Friday, August 01, 2008
On second thought ...
... The Darwinian Delusion. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Hardcore Darwinists are right that their version of biological evolution requires no belief in the kind of deity endorsed by the Abrahamic religions. However, it is unlikely that human societies would have devoted the time, effort and material resources needed to make that point in all its empirical detail, had they not also believed in the capacity of science to transcend species boundaries and acquire a comprehensive grasp of nature. Yet from a strict Darwinian standpoint, such a belief is unsustainable and perhaps ultimately lethal.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
God 2.0 ...
... Sacred Science: Using Faith to Explain Anomalies in Physics. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I have been reading Reinventing the Sacred. I was going to review, but soon realized I am simply not qualified to pass judgment on the biology. But I do get the impression that if one can separate God 1.0 - I Am Who Am, the Logos, the Tao - from the often primitive, sometimes simple-minded, occasionally perverse explications of God 1.0 (there are of course perfectly sound and imaginative explications as well), there really isn;t that large a gap between version 1.0 and version 2.0.
I have been reading Reinventing the Sacred. I was going to review, but soon realized I am simply not qualified to pass judgment on the biology. But I do get the impression that if one can separate God 1.0 - I Am Who Am, the Logos, the Tao - from the often primitive, sometimes simple-minded, occasionally perverse explications of God 1.0 (there are of course perfectly sound and imaginative explications as well), there really isn;t that large a gap between version 1.0 and version 2.0.
Curiouser and curiouser ...
... How the brain works: mystery deepens as knowledge grows. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
" ... how brain structures and functions correlate with mental phenomena ..." There lies the problem and the correlation is by no means as clear as it is often made out to be.
" ... how brain structures and functions correlate with mental phenomena ..." There lies the problem and the correlation is by no means as clear as it is often made out to be.
Happy birthday ...
... to Richard Rodriguez, born on this date in 1944. Here is an interview and a talk. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A chat with ...
... George Pelecanos.
In my final days as a book-review editor, I exchanged some emails with George Pelecanos, hoping to sign him up as a "name" reviewer the powers that be at the paper so coveted. He was too busy to take an assignment but said he might somewhere down the road. Seemed like a nice, unassuming guy.
I think not ...
... A class apart? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
These guys could start by looking at the word itself: philo-sophia - love of wisdom. Wisdom may depend on knowledge and reasoning, but is not the same as knowledge and reasoning, just as a wise man is not the same as a wise guy. A professor of philosophy may not be much of a philosopher at all. What ordinary men and women of good will and common sense want from philosophy is the same thing the ancients wanted: equanimity - peace of soul. Instead, what they get is goofy neologisms and turgid logic-chopping. A few minutes spent with Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus or Seneca or Montaigne is so much better than any time spent with Heidegger or Bradley or Sartre.
Check out ...
... 5 x 5 Books For The Swim-Obsessed by Jenny Davidson. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I am not myself swim-obsessed.
I am not myself swim-obsessed.
Someone new to me ...
... Poet finds a sensual new voice. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Rus also sends along David Brooks: Six Poems.
Rus also sends along David Brooks: Six Poems.
Noontime feature ...
... The Future of Newspapers and Litblogs: A Thought Experiment. (Hat tip, Dave Lull)
This is precisely the point. The assumption that books are best covered by the kinds of reviews that appear in print media is false. Print reviews are generally too short these days. And as Ed notes, when more space is provided, it is often used injudiciously. The more ways a new book can be discussed and the greater the angles of approach the better. The nature of the internet is changing the nature of reviewing. Moreover, newspapers are increasingly reflective of the intellectual parochialism of those who run them.
... if one hopes to find a facsimile of book review sections online, probably not. But it would take an exceptionally rigid and incurious mind to settle merely on a clone. If one wishes to discover forms of literary commentary that serve the same function as a book review section, it is extremely difficult not to find online exemplars in alternative forms.
This is precisely the point. The assumption that books are best covered by the kinds of reviews that appear in print media is false. Print reviews are generally too short these days. And as Ed notes, when more space is provided, it is often used injudiciously. The more ways a new book can be discussed and the greater the angles of approach the better. The nature of the internet is changing the nature of reviewing. Moreover, newspapers are increasingly reflective of the intellectual parochialism of those who run them.
