Latest news with #SigmundFreud
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Our weird reality is killing reality TV
Now, you might be asking yourself, who cares? And I get that. But I think the reason reality TV is dying is interesting. It reveals something deeper about how our society might be unconsciously metabolizing the seismic political shifts in the last year. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Reality TV originally thrived because it offered an escape from everyday life. We indulged in epic rollercoaster romances, shameless debauchery, petty entanglements, and the guilty pleasure of rooting for 'shade-throwing' self-obsessed villains who seemed hellbent on taking someone down each season. For roughly 43 blissfully chaotic minutes, we entered a world where the worst of human behavior could be enjoyed safely, from a distance, and, most important, turned off at will. In the end, it perversely left us feeling better, even relieved, about the predictable ordinariness of our own lives. Advertisement But our current political reality — starring its own egotistical villains running amok and creating havoc — has become so chaotic and theatrical that reality TV now feels dull by comparison. Sigmund Freud, in 'Civilization and Its Discontents,' argued that our primal instincts, driven by sex (pleasure/procreation) and aggression (power/survival), are in conflict with the external demands of civilization — the social order that keeps us functioning as a collective society. In short: Our rawest individualistic urges are always brushing up against the demands of civilized living. To manage this conflict, we rely on outlets like art, literature, film, and television — forms that allow us to sublimate (to unconsciously and symbolically indulge) our primitive urges without destabilizing society or our own psychological well-being. Reality TV — because it features 'real people' in dramatized settings — gives us permission to flirt with our more primitive impulses: envy, competition, cruelty. It lets us vicariously indulge in dysfunction and chaos from the safety of our couches, without breaking social rules or causing lasting harm. And then Donald Trump, a former reality TV personality himself, made every day a real-life spectacle. Trump entered both terms of his presidency by shattering the protective barrier of the screen and displaying all the hallmarks of reality TV's genre's most notorious villains: narcissism, manipulation, performative cruelty, engineered tribalism, and unchecked grievance. What was once safely held in the collective unconscious and expressed through art now plays out in the real world — unfiltered, uncontained, and unrelenting. The primal chaos we once safely indulged in during 43 minutes of petty drama and escapism now spills into our news feeds, our laws, and our wallets. There's no off switch. The conflicts on 'The Real Housewives' and the scheming on 'Survivor' now feel like the ones between Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd: cartoonish, low-stakes, and recycled. They're dull compared with our real 'reality.' Advertisement In lieu of reality TV, I've turned to British mystery series, like 'Midsomer Murders,' where the world may be grim, but order is restored and justice usually prevails. With each episode, the bad guys are caught and the community heals. It's the kind of resolution I no longer trust reality TV, or our real lives, to deliver.
NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Father's Day 2025: 7 Heartfelt Gift Ideas To Celebrate Your Dad
Father's Day 2025: The third Sunday of June every year is celebrated as Father's Day to mark the presence of one of the most important figures that anyone can have in their life. This year, Father's Day is being celebrated on June 15, and what better way to show your appreciation for your dad than by presenting him with a gift. Here are a few heartwarming gift ideas that you should consider: Customised artwork Nothing feels more personal than a hand-drawn artwork for your father. Use a card, bright colours or printable templates to write a heartfelt message and give it to him to make his day, or perhaps his year. Take him out Take your father out for a fun outing. If he is into nature, go hiking, and if he is into music, take him to a concert. If anything does not materialise, take him to a nice, quaint lunch or dinner at his favourite restaurant. Treat him. Wellness and self-care kits Fathers often get too busy providing for the family. Help them by gifting a grooming kit, beard oil set, essential oil diffuser, or even a spa session at a relaxing retreat. Cook a meal Gather the ingredients and prepare the favourite dish of your father. Pair it with a drink and serve him an experience that he will not forget easily. Wallet A practical and stylish gift that comes in handy for daily use, a wallet can be a great gift item this Father's Day. For bonus, stylise it by getting his initials embossed. Gadgets If your dad loves technology and enjoys new gadgets, consider getting him wireless earbuds, a smartwatch, or smart home devices. Gift card A digital gift card, or an online subscription to an OTT platform he likes are great last-minute gifting option. Father's Day Quotes A father doesn't tell you that he loves you. He shows you: Dimitri the Stoneheart I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection: Sigmund Freud Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father. It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father: Barack Obama A father's smile has been known to light up a child's entire day: Susan Gale A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way: Unknown Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers, and singers of song: Pam Brown
NDTV
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Father's Day 2025: Wishes, Quotes And Messages To Share With Your Dad
Fathers play a range of roles in our lives. From being our protectors to serving as our role models, they are truly special. Father's Day is marked every year to recognise and honour the sacrifices fathers make for their children. It is an opportunity for every child to thank the man who has always been there to support them and help them prosper in life. Father's Day is celebrated across the globe on the third Sunday of June every year, and this year, it falls on June 15. People celebrate Father's Day with different kinds of gestures. Some prefer to give their dads gifts, while others would rather spend a day in the company of their father or father figure. You can also add an extra-special touch with heartwarming wishes and messages for your dad. Here are some Father's Day wishes, greetings, quotes and messages that you can share with your father to make him feel special: Happy Father's Day to the self-appointed coolest dad in the world! (Don't worry, we agree with you... most of the time.) Lots of love on this special day. On this Father's Day, I