1
Back in 2011, when I first started writing for the Muktomona blog (aged 17 years), my instincts naturally leaned towards sciency stuff—its philosophy, its cold certainties—rather than literature or the so-called human sciences.
For the Muktomona crowd, Foucault was a ‘postmodern joke’, and Derrida a clown. I both loved and resented that environment. To some extent, I still agree with both judgments (apologies for the flippant dismissal of Foucault, but not Derrida).
2.
Nearly a decade and a half has passed since then. Somewhere along the way, I found myself making a vocation out of spinning arguments about history and politics. But my quiet allegiance to science—especially physics—never faded.
And now, I realize that this loyalty to science is precisely why I couldn’t take the human sciences too seriously. The whole funda of it always felt like an elaborate charade. Yes, history, anthropology, political science, literature departments, etc.—all of it intrigues me, but I can’t shake off the awareness of their futility as disciplines. (shooley chorano possible for this line, but I’ll say it).
3.
Looking back, if I had a second chance, I think I’d study mathematics—the purest of human knowledge—or, at the very least, physics.
A fantasy, of course!
But maybe it’s like Thomas Mann puts it: “The basic theme on which I’ve tried to play all my variations is the problem of the artist, the contrast between the excitement of beauty and the demands of life; between, if you will, the ab- or super-normal poetic vision and the normal necessity of catching the eight o’clock bus. My theme is also the paradox that the vision could never live without the opposing necessity since it must be inspired by it.”
4.
I was going through my collection when I stumbled upon this old beauty. Flipping through the notes and highlighted lines, it hit me—there’s an entire world of knowledge I will never truly understand!
17 February 2025
gaanpaar English
শফিউল জয় রচনারাশি
- Quiet Allegiance to Science || Shafiul Joy - March 21, 2025
- বসু ও দত্ত || শফিউল জয় - March 18, 2025
- আঙুরসন্ধ্যায় কাজল শাহনেওয়াজ || শফিউল জয় - February 26, 2025
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