Highly recommended ...
... Debbie and I went to see Tell No One yesterday. We both it was great. Here is my former colleague Steven Rea's review: A terrific mystery in any language.
Common sense from Nige ...
... Learning From the Past?
It is more than passing strange that Jesus, having reduced the prescriptions and proscriptions of the law to a three-fold command to love God, your neighbor, and yourself, should be resolutely ignored on this point (once the lip service has been paid), so believers can go back to poring over - and fighting over ... the prescriptions and proscriptions of the law. The strange emphasis placed by certain professed believers upon the mechanics of sex is sadly wondrous. Perhaps it has something to with our tendency, especially in this shallow, celebrity-laden era, to think of human love as something passive, something we "fall into." Whereas love is really something one does. It is, strictly speaking, benevolentia, the willing of another's good. This may sometimes mean placing another's good before one's own. That's when it starts to get hard.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Life after celebrity ...
... All the Answers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
So the shows were rigged. I don't remember being terribly surprised at the time to learn that. I was a cynical high school kid. But you know, for a while there these shows gave people who had read things and knew things and spoke well a respectability usually reserved for sports figures. And there's something to be said for that.
Secret sharers ...
... Against the Day: David Lebedoff on Orwell and Waugh. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Waugh, who had written Orwell an admiring note, visited him as Orwell lay dying. It was an act of disinterested kindness on the part of a man known more for his rudeness than for his charity.
Puzzling ...
... more Literary Tattoos. (Hat tip, Jim Carmin.)
I gather than Jim doesn't get these, and neither do I. Why do middle-class kids decide to decorate their skin like Queequeg? In Queequeg's culture tattoos weren't just a fashion statement. In our society more and more is becoming little else.
A strange piece ...
... Brideshead Revisited Revisited.
I suppose it would be a flaw in Waugh's novel if you had to be Catholic to "get" it. But I really don't think that's case. I do think you have to avoid being obtuse. I don't know how old Troy Patterson is, but consider this passage that he quotes:
The sad fact is that, around age 39, that is how one actually tends to feel about one's lost youth, especially if it was a rather footloose and carefree one. The melancholy sentimentality, the self-pity are all authentic. Of course, life goes on, one moves on, and one is embarrassed to have felt that way, however briefly. But that is how one did feel, and Waugh has captured it perfectly in all its self-indulgent grandiloquence. I might add that I read the book when I was in college and found it unsettling precisely because I felt sure I would face just such a moment sometime in my own future. As indeed I did.
I have just ordered a copy of the book. I am so tired of reading stuff about it that I think misses its point that I have decided to re-read it after all these years and see what I think and feel now.
I suppose it would be a flaw in Waugh's novel if you had to be Catholic to "get" it. But I really don't think that's case. I do think you have to avoid being obtuse. I don't know how old Troy Patterson is, but consider this passage that he quotes:
The languor of Youth—how unique and quintessential it is! How quickly, how irrevocably, lost! .... [L]anguor—the relaxation of yet unwearied sinews, the mind sequestered and self-regarding, the sun standing still in the heavens and the earth throbbing to our own pulse—that belongs to Youth alone and dies with it. Perhaps in the mansions of Limbo the heroes enjoy some such compensation for their loss of the Beatific Vision; perhaps the Beatific Vision itself has some remote kinship with this lowly experience; I, at any rate, believed myself very near heaven, during those languid days at Brideshead.
The sad fact is that, around age 39, that is how one actually tends to feel about one's lost youth, especially if it was a rather footloose and carefree one. The melancholy sentimentality, the self-pity are all authentic. Of course, life goes on, one moves on, and one is embarrassed to have felt that way, however briefly. But that is how one did feel, and Waugh has captured it perfectly in all its self-indulgent grandiloquence. I might add that I read the book when I was in college and found it unsettling precisely because I felt sure I would face just such a moment sometime in my own future. As indeed I did.
I have just ordered a copy of the book. I am so tired of reading stuff about it that I think misses its point that I have decided to re-read it after all these years and see what I think and feel now.
Another review ...
... of Thrumpton Hall: House Proud.
I rather think this review gives too much away that would be best for the reader to discover on his own, but ... There is a link on the left to the book's first chapter.
