Rabbit Holes ad Infinitum: Musings and Research

Homogenized: The Death of Cultural Diversity? (Op-Ed) J.M. Rogers . . . The globalization of the world has begun to accumulate at an exponential rate. As each day passes, social forces extend their cultural reach, spreading the tenets of Western Society. While at one time, “Western Society” was viewed as a strictly European effect; it is becoming clear that the universal meaning of “Western Society” is free-market capitalism. And while the expansion of these markets to ethnically diverse regions has often been romanticized as an expansion of modernity, the only factual assessment that can be extracted from the mass industrialization of the world is that cultural diversity is diminishing. The looming question is: “What does this homogenization of culture mean to the future of human survival?” Even as I compose this essay, the English and Chinese languages are being taught to millions of individuals worldwide. With the advent of the modern industrial age, the diversity of langu...

  Family Ties: Child Abuse in Modern America (Op-Ed) J.M. Rogers . . .   When observing modern society, it is easy to see how times have changed from thirty years ago. Fast-paced electronics rest in the hands of bustling individuals, all of whom are integrated into the ever-growing network of technological citizens worldwide. And yet, in this age of solar cars and stem cells, the social interactions between family members are often fundamentally similar to previous generations. This similarity is primarily due to the fact that we tend to become what we are socialized to become. In ideal Westernized circumstances, children are groomed for a life of civic responsibility and personal prosperity. However, in this modern age of excess, inequality exists and has grown to proportions that hardly seem possible. This factor significantly affects the way in which children are socialized, and domestic/familial strife is handled. Moreover, while the middle and upper class of Ame...

  The Divine Rule: Genesis, Theogony, and Metamorphoses J.M. Rogers . . . The literary works of Moses, Hesiod, and Ovid span a period of roughly 1500 years, beginning with the first writings of The Old Testament in the 15 th century, B.C.E., and closing with Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the eighth year of the common era. The fact that the book of Genesis predates the literature of Theogony by approximately 750 years, and Metamorphoses follows behind Theogony by about 700 years, illuminates the universal, cultural trend of defining physical and “invisible” forms of reality. The existence of thousands of origin myths, pantheons, and definitions of reality that share narrative tropes, such as male-centric societies, as well as thematic tropes, such as world-destroying cataclysms, between cultures also illuminates the interconnected nature of these formative groups of humans. The punitive presence of Zeus, felt by both Titans and mortals, shares a familiar omniscience with the Jud...

  Messages in the Dark:  The Italian and Dutch Baroque J.M. Rogers . . .   The theme of allegory in Baroque art has its roots in mannerism, with its plethora of inferred meanings and grand gestures gracing the frescoes of a host of Italian chapels. However, the infusion of tenebrism by Italian and Dutch artists during The baroque period allowed for deeper, more immersive narratives that engaged the viewer's mind in new ways. This shift is seen time and again through the masterful works of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and Jan Steen, to name a few. The mundane is transformed into the thought-provoking through the use of dynamic lighting effects and the portrayal of everyday people; such as in Johannes Vermeer’s  A Maid Asleep  or in Artemisia Gentileschi’s  Self Portrait as an Allegory of a Painter. Portraits were not the only works to invoke deeper meaning, though, as the highly symbolic paintings of Ruisdael and Breughe...

In the Beginning: Creation Mythos   J.M. Rogers . . . Throughout the known history of human proliferation on Earth, societies, cultures, and most recently, mass cultures have existed. Like many other mammals, humans thrive in large herds or “populations” and have done so as far back as archaeologists and anthropologists can determine. Inherent to these large herds are systems of social behaviors, or customs, that define the moralistic parameters of each specific group; parameters that are often outlined in mythological stories that have been passed down orally from generation to generation. The concept of religion, or a moral standard by which a specific culture operates, predates written records and, in many ways, served as the unifying aspect of communities the world over. These varied communities, starting from a meager few and expanding to the prolific range of cultures in the modern era, are largely defined by their religions; religions that all originate from the void, o...