The Science of the Drug called Charlie Sheen and the Quadruplet of Tigerblood

Astrophysiker Neil deGrasse Tyson twitterte neulich: „During his visit to my office @CharlieSheen asked deep questions about the cosmos.He’s more scientifically literate than most“. Und Sheril Kirshenbaum hat im Discover Mag eine schlüssige Erklärung zur „Drug called Charlie Sheen“:

I suspect he may have more dopamine receptors dotting the tips of his nerve cells than the average man. Dopamine is a powerful chemical associated with craving, desire, and stimulation of pleasure-pathway nerves in the brain. As I explain in my book, research suggests that a high number may predispose us to sexual promiscuity or addictive behavior.

Should this be the case, then Sheen would be–as he describes–literally on a drug called “Charlie Sheen.”

Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep via Einhorn, Charlie Sheen Remix via Eclectic Method, Kimmel Kartoon – Charlie Brown and Charlie Sheen via Winkelsen, Charlie Sheen Parody – Bi-Winning (Official Song) via Reddit. Bild oben aus einem Photoshop-Contest auf Worth1000: Six Degrees of Charlie Sheen – I’m Charlie Sheen! I’m more famous than Obama…please pass the cocaine.

Art Threat analysiert Sheens Meltdown aus der Perspektive von Popkultur und Storytelling und erklärt, warum Onkel Charlies Durchdreherei etwas interessanter ist, als andere: Who will save Charlie Sheen?

Winning: it’s what makes the most interesting thing about Charlie Sheen’s weird saga only partly Sheen himself. More intriguing is what he tells us of the narrative that surrounds the endless cultural fetishization of a dying star. That is, our fascination lies not just with a reputation in free-fall, or that he seems to have slipped into a netherworld of his own fantasies; it lies simply in the fact that we all want to see how long he lasts. More specifically, how long he lasts until he is rescued.

One of our most basic cultural narratives is that of a last-minute rescue, the dues es machina moment of any hero’s journey when the gods intervene and pluck him or her from sure death, either physically or otherwise. Something, we are told, will save us in the end, even if it appears that we are headed for sure catastrophe, or even apocalypse. As a society, we rely on this narrative trick constantly, and especially so in popular culture. […]

Except, no matter what we think, we — like Charlie — will not be saved by sheer magical, devine intervention, or by the power of an instant wish being granted. For the overwhelming majority of us, it simply does not happen. And the longer we go on believing it, lost in a perpetual hallucination, the less likely we are to be able to save ourselves. No matter how much we might try to convince each other that we are all chosen, we aren’t. We can’t all be rock stars from Mars.

Bonustrack: The Greatest Dungeons & Dragons Character: Charlie Sheen (via HYST)

Hier noch ein Charlie Sheen-Soundboard: