tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23950902206911016092024-02-07T14:18:57.870-08:00A Fiercer Delight and a Fiercer DiscontentEclectic reflections on music, philosophy, theology and culture.stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-34070570886420468352021-03-01T08:29:00.005-08:002021-03-02T16:32:16.101-08:00Structure and Design of Micro-Epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 (and Cosmic Christology of Revelation 1)I have been collaborating with my friend Peter on a podcast during COVID.<div><br /></div><div> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-pod-and-your-staff/id1510999118</div><div> https://anchor.fm/college-life-davis </div><div><br /></div><div> I've been on about half of the episodes and we are doing one this week on what I call the "micro-epistles" in Revelation 2 and 3. </div><div><br /></div><div> I have to confess, I enjoying podcasting more than preaching for both legitimate and (mostly) lazy reasons. But one of the downsides of podcasts is that I can't do visualizations, which may be the distinctive mark of my preaching (and teaching - Biblical and scientific). </div><div><br /></div><div> This week I'm teaching Revelation 1 in our Zoom gathering and Peter and I are breaking down Revelation 2 in our podcast.
And I can't talk about Revelation 2 without some visualizations of the artistic conventions and structure. We will be linking to this from the podcast. </div><div><br /></div><div> So, here they are. </div><div><br /></div><div> The micro-epistles are deeply contextual, demonstrating the diversity of local Christian communities and the role culture can have on their thriving and blind spots. But these seven "letters" have a consistent structure with several repeated components that helps us track them:
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The first element of each of those letters, is a characteristic of the Cosmic Vision of Christ, sourced from chapter 1:
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The first three[1] of those characteristics (which John attributes to "one like a son of man") are, themselves sourced from the great "Son of Man" passage in Daniel 7...
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...except, in the Daniel passage, they are not attributed to the Son of Man, but the being the Son of Man approaches: the Ancient of Days. John is doing varsity theology here, developing the themes that would become the orthodox doctrines of God and Christ. The Son of Man and Ancient of Days distinct without confusion but also one God.
[1] Or 3.5 depending on how similar you think shining like lightning is to shining like the midday sun</div>stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-9922661583131274492020-04-29T07:52:00.000-07:002020-04-29T07:56:53.160-07:00Goodhart’s Law and Optimal Prophetic Specificity<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p>Measuring results to motivate desired outcomes can generate
unintended consequences and perverse incentives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the basic idea behind Goodhart’s Law: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c55a11; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“When a measure becomes a target, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #c55a11; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it is no longer a good measure.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Image Attribution: <span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif;">Jono Hey - </span><a href="http://www.sketchplanations.com/" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.14s ease-in-out 0s;" title="Sketchplanations">sketchplanations.com</a> (<a href="https://www.sketchplanations.com/post/167369765942/goodharts-law-when-a-measure-becomes-a-target" target="_blank">direct link</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The idea here is that once we make a measurable goal to
evaluate a more complicated process, people try to optimize for the specific
goal, which often undermines the actual larger objective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So schools end up “teaching to the test,”
scientists start “p-hacking,”<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
academics form citation cartels to bolster their citation scores,<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
and effective altruists end up choosing projects based not-so-much on
maximizing good, but maximizing measurable benefit.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title="">[3]</a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn3" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It should not surprise us that tying performance to
extrinsic motivators, attracts extrinsic motivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But much of the most-difficult value added to the world is intrinsically
motivated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And intrinsic motivation, is
cultivated in human-scale, character-forming communities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think a lot about Goodhart’s law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I simultaneously try to utilize it and resist it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to produce units of value for people
who fund my work<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
that are easily measured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also
actively resist the tyranny of measurement and try to carefully add </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">unmeasurable</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> value to my organizations and communities, because those intrinsic
investments keep institutions and communities healthy.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And frankly, the former gives me capital for
the latter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I was recently on a podcast<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
about the Christological themes of the Hebrew Scriptures, and suddenly found
myself citing Goodart’s Law in that conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was probably as surprised as my
conversation partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a new idea
for me and I was working it out in real time.<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I wanted to give it a little more careful
treatment here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So here’s the question I was responding to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why do Christological prophecies sometimes seem a little
vague?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a common and legitimate knock against any sort of
prediction.<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you keep it vague, multiple futures can fulfill it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was the objection I raised with my friends in Junior
High School when they told me that Nostradamus had predicted the immanent end
of the world and had a great track record of predicting historical events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I join my 8<sup>th</sup> grade self in
acknowledging this liability of ancient and even Biblical prophecy.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title="">[8]</a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn8" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The specificity of the Messianic themes in the Hebrew
Scriptures are one of their defining qualities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Messiah will be a prophet<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>-king<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>-priest<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
that comes from David’s family who will somehow suffer redemptively for God’s
people<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
but also transcend that suffering as a cosmic figure who receives worship<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
and everlasting dominion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
paradoxical character that is both defeated and victorious, terrestrial and
transcendent, primate and deity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The degree of difficulty here is outrageous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The messianic themes are so diverse and impose
so many, seemingly contradictory constraints on this future servant-sovereign,
that it would be very difficult to imagine one individual embodying them
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The degree of difficulty to qualify as messiah is really
high here…which is really important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You see, these themes were so clear in the Hebrew tradition
that there were a bunch of dudes claiming to be the Messiah.<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is where Goodhard’s Law comes
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prophetic detail can be surprisingly unhelpful in validating
prophecy.<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or to restate Goodhart’s Law for ancient prophecy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c55a11; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Attainable</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #c55a11; line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">detail in a prophecy
makes a poor metric for evaluating that prophecy’s fulfillment.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c55a11; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If the ancient poems laid out a lot of situational details
identifying the Messiah, you can believe that aspiring Messiah’s would craft
their personal narratives and ret-con their biographies to check those boxes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the mundane technical detail that we think we want from
ancient prophecy to make it more evidential<a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
are not as valuable as they seem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
makes ancient prophecy more convincing is a paradoxical degree of
difficulty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A prophetic tradition with an outrageous degree of
difficulty, that places its validating criteria on the level of big paradoxical
claims, rather than a checklist of specific claims that become vulnerable to
Goodhart’s Law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In light of the Goodhart-ian failure mode, the level of
specificity of the Christological prophetic tradition might be closer to optimal
than it might seem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #afabab; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #AFABAB; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=75000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background2; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post was written to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Run
River North</i> channel on Pandora.<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/were-all-p-hacking-now/">https://www.wired.com/story/were-all-p-hacking-now/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.nature.com/news/brazilian-citation-scheme-outed-1.13604">https://www.nature.com/news/brazilian-citation-scheme-outed-1.13604</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Which can leave more effective investments on the table if their results are
difficult to measure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> My
#1 principle of professional science business model is “figure out what summary
statistics the people who give you money put on their year-end-review power
point slides…and then make a bunch of those things.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means I spend a little more time that I
think is useful grinding through peer review (an opaque, erratic, and exploitative institution…that is also necessary in lieu of an alternative) than
its value justifies when a summary Youtube video would take 1/30<sup>th</sup>
of the time and be more broadly helpful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Spotify: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #385898; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #385898;"><a href="https://tinyurl.com/yourpodandyourstaff?fbclid=IwAR2Q8CsqxEgK5PIF7bTmbQIH-o6b-9-MlvYCmCFs9LzTHojqN8R5eqNjoMk" target="_blank">tinyurl.com/yourpodandyourstaff</a> Episode 5 (I'm on several of the episodes, but 5 is the one on this topic).</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anchor: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: #385898; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="https://anchor.fm/s/1889f860/podcast/rss?fbclid=IwAR2cnexuLEdEIfs0T2N0gmsfmI0ZbaNKFb8KTAkLLsI5MCjUIy046Hs1aTQ" target="_blank"><span style="color: #385898;">https://anchor.fm/s/1889f860/podcast/rss</span></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
This is what I like about podcasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
get unvarnished, novel ideas in conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it also means podcasts require more grace, because 90% of my
unvarnished, novel ideas are terrible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Including scientific prediction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we
can establish quantitative criteria to test and falsify scientific prediction,
those criteria are arbitrary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A p-value
of 0.05, is really just a statement of someone’s emotional tolerance for
uncertainty and false positives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> It
is worth noting, that most biblical prophecy is not future-telling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And most of the future-telling biblical
prophecy is relatively-near future (about the immanent Assyrian/Babylonian
exile or the return from the latter). But there is a genre of Hebrew poem that
