Androthink

Aight. Time to drop some knowledge and bust some myths. A few days following the report of Chris Cornell's death by suicide, a connection has already been suggested between the suicide and Chris' use of a common benzodiazepine, Lorazepam (Ativan). Specifically, it's being strongly alleged that Lorazepam, or perhaps Chris' particular prescription, or the particular dose he took in the hours leading up to his death, was the cause of his suicidal thoughts and subsequent suicide -- and that therefore the drug itself was at least mostly to blame in Chris' suicide. As a mental health professional with a specialization in addiction/substance abuse, and a college professor in addictions courses, including Psychopharmacology (i.e. the study of how psychoactive drugs impact the central nervous system, which involves in-depth examination of up-to-date information on toxicity, dependence potential, side-effects, etc.), I feel I'm in a position to say few...

Westworld isn’t just a first-rate sci-fi series. It’s a sci-fi series that raises and explores a variety of big philosophical themes in an accessible and engaging way. What I try to do here is run through some of the biggest themes that caught my attention: consciousness and the nature of mind; personal identity and the self; meaning and purpose; freewill; skepticism; ethical responsibility; philosophy of religion; self-actualization; and how philosophical ideas can be effectively elucidated in the form television/film. I certainly don’t think they’re the only themes worth talking about, or even the most important. But they’re definitely center-stage. Westworld does an incredible job of pushing the right philosophical buttons and shining the spotlight on issues that most people don’t take time to carefully think about. I hope it gets you thinking about the issues too. It’s been a long while since I’ve done any serious philosophical thinking about anything , and it’s the fi...