Image from: https://philosophersforchange.org/2012/06/05/philosophy-as-critique-and-ideology/. There are three common perspectives that people take on the world: optimism, pessimism, and realism. Of course, people are rarely ever strictly one thing, and will experience a mix of worldviews depending on their day and major life events. Why does it matter how we frame the water in the glass? The water remains the same amount whether it… Read more »
In an era of global citizenship, our president is putting “America First”. This simple slogan would be harmless if our actions did not have consequences that the rest of the world must bear. In reality, the United States is the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide. We are such a great contributor to the underlying causes of climate change that we… Read more »
Why do we ignore climate change? PBS’s, “It’s Okay To Be Smart” examines this conundrum. Our modern minds are equipped with stone age technology, deciphering today’s events with a dated and out of focus lens. Issues that demand our brains attention are personal, abrupt, immoral and are happening in the now. Climate change lacks these attention-grabbing characteristics, which allows our… Read more »
During the perspectives contemplative practice, I was shocked by the extent to which each perspective changed my emotions and physical sensations. The “we have no hope” perspective paralyzed me. The “world is getting better” perspective made me feel relaxed and relieved my sense of responsibility. The “things are what they are” perspective, however, was both the hardest perspective to take… Read more »
Last week in class we did a contemplative practice in which we adopted three different perspectives: that things in the world are going to get worse, that things are going to get better, and that things are the way they are. When we did that exercise I felt remarkably peaceful after I accepted the perspective that things are the way… Read more »
I’ve known that I have a strong addiction to my laptop for a while now. Photo from: http://www.cfdlearn.ca/importance-internet-research-implementing-law/. When I was growing up, I lived in a low-tech house. We didn’t have cable or television (only VHS), and I didn’t get a cell phone until high school. I was sheltered from the constant company of electronics. However, when I moved to… Read more »
I fall into the same trap every time. I look at my phone. The dark screen calls to me with a sense of urgency. My muscles tense as I reach for the home button. I click the home button and then, with a flash, nothing. I have no messages and no notifications. For a moment, I am relieved. But… Read more »
After spending a week observing my own physiological response to my social media and internet usage I have noticed a distinctive autonomic response that seems to begin the mere second I even think about going online. On a certain level I expected the increased heart rate and tension when I was actively engaged online but to feel an increase in… Read more »
There is no question in my mind that our political system is fragmented, distorted, and dysfunctional in more ways that can ever be understood from the outside looking in. However, as Senator Jeff Flake put it, “this spell will eventually break.” I commend Senator Flake for the optimism he so wholeheartedly and level-headedly iterated in his speech on the senate… Read more »
I’ve always been aware that no one being solely impacts itself. Yet, I was ignorant of how interconnected our earth is. I once thought of the world as being a collection of groups, a colony of independent systems. Each system having its own interplay of threads, one may be pulled, and somewhere within the system, that tug has an effect…. Read more »