"Good is good only because there is evil, and God is God because there is a devil." - Paul Carus February 14, 2017 (Nairobi): On our taxi ride to church, the girls were asking about people going to Hell. I realized I don't know what I believe about hell and consequently don't know what to …
Ever-present origin
"If we...employ the words in a manner that manifests their integrity, they will at least lend the luster of their wholeness to the phenomena they denote." - Jean Gebser Back in early 2017, I was working on a paper about Ik etymology called "Metathesis in the making of Ik etyma." I was super proud of …
Human hypercluster
"Human beings, as other organisms at higher rungs of biological evolution, are hyperclusters of wave interference patterns, oscillating across a broad range of frequencies." - Ervin Laszlo January 26, 2017 (Nairobi): In December I read a mind-blowing book by Ervin Laszlo (and others) called What is Reality?: The New Map of Cosmos, Consciousness, and Existence. …
Heraclitus
December 29, 2016 (Nairobi, Kenya): I started reading Dennis Sweet's translation and analysis of Heraclitus. Heraclitus is the beginning for me; he is the originator of the philosophical usage of the term λóγος, and for that reason, I must start with him. First, a taste of Heraclitus's actual writings: "Of this eternally existing logos people …
Crack the code
December 23, 2016 (Kampala): Essentially, what I want to do is 'crack the code' of the cosmos. Although I have no doubt that there is a quantitative correlate to the code, what I am after is the qualitative. Since I am not a mathematical thinker, I shall approach the problem as a grammatical thinker. I …
Shame
December 21, 2016 (Kampala): SHAME: Up till recently, I wouldn't have thought I had a 'shame core'. I thought my self-esteem was better than that, or that my deepest angst is repressed anger, not shame. But a recent experience, and remembering one from two years ago, is changing my mind. I do know shame at …
Red tape fury
October 30, 2016 (Kampala): Stephen Buehner writes in his book Ensouling Language how good writers need to know what makes them furious in this world and use that power in their writing. Over the course of this week I've realized one of mine: I am infuriated that something as good and pleasurable as human sexuality …
Joy valve
October 24, 2016 (Kampala) On Saturday...I worked on the grammar for a couple of hours and then worked out at the gym. There is a young woman we've seen at the gym a few times that I felt attracted to. It has been almost intolerably awkward trying to avoid all eye contact in a room …
Levels of belief
October 12, 2016 (Kampala): Sometimes people ask about one's beliefs, but usually 'belief' is taken to mean a concrete certainty. Philip Clayton offers, instead, a typology of belief: S = subject P = proposition RCE = relevant community of experts 1) S believes P and believes P is endorsed by the RCE. 2) S believes P …
Narcissism unveiled
October 6, 2016 (Kampala): Wow, so I've been reading up on narcissism after my friend J.W. mentioned that Donald Trump shows signs of classic narcissistic personality disorder. It has now become clear that X.Y. [a colleague of mine] is also classically narcissistic. The list of symptoms describes him to a 't' (in his negative traits): …