Here's my review: Restrained memoir tells of father's reign.
I rather think this review gives too much away that would be best for the reader to discover on his own, but ... There is a link on the left to the book's first chapter.
Here's my review: Restrained memoir tells of father's reign.
How curious ...
... while putting together the preceding post, I was thinking if anyone remembered that young Martin Amis was in the film version of Richard Hughes's A High Wind in Jamaica. A few minutes later, I paid a visit to Nigel Beale's Nota Bene Books, a lo and behold: When Martin Amis’s Voice Changed…
Academics to the rescue ...
... I can help you change your life. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Boy, am I glad I'm pretty satisfied with mine.
Boy, am I glad I'm pretty satisfied with mine.
Let's start ...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Beats seeing dead people ...
... Lorna Byrne: 'To me, seeing angels is natural'. (Hat tip, Judith Fitzgerald.)
Oh, nooo ...
... not these guys again: The Templars: unravelling the myths. (Hat tip, Judith Fitzgerald.)
But see also: Templar Baloney Every Bit. (This site intrigues me. I like the idea of a return to chivalry.)
But see also: Templar Baloney Every Bit. (This site intrigues me. I like the idea of a return to chivalry.)
Well, here it is ....
... Booker longlist boost for first-time novelists.
See also: The Booker longlist - let the arguments commence. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
See also: The Booker longlist - let the arguments commence. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Miss Emily ...
... Her Own Society. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
I think this review - and probably Wineapple's book - misunderstands Dickinson's religious outlook, which I think has, at times, something in common with R.S. Thomas's.
I think this review - and probably Wineapple's book - misunderstands Dickinson's religious outlook, which I think has, at times, something in common with R.S. Thomas's.
Ongoing ...
... to say the least: The Great Debate. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
But this was not [Antony] Flew's final word. Two years later, There Is a God (written with Roy Abraham Varghese, a longtime interlocutor) was released. This helps clarify Flew's positions and why he holds them. He begins with his intellectual autobiography and does not commence to defend his new views until page 88. But it is worth the wait, because Flew is willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads. He no longer takes the idea of God as a disembodied agent to be problematic, and he presents four reasons why he now embraces theism: the consistent and rational laws of nature, the fine-tuning of the universe, the origin of the universe at the Big Bang, and the organized, information-rich nature of life. Flew rejects the multiverse theory he toyed with in the new introduction to God and Philosophy as extravagant and desperate. He rejects atheistic accounts of the Big Bang as less rational than the theistic explanation that God was the creator. Flew argues that naturalism faces an insuperable philosophical problem in trying to coax life from non-life without a designing mind.
Let me not ...
... to the marriage of two hemispheres admit impediments: Interview with Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. — "Stroke of Insight". (Hat tip Dave Lull.)
Here is the link to the video that is mentioned.
Here is the link to the video that is mentioned.
The 90 second rule and then it's gone. It's predictable circuitry, so by paying attention to what circuits you are triggering and what that feels like inside of your body, you can recognize when it has happened. We all know what it feels like when we suddenly move into fear. Something happens in the external world and all of a sudden we experience a physiological response by our body that our mind would define as fear. So in my brain some circuit is saying something isn't safe and I need to go on full alert, those chemicals flush through my body to put my body on full alert, and for that to totally flush out of my body, it takes less than 90 seconds.So, whether it's my fear circuitry or my anger circuitry or even my joy circuitry - it's really hard to hold a good belly laugh for more than 90 seconds naturally. The 90 second rule is totally empowering. That means for 90 seconds, I can watch this happen, I can feel this happen and I can watch it go away. After that, if I continue to feel that fear or feel that anger, I need to look at the thoughts I'm thinking that are re-stimulating that circuitry that is resulting in me having this physiology over and over again.
When you stay stuck in an emotional response,you're choosing it by choosing to continue thinking the same thoughts that retrigger it. We have this incredible ability in our minds to replay but as soon as you replay, you're not here, you're not in the present moment. You're still back in something else and if you continue to replay the exact same line and loop, then you have a predictable result. You can continue to make yourself mad all day and the more you obsess over whatever it is, the more you run that loop, then the more that loop gets energy of it's own to manifest itself with minimal amounts of thought, so it will then start on automatic. And it keeps reminding you, "Oh yeah, I was mad, I have to rethink that thought."