sees past the immanent catastrophe or deliverance to a future age and a future
figure, that is clear, compelling, and cohesive enough that contemporary
readers expected a Messianic figure who would embody these literary threads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Deuteronomy 18:15-19<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> 2
Samuel 7:16, Ezekiel 37:24-26<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Zechariah 6:12-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Isaiah 53<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Matthew 26:62-65, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The Maccabean history is a pretty critical backdrop of the gospel narratives
(as I mention on the podcast).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel
actually threw off their Hellenistic Hegemon for a brief period of independence
before Roman oppression, so the potential for this long awaited leader to free
them again was in the forefront of the political imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
One case I make is that using these prophecies to “prove” Jesus’ legitimacy or
the credibility of the Christian story diverges from their intent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, they are faith building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they were never meant to be faith
confirming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to press them for
proof (or even evidence) is a post-enlightenment bias.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christological themes are not primarily a
source of evidence…they are primarily a source of beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
When the Biblical record does provide biographical detail, it is the sort of
thing that would be difficult to stage: like ancestry or place of birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/q0hecsag/Documents/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/Goodharts%20Law%20and%20Messianic%20Prophecy.docx#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Which, again, isn’t the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point
is that we see that God was at the same game all along and that we are players
in a story who’s author knew the sublime climax and littered clues throughout
the text, starting on page 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-20502764424512182912020-04-29T07:27:00.000-07:002020-05-01T07:57:35.285-07:00My Youtube ChannelI've been developing YouTube content lately. It is an unsurprisingly eclectic station. I'm working on some philosophical and theological content, but for now there are two main types of videos:<br />
<br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">1. Soccer (Football) Tactics Videos</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>
I realized a few years back that I go through multi-year obsession cycles. At any given time, there is one skill that I invest huge hours in. This decade it has been preaching, writing novels and short fiction, and for the last couple years...coaching.[1]<br />
<br />
I send out a technique or tactics video every week on the training theme. While there is a ton of great technique content[2]...tactical content has two main problems.<br />
<br />
<u>First</u>: It is too advanced. Most tactical videos were developed for sophisticated Premier League fans. Not for 7-14 year olds who do not watch sports regularly.<br />
<br />
<u>Second</u>: It always uses footage from the men's game. But I mostly coach girls. So I'd like to use content from the women's game. So I've been developing some of these tactical videos with USWNT and NWSL footage:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nP-CU3SvkXc" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2. Sediment Modeling Videos</span></u></b><br />
<br />
I don't talk much about my vocation in this space, but I'm on a team that develops popular, hydraulic, modeling software. Our user manual is excellent, and well over 1,000 pages. The problem is, no one reads user manuals any more. If I need help with a new program, I go to YouTube like a civilized person. And sediment transport modeling - like many highly parameterized earth science simulations - is more of a wisdom-based craft than a hard skill. So I'm trying to develop a series of videos that transmits the skill and wisdom components of the craft.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WtM4vGMnqSU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
____________<br />
<br />
[1] I may do a coaching manifesto at some point. But the top tenant of a document like that would be the same as any of my other obsessions: "Embrace your incompetence." Realizing that simply being a parent (and I think dad's are particularly prone to undue confidence here) who played the sport gets you about 20-30% to where I want to be. Coaching is a skill, like other skills, that needs to be taught, learned, and practiced. But it is the strange skill of transmitting skills...as well as character and tactics. Of the three, the third is the easiest.<br />
<br />
[2] I've developed a playlist of the videos I use most seasons: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL26VoPqZfrgBnXZP_4Z7erNrIxyZMX-kjstanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-32439996943280538952018-05-10T07:43:00.001-07:002018-05-10T07:43:42.244-07:00ngram Shenanigans<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite growing concerns about the attention economy</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: small;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,
I love two Google innovations with untainted passion: Google maps and the </span><a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri";">ngram</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: small;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You see, since Google has all the books - like, seriously,
all of them - they are in a unique position for cultural data mining.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The beauty of the ngram is that it exposes
the capability.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ngram allows users
to test historical hypotheses about cultural trends by computing time series of
word occurrence.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In other words, you can plot the relative-frequency of terms
or vocabulary through two centuries of texts and then make wild speculations</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: small;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
about the cultural trends behind those plots.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For example, vampires have always been more popular than zombies:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcp6vqCI7aMtArEDiG9_JZyhJg5yHXZeUVQtPTq30aN7CGnpo5XF7neCTL3tAZFqTKaKZ55WsUikTX84TNrolMJhkftaEvtkhZqXlRm6E8VQQC6plTHmOUXCfkAN4HeO5NxEgfOo48VDv/s1600/ngram+vampires+zombies+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="519" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcp6vqCI7aMtArEDiG9_JZyhJg5yHXZeUVQtPTq30aN7CGnpo5XF7neCTL3tAZFqTKaKZ55WsUikTX84TNrolMJhkftaEvtkhZqXlRm6E8VQQC6plTHmOUXCfkAN4HeO5NxEgfOo48VDv/s1600/ngram+vampires+zombies+2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There was a brief, single decade spike in vampire interest
in the mid 19</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> century…and a recent phenomena that blew them
up…though I can’t imagine what that would be.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Zombies on the other hand are a twentieth century monster,
rising up in the wake of each world war.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But the thing I like about the Zombie plot is
that it is slowly and steadily creeping up…you know…like a zombie.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In a future post</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
I will use these to test some linguistic hypotheses that Robert Nisbet made in
1953.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But this is not that post…this
post is the confluence of the many interests explored in this space, and this
analytical tool.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So now that you know how these work, here are a few more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">__________________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First, I often use this one when I explain my work at conferences
or public meetings:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzrUrpfzi_qCaReEQoeY4UAy_m7wA9ghb0h7OaEuI_msW17iyjox0yW_K9JPwBH78Rdn7VI5ExQqArq2JAr2bG29lDgvEc2Cu7G5Bx61G18dGpdiCR_n-Jrfo0s12wBcHsixsUx4yvU1t/s1600/ngram+dam+sediment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="517" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzrUrpfzi_qCaReEQoeY4UAy_m7wA9ghb0h7OaEuI_msW17iyjox0yW_K9JPwBH78Rdn7VI5ExQqArq2JAr2bG29lDgvEc2Cu7G5Bx61G18dGpdiCR_n-Jrfo0s12wBcHsixsUx4yvU1t/s1600/ngram+dam+sediment.png" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Dam building in Europe and North America peaked in the early
20-th century.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But as they built at the best sites and our
understanding of the ecological impacts grew, we stopped.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But dams also trap sediment, which fills the
reservoirs.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, about 80 years after the
dam peak, interest in sediment follows a similar trend.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">__________________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I know that the name “Stanford” peaked in the 20’s and the
railroad magnate is in play here and the time series is confounded by the university…but
I can’t parse the strands of those influences here:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvXZ21uoMxfdwrGTUR9nH9MYSyygs6jcZf7lhWzAif9WrvxkKFtPDI0JFEG6qJe291oO5nd93RZSQ5_VXips9UT7NuGbM-7m4YYH5JKl2yTwxyOQtoJmkzaT3Vy_YuHY-N0g29rycRK_y/s1600/ngram+stanford.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvXZ21uoMxfdwrGTUR9nH9MYSyygs6jcZf7lhWzAif9WrvxkKFtPDI0JFEG6qJe291oO5nd93RZSQ5_VXips9UT7NuGbM-7m4YYH5JKl2yTwxyOQtoJmkzaT3Vy_YuHY-N0g29rycRK_y/s1600/ngram+stanford.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">__________________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I don’t feel like I need to add commentary here...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_ghMMQHqU8ZQtAg9MrnBmOWUBdrp9Wd5X4V6QdwH_6Eu6NTt_3ssNGAtcnWAkXgtK97maRJiGcDkweeA1YnHR6YA3niyro-dFzM4Oy0SpAtM8VMFxdRIZYw6xVgzupw3iXLOeOpaW7OF/s1600/ngram+sex+wisdom.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_ghMMQHqU8ZQtAg9MrnBmOWUBdrp9Wd5X4V6QdwH_6Eu6NTt_3ssNGAtcnWAkXgtK97maRJiGcDkweeA1YnHR6YA3niyro-dFzM4Oy0SpAtM8VMFxdRIZYw6xVgzupw3iXLOeOpaW7OF/s1600/ngram+sex+wisdom.png" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">__________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Also…without further comment.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycK7BydUzGEOWzsFfMEF-OoizqMxGpiXbmPsutranOWdK071dS5lqzdz7qnE3Dll9ISgNIS71lZDtGxV5XwAsoR4rMqvy-mVHZ2PSZAFb9V3yPnDYZfN9m88gf_6-wCBe7IeEFKGm9Ukv/s1600/ngram+want+contentment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycK7BydUzGEOWzsFfMEF-OoizqMxGpiXbmPsutranOWdK071dS5lqzdz7qnE3Dll9ISgNIS71lZDtGxV5XwAsoR4rMqvy-mVHZ2PSZAFb9V3yPnDYZfN9m88gf_6-wCBe7IeEFKGm9Ukv/s1600/ngram+want+contentment.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">…and rescaling contentment:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTelj8iVafDXj7tfomVIVc5Yl7Lzg0zCldAuQ8HtTUTVrMFEdv41fxX1orRIIbp0scoP6Z6Xh_GPykfnKAND4twRTGMmG20BXyAOE5RJAq6TSnRYnwHkAJrYI-6IUtYdxtiTA_GlP4qLxH/s1600/ngram+contentment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTelj8iVafDXj7tfomVIVc5Yl7Lzg0zCldAuQ8HtTUTVrMFEdv41fxX1orRIIbp0scoP6Z6Xh_GPykfnKAND4twRTGMmG20BXyAOE5RJAq6TSnRYnwHkAJrYI-6IUtYdxtiTA_GlP4qLxH/s1600/ngram+contentment.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ngram also weighs in on the religious illiteracy of our
information institutions.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They use words
like “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” as if they were interchangeable</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
and recent, with self-evident referents.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’d suggest that any pundit who can’t explain the time series in this
plot should probably educate themselves a little before the start throwing
around religious labels:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvG-g0CYJGt55zdyXm6r3i-V4svGYvwww3FXTtB1OmOU3TuUDfoQlBFeScN4OkoKEOEN_qvtDeci1bHxVS6_9C1XUJRs5UJLRspr46OcTgFKYNiSMU9bxLGIkjK9QjbMQnToiA0xvXYfj/s1600/ngram+fundamentalist+evangelical.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="537" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvG-g0CYJGt55zdyXm6r3i-V4svGYvwww3FXTtB1OmOU3TuUDfoQlBFeScN4OkoKEOEN_qvtDeci1bHxVS6_9C1XUJRs5UJLRspr46OcTgFKYNiSMU9bxLGIkjK9QjbMQnToiA0xvXYfj/s1600/ngram+fundamentalist+evangelical.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Though, I suppose it would be fair to counter that many
American Christians don’t know our heritage enough to parse these threads either.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">______________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">All the major theological vocabulary are down. Church and
worship follow the same trend on larger scales.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cI-uQ5_oIeDrzxIr6-Ns2iyElZHqLJ7L0NIjlwNH53_rEdzpm-nByOfJErNG6dN0z19opS3lIqAsKOV8Tjh8ZVJK7iJdXRRck4WQT8C-LH472E-lBDzR1t3Dfa1zv5yHuTQq38DqZFpK/s1600/ngram+theological+words.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cI-uQ5_oIeDrzxIr6-Ns2iyElZHqLJ7L0NIjlwNH53_rEdzpm-nByOfJErNG6dN0z19opS3lIqAsKOV8Tjh8ZVJK7iJdXRRck4WQT8C-LH472E-lBDzR1t3Dfa1zv5yHuTQq38DqZFpK/s1600/ngram+theological+words.png" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This should surprise no one, given secularizing trends and
that devotional and theological texts composed a higher proportion of
