Mercutio Minute

To celebrate the video game Banjo-Kazooie's re-release for the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, I explore in this episode why Rareware's lovable anthropomorphic bear and bird are such an amazing duo -- and, how the two serve as exemplars to add credence to Aristotle's philosophy of the Golden Mean. Part 2 of this series also delves into the Myth of Icarus and Allegory of the Charioteer to further substantiate my ideas.

I've been told that I'm a very serious person. So in this episode, I'll speak at length about the philosophical study of humor. As a bonus, I lend some insight as to why the television franchise Beavis and Butthead might be considered very funny. You'll also hear some common theories of humor and why many humans think of certain things as funny.

To celebrate The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask video game re-release for the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, I consider in this episode the Triforce (a MacGuffin from other Zelda franchise games) and tie that into a notion of virtue from Ancient philosophy. I'm especially interested in how power, wisdom, and courage, the three pieces of the Triforce, might be viewed as virtues to potentially help guide us in our lives.

The methodology I utilized to complete data collection for my doctoral dissertation was heavily influenced by the life and works of my mentor Dr. Sandy Sela-Smith. In this episode, I'll introduce a little of the main idea behind the I-Who-Feels, a concept she created, and why we must explore the idea when considering our lives, especially from an existential perspective lens.

In another episode touching on the Mega Man franchise, we explore the nefarious supervillain antagonist Dr. Albert W. Wily and why his crazed penchant for injecting his human consciousness into robotic reploid bodies long after his physical death is a good entryway to exploring a fun (but sobering) topic that I firmly believe is deserving of far greater attention in the wider academic community: the concept of the Sisyphean Nightmare.

While the topic is not discussed often in many academic circles (from what I'm aware,) we explore in this episode Kierkegaard's notion of the leap of faith into the absurd -- especially as it relates to Albert Camus' philosophy. We've already discussed Camus in detail before; however, his potential rebuttals or responses to Kierkegaard are interesting to consider.

If you have never heard of the term "existential vacuum" and wonder what existential vacuums are and why they are relevant to your life, this is the episode for you. You'll learn what existential vacuums are, where the concept is attributed to originating, and even how to deal with existential vacuums in your own life.

Existential boredom is a universal occurrence, and might just be my favorite topic to discuss ever. In this episode, I detail the differences between boredom as we traditionally think of it and the causes and implications -- as well as ways to address -- existential boredom.

As a newcomer to the Mega Man franchise, I've grown admittedly obsessed with the lore and backstory of the video games. I take a shallow analysis of ethics in robotics in this episode, especially as related to the Mega Man and Mega Man X video games. Part one of a three part series.

COVID-19 continues to impact the planet -- while I previously detailed personal reactions to the pandemic, this episode more directly addresses how existential psychology and philosophy might respond to the impact caused by COVID-19 (and traumatic moments in general.)