Relax ...
... 10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List. (Hat tip, Christine Klocek-Lim.)
See, it isn't just me. Even the hallowed New York Times is telling you not to worry about the arctic ice.
See, it isn't just me. Even the hallowed New York Times is telling you not to worry about the arctic ice.
In praise of ...
... Belatedly, Beatrix.
On the other hand, this is worrisome: Panting, Lying.
I am fond of frogs and toads. In college, a group of us formed an unofficial fraternity called ΤΏΔ.
On the other hand, this is worrisome: Panting, Lying.
I am fond of frogs and toads. In college, a group of us formed an unofficial fraternity called ΤΏΔ.
Ever wonder
whether it's harder to write a book with someone else than on your own, or easier? I do, sometimes, especially when I'm reading a book with two authors that works well. I just read a graphic novel called Bluesman for a review, and I thought it was successful and really beautiful. The words are by one person and the pictures by another. Maybe I should try collaborating with an artist on a story of some kind to see what it's like.
Evolution vs. Naturalism ...
... Why they are like oil and water. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Then there's this: Darwin to the Rescue.
But, as Platinga notes:
Then literary Darwinism can only demonstrate this over and over again.
Suppose the adaptive neurophysiology produces true beliefs: fine; it also produces adaptive behavior, and that's what counts for survival and reproduction. Suppose on the other hand that neurophysiology produces false beliefs: again fine: it produces false beliefs but adaptive behavior. It really doesn't matter what kind of beliefs the neurophysiology produces; what matters is that it cause adaptive behavior; and this it clearly does, no matter what sort of beliefs it also produces. Therefore there is no reason to think that if their behavior is adaptive, then it is likely that their cognitive faculties are reliable.
Then there's this: Darwin to the Rescue.
But, as Platinga notes:
... what evolution tells us (supposing it tells us the truth) is that our behavior, (perhaps more exactly the behavior of our ancestors) is adaptive; since the members of our species have survived and reproduced, the behavior of our ancestors was conducive, in their environment, to survival and reproduction.
Then literary Darwinism can only demonstrate this over and over again.
Wonderful ...
... How to be a Travel Writer.
He claims, however, that he was not kidnapped by Albanian brigands: Staring at Albania.
He claims, however, that he was not kidnapped by Albanian brigands: Staring at Albania.
Disinterested ...
... Meet the art lovers who are defying the critics - and proud of it. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Well, it is certainly true that you should never buy a work of art unless you actually like it. When Debbie was included in a show last year, I bought one of her pieces, not because she's my wife, but because I really like it. And I cut no deal to get. I paid what the gallery was asking.
Monday, July 28, 2008
A dubious list ...
... Blue sky thinking: 10 ideas that changed the course of history. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I suppose changing the world isn't same as being sound. And gravity isn't just an idea; it was the discovery of a fact, wasn't it?
I suppose changing the world isn't same as being sound. And gravity isn't just an idea; it was the discovery of a fact, wasn't it?
Something I missed ...
... I think. At least I can't find any evidence that I linked to and it's very interesting: HaEnglisc.
Guys: Megabus. How great is this? I think I might be able to use it to plan a tour to promote my poetry collection, DIY-style. You can get from Philly to New York for as low as $1 and, as far as I can tell, no higher than $12.
Preferring interesting prejudice ...
... to bland open-mindedness: `The Humbug of Being Unbiased'.
One cannot be objective, either; though one can strive to be impartial.
One cannot be objective, either; though one can strive to be impartial.
History for laughs ...
... A PHARAOH, A GREEK AND A CHICKEN WALK INTO A BAR ... (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
The value of blogging ...
Reading the comments appended to this post of mine On Anger, I realize that blogging can offer something on the order of peer review: You put your thoughts out there, others comment, and you find yourself with grounds for reconsideration.
I think I should have made it clearer that I understand perfectly well that anger happens and that sometimes it is justified. I once saw a woman seriously whipping her child on the sidewalk and I got instantaneously pissed and told her so in so many quite blunt words. She then got pissed at me - but she stopped hitting the kid. (I think this is the sort of thing Ed is referring to.)