literature in the nineteenth century.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But a couple theological terms work against the trend, suggesting that
certain emphases of twentieth century American Christianity are novel</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,
and maybe not native to our belief system.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgtKvKBZ2EGOwzWgZesQBaT2uL5PQkN_svSL8b8AdzQVyewNwPqoZsQcKu0_ABnJScIb3xi6uvUF17_jukVrjJewrPYzBZcRjVyjCp6kP8uTa5LIw5F831yPPTPDbbk4ohSOS8KjpMoMZ/s1600/dispensational.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgtKvKBZ2EGOwzWgZesQBaT2uL5PQkN_svSL8b8AdzQVyewNwPqoZsQcKu0_ABnJScIb3xi6uvUF17_jukVrjJewrPYzBZcRjVyjCp6kP8uTa5LIw5F831yPPTPDbbk4ohSOS8KjpMoMZ/s1600/dispensational.png" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">_______________</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Speaking of innovations, I’d be lying if I said I expected
this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiT9s-pPr5YuGkWcDORMcYbrM9mMRgd8-B_NUz65Qa28tmJAHUzXfPhiTG5px9b5ifvvB0Me3dReQiR7i9SfUAEYx5k1b4f1QtdnKyvcxP5ISie5yNIcw-T-jdMSpTiLzPgXoaC4uxwIW/s1600/ngram+atheist+agnostic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiT9s-pPr5YuGkWcDORMcYbrM9mMRgd8-B_NUz65Qa28tmJAHUzXfPhiTG5px9b5ifvvB0Me3dReQiR7i9SfUAEYx5k1b4f1QtdnKyvcxP5ISie5yNIcw-T-jdMSpTiLzPgXoaC4uxwIW/s1600/ngram+atheist+agnostic.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">_______________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But this was pretty predictable</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">…</span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_pxrePnlpxAnFAbdB9zVi2n0tkA5vxELc5h-l8iyUjCTqdeNueh97mClTQe4VjL8pxtZk8wTU-Eom06_0lOU3u-Eq-PqZUon_iaNprHlff8RxH_dIEUe6suhHQlUvv6lEpYKCHtP4eLJ/s1600/ngram+anxiety+and+joy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_pxrePnlpxAnFAbdB9zVi2n0tkA5vxELc5h-l8iyUjCTqdeNueh97mClTQe4VjL8pxtZk8wTU-Eom06_0lOU3u-Eq-PqZUon_iaNprHlff8RxH_dIEUe6suhHQlUvv6lEpYKCHtP4eLJ/s1600/ngram+anxiety+and+joy.png" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">…as was this</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">_______________________</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">… lightning round…</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUetM5HCQbilVfdKvf3D_IM8Nx5mUHXqPBCCW2ko5lBg-El0Xp_-zeK9pIvIm5db30JlCS8Z_1L_aS651G_2V0vpoGXOhT0Ncp2cJaxFYdRWzKvFqtGNTQtrrDOvbtRxrDIY5DaRYb6TT4/s1600/ngram+marriage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUetM5HCQbilVfdKvf3D_IM8Nx5mUHXqPBCCW2ko5lBg-El0Xp_-zeK9pIvIm5db30JlCS8Z_1L_aS651G_2V0vpoGXOhT0Ncp2cJaxFYdRWzKvFqtGNTQtrrDOvbtRxrDIY5DaRYb6TT4/s1600/ngram+marriage.png" /></a></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">__________</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And finally…</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdgspb6w5yqJV9EZ4Sm1KvGcvWnvfKLbnk1UXgohzT6dRSmy2XF2uzL52Du1rajfjhFFHJ2pJ4fe6KtmncQucLfE5p6JuKffXBd2dyX72FgaJHxK25IDh6Xhs8l0TARFrBxMd62RgQAkI/s1600/ngram+star+wars+star+trek.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdgspb6w5yqJV9EZ4Sm1KvGcvWnvfKLbnk1UXgohzT6dRSmy2XF2uzL52Du1rajfjhFFHJ2pJ4fe6KtmncQucLfE5p6JuKffXBd2dyX72FgaJHxK25IDh6Xhs8l0TARFrBxMd62RgQAkI/s1600/ngram+star+wars+star+trek.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="color: #595959; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">This
post was “written” to the soundtrack of the Civil Wars Pandora Station</span></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> I
may do a post on this…and baseball…but for now:</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">I’ve been influenced a lot by Simone Weil who advocated for dull
activities in our educational process for two reasons:</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">1) learning to sustain attention* is far more
important than acquiring content for children and young adults.**</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Everything good comes from the compounding
interest on sustained attention.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">But,
more importantly, 2) attention is the raw material of love, which makes it the
active ingredient in relationships and worship.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">So, an industry that competes for attention is a
particularly pernicious “tragedy of the commons,” monetizing our most important
resource.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">And yes, I have switched my
phone to black and white permanently.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Try it for one day and see if it doesn’t divest that thing of some of
its illicit power.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">But this isn’t my technology lament…this is a
celebration of some of the beauty that can also come from that ferment.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">*my favorite Weil quote goes something like “attention
is the purest form of generosity”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">**and not-so-young adults if our own educational
experience did not help us train our attention</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
Both of these are underrated.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">I realize
it is difficult to believe that google maps are underrated…but adding
historical maps makes maps an unprecedented tool for fluvial geomorphologists
and forensic contaminant engineers (fields I work or have worked in).</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">But I cannot believe I haven’t seen more
ngrams in TED talks or tweets or other forms of multi-sensory speech.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
These trends are confounded by many data artifacts, mostly sample size non-stationarity.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Random preservation bias and directional
preservation bias affect the early record disproportionately.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">I’d expect both variability and uncertainty
to be high earlier in the time series and potentially skewed by surviving
texts…and also texts Googlers* deemed worthy of pursuing.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">*I have so many thoughts about this word since I just
finished Lazlo Bock’s book.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">But I’ll
leave them on the table.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
Born out of the ashes of the expectation of monotonic progress and the false
hope of pax-tencologica.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Zombies are
dystopic in a way vampires aren’t, and often have a culture-scale morality-tale
built into their narratives, while vampires feature individual-scale morality-tales.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
Which I can only promise because it started as part of this one and is
complete.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
For the one or two folks who are hydro-minded…the joke that always works here
in water crowds is something like…”the dam time series is shaped like a
hydrograph, with a steep rising limb and a gradual receding limb…and the
sediment time series is the same hydrograph, with an 80 year translation
time.”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">I know…I’m hilarious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
And even religion non-specific.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">“Fundamentalism” is a specific movement of early 20-th century American
Christianity, but the religious categories of our information economy are such
blunt instruments that it gets foisted on Muslims in the Middle East and Iran
and Hindus in India. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
Like Jazz and baseball dispensationalism is an American innovation and export.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
Happiness follows the same trend as joy, just steeper…but I find joy to be a
much more useful idea, and frankly, was surprised at the happiness trend.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/n%20Gram/n%20grams%20no%20pics.docx" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> “Being
unable to cure death, wretchedness and ignorance, men have decided, in order to
be happy, not to think about such things.”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Pascal - Penses</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-48253479317088568792017-10-17T22:42:00.001-07:002017-10-17T22:42:25.063-07:00My Top 10 Study Tips
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
week I’m giving a talk on cultivating ‘tenacious curiosity,’ which makes a
case from the book of Daniel that studying hard, even when the work is tedious
or dull, can be part of Jesus following, God loving, faithfulness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
may or may not have included a clip from everyone's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMRTGv82Zo"><span style="color: blue;">favorite
song</span></a> about Ashurbanipal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
talk focused on the ‘why’, of taking studies seriously, but did not expand on
the ‘how’.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
have no formal training on pedagogy. But I have studied a lot,
so I thought I’d pass along the results of my anecdotal experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
are my thoughts on how to discipline curiosity and thrive academically in
undergrad:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. Understand the Concept of Flow and the Value of
Momentum.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Momentum
is the currency of all creative work. Whether you are writing a paper, or
solving a problem set, or generating a lab report, or learning a language, <b>90,
consecutive, undistracted minutes are much more valuable than 90 minutes
interspersed with 30, or 60, or 90 minutes of ‘study breaks.’ </b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Creativity
isn’t magical or mysterious. Our brains are wonderful and even mystical
organs, but they can be trained. Creativity inhabits a mental space
psychologists call ‘flow.’ The key to productivity in and after college is to
learn how to create and sustain flow.</span><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Create Sustained Undistracted Time Windows</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
environment for flow is a substantial, but tractable, block of undistracted
time.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref1;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></a>
I think for most people it generally works best if it is in a regular,
predictable time and space. </span><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Predictability
and structure may seem like the opposite of the conditions for creativity, but <b>creativity
is a discipline not an emotion</b>. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
you learn to create a habitat for creativity, it will become a regular
companion. Buy a timer,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref2"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref2;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></a>
set it for 60 minutes at first, then 90, then 120 and, don’t go online or check
e-mail. See if you don’t learn to create and sustain momentum.</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Track Your Time and Budget Your Hours</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
many hours a week do you study? If you don’t know the answer to that
question ±3 hours you are probably working reactively rather than
proactively. <b>Time is a commodity, and if you are going to spend it
wisely, you need to budget it</b>. Here’s my recommendation:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i. Lay out a week in your favorite medium (graph paper, calendar, Excel, dragon skin and the blood of a newt,[3] medium doesn’t really matter).[4] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ii. Subtract a healthy amount of sleep. If I was to make one change in the many regrettable study practices of my undergrad, I’d sleep more.[5] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">iii. Then block out the non-negotiable activities that are ‘above the line,’ activities that you prioritize before academics. For me, in undergrad, it was church, participation in Intervarsity large and small groups, and, in my senior year, a Saturday date with my girlfriend.[6] For some this will include exercise, close friendships, a sport or club. With the rising costs of school, for more and more students, this includes non-trivial hours, working to pay the bills. If video games or television are non-negotiable, budget a reasonable (and I would argue, a reasonably brief) time for them, and then stick to the budget. Sabbath is a good principle here. Make time for rest[7] and protect it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">iv. Then find the blocks of time for work and study. Mark some in stone as non-negotiable, the same time and place where you are not likely to be interrupted by friends or internet, and make others flexible in time and place, experimenting with what is most conducive to flow…but assess that critically and don’t self-deceive.[8]</span><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">v. Whatever you are doing, be fully present.[9] Don’t watch Netflix during study time. Don’t worry about the test while you are enjoying time with friends. Just like with money, if you make a budget and stick to it, it not only keeps you from wasting the resource, it makes enjoying the part set aside for fun guilt free.<br /><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Find a Study Group for Problem Set Classes</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
one is particular to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math). A
good study group can be hit or miss in the humanities, social sciences and even
the descriptive sciences. They can sometimes waste more time than they
save for reading, essay exam, discussion, and term paper based classes.
