopatra is closer to us than the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is understatement to say that the pyramids are old. Therefore, the pyramids provide great uncertainty about our

understanding of the ancient world. This has led certain historians and archaeologists to speculate about theories of a lost civilisation or, which is more likely, the lost technologies that these civilisations had. Our lack of understanding should humble our current belief that we are the living in the most advanced time in human history. It is likely that we are, but with such a lack of understanding of the ancient world, it would be illogical to assume our uniqueness. This theory can be applied right across the world. Findings of peculiar objects in Greece, to Stonehenge, to the vastness of the amazon demonstrate that is currently a veil of mystery over the ancient world. The empire of Ancient Egypt spanned thousands of years. Our current civilisation as we know it has only really been around for centuries. A speck on the timeline of human history. The pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the world for a reason. They provide a physical structure to the concept of mystery and grandeur, which leads naturally, to multiple conspiracies about their construction, purpose and meaning. If aliens did build them, then why? Maybe it is because they are a mind control device that is dormant until they finally activate it and we are enslaved to do their bidding. Maybe the Ancient Egyptian’s found a way to harness the full potential of the human brain through the use of psychedelics. Therefore, giving them telekinetic powers allowing them to move immense objects with their mind. Maybe there was a lost technology that we cannot even comprehend. What is certain is the mystery behind the pyramid’s construction. It is therefore impossible to rule out any of these theories, even the out-of-this-world theories, until proven otherwise.

SCIENCE

the elegant solution The beauty of ideas By Peter Pelzer

n the highly unlikely case that reading the Maastricht Diplomat does not fill your rare free time, here is something else to spend a joyful hour on: What is the sum of all integers from 1 to 100? It’s easy, 1 plus 2 is 3, plus 3 is 6, plus 4 is 10, plus 5... too strenuous? If so, take a calculator and write out the full formula:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... + 99 + 100 = ? Even if your calculator allows you to have such long formulas, you will

hardly have enjoyed your time. And what if it was not 100 but 1,000? Most people’s patience to carry out lengthy monotonous exercises like this one is understandably limited. Luckily for all who really need to know the answer, there is a much easier solution. Observe this:

1 + 100 = 101 2 + 99 = 101 3 + 98 = 101 … 49 + 52 = 101 50 + 51 = 101

If you re-group the sum in this way, you get 50 pairs each of which sums up to 101. In total, this makes 50 * 101 = 5,050. The same argument can be made for every other natural number instead of 100. For instance, the integers from 1 to 1,000 sum up to 500 * 1,001 = 500,500. A mathematician would succinctly put is as a general formula for some number n. Set aside for a moment the justified sentiment that you personally don’t care too much what the sum of those numbers is. The point is,

abstract, a clarity has been reached that is unique among all sciences. Often enough, mathematicians completely disregard the initial “real” motivation of their undertakings. This has become especially apparent in the last century, when the different natural sciences continuously split and the classic polymaths were overcome by specialists in their fields. Nevertheless, re-applying results obtained in the abstract to the “real” world has often proved effective. Thus, despite its abstractness, mathematics has facilitated Gauß’s method is undeniably more profound understanding of the elegant than the naive addition of mechanics of our universe. each number after the other. Not only is it a short-cut around an oth- It is remarkable, that all established erwise unpleasant problem, but it branches of natural and empirical also provides a deeper – profound, social sciences make heavy use if you will – insight into the nature of mathematical results, while the of the underlying concepts, the mathematicians themselves are, in behaviour of the natural numbers. their ivory tower, more concerned Lastly, the division of the sum in two with the aesthetics of their work series, the one on the left ascending, than anything else. If the rational the one on the right descending, and mind is able to produce anything the formation of pairs seems partic- which one could call aesthetic, then ularly appealing for its symmetry it is mathematics. and clarity. Surprisingly, as aloof as those mathThe association of mathematical ematicians and their sense of beauty results with such aesthetic notions might seem, it is a sense that even as elegance, profundity and clarity laypeople share. In a recent study, will be familiar to everyone working a mathematician and a marketing or at least interested in the field. The psychologist at the University of nerdy mathematician immersed in Bath asked participants to compare some kind of inaccessible beauty of different mathematical arguments his work is a common stereotype. (one of them the “Little Gauß”) to My first calculus lecture had its sol- paintings of landscapes and music emn and almost emotional summit performances. This seems peculiar when the professor paused in awe at first, but the study did in fact find and circled – for the first and last significant agreement among the time – one formula with red chalk. mathematical amateurs as to how The five most profound constants aesthetic each argument was. When of mathematics elegantly united in a asked which criteria they applied in their judgements, the participants single, most clear equation: indeed favoured elegance, clarity and profundity. iπ that certain laborious tasks are sometimes unavoidable. According to a popular anecdote, later famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauß had to do the aforementioned calculation at the age of nine as an occupational school exercise. But instead of granting his teacher the well-deserved hour of silence, Gauß gave it some extra thought and immediately came up with the re-grouping (also called “Little Gauß formula”), thus saving a lot of time and effort.

