Philosophical Center | Burning Man Journal

“Artificial Intelligence” Was Never About Intelligence – Conclusion to the I, Robot Series

August 13, 2018 By Caveat Magister

Several times in this series, leading minds in their fields called for AI development to stop so that humanity can have a chance to think, a chance to process, a ...Read More

Tales from the Playa, The Theme

Coyote Nose: Two Strikes and the Golden Spike

July 20, 2017 By Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet

This year will be the 20th Black Rock City that I have etched into the desert, but it will be ...Read More

Participate in BRC, The Theme

Fire and Ritual — Guidelines for Building and Burning Your Own Man

July 19, 2017 By DaveX

A ritual is speaking words, using gestures, performing actions or using traditional objects in a set sequence. This sequence is ...Read More

Survive and Thrive, The Theme

Rituals of Stress, Gratitude for Flush Toilets, and Roman Philosophy

July 18, 2017 By Brody

When was the last time you were grateful for running water? For your refrigerator? For any number of modern conveniences? ...Read More

Serious Stuff, The Ten Principles

Don’t Bogart That Leadership — Burning Man’s Not a Zero Sum Game

July 18, 2017 By Caveat Magister

Not long ago I overheard a discussion between two OG Burners about leadership. Leadership at Burning Man, one said to ...Read More

The Theme

(Re)Discovering Ritual’s Role in Medicine

July 12, 2017 By Caveat Magister

The term “healing ritual” often gets thrown around in ways that suggest it would be better if it were thrown ...Read More

Participate in BRC, The Theme

Participate in Radical Ritual

July 5, 2017 By Larry Harvey

The Temple of the Golden Spike “Consider the Golden Spike. Each year, the re-creation of Black Rock City from ...Read More

Spirituality, The Theme

All Ritual Is Radical

July 3, 2017 By Jon Mitchell

There’s something about the desert. This is not a new revelation; human civilizations have been telling the same stories of ...Read More

Serious Stuff, The Theme

What We Can Learn About the Soul by Talking About the Body — Reading “Materialism”

June 5, 2017 By Caveat Magister

Sometimes I think that Terry Eagleton is a Don Quixote figure, on a quest that has taken him out into ...Read More

Spirituality, The Theme

Ritual Principles of Milk + Honey, Purveyors of Radical Shabbat Since 2008

May 24, 2017 By Alessandra Wollner

By Alessandra Wollner and H. Connor Moss When Burning Man’s 2017 theme became public, a collective YAAAAAAAAAY! rang through the ...Read More