Faith & Philosophy

Stra is a word-like incantation used by humans to counterfeit meaningless reassurance. Those who utter it feign profound insight, yet nothing actually changes. When chanted en masse, individual doubts dissipate and genuine questions vanish into darkness. It acts as a kind of spiritual anesthetic that fosters dependency between faith and philosophy. Ironically, those who seek Stra are the ones who truly lose their way.

A stranger is one who abandons the comfort of familiar realms to seek footing in the territory of others. Viewed simultaneously with wonder and suspicion, this peripatetic figure transforms at will into an object of fascination or a scapegoat. Words of welcome prove as fragile as castles in the sand, only to be replaced by cries of exclusion at the slightest transgression, a paradox weighing heavy on a supposedly free soul. It is only by crossing cultural boundaries that the silent voyager glimpses the true contours of the self. As if to suggest that truth itself germinates only in the soil of the foreign.

The straw man fallacy is the art of discarding an opponent's genuine argument and fabricating a convenient caricature to beat down, pretending to have triumphed in debate. It favors destruction over construction, replacing real discourse with the ease of attacking a flimsy scarecrow rather than engaging with substance. Lacking the courage to confront true propositions, it merrily wields its concocted blow against a wisp of straw. In the arena of argument it celebrates a hollow victory parade, leaving behind only shredded ideas and self-congratulatory applause for the charade.

Structural evil is the unseen demon that nests in the cracks of society, cunningly feeding on the goodwill of its inhabitants. It lurks within the labyrinth of laws and institutions, repeating its misdeeds while justifying itself under the guise of system. By shifting blame onto individuals yet obscuring true accountability, it preserves corruption and injustice within the social black box. It is aptly exemplified when low wages and excessive work hours are euphemistically labeled 'legitimate', siphoning the lifeblood of weary workers. A trap from which even the most virtuous cannot escape, it silently thrives day after day.

Structuralism is the scholarly art of describing the tangled illusion of countless elements as if one had truly discovered it. It filters every aspect of humanity and culture through the omnipotent lens of “structure,” reflecting traces of truth like a polished mirror. Its theorists, imprisoned by their own logical networks, insist on its uniqueness while forgetting the very structure of the framework they praise—a delicious paradox. It decorates conversations with unfamiliar jargon, casting a spell of oblivion over lay understanding. Occasionally, it plays the shadow to post-structuralism, desperately seeking to break out of its own shell.

A subaltern is a shadowy inhabitant crammed into the cracks of power structures, yet endlessly asserting its existence. Lamenting that its voice never reaches the podium, it still weaves whispered acts of quiet resistance. Avoided by the gaze of the majority, it nonetheless generates faint dissonance from oblivion’s edge. Though its name never graces official history, its silence can become the most potent form of rebellion.

The subconscious is the info-processing unit buried in your mind that insists it’s not there while secretly generating excuses behind your back. It refuses awareness yet casually pops up to decide your actions at critical moments. Scientists scramble to prove its existence, only to be met with its stoic silence like a proctor refusing to grade your test. Meanwhile, it delights in reminding you of its power whenever you least expect it.

Subjectivity is the astonishing power to ignore all other perspectives and decree one’s own experiences and biases as universal truth. Every event becomes "reality" only after passing through one’s mental filter. Science and logic occasionally peek in, but ultimately rely on emotional sticky notes. It behaves like a chameleon, changing color according to the intensity of feelings and turning debates into mere self-indulgent pageantry. In short, your correctness is untrustworthy until it emerges from within you. For example, meeting minutes are replayed exactly as I perceived them.

Sublimation is the alchemy of the mind that transmutes repressed impulses into socially lauded actions. In reality, it serves as the ultimate excuse to legitimize primal urges. Artists entrust murderous intent to the brush, while businesspeople exorcise anger in the ritual of meetings. Thus, instead of striking someone, we produce poems or proposals, building moral bulwarks. At its core, it is a ‘digestive organ of impulse’ that acts as society’s tarot card.

The sublime is the ritual by which one declares oneself perched atop self-congratulation, conveniently forgetting any room for doubt. Under the guise of grandeur, it allows the sweet intoxication of self-admiration, transforming it into a get-out-of-clarity-free pass to demand awe. Yet the higher one stands, the more the gaze cast downward on one's own vulgarities tends to blur. True sublimity is not a tool to satisfy one's desire for external praise, but an ascetic ordeal of brutally confronting one's own imperfections.

A subpersonality is the collective term for countless nameless actors performing in the theater of a single ego. The alleged main self is often on vacation, leaving understudies to monopolize the stage. Sudden alternate voices demand an admission fee of dissonance despite belonging to your own psyche. Observing these figures swapping roles between idealism and reality turns into a circus of inner chaos. Ultimately, the myriad personalities quietly conspire beneath the banner of your identity.

Subsidiarity is the artful excuse by higher powers to toss problems downwards while applauding local initiative from a safe distance. It’s the practice of praising self-reliance as people flounder on their own, while the elites sip tea unfazed. When things go south, a lifeboat labeled "self-responsibility" is shoved under the noses of those left adrift. In theory it’s about mutual aid, but in practice it’s a sacred mantra of mutual abandonment. What remains is a grand boomerang of responsibility that no one dares to catch.