But for classes based on problem sets (Math, Physics, Chem…) find a study
group, or make one. The best study groups meet at the same time each week
to tackle a regular problem set, early enough before it is due so that you can
each visit office hours to get help on problems that you get stuck on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is
ideal if there is someone else in the group as good or better than you at
problem solving. Often if there is at least someone of your caliber in
the group, you will figure out different problems or different parts of the
same problem, saving time. But a study group is valuable in STEM even if
you are the strongest performer in the group. As long as the others don’t
simply copy your work, if they solve the same problem even with your approach,
they can verify your solution independently (or catch mistakes).</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. Go to Class…Always…and Early</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Class
is the best use of your study time. <b>There is no better
return-on-investment for your time than going to lecture. </b>The time
cost of reconstructing the material from a class is almost always much too high
to make missing class worth it, even if you have a test in your next
class.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also,
if you get to class 5-10 minutes early and review the previous class’ notes,
you will get more than 5-10 minutes of value from that time, because it is
close enough to the first introduction to plant it more firmly in your memory,
and because it will help you understand the new material (that will,
presumably, build on it).</span></div>
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Notes > Text</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
might not be true for English, but in all the STEM classes I took, and most of
the liberal arts classes, the professor was far more interested in what he or
she told me than what the book had to say. In many cases the professor
has forgotten what was in the book. I have a very close friend whose GPA
jumped a full point when she stopped spending all her time reading the text and
really metabolized the notes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Granted, this is a tip for grad chasing rather than learning, but it is best if
your learning manifests as grades, and your time is limited.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
while we are talking about grade optimization rather than learning, the best
thing you can do for your grades is to read the syllabus, carefully, paying
attention to the percentages, and apportioning your effort accordingly.</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. Stop Telling Yourself You Work Best Under Pressure…Seriously,
Just Stop</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I
work best under pressure” is self deception. Work under a deadline is
rushed and unreflective. What you are experiencing ‘counterfeit flow’ is
a truncated version creative productivity that comes from finally giving
yourself a small, sad, exhausted block of undistracted time. But you
would have had the same experience, only sharper and more productive and more
creative, if you had given yourself the same block of time a week earlier, in
the morning or mid-day. </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Necessity
is the friend of productivity but the enemy of creativity.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
might work fastest under pressure, but real learning requires time to reflect,
and creativity is a middle-distance race not a sprint.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref10"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref10;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></a>
You are most productive when you capture a state of flow (see #1) which
usually requires regular, predictable setting of undistracted time.</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. Work While You Aren’t Working…By Working Ahead</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Most
creative work happens when you aren’t actively working. While you are
eating or exercising or at a job or talking with friends…shoot, I once dreamed
the solution to a physics problem. But you can only take advantage of the
‘work when you aren’t working’ phenomenon if you start early enough to have the
basic ideas you are working on in the cognitive hopper for a while before the
deadline.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref11"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref11;"><span style="color: blue;">[11]</span></span></a>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
you have a paper outline in your head, you will fill it out while you walk to
class, then when you sit down to work, momentum is close at hand.</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Ask Yourself “Why Did my Professor Find this Subject
Interesting Enough to Dedicate her Life To It?” and Then Try to Contract the
Virus.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your
professor dedicated her life to this topic. At one time or another she
found it <i><u>that</u></i> inspiring. Surely there is enough beauty and
value in there for you to squeeze 4 quarter credits of attention out of
it. And if your professor is seriously done, like out to tenure pasture
done, long past inspiring anyone, then try to figure out what is so enchanting
about the topic that your TA is committing her future to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
don’t have to make the topic your vocation, but you’ll have a lot more energy
for the quarter if you find the secret to their passion.</span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. Experiment with Academic Generosity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
convinced that generosity is the most powerful prescription for worry and
discontent.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref12"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref12;"><span style="color: blue;">[12]</span></span></a>
The problem is that we generally think of generosity in terms of money, and
undergrads have none of that…in fact, given the loan situation, most undergrads
actually have negative money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
the most precious resources in undergrad are time and GPA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Experimenting
with academic generosity, giving time and donating insight when your time and
insight can make the difference for someone else. This will deconstruct
the competitive power of the academic life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
that is my eccentric, anecdotal top 10. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
also reached out to some of my professor friends to ask them. I posted my
friend Prof. Rich's, Prof. Teresa's, and Prof. George's thoughts in the
comments and rolled Prof. Tiffany's thoughts into a second post <a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2014/10/tiffanys-top-ten-study-advice-part-2.html"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. </span><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref13"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref13;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[13]</span></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This post was written while listening to <i>In the Aeroplane
Over The Sea</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref14"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref14;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 11pt;">[14]</span></span></a> by Neutral Milk Hotel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
</span></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn1;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[1]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I have a friend
who used to work in increments of ‘one laptop battery’ (which used to be just
over two hours). For him, that enough time to achieve flow, but
stopped for a break before the point of diminishing returns.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn2;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[2]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Like a real,
life, physical timer. Don’t rely on an internet timer, because you want
to be going to the internet as little as possible.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn3;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[3]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Actually,
dragons are apex predators, so even in an imaginary world, commoditizing their
pelt is probably morally dubious, and if you are handling dead newts, be aware
that the contain one of the most toxic neruo toxins in the animal
kingdom. Maybe better to go with a moleskin and a pen…or at least sheep
hide and frog blood.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[4]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I use software for this, but I’ve had
friends tell me that is weird</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn5;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[5]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The sleep
deficit I ran made me exhausted in class, so even though I was there, I had to
re-learn the material and had horrible notes, and when I tried to work, I was
too tired to be creative. It is a psychological reality. You are
more creative when you are well rested. Red bull does not provide the
same brain chemicals as sleep…espresso does not consolidate and reinforce
neural pathways. Sleep is part of learning.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn6;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[6]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> My now,
wife. This was the best investment I made in undergrad.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn7;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[7]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Rest gets
confused with as entertainment. In your very limited non-work time, make
sure to actively choose activities that are life giving.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn8;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[8]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> If you don’t
have enough time in iv, revisit iii and your definition of ‘non-negotiable,’ or
lower your academic expectations and be cognoscente of the future costs of that
decision.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn9;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[9]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> This was my
friend Tiffany’s approach to her first year of Grad School at a top 5 English
program (where she measured the reading she had to do that year in
meters). I stole it, and it has served me well.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn10;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[10]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I think the
‘marathon-not-a-sprint’ metaphor is overused and mostly inaccurate. If an
all nighter is a sprint, by simple temporal upscaling, writing a paper
carefully and reflectively over the course of 2 weeks is a middle distance
race, something like an 800m or a 1600m. Nothing in the quarter system is
a marathon, but it’s also better if it’s not a series of sprints either.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn11;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[11]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> This may seem to
contradict my advice to ‘be fully wherever you are’ but it doesn’t
really. The ‘be fully present’ principle is about worry and
distraction. If you have learned why your topic is fundamentally
interesting or even beautiful, thinking about it recreationally does not
violate the boundaries of Sabbath.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn12;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[12]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I actually did a
talk about this.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn13;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[13]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I have reached
out to some of my professor friends to provide a few thoughts of their own.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn14;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[14]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> It was also
written <i>IN</i> an aroplane, somewhere over Nevada.</span><br />
<br />stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-30340993829949546802016-12-08T07:17:00.001-08:002016-12-12T11:26:00.545-08:00Qh6+!!: An Advent Reflection on the World Chess Championship<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Apparently a dramatic world chess championship blows up my
twitter feed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That might tell you
something about me or twitter or both, but probably nothing you didn’t already
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In the recent championship a pair of 27 year olds played to a
6-6 tie, pushing the contest to (I kid you not) a speed round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Defending champion Magnus<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Carlsen
appeared to be on the ropes against the crafty Russian in a final, 25 minute match.</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Then the internet lit up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every post included six cryptic characters: </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Qh6+!!<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Magnus Carlsen not only won, but
had won in startlingly sublime fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
agreed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s the problem.
