Reality If we suppose that the things we see, hear, touch, etc. are real and not illusory, then we include ourselves and those other things in our conception of reality. Material things are real. Living things, the earth, water, air, other people – they’re all real. Those things move and we experience interaction with them in […]
Read more...Author: Albert
White Noise
Thoughts on White Noise, by Don DeLillo This 1985 novel has in some circles been called a postmodern classic. That sent me off on a rumination about what “postmodernism” is. I have understood its most benign definition to be an add-on by modernists to reinforce their commitment to the philosophical uniqueness of the modern age; […]
Read more...The Widening Chasm
The Widening Chasm The history of the western world in 1600 words. Before Christ There was a time when the world was mysterious at every turn. Much was inexplicable to us: what makes plants grow? How do children come from sexual union? What makes the sun rise and set? From ancient times much that was not yet understood […]
Read more...Limitations
Another rumination sparked by PrairyErth. I just can’t let it go. This time I was thinking about one of the author’s (William Least-Heat Moon’s) observations on the limits of the prairie. I was thinking about the limitation one might experience based on grades in school, or getting into this college but not that one. Is […]
Read more...PrairyErth
I’m a fan of good lyrical writing. So much so that I am open to reading pretty much anything if it’s said well, even if other elements of writing – such as a plot and a point – are lacking. I’ve often said that I would be happy to read the back of cereal boxes if […]
Read more...Wedding Day
We’re drawn, all of us are drawn, to weddings. Why? The most obvious reason is that we love a love story. Another reason, though, is that we’re drawn to a picture of completion. Of a union that is complete and not temporary like what we experience here and now. We come to witness a new […]
Read more...Erosion of Freedom
What Government Is At the founding of this country, a foundational idea was what conservatives refer to as limited government. I won’t quote the Declaration of Independence to you, but I’ll state the principle as being that people are to be left alone as far as can be, and that the government exists only to […]
Read more...Manchester by the Sea
I try to comment on books or movies I read or see that seem to have some depth to them, or if they provide an insight that I think might be helpful. I watched Manchester by the Sea after having seen some good reviews. I wondered what the fuss was about but didn’t want to […]
Read more...Life Force
In the research and writing I do I generally stay away from evolution, mainly because it is so widely accepted that I feel like I need to understand it better before I reject it out of hand. Is it possible these proponents of it understand something I don’t? But more importantly, it’s not central to […]
Read more...Zeitgeist
Two weeks ago I posted on the subject of materialism, and what it means to the concept of love. See Love, Materialist Style. It occurs to me that an explanation of that word, “materialism,” is in order. Not just to define it, but to explain its place in the thesis. “Materialism” in this context is […]
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