e +1=0

Both examples illustrate important historical motivations for mathematics that are connected to beauty and aesthetics. It has always been pursued as a search for shorter, more elegant solutions to problems arising in physics, architecture or astronomy. At the same time, by stripping “real” problems of their “real” flaws, their imprecision, their exceptions and variations, and arguing in the

as the first major theorem to be proved with computer assistance. Although significant intellectual work went into the proof, it was heavily criticised for being not elegant enough and not even being a valid proof at all. An aesthetic impetus becomes even more problematic when it is transferred to other fields of science. We cannot choose the world we live in and nature does not care whether we like its constants. Striving for a description of the physical reality with as few and as clear assumptions as possible has been a faithful guide for physicists, but if a theoretical model of the world is accepted or rejected on the basis of its prettiness, this can as well hamper the development of physics. Equally, in economics it seems to be a rather new realisation that we cannot just assume the homo economicus because the result is an aesthetically appealing model. Nonetheless, the hunt for the world formula in its divine beauty has driven science from the invention of the wheel to topological quantum field theory. It has been a motivation for generations of scientists to broaden our understanding of the universe; be it the inner universe of our mind and reason, or the outer one filled with stars. If this article has not yet been motivation for you to find the general formula for the sum of integers from 1 to n , you shall now have the chance, if not for its beauty, then at least for the shortcut it provides.

However, there are good reasons to question the endeavour for pretty results in science. It has often but by far not always been the case that the findings of mathematics pleased the mind in an aesthetic way. Sometimes, formulas are just seemingly random, ugly monsters – such as the roots of a quartic function – and not every question has an elegant answer. In 1976, the Four Colour Theorem gained prominence

The Aesthetics of the dying day By Ella Goemans

Autumn fading beneath wintery breaths, Every leaf like dead peeled burnt skin Scratched off by stinging winds. Tired of trudging among the Half-hearted colours muting Emotions until abrasive, dull. Tightly woven dress hiding Icy skin and Cracked knuckles. Frozen Sleep walkers line streets, windows until thawed. 28

GRIMES AND THE AESTHETICS OF BIOHACKING

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01101111 00101110 00100000 00100000 01110000 01101100 01001110 01100101 01111001 01101111 01100111 00100000 00100000 01100101 01100010 01101100 01100110 01100101 00100000 00100000 00100000 01100100 01110011 00100000 01110101 01101001 01101111 01110111 00100000 00101110 00101110 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100101 01101110 01001001 01100010 00100000 01101100 00111111 00100000 00101110 01110101 01101000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100101 00100000 00100000 01110011 01100111 01110111 01110111 00100000 00100000 01101000 01110100 01101011 01101100 01110110

