How to Philosophise with a Tottenhammer, Part One

Some time back, I failed to win a debate despite having superior intellect and knowledge of the subject matter. It happened one night as I was watching an Arsenal match alone in the lounge. An Indian guy in a Spurs jersey joined me after a bit, asking me how the game had been so far. I said I'd just got here myself, but that the passing didn't seem too fluid. This led to a long discussion of football in general. Somewhere along the way, I made a passing comment about how Arsenal had been undercompensated for the sale of Fàbregas, arguably the world's third best midfielder. Which sparked the debate, whether he was indeed the third best in the world.

LoL 2011

Due to a technical mishap regarding My Documents late in 2011, some categories will be skipped owing to my inability (or laziness) to reconstruct them. Nonetheless, the categories that remain succinctly sum up my year. Entries will be in ascending order of rating.

The Meta-Post

It's been a while since my last post, during which much has happened, as is often the case when I'm not meditating on top of a mountain, seeking divine afflatus for my next post. Of course, all these happenings themselves serve as plentiful inspiration for contemplation and composition. What's been missing is the time to actually contemplate and compose. Now that it's the holidays, will that time finally be available? Possibly. These holidays mark a new phase for me, where I will focus on learning and thinking. Nonetheless, a new series of posts is in conception; has long been so in fact, but I finally feel ready to tackle them (a few months from now).

This new series will build quasi-hierarchically, and topics covered will include alphabets, words, names, languages, stories, and mind. The observant reader has already realised that this list strongly resembles the content in Reflexive Reflections. Indeed, the ideas expounded there will be present, implicitly or explicitly, in this series. Perhaps some of them will be elaborated. Perhaps others will be refuted. There is still a process of exploration due to take place. But a coherent school of thought and space of ideas will be mapped out.

The Iota Point Manifesto

We live within a tranquil cataclysm. Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall. All the king's men won't be able to put this one together for sure; it is the world that has exploded into a maelstrom of motion. The shards rain upon other shards, hurtle past each other, smash into each other – even the shard that carries you. Thus are we are assailed on all sides by Values, even by the Value of No-values. Whatever your cause, you will find a prophet. The cacophony of exhortations drowns this violent space, screams Doppler-shifted beyond recognition. What will be our final fate?

Reflexive Reflections

There is no better place to begin than with this self-referential sentence. Yes, like so. After all, all things in this universe (and all universes!) are connected, so any place is as good as another. To be is to relate. Every single thing is linked to other things which in turn connect to yet others, forming networks that also connect to other networks, coalescing into a single network of everything, such that one quickly snowballs into infinity. What happens to one thing sends waves that ripple through infinity. One cannot contemplate something without taking into account its place in the network of things; to fully contemplate something is to contemplate infinity. And to contemplate infinity is to contemplate unity.

Thinking About Not Thinking About Things

The living will always be dogged by the questions of life; that is an ineluctable fact of life itself. After all these questions concern the living, and questions can only be answered by the living. Yet is it in their interests to answer these questions? How should they answer?

One way of answering these questions is to think through them. Thought may be based on many things: experience, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, intuitions. If you are lucky, they are a swarm of fireflies leading you out of the night. If not, they each separate and wander in different directions, until the light is so diminished you are left stranded.

Adiós to el Capitán

The departure of Arsenal's captain and playmaker Fabregas has been a fait accompli since the start of the transfer window; the price has not. Indeed, one of the world's best midfielders has been sold for not even €40 million, a marked reduction on the asking price of £40 million, which is already a huge drop from his market value of £60 million. For comparison, even Andy Caroll cost £35 million, and Kaka was £56 million. That said, even if the club had gotten the full £40 million, an adequate replacement might not be available on the market.

What has Arsenal lost? Arguably the third best central midfielder in the world, behind Xavi and Iniesta (one wonders how Barcelona is going to line up this season), and the most effective midfielder in terms of assisting and scoring goals in the whole of Europe last season. Fabregas plays just behind the striker, allowing him to play the final ball, but also drops deep to dictate the tempo and loft long killer balls (notably for Adebayor and van Persie), or go into the box to finish off moves. Arsenal more than most clubs relies on that position to create chances, as play usually goes through the middle, and to score goals as well, since van Persie plays as a false nine. (Perhaps to bypass his absence against Newcastle, they tried to play down the wings, which failed as the quality of crosses was inconsistent, and too few players attacked the ball when it was sent in. Fluency and ball retention was also poor.) Not only has Fabregas consistently shown the vision and positioning needed to shine in that role, he has developed a good understanding with many of his teammates as well. Without him, the entertainment value of Arsenal (not spectacularly high in recent seasons, to be sure) will go down. To replace all of that will be hard. What are the options?