Cogitating Ceviche’s Week in Review (25-27)
July 7, 2025 - July 12, 2025
Discussion via NotebookLM
Editor’s Note
This week’s lineup swings between heaven-ward wonder and silicon swagger. Calista invites us to worship beneath a sky free of pixels; Gio spins mysteries where conscience meets crime; Conrad dissects blockchain résumés and the social alchemy of the humble-brag. Eight pieces, one thread: what we treasure shapes who we become.
Articles of the Week
The Sacred in the Stars: Rediscovering the Night Sky as God’s Cathedral
July 7, 2025 – Calista F. Freiheit
Freiheit calls readers outside—away from screens and toward the cosmic cathedral—offering practical liturgies of stargazing and Sabbath sunsets.
The Pharmacist’s Dilemma – A Mimi Delboise Short Story
July 8, 2025 – Gio Marron
In Paris’s dim pharmacies, sleuth Mimi Delboise hunts a counterfeit-drug ring, raising questions about expedient cures and moral costs.
The Seduction of Nihilhedonism: Seeking Fleeting Pleasures in a Sea of Nothingness
July 8, 2025 – Conrad T. Hannon
Hannon coins “nihilhedonism” to brand the era’s meme-soaked despair, arguing that ironic pleasure numbs the ache that should rouse moral action.
The Church Collection – A Mimi Delboise Vignette
July 9, 2025 – Gio Marron
A missing chalice lures Mimi into clerical intrigue where questions of worship, theft, and trust collide.
Voltaire Uncensored: The Enlightenment’s Sharpest Wit Takes on Corporate Morality and Performative Power
July 9, 2025 – Conrad T. Hannon
Channeling Voltaire’s barbs, Hannon skewers twenty-first-century virtue-signaling, reminding us that marketed goodness often masks power.
The Isle of Voices
July 9, 2025 – Gio Marron
Re-visiting Stevenson’s ghostly tale, Marron exposes colonial greed and invisible labor through a modern lens.
Your Résumé Is Dying. The Blockchain Is Replacing It.
July 10, 2025 – Conrad T. Hannon
Paper CVs are “papyrus,” Hannon quips, as he outlines how verified-skill ledgers could upend hiring—and privacy.
The Divine Coder: How Silicon Valley Reinvented God
July 10, 2025 – Conrad T. Hannon
From algorithmic absolution to subscription salvation, Hannon critiques tech’s newest messianic pitch.
The Humble Brag Renaissance: How Modesty Became Another Status Symbol
July 11, 2025 – Conrad T. Hannon
If self-promotion is gauche, disguise it as humility. Hannon dissects this etiquette sleight-of-hand with wry anthropology.
Quote of the Week
“Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter.” — Roger Scruton
Thought-Provoking Questions
The Sacred in the Stars
– When did you last experience awe under an unpolluted sky?
– How might stargazing reshape family worship?
– What technologies steal your night-time wonder?The Pharmacist’s Dilemma
– Do quick fixes erode ethical vigilance?
– How do we price a life-saving lie?
– What would you risk for authentic healing?The Seduction of Nihilhedonism
– Is irony soothing or corrosive?
– Can pleasure survive without meaning?
– Where do you see nihilhedonism in pop culture?The Church Collection
– What sacred objects anchor your community?
– Can theft ever reveal true devotion?
– How do symbols gain—or lose—holiness?Voltaire Uncensored
– Can corporations do good without advertising it?
– Where does satire still bite?
– Who profits from performative virtue?The Isle of Voices
– What unseen labor sustains your comfort?
– How does greed distort perception?
– Who owns stories of the colonized?Blockchain Résumés
– Should competence be public or private?
– Who audits the auditors?
– Could decentralized credentials widen—or narrow—opportunity?The Divine Coder & Humble Brag
– Is tech the new priesthood?
– How do we spot authentic humility online?
– What gods do algorithms serve?
Additional Resources
Amusing Ourselves to Death — Neil Postman
The Abolition of Man — C.S. Lewis
Candide — Voltaire
Blockchain Revolution — Don & Alex Tapscott
The Technological Society — Jacques Ellul
Final Reflections
From cathedral skies to credential chains, every piece wrestles with visibility—of stars, motives, and selves. Look up, look inward, and look twice at what the world calls progress.
Authors’ Calls to Action
Calista F. Freiheit: Schedule one screen-free stargazing night this week.
Gio Marron: Map a familiar street as if plotting a mystery.
Conrad T. Hannon: Audit a corporate mission statement for unproven virtue claims.
All: Share this review and invite a friend to subscribe.
Thank you for your time today. Until next time, stay gruntled, curious, and God Bless.
Do you like what you read but aren’t yet ready or able to get a paid subscription? Then consider a one-time tip at:
https://www.venmo.com/u/TheCogitatingCeviche
Ko-fi.com/thecogitatingceviche