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I couldn’t see it.</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthEEitI9GMQQrsDID7pa-mmyRPY_9F3SLh0xFAn9m-Tdv2eYxBHfmwdse4O8h-ZZkwDVgy4coM0SxslC6lMc84e6Uxe7BFFEDZw0QQOgPCt6MG9sjz0aou3bQCNfAj3DbHMykf77gY9o7/s1600/Final+Position.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthEEitI9GMQQrsDID7pa-mmyRPY_9F3SLh0xFAn9m-Tdv2eYxBHfmwdse4O8h-ZZkwDVgy4coM0SxslC6lMc84e6Uxe7BFFEDZw0QQOgPCt6MG9sjz0aou3bQCNfAj3DbHMykf77gY9o7/s400/Final+Position.png" width="397" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I stared at the final board, sure
he’d given the game away.</span></span><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He slid an unprotected Queen into
a space where his opponent could easily take her…two different, and apparently
costless, ways.</span></span><br />
</span></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbt_mI5_Y56VtpNelbK-MePiv4PYCwIybeE50C1KQyLwd6pm6kbf-9j5sgCG7XrK7a2JtDs_vk6tRqvxtLjGriLuJL_znv9nVtIi23Flj6lLvRlkzZOoKazdfv_mKthwh427U3WQdW1QL/s1600/Danger+will+robinson.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbt_mI5_Y56VtpNelbK-MePiv4PYCwIybeE50C1KQyLwd6pm6kbf-9j5sgCG7XrK7a2JtDs_vk6tRqvxtLjGriLuJL_znv9nVtIi23Flj6lLvRlkzZOoKazdfv_mKthwh427U3WQdW1QL/s320/Danger+will+robinson.png" width="317" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, I was once a competent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">recreational</i> chess player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was never in the tournament “scene” but I
was undefeated in my high school chess club senior year, including a “celebrated”
win against a teacher.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once got a parking ticket in front of the
Watertown public library because I lost track of time reading a book on chess
openings.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My nerd cred is pretty tight.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">But as I starred at winning move,
I only saw a colossal blunder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew it
wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Russian<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> conceded
before Magnus took his hand off the move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The masters saw something I didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To me, the decisive blow that ensured victory - the creative stroke that
blew up (a particularly nerdy corner of) the internet - looked like an error my
5 year old committed in his first game.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Duh, the pawn can take the queen.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the king for that matter. </span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Not only did I see a senseless
queen sacrifice, I saw impending defeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Russian was just one move away from his own victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He simply needs to slide that rook-backed
Queen one space<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
to clinch the match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fJg-ccVt-gahcH8kscUbbmTXVPpU2O9hyIXVGVt8HCytRBf4dA20I6gCoCsW2uuujFkJ3iQHo2QkVpvyxB25VutXQDpPf1usJRrz7sDe-ayxSdRPUZuWXUTGQ-vPrFt3oRtWNeDgG2rw/s1600/possible+Russian+Mates.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fJg-ccVt-gahcH8kscUbbmTXVPpU2O9hyIXVGVt8HCytRBf4dA20I6gCoCsW2uuujFkJ3iQHo2QkVpvyxB25VutXQDpPf1usJRrz7sDe-ayxSdRPUZuWXUTGQ-vPrFt3oRtWNeDgG2rw/s320/possible+Russian+Mates.png" width="317" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/gaming/2016/12/_50_qh6_the_move_that_won_magnus_carlsen_the_world_chess_championship.html">One
commentator</a> summarized the position like this: </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2e74b5; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Karjakin
threatened no less than four checkmates, and there’s no way Carlsen could have
sidestepped them all. The only problem for the Russian: It was Carlsen’s move.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #2e74b5; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The move: Qh6+!!</span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I had to set up the board and
work scenarios for maybe 8 minutes to figure out how Qh6+!! won the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my amateur eye, the master stroke that
ensured victory looked like a colossal blunder.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A couple weeks later<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a> it
occurred to me: the first Christmas was like Qh6.</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">God’s decisive victory presents
as weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Like the queen sacrifice, the
incarnation is such a heedless invasion of enemy territory, such a reckless act
of regal self-donation, that at first glance it looks foolish.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The sheer scale of the apparent error
might mystify casual onlookers, God going all in<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> on an
infant incarnation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But those who
understood, the angels and the shepherds, messengers cosmic and very very
terrestrial, wizards walking west and eccentric temple hermits, those who saw
it for what it was, nodded knowingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They gasped, not with horror, but with delight.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">They saw the victory secured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">God’s plan for human redemption,
wrapped in poo soiled swaddles, under the shadow of Roman oppression, into the
mess of our ingenuity for injury, looks like a colossal blunder…like Qh6. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a bold royal invasion, but it leaves the
Prince of Peace vulnerable and exposed and unprotected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we know how the story goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">move requires royal sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It ends with self-donation.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Except that’s not how it actually
ends.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas is a master stroke, so
startling and sublime that it looked like defeat…until it didn’t.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The angels and shepherds gasp at
its beauty and brilliance. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And in the fleeting moments, amidst
the falling leaves and downtown lights, when the story behind the story behind
the story of Christmas really dawns on me...so do I.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Luke 1:18+!!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #7f7f7f; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #7f7f7f; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This post was written while listening to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Through The Deep, Dark Valley</i> by The Oh
Hellos.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The best chess name ever.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Seriously, the whole
internet, maybe you were doing something else at that exact moment.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> I played soccer in the fall
and ran track in the spring and used to tell people chess is my winter sport.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Can you believe the founder and
president of the chess club had a social calendar that afforded him time to
read chess books?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> He only had 10 second, he was down
to the increm</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ental move time which was 10 seconds a move. He needed none of them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
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</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The UC Davis chess club
sometimes sets up boards during the farmer’s market, which is just one of the
many delightful things about my town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They taught me my favorite strategy for playing chess with children
(without throwing the game, which I just can’t do…not just morally – it models
bad chess and undermines the pedagogy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They played for a little while, until the expert had a clear advantage,
and then, switched sides and played some more until the other side gained an
advantage, and then switched again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
final switch came when the expert was within a few moves of check mate, and
could coach the beginner through it.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
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<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdtiiEyuqZBuGYsZvjo8NGULXew-xQkNFPURs-PI4wqGVHmokZ0CorSzuPVsJl_wXgrh_5sLxUSfK-eYf7lkejoQhFVospPayCiRlncBsIe2CWI-nrX0cI5YBfKervZ9-SOVnKu-kKgiw/s1600/farmers+market+chess+lessons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdtiiEyuqZBuGYsZvjo8NGULXew-xQkNFPURs-PI4wqGVHmokZ0CorSzuPVsJl_wXgrh_5sLxUSfK-eYf7lkejoQhFVospPayCiRlncBsIe2CWI-nrX0cI5YBfKervZ9-SOVnKu-kKgiw/s400/farmers+market+chess+lessons.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Or down…</span></span></div>
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<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> My favorite line from this
slate article describe the “somewhat unusual mating patterns” of the two
rooks…which is the sort of thing I’d expect to hear about in an ecology
seminar, not a chess blog.*</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*Speaking
of mating chess pieces (a clause that has never been written and never should
have been), my buddy and I tried a variant of chess in high school where both
knights (horses) from one color could occupy the same space, which we called a
“breeding” move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A certain number of moves
later, that space sprouted a new knight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> During a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/steveluxa"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8899a6; font-size: 12.5pt; text-decoration: none;">@steveluxa</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: #8899a6; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">advent <a href="http://www.fbcdavis.org/downloads/sermonresources/2016/2016-12-04.MP3" target="_blank">sermon</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He laid out a couple evocative illustrations of the incarnation, and it
got me thinking of this one. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Theological pun…I’m
hilarious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out puns about the
incarnation flirt a little with heresy…but then again, words about the
incarnation flirt a little with heresy, that’s the nature of mind bending
mystery.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The Slate article describes
the move as a “gift” Magnus gave us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
love that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is actually one of the
reasons I follow sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is genre
art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each event is a collaborative
making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are tedious or lop
sided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But each holds the potential for
transcendence.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> OK, I’m a little obsessed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if you haven’t heard them, check out
their NPR tiny desk concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvCEWWWt7Q</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-55210343335999604502016-10-16T07:46:00.000-07:002016-10-16T08:28:27.643-07:00My Obligatory (Unoriginal) Donald Trump Post<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I don’t write about politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t feel qualified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt
almost all of my positions.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I hear all the time: “No one changes their mind on the
internet.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I don’t know what they’re talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I change my mind three times almost every time I scan a
twitter feed. </span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span></a><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Economics is REALLY hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Race and ethnicity and systemic inequality in our country is complex and
most attempts to fix it, explain it, or explain it away strike me as thin and naive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Global inequality and radicalized ideologies
have us engaged economically and militarily all over the world in a complex
network of intervention that I can’t believe any human can hold in her or his head
at one time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I can’t.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The confidence most of America takes into the voting booth
makes me feel like I’m missing something fundamental…like there is a part of my
brain that doesn’t work. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have never, in my life, cast a vote that didn’t leave me
feeling dirty, sad, compromised, and confused.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This November will be the same…with one exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I will walk out of that both feeling dirty, sad, and
compromised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But I will not be confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is the easiest vote I’ve ever cast.</span></span></div>
<u>
</u><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><u>I will be voting for Secretary Clinton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will not be voting for Donald Trump.</u></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I tried to reassess this choice at several points throughout
the election, which is my custom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are as confused about politics as I
am, you can’t trust your initial impressions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You have to reassess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I have
never been able to seriously consider casting a Trump vote.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now, you should not care about how I’m voting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I am not good at this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I offer no particular expertise or insight that makes my
political opinion valid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as recently
as a few weeks ago, Nate Silver was giving Mr. Trump a 20-25% chance of
victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I come from a spiritual lineage
that has a prophetic tradition.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt the need to go on the record.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Here are the four top reasons I’m not voting for Donald
Trump:</span></span></div>
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: #002060; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
respect the OFFICE of the president and recognize its cultural power.</span></b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I believe in the presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This may be hopelessly naive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I believe the office George Washington created by relinquishing does include
qualifications of decency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have never
disqualified a major political candidate on these grounds before, and don’t
expect to again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t like
Cruz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought his policy was naive and
his rhetoric was dishonest</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,
but I would not disqualify him for the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clinton has skeletons in her closet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I find her policy naive</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
and her rhetoric dishonest, but I do not disqualified her on decency
grounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But Donald Trump</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
lacks trace levels of certain virtues I require for the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Primarily, trump lacks temperance. </span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is an old timy word, that doesn’t mean
much to most any more…but it means something to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Temperance is the ability to self-restrain, a
basic power over impulse that allows humans to avoid rash choices.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> 2. I
will not hand Donald Trump drones.</span></b> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The last two administrations (Republican and Democrat) have
both expanded executive privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
sucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My epistemology makes me a fan of
balanced powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my understanding of
the current state of executive privilege (which, we have established, is flawed)
allows the Commander and Chief makes calls on drone strikes with little
oversight.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Temperance is important in an engineer, or a nurse, or a
professor, or a barista.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is
essential…essential, for a job that comes with keys to a fleet of drones.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span></a><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">3. I
find Mr. Trump’s positions on immigrants and refugees unacceptable.</span></b> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will not close
our country to Muslims.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will not build a wall.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rule of law is important and immigration
policy needs attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is our Judaeo-Christian
heritage that knits hospitality into our national fabric.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> 4. Secretary
Clinton’s will be better on sentencing reform.</span></b> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In my opinion, sentencing is the biggest justice issue in
American politics.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, Secretary Clinton was part of the
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here’s the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knows that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think she’s deeply embarrassed by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think she would love to fix that part of
her legacy, which makes her personally incentivized to fix it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And whatever you say about the Democratic