want you to know how much you mean to me. You're not just my Dad but my superhero. Love you lots! Dad, you're the first person I turn to when I have a question or need some advice. Thank you for always answering. You've been there through my highs and lows, but always made me feel like I could soar! Happy Father's Day from your daughter. This Father's Day, I hope you are blessed with wonderful days ahead without any struggle. I thank you for everything papa and please be with me forever. Dad, your love and guidance have shaped me into who I am today. Thank you for being an incredible father. Happy Father's Day! Thank you for being the rock of our family and always putting us first. Happy Father's Day, Dad! You're simply the best. Wishing a joyful Father's Day to the man who has always been my biggest cheerleader. Love you, Dad! Father's Day Quotes "A father doesn't tell you that he loves you. He shows you" - Dimitri the Stoneheart "I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection" - Sigmund Freud "Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father. It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father." - Barack Obama "A father's smile has been known to light up a child's entire day." - Susan Gale "A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way." - Unknown "Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers, and singers of song." - Pam Brown
TimesLIVE
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Why the Ford Mustang Dark Horse will have you fighting restraint
Before Jaguar decided to stage its polarising reinvention, there was a time when marketing suits embraced that caddish and villainous reputation the growler marque held. 'Good to be bad' was among a series of advertising taglines. At the time it had snarling V6 and V8 performers to back up all this hard talk, deployed under the hoods of fearsome saloons and striking sports cars that seemed to lend themselves to activities of wrongdoers on the silver screen. Not many automakers these days are so brazen as to trumpet their naughty sides. It got me thinking, hearing the Ford Mustang Dark Horse fire up in our office basement the other day (setting off a Chery's alarm in the process). This wild pony is designed to pander entirely to the part of your makeup Sigmund Freud referred to as the id. A well-adjusted ego mediates impulses and desires, prompting you to start your Mustang Dark Horse in the 'quiet mode' setting that Ford engineers have thoughtfully added to the menu. But the unchecked id will have you starting up the Horse in its loudest tune on a cold morning, just nje — to hell with the neighbours! The rear spoiler is intended for enhanced downforce, but owners will inadvertently use it as a handle to aid opening and closing of the boot. Image: Supplied Truly, this is a car that could bring out the wildest streak in a person. Like the old Jaguar spiel, sometimes it feels good to be bad. Late last year when Ford introduced the Dark Horse to the South African media, it took us to Lesotho's stunning twisties for an initial driving experience. The thundering coupé left Basotho ponies frightened and cowering, as it tore up the tiny country's spaghetti curves, through mountainous landscapes. We flew back across the border with a better understanding of why, at R1,508,000, the Dark Horse required a further R201,000 over its standard GT counterpart. First off, the extra money gets you a unique exterior dressing: a more purposeful body kit, including fang-like bumper inserts, trapezoidal nostrils, side skirts, a rear diffuser, 19-inch aluminium alloys and a rear wing. Eagle-eyed fans might even notice the forward-facing horse emblem, the first time such a depiction has been used on the Mustang (it had always been the galloping side profile). Aside from darker accents, a flat-bottomed, suede-trimmed steering wheel and a numbered build plate, the cabin remains as it is in the GT. That means full digitisation and a bounty of amenities; everything from a heated steering wheel to ventilated seats and integrated navigation. But the upgraded hardware under the skin is sure to be of more interest to those committed enthusiasts. At first they might have been disappointed to read that the local Dark Horse outputs do not match those of the US-market model (386kW/566Nm). Our car serves up 334kW from the famed Coyote V8, which is still 6kW more than the regular GT. The torque figure remains the same: 540Nm. Like its lesser sibling, the Dark Horse uses a 10-speed automatic, which feels a tad more responsive in the way it dispatches shifts. As alluded to earlier, it has a far more distinctive acoustic character, thanks to the fitment of a performance exhaust system with active valves and different sound profiles. The claimed 0-100km/h time is 4.4 seconds. When group motoring editor Denis Droppa strapped the testing equipment onto the Dark Horse at Gerotek, it registered a 5.2-second dash to 100km/h from standstill, not a poor show if we are keeping expectations managed. Yes, there are lighter, more efficient turbocharged rivals from German brands, but at the moment nothing competes with the soulful character of the blue oval muscle car. Amplified in Dark Horse guise. Image: Supplied The current GT marks a considerable leap over its predecessor where dynamic abilities are concerned. And the Dark Horse manages to tidy up those attributes further, with its Brembo discs and calipers, beefed-up front shock absorbers, stronger strut tower braces and meatier rear sway bars. Like the GT, it retains the Torsen limited-slip differential and MagneRide adaptive damping system. Of course, the firm ride quality leaves you feeling those varying road surfaces of Johannesburg, more an indictment on our infrastructure than a slight on the car. It is certainly a more cohesive handler than former Mustang iterations. Still, buyers who might have become desensitised by clinical Teutonic performance options with all-wheel drive layouts may need some time to fully acclimatise to just how brutish the Dark Horse can be. This is a powerful rear-wheel drive instrument after all, meaning you can find yourself facing the wrong way on Beyers Naudé Drive without much provocation. The Dark Horse keeps keen drivers alert, excitingly loose in the tail, with an addictive soundtrack goading them on. Driving it sedately (and quietly) is a challenge. Yet judging from the receptions of passers-by, the theatrics of the Dark Horse are welcomed, celebrated, with fellow road users often motioning to hear that V8 disturb the peace. Flooring it in neutral, the reverberations from the back-box had people on my community WhatsApp group wondering if the trigger-happy mourners at Westpark Cemetery were at it again. In reality, the standard GT is probably all the Mustang you really want. You'll need a strong resolve to overpower the id after driving the regular version back-to-back with the Dark Horse during the shopping process.