But spontaneous anger over something obviously and immediately outrageous is one thing. So is the little outburst when your computer glitches on you. But the phenomenon one encounters in the blogosphere of "righteous" outbursts over all sorts of things from politics to religion to literary criticism is a blight on discourse. If the people who so routinely express themselves in that manner really do get angry that much over so much then they need to get help. If it is just a rhetorical pose, then they need to get some manners. They may also need to take a couple of remedial courses in logic and rhetoric, if only to learn that the latter is not a substitute for the former. There are certainly times when one has cause to be indignant and ought to express that indignation openly and bluntly. But it isn't all the time.
I agree with Bill that anger can be a form displacement, but I think Art is also right in adding that it can be born of frustration and is often a "guy" thing. I'm not sure about the connection with fear, but that may be because I have a fairly high fear threshold and tend to feel scared after being in danger, not while. Cogito's reminder of the connection between anger and depression is quite useful, though again it is something I can't say much about, since I am little inclined to depression. (Nige's remark about reasoning my way out of anger is worth a gloss: I do that sort of thing all the time - must be my Jesuit training. I see no reason for continuing to do something that seems unreasonable to me. The hardest one for me to walk away from was drinking to excess, which I loved. And I resisted reason's blandishments in that regard far longer than was, well, reasonable. It took a grim moment - a waking blackout - to alert me that the law of diminishing returns was starting to go to work.)
Thanks to Nige, Bill, the Incomparable Cogito, Art and Ed for their contributions. What you said prompted me to clarify things a bit - at least I hope I clarified them.
But spontaneous anger over something obviously and immediately outrageous is one thing. So is the little outburst when your computer glitches on you. But the phenomenon one encounters in the blogosphere of "righteous" outbursts over all sorts of things from politics to religion to literary criticism is a blight on discourse. If the people who so routinely express themselves in that manner really do get angry that much over so much then they need to get help. If it is just a rhetorical pose, then they need to get some manners. They may also need to take a couple of remedial courses in logic and rhetoric, if only to learn that the latter is not a substitute for the former. There are certainly times when one has cause to be indignant and ought to express that indignation openly and bluntly. But it isn't all the time.
I agree with Bill that anger can be a form displacement, but I think Art is also right in adding that it can be born of frustration and is often a "guy" thing. I'm not sure about the connection with fear, but that may be because I have a fairly high fear threshold and tend to feel scared after being in danger, not while. Cogito's reminder of the connection between anger and depression is quite useful, though again it is something I can't say much about, since I am little inclined to depression. (Nige's remark about reasoning my way out of anger is worth a gloss: I do that sort of thing all the time - must be my Jesuit training. I see no reason for continuing to do something that seems unreasonable to me. The hardest one for me to walk away from was drinking to excess, which I loved. And I resisted reason's blandishments in that regard far longer than was, well, reasonable. It took a grim moment - a waking blackout - to alert me that the law of diminishing returns was starting to go to work.)
Thanks to Nige, Bill, the Incomparable Cogito, Art and Ed for their contributions. What you said prompted me to clarify things a bit - at least I hope I clarified them.
Not many of these around ...
... anymore: A Scholar.
My Jesuit mentor, Father Edward Gannon - the wisest man I've known - once told me that at one point in his life - when he was at Louvain, I believe - he would start the day by reading the Greek tragedies - in Greek, of course.
My Jesuit mentor, Father Edward Gannon - the wisest man I've known - once told me that at one point in his life - when he was at Louvain, I believe - he would start the day by reading the Greek tragedies - in Greek, of course.
Me and some raptors ...
... I said I'd have something to say about J.A. Baker's The Peregrine: Two books go far beyond just looking at birds.
Se also this earlier post: An indelible book ...
Note: I bumped this up, and plan to again tomorrow - because I think the books mentioned (especially Baker's) deserve the attention.
Se also this earlier post: An indelible book ...
Note: I bumped this up, and plan to again tomorrow - because I think the books mentioned (especially Baker's) deserve the attention.
Blithe spirit ...
... Shelley Takes Off (1814).
Gerard Manley Hopkins was born on this date in 1844. Here is
Pied Beauty
Gerard Manley Hopkins was born on this date in 1844. Here is
Pied Beauty
Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spáre, strange;
Whatever is fickle, frecklèd (who knows how?)