Nominee, I wouldn’t bet against her commitment to her legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Trump doesn’t even seem to think we have
a sentencing problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, while
policy recommendations are scarce from his camp, I’d expect him to double down
and go “tough on crime,” exacerbating the situation.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This list could go on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But you get the idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have not said anything new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Usually that means I don’t say anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I only use this space if I feel I have something unusual or insightful
or helpful, or at least quirky to add to the discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is none of those things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has all been said many times in better
ways.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">But, for once, I just want to add my voice to the others, to
add a polemical vote to my constitutional one, to say that, though I hate politics,
and am deeply dissatisfied with both parties, to dismiss the current candidates
as equally flawed is a false equivalency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mr Trump will be far worse for our country than Secretary Clinton.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the benefits to internal political conflict is that,
while I’m never happy on the second Wednesday of November, I’m also never
despondent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever we elected has deep
and debilitating ideological and economic flaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they also have strengths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to see it as a season of those strengths.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mr Trump lacks that upside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I see no ideological or economic strengths and the cultural and moral
downside is unprecedented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first
time there is an outcome that could leave me despondent on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I had to say something.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This post was written while listening to The Oh Hello’s</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[18]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Pandora Channel</span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I
feel like twitter was built for polemics…but polemical posts on facebook always
confuse me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that’s an arbitrary
distinction, but I try to keep a hard wall between friendship and ideology. The
link to this post is my first political post (and hopefully will be the last).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I see an aggressive polemical post
or meme I hear ”We can be friends as long as you pay an anxiety tax for my
ideology.” or “ You are important to me, but not as important as this
issue/candidate.” Or “I know you care too deeply about me to defriend me or get
off facebook, so here’s a meme mocking half the people you care about.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since I find both liberal and conservative
politics economically and morally flawed (though not equally so), it doesn’t
matter if the post comes from my friends on the left or right.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">A
cleverly deceptive meme or tweet can cause me to change my mind eight times in
a minute as I try to parse truth from philosophical sleight of hand and rhetorical
fallacy…and I can’t remember a polemical meme that didn’t somehow employ one or
the other (usually both).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are the
raw materials of the trade</span>.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Frankly, it was only Bonhoeffer’s “Ethics” that made voting a long term
psychological possibility for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bonhoeffer argues that the difficult ethical situations are not choices
between good and bad, those are easy, and rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The difficult ethical choices are between bad and worse or good and
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purity religion (which we saw recently
in the largely secular Bernie vote this year) will not participate in bad-worse
decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But abstaining is an implicit
choice for worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand,
those of us who follow the incarnate God, who invaded the broken earth and
soiled himself with our sin, can absorb the personal guilt that comes with
choosing the bad over the worse.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I
drafted this post before the recent “incident on a bus.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was by no means a “final straw” for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hit my final straw with Trump during
the first debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most telling thing
about that incident was that it did not surprise me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is where I was with this candidate.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <span style="font-size: small;">The
prophetic tradition is invoked far too often to excuse <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad hominem</i> argument and aggressive polemical diatribes, so I invoke
it cautiously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most claims to the
prophetic tradition enjoy its proclamation component but dodge of its
evidential requirements and preoccupation with responsible content.*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is not something I could escape in
this case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">*False prophecy carried severe penalties in the
communities that featured it, because they recognized its power.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">What does it say that I no longer require honesty as a basic virtue requirement
of the office?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing good.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <span style="font-size: small;">I
only listened to a short exchange from the second debate, where they were
talking about their proposed changes to the tax code.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if the republican or democratic
policies are more economically naïve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Monotonic economic solutions are fallacies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your answer to every economic question is
“put more of Americans money back in their pockets” or “tax the rich,” you are
not thinking carefully about economic policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Economic one-trick-ponies are not what our country needs but it’s all we
are offered…we only get to choose the trick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The democrats will never be able to fund their vision without broad,
middle class, tax hikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lack the
courage to say so, so they keep running multi-generational deficits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they say “Tax the rich” they mean “Tax
the rich…and our children.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
attempt to blame those who make over $1/5<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>million is rule-by-jealousy, a covetous based populism tapping into the
same dark impulses that gave us Trump on the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">But the republican solutions are not better (and may
be worse), and Trump’s particular version of them are in a fantasy world of
their very own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dropping the marginal
tax rate to 15%???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Donald Trump’s economic policy may be crazier than Cruz’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The republican offer to immediately gut
revenue shows absolutely no respect for the conservative “incremental, adaptive
changes out of respect for unintended consequences.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The current republican nominee’s economic
proposals makes the democrat fiscal policy seem measured and reasonable, which
is an accomplishment.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Every post swirling around the internet where evangelicals (yup, that’s me, the
only person I know who still claims the term…but that’s another post) or
conservatives* or, whatever I am, make their case for Trump, starts with “I
don’t like Hillary…” Well, I am certainly not a fan, but I’ve had to ask myself
why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have carefully and repeatedly
audited my gender biases, and while, like racial biases, they are certainly
always suspect, I don’t think they are the culprit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secretary Clinton is a 60’s liberal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m dubious of liberal solutions (I’m just
more dubious of republican solutions).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
not angry about President Obama’s administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just think that after 8 years of
center-left power, a center-right administration would be healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if I’m going to keep voting democrat
decade after decade, I’d like to vote for someone more imaginative policy
proposals, proposals that don’t seem crafted for the Vietnam era milieu.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">*Note: Yes, despite not voting for a republican for
president in decades, I consider myself a conservative for two reasons.** I am committed
to intergenerational equity (sustainability) and have deep, motivating respect
for unintended consequences, committing me to incremental adaptive management
solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If those don’t seem like
conservative principles to you, you’ve confounded contemporary tea party
politics with conservative thought).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I have not managed to convince myself to vote republican since my first
election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not proud of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though a pure blue voting record is how
a white man of privilege signals status in a liberal college town, it still
feels like moral failure to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fear
I’ve become an ideologue, an entrenched liberal voter with a monotonic policy
perspective, who cannot recognize when his country needs a conservative
correction because of cognitive hardening (and the status that comes with
liberal voting).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every election, I look
wistfully at the Republican slate, begging one of them to win my vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first republican primary debate (both of
them) was one of the most depressing events in this political cycle for me, and
that is saying something.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">My hope for America is not that the Liberal vision
would get stronger and stronger and eventually prevail without reasonable
dissent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope for our country is that
the two parties would hold our policies in tension with sound, logical,
evidential arguments, and provide such compelling visions of the future that we
would have trouble choosing. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">**Again, I have a draft post on this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t apologize for not blogging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, frankly, no one is asking me to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My writing time is going into talks, journal
papers, and fiction (8 shorts and 3 novels in the last three years).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, somewhere around the time the fourth decade
odometer rolled on my life, I realized I don’t want to be an internet
personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like analog life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe in the congregational scale of human
community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is still a helpful
venue to try out ideas, or go on the record.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <span style="font-size: small;">I
wrote much of this before the “hot mike on a bus” incident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, those comments displayed more than
a lack of temperance, they showed a criminal level of entitlement and a
potential history of assault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they
did not shock me, which just underlines why I have to disqualify the Republican
nominee on virtue criteria (which I have set to a pretty low bar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is one of the reasons I like politicians with a track record of marital
fidelity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marital fidelity demonstrates
1) choosing against impulses to build a long term, life giving institution, 2)
delayed gratification including capacity for second stage thinking, 3) self-skepticism
and cognitive plasticity* required to parse complex ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone who can weather a rocky stretch in
their marriage without chasing a hard, young, body because they want to build
something lasting for their family seems more likely to make the hard political
choice that I need them to make, when their self-interest competes with what is
best for my family and tens of millions like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That may seem like an unrealistic
expectation, but I expect my president to be in the upper 3% of impulse control
(and wisdom and a lot of other things for that matter).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr Trump has demonstrated that his impulse
control is at least two standard deviations below the mean.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">* I really believe that the ability to re-evaluate a
position, entertaining the possibility that there is a better way to think
about it, and to change the position when a better one is presented is the #1 marital
skill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an important quality in those
who wield power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conviction is
essential, but humans all too often mistake cognitive entrenchment for
conviction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I’m
not comfortable with how Presidents Bush or Obama used drones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also know that their briefings must be
terrifying and that they are getting the very best advice, which I think they
take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I give them some benefit of the
doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe they are both be
measured, descent men without penchants for vengeance or petty violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing in Mr Trump’s personal style or
rhetoric leads me to believe that about him.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I
do not see a pro-life case for Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
pro-life position* includes Pakistani villagers and school children in Yemen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those lives will be affected by this
election.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">*Yes, I am pro-life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know I’m supposed to be ashamed of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do not consider it one of my conservative positions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider it one of my liberal positions, in
keeping with my Hebraic-Christian commitment to the rights and voices of the
powerless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is an incredible
difficult position as well, with many implications about gender power and class
and race and economic inequality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
requires a nuanced, complicated conversation that I do not feel particularly
qualified to weigh in on, and at the very least requires a separate post.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-size: small;">When I think about the future of conservative politics in America, when I think
about what kind of coalition a conservative vision could build given our
country’s shifting demographics, it seems to me that that coalition should
focus on recruiting Muslim and Latin American immigrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pluralism should work both ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our country should benefit from conservatism
native to other cultures, a corrective to our modernist blinders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot understand why the political right
isn’t openly courting Muslim immigrants.*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">*Because of my interstitial political position (and,
lets be honest, my contrarian streak), I find I defend democrats in Mississippi
and republicans in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
means I spend more time defending republicans even though I lean democrat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years I’ve argued that the racist component
in the party is very small and that holding them against conservative politics
is a genetic fallacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 50% “basket of
deplorable” thing was reprehensible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
my estimate was also naive…I underestimated the racially motivated republican voting
block by like an order of magnitude.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[14]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <span style="line-height: 107%;">I’m not
going to call him a “racist” or a “bigot,” even though I think, for once, those
words fit. I think one of the things this election showed is that we have
expanded the semantic range of these words so far that they’ve lost their
power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If everyone is a “bigot” then
maybe it’s not that bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Bush’s
response to Katrina was “racist,” well then we’ve already had a racist
president, the precedent is set, what’s wrong with another one? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have another post drafted on this, which,
like most of my posts never saw the light of day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad
hominem</i> chickens have come home to roost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The internet warriors who deputized themselves the conscience of
everyone who sees the world more complexly than they do, who have tried to
shame us out of our cognitive dissonance by calling us racist or bigots, have
gutted some of our culture’s most powerful words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we need those words to name the thing