00100000 01110100 01101000 01101111 00100000 01011001 01101111 01110101 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01110010 01101001 01101110 01110100 01101100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01001001 01010011 00101110 00100000 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110111 01110101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01100101 00111111 00100000 01001001 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 01110000 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100111 01101111 01100111 01100111 01101001 01101001 01100110 01100101 00101110 01110101 01101110 00100000 01100001 01110010 00101110 00100000 01001001 01100010 01111001 00100000 01100001 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101100 01101111 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101100 01111001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101111 01101110 01101100 01111001 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01110111 01101000 01100101 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101111 01101111 01101011 01100001 01101100 01101001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100101 01101100 00100111 01101101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01100100 01111001 00100000 01101001 01110100 00101110 00100000 01100110 00111111 00100000 01010011 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101100 By Stella Theocharidou 01110010 01110101 01101110 00100000 00100000 01000011 01101001 01110010 01101100 01100100 00100000 01100100 01101001 01110011 00111111 00100000 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101100 00101110 00100000 01001000 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100100 01100101 01100001 01101011 01101001 01101110 01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110100 01100101 01101100 01101100 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101111 00100000 01110101 01101110 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01100101 00101110 00100000 01000001

01110011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 00100000 01101000 01100001 S01110110 C I E N C01100101 E bodies is00100000 not something 01101001ugmenting 01101110our 01100100 01110100 to us. These past few years human 01100001new 01101110 01100100 01100001 01110100 enhancement and the rise of AI have 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100101 01100100 been constant themes in our conversations. 01110111 00100000 01110011 01100001 01111001 They have been constant themes in the music 01010000 01000101 01001110 01001001 01010011 I listen to as well; Grimes being the queen of AI 00100000 01100111 01101111 00101110 00100000 supporters. Grimes is a musician whose genre 00111111 01000100 01101001 01100100 is really00100000 unidentifiable and it revolves around 01101111 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101110 cyberpunk, but more on that later. How many 00100000 01110011 01110101 01110000 times have you thought about how cool01110000 it 00100000 01101110 01110100 00100000 would be to have a01101111 magnetic chip under your 01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100101 skin that reacts with metal? Or, how cool it would be to have a01110100 bionic prosthetic arm that 01110010 01100001 01101001 01101110 makes you look like00100000 Ironman and all the super01101110 01100111 01101101 01100101 heroes 01001100 you read about growing up? Humans 00100000 01101001 01100110 01100101 have been altering01110100 their bodies for centuries 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 by piercing their ears and decorating their skin 00100000 01100110 01100101 01101100 01110100 with tattoos; hell, having any artificially-made 00100000 01100111 01101001 01110010 01101100 prosthetic body part is considered ‘upgrading’ 01101110 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 or ‘biohacking’. Biohacking, otherwise known 01100100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00111111 as grinding, takes the hacker mindset to a 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 whole new level - away from software/hard01110100 01101000 ware and towards01100001 the human01110100 body and00111111 its 01110100 01100010 01110010 01101111 biology. The coffee you drink in the morning01101011 to 01110100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 wake you up is considered a way to temporar01100001 00100000 01101101 ily hack01101100 your body. 01101100 But for the purpose of this article, 00100000 we will move past the everyday hacks 01001001 01100011 01101111 01110101 of ordinary people.01110010 Here, I will01100101 dive into 01100001 the 01001001 00100000 different01001001 ways a person can modify their body 00100000 00100000 01100011 01101111 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101101 01110101 01110011 01101001 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110011 01101101 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01111001 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01100001 01100111 01101110 01100101 01110100 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100011 01101000 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100011 01101100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101111 00101110 00100000 01001000 01101111 01000011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01001001 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110111 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01110010 01110011 01110100 01100001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01100100 01101111 00100000 01001001 00100000 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 00100000 01100010 01101111 01110101 01101110 01001001 00100000 01100100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110000 01100001 01100011 01101011 00101100 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 01110000 01110000 01100101 01101110 00100000 29 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01100110

