Human beings spend a lot of time worrying about presenting as normal and passing judgment when others are not presenting as normal. But is this a reality or a fiction that is perpetrated for the purposes of social cohesion? How do we operate as normal and what other ways are there to consider the concept? … Continue reading What is ‘Normal’?
“Many of us give back to the community, often the ones that appear to have little spare time or tether to hang on to. What makes us spend scarce resources outside the family on complete strangers who will often not be able to pay us back? And how do we choose what to do? We are driven to help others at no gain to ourselves. Altruism is not peculiar
to humans but we seem to make a habit of it.”
The hegemony of men in our society has been in a state of disruption for over a hundred years and in decline for fifty years, notwithstanding the rear guard action of many. As the stereotypical role of men falls apart, what will take its place. Father’s Day is appropriate to speculate on that new paradigm using the tool of Hegelian Dialectics. Will there even be a ‘Man’s Role’ in the future or will there be a completely new concept of division of labor or none at all?
Allow me to introduce you to the scariest word in the English language: CHANGE. The hardest task to accomplish and seldom managed. Supposedly constant but always resisted. Yet we all agree on the need and we spend huge amounts of money around it. And the older we get, the harder the task. So let’s take another look at it and hear one person’s story of change not sought and not desired yet managed.
Who am I is a common enough question. But deep down who am I really?
What does it mean that I am in the world? Am I in fact the person that I think
I am, or more accurately, that I feel that I am? Or was for that matter, am I
the same person I was as a child? Lots of questions, few answers.
Justice is a complicated concept that most people understand intuitively. I break it down to two types of phenomena, personal and public justice. The consequences and behavior of justice are different depending on where it is sought and for what purpose. How we respond must be equally different to achieve the wholeness we seek in life.
Tolerance, the willingness to endure something unpleasant or contrary to one’s way of thinking, has received judgments lately that it is not adequate in the modern world that has so many afflictions running wild. I wish to rise and say that the time to remove this tool from the arsenal has not yet arrived. It has much to teach us and aid ourselves and others.