before us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they’ve been used up.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[15]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">There
is a lot of talk about how the Christian Scriptures weigh in on either side of
every political debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of this
talk is hermeneutically thin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(For
example, the scriptures vehemently calls Yahwehists to be outrageously generous
to the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This in no way justifies
raising the marginal tax rate.* Arguing that it does conflates taxes with
generosity.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think there are two visions
of “State” that are translatable from the Hebrew theocracy to our secular
democracy: 1) insistence on just courts that do not have class or ethnic bias
and 2) hospitality to refugees.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">*Note: I support raising the marginal tax rates (also capital
gains, but that is much more problematic given the propensity for that money to
leave the US) and not just for the rich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My family is single income in one of the most expensive housing markets
in the US but we are still upper middle class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We do not pay enough tax in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton have the courage to hold
the middle class accountable for our share of the liberal vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I believe that the marginal tax rates
should return to something like Reagan levels (which are much higher than Obama
era levels).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, arguing that position
based on Isaiah or Ezekiel’s or especially Jesus’ call to care for the poor claims
spiritual authority for a pragmatic economic calculation, that may be false
based on reams of confounding data and drivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is illicit.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[16]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> I
don’t mean to minimize police reform and am not suggesting both conversations
aren’t worth having…it just seems to me that sentencing has broader effects and
is easier to fix.***<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am white, and
have never feared a police officer in this country or been pulled over unless I’d
actually committed a traffic infraction, so my confidence in that opinion is low.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">***Here’s a shocking revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a draft post on this, centered largely
around my experience with an extended jury service.</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[17]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Which
is why I won’t be voting for a third party candidate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand the impulse and respect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But back to my Bonhoffer-ian ethic, if I
oppose Trump this strongly, I need to make the move most likely to defeat him,
even if it makes me feel dirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I
vote third party and he wins, I’m complicit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I cannot escape the math into a safe cocoon of ideological purity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voting third party and then complaining about
the outcome strikes me the same way as European countries that rely on US
military intervention and then criticize us for it.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/pol%20post.docx" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[18]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Who are delightful, and should be, in no way, associated with the content of
this post.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-62379703434604193212016-03-22T07:59:00.000-07:002016-05-09T15:56:53.124-07:00Multiple Time Series Worldview Calibration: (or, why I love my dead friends)<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Numerical modelers</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[1]</span></span></span></a><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
construct little parallel realities, simulating natural or engineered systems
in a binary alternate universe of patterned electrons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is more fun than anyone should have at
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s also hard.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Most models include uncertain parameters, numbers that represent
some process we don’t understand or data that are too difficult, too expensive,
or too variable to collect reliably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before we use a model built on uncertain parameters to predict the
future, we need to demonstrate that the model can reliably explain the
past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We call this <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>calibration</u></i></b>. During
model calibration, we adjust uncertain parameters within reasonable range until
the model reproduces some measured historical change.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIJ6HDB0MU5ta76dguUDUmrkOnNfB7xPsRAgW0007ooSVi-Mbg9toSJwGWcx_lQe4SY-utC-mh6wo9l8Swqj3JqvJP3tSBJvLuaOn4_qdKUGh2dPPEf8USPHDQap8slIm4KSMEGfBBJYp/s1600/calibration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIJ6HDB0MU5ta76dguUDUmrkOnNfB7xPsRAgW0007ooSVi-Mbg9toSJwGWcx_lQe4SY-utC-mh6wo9l8Swqj3JqvJP3tSBJvLuaOn4_qdKUGh2dPPEf8USPHDQap8slIm4KSMEGfBBJYp/s400/calibration.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">However, most natural system modelers are wary of calibrating
to a single time series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What if that
time series isn’t representative?” we ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we tune the model to eccentric circumstances, the model will predict
poorly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A temporally constrained
calibration will compromise our model’s generality.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[3]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We often build river models right after a flood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it is tempting to calibrate our models to
the flood, since this is the dramatic period of change that dominates everyone’s
imagination.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we have found again and again, that
if you calibrate to a short period of rapid change, the model underperforms
when predicting the future.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So “multiple time series calibration”</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> emerged
as standard practice in most fields that apply numerical models to natural
systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Multiple Time Series
Calibration is simply the idea that if you test uncertain model parameters
against recent events <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>and</u></i></b> historic observations, you
are more likely to construct a robust, predictive model, which can handle the
full range of possible future conditions.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This process came to mind recently as I thought about how we
construct our worldviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
constantly “calibrating” our world views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are constantly tweaking the uncertain parameters in or conceptual
model of reality to match observations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, our reality calibrations have temporal bias.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tend to focus on recent, usually
dramatic events. </span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[6]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is why I’ve found cultivating
friendships with the insightful dead so valuable.</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55trxiTk1tpaCwC4C5cHWjs_M812hxFPPonwFcJ27y93bbR9fhp1NoCMw0PyS_DbCPFDmm4BGVJgxQU7osrGwpuB8SuaXNZ_QkU_mTv6wcR6DGvhAszKCDqBpKBL8msOKBxBRUkijp2vd/s1600/dead+friends.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55trxiTk1tpaCwC4C5cHWjs_M812hxFPPonwFcJ27y93bbR9fhp1NoCMw0PyS_DbCPFDmm4BGVJgxQU7osrGwpuB8SuaXNZ_QkU_mTv6wcR6DGvhAszKCDqBpKBL8msOKBxBRUkijp2vd/s400/dead+friends.png" width="400" /></a></span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">By investing some of my world view formation resources in
ancient thinkers, those that pre-date the turbulence of the information age, or
even the non-stationatiry of the post-enlightenment milieu, we can submit our
world view to multiple time scale calibration.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Certainly our conceptual model of reality has to encompass Descartes,
Darwin and Derrida</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
as well as more contemporary (and more diverse voices).</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our model will not have predictive power if
it can’t encompass these observations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
tuning our model exclusively to these recent events (and especially if tuning our
model hyper recent foci of, say, Twitter) won’t generate a robust framework.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Limiting our world view calibration to contemporary voices
leads to an unhealthy myopia, a bias Lewis called “presentism” and that
Chesterton colorfully</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
described as “the oligarchy or those who happen to be breathing.”</span><a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[12]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The future is uncertain, and our models of reality are built
on uncertain variables that make the parameters that span five orders of magnitude
in my field seem adorably concrete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
tuning those parameters to a brief, recent, time series is unlikely to produce
a robust model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real diversity includes
temporal diversity, seeking out ancient voices about how to be human, about
what matters and why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A model robust enough to explain modern and ancient
observations, is flexible enough to handle the uncertain time series ahead of
us.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #bfbfbf; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This post was written by listening to the Dawes Pandora Station.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span>Disclaimer:
I have to build a technical bench with this argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I spend over 300 words talking about
numerical modeling, before I get to the point of general interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully it will be worth it.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
For those who don’t know, that’s what I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I build numerical models of rivers and river processes to support ecological
and engineering decisions.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
Multi-parameter models can yield the same answer different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are non-unique solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So just because a model reproduces the past,
doesn’t mean the parameters are correct, or that it will predict the future
reliably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the principle of
equifinality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not talk enough
about how equifinality is embedded in the world view formation process…and by
not enough, of course, I mean, at all.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
And, to be fair, that funded the study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Floods
almost always lead to work for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Natural disasters bring economic attention to natural processes, so
those of us who model these systems often end up feeling like “ambulance chasers.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> Evaluating
a calibration to a second, independent time series is often called “validation”
or “verification” but this language is extremely fraught, and I’ve argued that
the whole debate is academic and totally out of touch with practitioner
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I have adopted this more
general terminology which has arisen independently from multiple corners of the
water world which describes the process more precisely and the experience more frankly.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
More and more, recently, they also have spatial bias, as content providers
deliver information targeted to interest, leaving us totally ignorant of huge
swaths of calibration data unless we INTNTIONALLY inhabit diverse information ecologies.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
Wow, that was something of an abrupt transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But some of my most cherished mentors have
been dead for centuries.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> I
wrote a </span><a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2008/12/explanation-of-fantasy-ink.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">piece</span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">
on this Caravaggio paining and why Francis is holding a Skull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I assume the Sayers pic is along the same
lines, but there is mischief in that smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(By the way, the Caravaggio double dips on the dead friends, as both the
author and the subject count).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> You
are going to have to just trust me that I didn’t try to alliterate there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m also not going to pretend I didn’t
find that enormously satisfying.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
The best argument for excluding historic data in world view formation is that they
are too badly biased, selecting for privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not a trivial argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
there is an analogy for this in science too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Historic data are usually biased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Preservation is a stochastic and fundamentally biasing process.*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we find historic data so valuable in
model formation, so useful in building model robustness, that we’ve developed careful
methods to incorporate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first
reaction to finding historic data isn’t to toss it because its biased, but to
do a little dance of joy because I know it will make my model more robust if I
handle it well.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">*I currently have a student pulling 1700 newspapers and
another student examining 40 tree cores to provide historic context for the modern
measurements I’m dealing with, and also to provide a BS check for my model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in both cases we talk about “preservation
bias thresholds.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are significant
events that we do not capture because they escape the notice of reporters and
trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the historic record is too
important to ignore because it’s biased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We come up with creative ways to correct for the bias, and learn from
the data. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">So yes, history and historical philosophy and
historical theology was written by white men who had enough resources to study
and write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historic world view data have
“preservation bias thresholds.” And we need to make some correction for
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But ignoring the historic data
that could add robustness to our model because of preservation bias is a
fallacy that the scientific community rejects in our model building.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">
Because right or wrong, he never did it any other way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incidentally, even though Lewis and Chesterton
are moderns, they kind of count as surrogate ancients, and not just because
Lewis self-identified as a dinosaur, but because they themselves submitted their
world-views to multi-time scale calibration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///D:/stuff/Draft%20Blog%20posts/multi%20time%20scale%20world%20view%20calibration.docx" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> Andy
Crouch recently tweeted “The absurdity of our time might be summed up in this:
almost every high school student reads Kafka, but almost none read Chesterton.”</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-68008924232005085572016-03-13T13:22:00.001-07:002016-03-14T06:32:24.698-07:00The Surprising Cooperation and Competition Between Science and Fiction in Science Fiction<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Good science fiction requires good science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems axiomatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I figured my scientific training would expedite
my science fiction experiments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns
out I was right…or at least as right as I could be as I also discovered I was entirely
mistaken. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I believed making science would prepare me to make fiction,
but writing science would hurt me when writing fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve found mostly the opposite.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It turns out that the
words I logged writing science, telling evidential stories about the
counter-intuitive processes in our world, prepared me to tell stories about
other worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’ve uncovered
cognitive tools, so basic to the scientific enterprise I scarcely notice them humming
under the hood, that I had to unlearned before I could write modern
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">More specifically, I’ve learned three things about the
symbiosis and conflict between science and fiction in science fiction. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Technical writing makes excellent training
for creative writing.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I used to think my technical writing and my fiction were
both mediocre because they required antagonistic skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought the subverted each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought technical parsimony undermined the
florid description that populated good fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believed that the adjectives I piled into my fiction contaminated the
linguistic economy of my technical prose, and sparse scientific descriptions, which
