Episode 684: Pop Philosophy?

Finished reading Literary Hoaxes: An Eye-opening History Of Famous Frauds yesterday, and it's really readable. Each of the hoaxes detailed comes in the literary equivalent of bite-sized chunks, so it's easy to just get through a couple at a time. I'm about halfway into Mark Rowlands's The Philosopher At The End Of The Universe now. It's one of those books I started over one of my holidays but have no memory of finishing. Rowlands's writing style is engagingly conversational, which works, given its target audience, i.e. non-philosophers who are more conversant with Hollywood's output than the thinking of some of the keenest minds over the centuries. This is kind of my problem with philosophy, I suppose. I find it fascinating, but I'm quite averse to having to work it all out for myself by reading the original writings. I want someone to break it down for me like Rowlands does, and if it seems like he's dumbing it down a little by making references to Arnold Schwarzenegger, so be it. I will probably get around to reading original philosophical writings at some point, but for now, I'm quite happy to read about how The Matrix has a lot to teach me about the nature of reality.