01100001 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100010 01101001 01100111 00100000 01100010 01110010 01100001 01101001 to make them feel superhuman, or towards the01100101 democratization of 01110100 go a long 00101110 way in helping us keep 01000001 up 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01111000 00100000 god-like, and the aesthetics00100000 of this. emerging technologies. Biohacker 00100000 with a potential AI apocalypse. In 01101111 01110010 01111001 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100001 01101100 01101100 spaces have great potential for prothis kind of scenario, artificial intelli01101001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 The 00100111 “more human than 01100101 human” moting innovation and they all follow 00100111 gence surpasses human intelligence 00100000 01110000 01101110 01101001 01110011 00101110 00100000 01010000 motto from Blade Runner is evi- the usual strict health and safety and takes control of the planet. Even 00101110 00100000 01010000 01000101 01001110 01001001 01010011 00101110 00100000 01001000 01100101 dent in countless examples of regulations, but also they have their in a benign AI scenario, humans will 01000001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110000 biohacking. For instance, a person own stricter ones. So, instead of still be left behind. This is a more 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100110 01100101 01101100 00100000 01110000 implanted invisible headphones in giving in to doomsayers we should01100101 radical side of biohacking, in which 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 01100101 01110011 his ear. Rich Lee did that by insert- build awareness towards00100000 safe exper- 01101101 biohackers and scientists want 01110011 to 01101111 01110011 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 ing small magnets directly into imentation that doesn’t threaten control a seemingly uncontrolla01110100 01101000 01100111 01101000 01010100 01101001 the flesh of his 01101111 ears, then 01110101 building humanity. These places,00101110 called bio- 00100000 ble human part; the 01101000 brain. Hence, 01100100 01101001 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01110011 a device that 01110100 can control those hacker spaces, might seem peculiar 01101000 a counter-argument that needs 00100000 to magnets and produce sound. He to01100001 most but 01110011 to be honest, they are 01100010 be addressed is that01100101 this could 01101110 go 01100111 00101100 00100000 01101000 00100000 01100101 can 01100100 now listen01101111 to music 01110111 without places that cultivate scien- 01001100 very, very01101001 wrong. This could lead 00100000 01101110 00101110future 00100000 01101011 01100101 headphones; with attaching a tists, doctors, and even00100000 life-saving 01110100 to human01101000 beings’ self destruction 00100000 01101001and 01110011 01101110 00100111 01110100 01100001 01110100 directional microphone he can listen innovations. They are places where 00100000 before any hypothetical AI apoca00100000 01101101 01101111 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 01100101 01101001 01110100 in to conversations meters away. In a child can have his dad print him lypse is even possible. 00100000 01101000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110100 01100010 01110010 01101111 01101011 01100101 theory, this could help people that a01110100 3D printed 00100000 prosthetic arm for $10 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01001001 require hearing aids as well, by pro- instead of $20.000 which he can Alas, the democratization of these 01100111 01100101 01110100 00101110 00100000 01001001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 viding an alternative product they change while growing up, and it technologies will prevent the contin00100000 01010000 01100101 01110010 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 could control more easily. By mak- looks pretty cool too. uance of the elite and the non-elite 01110010 00101100 00100000 01101000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01001001 ing these products more accessible when it comes to expensive possi00100000 01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01100101 01100010 01100101 01100101 to the general public, people would Needless to 01110110 say, no one has died 00100000 bilities. Human enhancement will not 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00101100 be able to get these products at a from biohacking experiments, at be a privilege of the wealthy, but00100000 it 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 00101110 01000001 01101110 01100100 lower price. This, of course, would least not yet. 01110011 That alone is promising00100000 will be something accessible to ordi01111001 00100000 01100001 01110101 it01101100 01110100 00101110 00100000 01100110 mean that living01100110 in a country with a considering has been established nary people as well. 01001001 Although, we weak health care system would not as an alternative science 9 years 00100000 cannot control a hypothetical apoc01101100 01100100 00100000 01110100 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101000 01100101 01110010 hinder a person’s life because they ago, but has01100101 been around on the 01110100 alypse, we00101110 can control a part of the 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100110 01101100 00100000 01001001 would have cheaper alternatives. low much longer. 01101111 01110111 steps towards human 01101000 enhancement. 