The Hindu
03-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
A good death, demystified
Benjamin Franklin, in 1879, observed that certainty is limited to two things - death and taxes. Time and technology have proven him only half wrong. Sigmund Freud on the other hand, had remarked that we are all convinced of our immortality. Discussing death is considered, varyingly, macabre, ghoulish, grim or in morbid taste. Serious discussions on definitions of death, of personal, moral, legal and economic issues involved in death-related-decisions, seldom occur in Indian families. Do clinicians constantly exposed to death, become insensitive, forgetting that for the bereaved family, it could be the first experience? From time immemorial, a doctor's primary avocation was 'to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always'. Until recently, there was no conflict of interest with this approach, when a doctor did his best to preserve life. However, the increasing availability of sophisticated medical technology and life support systems has changed the picture. The process of dying is now more protracted, and can be influenced to be prolonged. The importance paid to 'quality of life' should now also be paid to 'quality of death.' Understanding death Death (apoptosis) commences even in the unborn, where cells are programmed to die. Different organs die at different rates. Death is an ongoing process, not an isolated event. Saving lives is the raison d'etre for our existence as doctors, but at what cost? In the irreversibly critically ill patient, how long does one continue treatment? What is the purpose of such treatment? Today, one can keep a person biologically alive - heart, lungs, kidney and other organs functioning - but in coma, 'living' in a critical care unit setting. In 2018, the Supreme Court held that the right to die with dignity, is a fundamental right. When the patient is unable to take part in the decision-making process of medical treatment, who will be the surrogate decision maker? Even if full information is given, is it reasonable to expect a calm, unruffled calculated decision to be taken, with death hovering around? Do we factor in the patient's desire? When is enough, enough? Should management decisions be based only on irrefutable scientific evidence and available technology? Do increased 'options' compound the issue? Do we spend quality time with caregivers understanding psychological, social and spiritual needs when death is imminent? Illustrations from neurosurgical practice A 92-year-old woman with a stroke that has affected both sides is encouraged to be taken home. She also has multiple hip fractures secondary to a trivial fall. Two months have elapsed. The patient is in coma for four weeks. Morphine patches are used for analgesia. The 70-year-old son cannot stand her suffering. After a discussion, the Ryles tube feeding is stopped, to facilitate an irreversible cardiac arrest. The heart goes on beating for another 72 hours, with the elderly children going through an agonising time. How does one discuss a 'good death' with a just -married wife, when her husband has had a devastating bleed in the brain? How does one inform a retired professor of surgery that he has multiple secondaries not only in the brain but everywhere, and therapy will only postpone the inevitable? Examining 'good death' In 'good death', treatment preferences, quality of life/death and maintenance of dignity is as per the patient's desires. There is no distress or suffering for the patient, family and caregivers, and attempts are made to ensure little or no pain (through the use of morphine for instance). Death is consistent with prevailing clinical, cultural and ethical standards. Excessive, futile treatments are not used to prolong life. There is trust, support and comfort with the team and an opportunity to discuss all beliefs and fears and to bid farewell to one's near and dear. When end of life is inevitable and patients/families consent, aggressive therapies, medications and interventions are stopped but care is never withdrawn. A good death is not a single final event, but a series of social events. The team commiserates with the family, empathises, sympathises with the individual who has placed his/her life in our hands. Support is necessary throughout the dying process. Earlier understanding facilitates a good death. Dying at home is an important component of good deaths. Terminal illnesses offer time for discussion and resolution of unfinished psychological and practical business. A good death includes not being a burden to the family, leaving affairs in order and having a sense of fulfilment. A bad death is being kept alive against one's wishes, a loss of dignity, an inability to communicate one's wishes, the excessive use of medical technology and dying alone. India was ranked 67 out of 80 countries, on the 2015 Quality of Death Index, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, signalling the urgent need to legislate on, and implement good death policies in our country. (Dr. K. Ganapathy is a distinguished professor at the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University and past president of the Neurological Society of India and the Telemedicine Society of India. Email: drkganapathy@
