Gnosticism and the Cheerful Perspective of the Judge

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This chapter analyzes the character of the judge and his cheerful outlook on the darkness and death of the world, exploring his connection to gnosticism. They also discuss the portrayal of the judge smiling in unexpected situations and briefly mention a fossil skull found in Ethiopia.

In part one of our two-part episode on Cormac McCarthy’s blood-soaked phantasmagorical 1985 masterpiece Blood Meridian, David and Tamler talk about the historical sources of the novel, the cosmic questions the book poses, the capriciousness of the near-constant violence, and the ethical neutrality of McCarthy’s prose. We also get into the religious imagery, the gnostic elements, and the judge – what to make of the judge?

Plus a new meta-analysis refutes the common wisdom that “opposites attract.” But did we ever really believe that anyway?

Thanks to our beloved Patreon supporters for selecting this topic for the listener selected episode!

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-evidence-opposites-dont.html

Evidence of correlations between human partners based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 22 traits and UK Biobank analysis of 133 traits | Nature Human Behaviour

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian