• Prepare yourself for a bumpy but satisfying ride
As I open the pages of the last old-style Guardian Weekly, I find myself reflecting on what a roller coaster ride it is, particularly if read in one fell swoop (5 October). From deadly smog in Delhi to a flicker of hope in Afghanistan. From a whale stranded in the Thames to hope for coral reefs off Florida. From the toxic machismo ruling global politics to communities in the UK taking back control.
From questioning western philosophy and its privileging of linear time to extolling the benefits of Buddhist philosophy and practice. From the horror depicted in Jusepe de Rivera’s art to the bright red beauty and power of the autumnal hawthorn berry. From the bloodied image of a woman in Nicaragua to a glimpse of a raven in flight in the Scottish Highlands.
It can be a bumpy ride you just need to make sure that you come off at the far end feeling stimulated, positive and even exhilarated rather than dumped, immobilised and scared. There are no guarantees but that’s why it’s impossible to stop turning those pages.
Stewart Sweeney
Adelaide, South Australia
• The benefits of EU membership are many
In her article entitled Bashing the EU is a very old game (21 August), Natalie Nougayrède sums up the optimist's and the pessimist's view on the future of the EU. In these times of crisis this list is just a reminder of the possible benefits from an optimistic Europhile with about 40 years of on-the-ground experience: no visa required for work or travel, a common currency, free healthcare, free education, local museums funded by the EU, regulations banning GM food.
Things may not be perfect in the EU but it is worth remembering that united we stand, divided we will surely fall. We have achieved so much in 40 years and there is plenty more to work on together.
Katrina Osborn
Montréjeau, France
• Our brain’s early warning system, the amygdala, is alert to threats whether real (someone attacking with fists, a club or a knife) or imagined (immigrants taking away jobs). Advertisers have known for decades that fear grabs our attention.
Populist politicians are hijacking our brains with the perception of threats, to undermine what we rationally know about each other – we all want much the same things, connection, certainty, opportunities, self-determination.
Any existential battle for Europe’s soul (To beat populism, stop talking about immigration, 5 October) needs to include debates about freedom, isolation and meaning. It is these existential concepts that are at the heart of the battle between populist fear-mongering and what the rule of law has the potential to uphold.
Stewart Stubbs
Wentworth Falls, NSW, Australia
• I wholeheartedly support the mayor of London’s call for a new referendum (21 September). I’ve always felt that Britain’s future best lies within the European Union. I hope that a new referendum would allow British citizens living outside the UK to have a voice and vote.
Brian Wren
Wells, Maine, US
• Canadian Nobel laureate deserves reward
Canadian Donna Strickland, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, is only the third woman to win the Nobel prize for physics (5 October). After the Nobel prize was announced, the University of Waterloo invited her to apply for promotion.
As a graduate of the University of Waterloo, I’m delighted about Donna Strickland’s Nobel prize. But why did Waterloo wait only until the Nobel prize to invite her to apply for promotion? Was the university unaware that she was engaged in world-class research? Or is it because she is a woman working in a field dominated by men?
Reiner Jaakson
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
• We depend on robots at our personal peril
Emma Brockes's Amazon Echo with Alexa (28 September) answers her with a robotically abrupt but feisty challenge: "What's wrong with you?" This peculiar response is eerily familiar to computer HAL's similarly indignant but mild-mannered rejoinder in the movie 2001: "Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?" Director Stanley Kubrick's message in the movie is thereby re-affirmed by Brockes when she adds that robots can "imperil us by generating actual emotions".
Richard Orlando
Westmount, Quebec, Canada