With swíft, slów; sweet, sóur; adázzle, dím;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is pást change:
A good way ...
... to start the day: "From William Temple to George Herbert" - Anglican Origins: Prayer and Holiness. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The comments on R.S. Thomas toward the end are especially worth reading.
The comments on R.S. Thomas toward the end are especially worth reading.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I didn't know this ...
... or if I did, I forgot: The Big List of Culture Blogs. (Hat tip, Judith Fitzgerald.)
Maxine's been busy ...
... and I'm just catching up.
... A matter of taste.
...Waterstones offer on the Sony Reader.
... A strange geography.
This baby names are appalling. As for the Sony Reader, I tested one. But I have a Kindle. I think the Kindle is better, unless the Reader has much improved its navigational capacity.
... A matter of taste.
...Waterstones offer on the Sony Reader.
... A strange geography.
This baby names are appalling. As for the Sony Reader, I tested one. But I have a Kindle. I think the Kindle is better, unless the Reader has much improved its navigational capacity.
Reading habits ...
... first the debate at the Britannica Blog.
... then a piece in today's NYT: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? (Hat tip, Dave Lull, Lee Lowe, and Judith Fitzgerald.)
... and this, which inject some facts - as opposed to anecdotes - into the debate: It's the screens, not the internet, that are making us stupid. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)
I don't for a moment buy the idea that reading electronically in any way diminishes the capacity to read print. I read lots of both and notice know difference (I know, that's anecdotal; but it's also what I've experienced - ooh, I just used a semicolon).
... then a piece in today's NYT: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? (Hat tip, Dave Lull, Lee Lowe, and Judith Fitzgerald.)
... and this, which inject some facts - as opposed to anecdotes - into the debate: It's the screens, not the internet, that are making us stupid. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)
I don't for a moment buy the idea that reading electronically in any way diminishes the capacity to read print. I read lots of both and notice know difference (I know, that's anecdotal; but it's also what I've experienced - ooh, I just used a semicolon).
On Anger ...
I have been thinking a lot lately about anger. Quite a few people have noticed how common expressions of anger are in the blogosphere. And I have been wondering why some people feel the need so often to express their views splenetically. Politics excites a lot of people to anger, even though their participation in the political process probably consists of just going to a polling place in November and casting one of more than 100 million votes. (Hey, if you're so hot and bothered over it, get involved. Run for office. Work in a campaign. I did once. That was enough.) Then there are the angry exchanges over literary criticism or schools of poetry or types of fiction. What is that all about?
I used to get angry a lot, but I realized something about anger one day that pretty much cured me of it in a snap. What I realized was that I got angry because (a) I was hurt and (b) couldn’t really do anything about it. The anger was an expression of impotence. The one thing I could do about what had hurt me was rant about it. No sooner had I realized that than I asked myself, “Why bother?” It didn’t do any good. And it felt awful. There is nothing pleasant about feeling angry. Of course, there’s nothing pleasant about feeling hurt, either, but if you face up to the discomfort, it fades after a while. Anger just prolongs it, like picking at a scab.
Now, of course, I am talking of actual causes of anger in one’s real life. Why people should feel angry because someone voices an opinion they don’t agree with, or why they would think that expressing their disagreement in a truculent manner would in any way strengthen their position — well, that is beyond me. I can’t imagine feeling hurt over an opinion I disagreed with, so that can’t be a factor. No, I think the rationale — if one may call it such — is to suggest that the opinion being objected to is not merely intellectually incorrect, but morally wrong. By extension, the person holding said opinion is not merely mistaken, but culpably so.
One problem with this is that it is rude. No one has the right to presume that another is acting or speaking in bad faith. That someone else’s view of something makes you mad may tell us a lot about you, but does not by any means constitute an argument.
Self-consuming ...
... Reason special: Reason eats itself. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Reason is one means of arriving at truth. It is not the only means. Sometimes, it isn't the best means. Usually, it best used in conjunction with imagination.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... there probably aren't enough of these: A murder mystery in the newsroom Holocaust, from the ground upProducing plays while performing a service.
And here's one from the LA Times: Deadly race riot no mere act of rage.
And here's one from the LA Times: Deadly race riot no mere act of rage.
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