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000down 01110011 01101000 00100000 01100101 How creepy, but at the same time, 01110011 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101100 01101111 how00100000 cool is that? course, it’s not only human bod- 01101111 Furthermore, anyone who really 01100011 01101001 01110011Of00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101111 01110110 ies that can be hacked. In a similar knows me, knows that I have been 00100000 01001000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100101 01111001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 My favorite example of biohacking biohacker space called TAXA, which majorly obsessed with Grimes for 01101111 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 01101110 01101111 is Neil Harbisson, a colorblind artist, focuses on genetically engineered a few years now. She is a major 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01111001 01100101 01110100 00100000 01001001 00100000 who is coincidentally the first person plants, a bioluminescent plant has biohacking fan and has been advo00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110been 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100101 in the world to be legally recognized produced. This plant is bio- 01110011 cating for 01101111 the rise of AI01101101 continuously. 00100000 01101000 and 00100000 01110010 01100101 00101110 as a01101101 cyborg. He01110101 built himself01100011 a head degradable has the01101101 power to 01101111 In her latest song, “We Appreciate 01101001 01110011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 mounted camera and a bone-con- produce natural light without the Power”, she is clearly doing that and 01100100 01101111 01110011 01101110 00100111 01100110 01100101with 01100101 ducting audio 01100101 device that, when help of electricity. It’s a 01110100 waste-free, 00100000 one specific lyric that resonated 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 01101101 01110011 combined, allow him to “listen” to safe, and aesthetically pleasing plant00100000 me from the start and 01111001 prompted this 00100000 01001001 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 01110011 01101111 colors. It surely 00100000 looks bizarre in the that will minimize the need for elec- 00100000 article was “Biology 01110100 is Superficial, eyes01100101 of people not used to biohackor any 01100001 other element harmful01100101 Intelligence is Artificial”. She talks 01101000 00100000 01100110tricity 01101100 01101101 00100000 01100001 01101110 ing, 00100000 but as he says: “wherever I look towards the environment. At a time 01110010 about how AI will reward the loyal 01100100 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100011 01101001 01100011 01101100 01100101 there’s music. Going to the museum, when climate change is threatenones when it reigns and how simu01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 I can00100000 listen to an01100100 Andy Warhol, I can ing the very existence life on our 01100110 lation is the future. 01111000 00100000 01110111 01101111 00100000 01001001of00100000 01101001 listen to a Picasso”. It might be the planet, having innovative ideas like 00100000 01100110 01101001 01111000 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00101110 00100000 From BioHAx International and most aesthetic form of biohacking these can have great results. 01101100 01100001 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101101 01101001 01101011 01100001 Jowan Osterlund’s RFID (Radioever. Having technology on our side 01001001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 already has a tremendous influence On the other hand, however, we frequency identification) chips to 01100100 00100000 01101001have 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100010 hypodermic sexual vibrator chips on the way we 01110111 perceive everything Elon Musk; who says that in 01110101 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100100 01110011 01101000 01101001 01110000 called Lovetron 9000 (yes, of course in our environment, even the small- the future humans must become like there are those) our world is taken by 01101100 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 est fiber or atom. cyborgs to be able to compete with Artificial Intelligence and Augmented 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100AI01101111 enhanced 00100000 computers.01100010 “There will 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101100 or Virtual Reality, because they let01101001 us 01110111 01101000 01101001 01101100 01100101 01101011 01101111 01110111 Moreover, all these biohacking busi- be fewer and00100000 fewer jobs that a robot 01101110 live in a fantasy world, a world that 01100100 01100001 01101001 01100101 01110011 00111111 nesses around 01110010 the globe are there can’t do better,” he said at the World 00100000 01001000 01101111 01110111 we can be superhuman. A world that to help individuals with a knack for Government Summit. His company 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 01101100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 we are our own synthetic, bio-enscience and biology experiment with Neuralink already conducting 01101001 01101110 01100100 01110011 00100000is01101111 01110101 01110100 gineered 00101110 replicants. 00100000 If this will 01001001 be ideas in an ultra-safe environment at research into connecting computers 01101000 01100101 01110010 00101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 the future,00100000 we will all 01101101 be able to 01100001 be a relatively low 01110011 financial cost. All of to01110000 human brains. The company’s 01001001 00100000 01110101 01110000 01101111 01110011 01100101 00101110 smart, beautiful and artificial. So,00100000 in these spaces, 01110100 such as Genspace is to merge the human brain 01100100 the words01100001 of my beloved Grimes, 01101100 01101111 00100000goal 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01100001 in New York, La Paillasse in Paris with AI. Elon Musk’s argument is “Submit”. 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101111 01100100 00100000 01101100 01110101 and Biotown in Ottawa, are striving that a brain-machine interface would 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101100 01100101 30 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000

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