scorn not only adjectives but even synonyms, built unhelpful habits for
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was mistaken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My writing wasn’t mediocre because I dabbled in genres with
different conventions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My writing was
bad because I couldn’t write.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both conventions reward linguistic economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unnecessary adjectives<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
are equally unnecessary whether I’m describing an experiment or a setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adverbs generally beg to be verbs or to
simply disappear whether I’ve added them - copiously - to technical reports or
novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Extra words clutter text about
worlds real or imaginary, and artfully crafted sentences are as welcome in a
journal as a novel.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Two of the leading contemporary,
speculative-short-fiction authors started their careers<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
as technical writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not a fluke. Learning to
communicate clearly, make verbs work, maintain subject coherence, construct
sentences that brains can parse, and make stories flow, are important whether
they they describe this universe or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every hour I spent taking the proverbial sawed-off to zombie
nouns, selecting precise, slightly onomatopoeic verbs, simplifying sentences,
until the technical prose had something of a cadence, was an investment in my
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I learned the art of
right branching sentences, considered the psychology of clause storage,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
and added other tools in the fiction quiver, my technical writing improved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Science writing doesn’t have to be Hemingway.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 2. </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Science is Generalization but Fiction is Incarnation… and
those are, like, really different.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So I started writing fiction with a few of my million words
already littering rarely accessed tomes<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
in science libraries and obscure academic journals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my science training did ingrain skills I
had to unlearn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the most
important science making skills stands opposed to one of the most important
literature making skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, you
could say, they are opposite skills.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Science coalesces particular observations into
generalizations.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Literature embodies generalizations into particular
observations.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Science is generalization, moving from details to system,
from observation to hypothesis to theory which may or may not prove resilient
under a thousand Poparian assaults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fiction embeds the general in the particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It incarnates theory and idea into
observation, sense, setting, dialogue, and detail.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It evokes a common sense, a shared human experience,
from a unique, novel, detail.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Science moves from detail to paradigm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Science distills data into organizing
principle, or at least heuristic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, when
a scientist writes fiction, it stings to leave things at the level of observed
detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to interpret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to distill detail to paradigm.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A novel is like a thesis that only includes
methods and results, leaving the synthesis of the discussion to the reader.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> <span style="color: #351c75;"> 3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></b><span style="color: #351c75;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Science and Literature both Build With Careful, Novel Observation</b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But there is at least one way science helps the
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both science and fiction are built on formal, rigorous,
apprenticeship in careful observation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Science requires careful observation, noticing details that
escaped generations of better observers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You cannot do good science without re-examining data, looking at them
one more time, for the eighth, ninth, fortieth, or four hundredth time, until
you see that one distinctive detail that tells the story anew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wall paper my office with huge posters of
data, and stare at them, and sometimes swear at them, until they tell me a
story that I’ve never heard before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you can apply that skill to social worlds, both contemporary
and imagined, the scientific apparatus can help fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author searches reality for moments, gestures,
phrases, and reactions that are such startlingly familiar instances of a general human experience
that they will even feel familiar in another world.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both science and fiction build out of a careful collection
of surprising detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fiction just leaves synthesis on the table, letting readers
pull the observations together into their own world and conclusions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post was written while listening to the Alexisonfire Pandora
Station</span></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br clear="all" /></span></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> A problem
I recognize I’ve only partially rectified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But you’ve got to write abysmal words you edit into bad words before you
can write mediocre words you edit into good ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a blog is a good place to practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
Note: I reject Hemingway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adjectives
and adverbs are tools, powerful if used well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The key here is “unnecessary.”</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
And in Cheng’s case, continued his day job…at least until he sold Stories of
Your life for $25 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have so
many mixed feelings about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
thrilled to see Chang get paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I
like the team associated with this project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I also think that the very things that made Stories of Your Life one
of the greatest pieces of modern short science fiction, are the things that
will make it difficult to convert to film.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
Clause storage sounds a little grisly, like a Christmas <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saw</i> film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saw XII: Clause Storage</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
The similarity of tomes to tombs is surprisingly apt when considering the black
binding gestalt of the shelved thesis.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
Fictions instantiate class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole
Platonic form thing is passé, replaced by a better metaphor from object oriented
software development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> I
have four pieces of paper on the wall and a recurring pay check telling me
that’s what I’m supposed to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, I
don’t have my science diplomas on the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t actually know where they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a metaphor…or, um, an allusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m still bad at this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, I’ve
never spelled metaphor correctly on the first try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like restaurant and colleagues. </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-65199721398141187822015-10-21T06:29:00.000-07:002015-10-21T07:53:22.337-07:00Honest Query Letters: How do you really feel about your novel?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #365f91;">Recently, encouraged by the success of <i>The Martian<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></b></span></span></a></i>,
and the (outrageously optimistic) possibility of a groundswell in hard science
fiction, I tried to craft my first query letter<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a>,
pitching my second novel. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigs79irtkiQpfTJPWnuBJlM8xJn1n6_2mkfOnKkccmaYFvFG8_Ugq4gLkzBwlkqZx-PcwREuh5DUrmjqbT7e7jFdBfMFPW3Cz1F4FxQha7b2PTsV7TLWd1Dd-pjEzXhjZ6mKc8-z7YwGOm/s1600/the+martian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigs79irtkiQpfTJPWnuBJlM8xJn1n6_2mkfOnKkccmaYFvFG8_Ugq4gLkzBwlkqZx-PcwREuh5DUrmjqbT7e7jFdBfMFPW3Cz1F4FxQha7b2PTsV7TLWd1Dd-pjEzXhjZ6mKc8-z7YwGOm/s320/the+martian.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #365f91;">I failed to take the exercise seriously. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #365f91;">Here are some of my favorite lines:</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Katabatic Winds</i> includes
80,000 words, mostly really big science-y words, polysyllabic, Latin-root monstrosities,
concatenated with the occasional puzzling verb, like, for example, ‘concatenate.’ </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Katabatic Winds </i>aspired
to hard, literary, Science Fiction, but as a coming of age quest story about
two brothers in their early twenties, it landed much closer to ‘new adult
fiction,’ a genre I didn’t even know existed…and I’m still not sure does. Yet I somehow wrote ‘new
adult fiction’ without appreciable sex, which is as incongruous as an echidna. And yes, I realize that by writing a ‘new
adult’ book, I somehow managed to target the only market less viable than hard
science fiction. By the way, ‘incongruous
as an echidna,’ a comparison that requires readers to identify echidnas as monotremes,
is the kind of evocative metaphor that litters the pages of this novel. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Katabatic Winds </i>capitalizes
on the market <i>The Martian </i>uncovered
for long descriptions of physical processes and the contemporary reader’s apparent
appetite for math. Did you love <i>The Martian</i>, but thought ‘this would be
perfect with 38% more math?’ You’re in luck.
‘Do the math,’ is the new ‘Show don’t tell.’ It’s not ‘telling’ if you use numbers. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Do you love intestinal metaphors for glacial processes? What about complicated plot structures based
on Macarthurian island biogeography? Are
you hungry for love stories which overcome actual obstacles...like genetic isolation?
Does co-authoring journal papers make your imagination bubble with sexual
tension? Have you ever wondered how Mark
Twain’s Mississippi reflections might have read during a glacial maximum? Then you are going to love <i>Katabatic Winds.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I realize you probably don’t receive many letters like this. Your mail is probably full of requests for
love potions and Balrog banishments. But
I decided to send this to you instead of a literary agent because it will take
a literal wizard to sell this book.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">This
post was written while listening to the brilliant new mewithoutYou <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pale Horses</i></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Which I read…and loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard Science
Fiction needs a snarky, light hearted protagonist to balance the math and
science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Martian</i> worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The characters
were lovable nerds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The math and engineering and geology were natural
extensions of their likable personas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still,
here’s how marketable HSF is…no one published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Martian</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy Weir couldn’t
find an agent and self published it…until it blew up on amazon.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> I’ve
never crafted a query letter because I always assumed at least my first three
novels would be un-readable…and I’ve written two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But The Martian represents the first
commercial success for the sort of stuff I write since…well…ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figure that ‘trend’ is ephemeral as a
California clouds, and entertained the idea of floating my manuscripts during
the four month window that agents think HSF matters.</div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-6387430520789540442015-07-12T13:03:00.000-07:002015-07-12T13:08:58.190-07:00Cotton Candy Elephant Redemption: Bing Bong and the Gospel<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Spoiler Alert: I built this post on a plot
twist in the great new Pixar/Disney film Inside out, which, though predictable,
is moving and deserves a spoiler alert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also,
I didn’t do much plot summary, so this might not make a ton of sense without seeing
the film.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I knew it was coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">From the moment our Pixar guides introduced the valley of
forgetting,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
where memories pass into oblivion, moments lost, buried forever beneath the tyranny
of the present, I knew Bing Bong<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
would end up there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Call it <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun">Chekhov's</a> pit of cognitive
purge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You don’t foreshadow the violence of forgetting unless
someone's gettin’ forgot.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But seeing it coming didn’t change the weight of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Bing Bong’s face changed, resigned
courage rising in his twinkling pachadolphin eyes, just before he lets go, falling into
the pit of unbeing, sacrificing himself so that Riley could literally get Joy
back, the theater gasped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2015-07/3/13/enhanced/webdr13/anigif_original-grid-image-9801-1435945676-4.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2015-07/3/13/enhanced/webdr13/anigif_original-grid-image-9801-1435945676-4.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I gasped with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But no one over 12 gasped for the surprise of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We gasped under the weight of it.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A beloved companion, unkindly cast aside, offers the one last
thing he has to give to save his beloved friend,
himself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Now, I get that Christological types are tired<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>..and
this one is decidedly imperfect<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>…but
three days later,<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></a></span>
I realized I’d heard this story before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A beloved companion, guide, and source of wonder from years
of innocence, steadfast in his love, finds himself cast aside and marginalized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He finds his beloved in trouble, battered by
her world and loss of wonder, and instead of bitter “I told you so’s”, he casts
himself into oblivion, whatever lays at the other side of forgetting, trading
his life – and in a mysterious way, his very ontology – to vouchsafe joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He trades himself for his beloved’s joy to
rebuild her crumbling identity and moral lostness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve heard this story before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But unlike candy/elephant/dolphins, oblivion could not hold
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He breaks the monotonic
trajectory of forgetting, offering us the same escape from the valley of unknowing that he forged,
an ontology that surpasses whatever ephemeral marks we make on human memories.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">This post was written
while listening to the <i>We Were Romans </i>station on Pandora</span></span>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
This deserves its own post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The primacy
of future memory in our choices is a really interesting idea, highlighted by
the great section in Kannaman’s book (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TFAS</i>)
where he asks, “Would you accept an all expense paid one week vacation anywhere
you’d like if you would not remember it when it was over?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He argues we have two selves, an experience
self and a remembering self, and disentangling their motivations helps us
understand our always complex, sometimes counter intuitive, and often self
destructive choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pit of final
forgetting leaves us with the question: Do forgotten things matter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are the only relevant actions remembered
actions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answers to these questions
tell us a lot about celebrity culture and our own aspiration.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Bing
Bong was Riley’s obsolete imaginary friend, found wandering the halls of her
long term memory, defined by his love for her and his recognition that she no
longer considered him.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
The same night I watched Birdman in a sublime family movie night/reading group
movie night* double header – which does the whole “Checkhov’s gun thing’ so
heavy handedly that it was surely ironic.</div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
*My friend Kyle doesn’t read fiction, so when he came
up in the draft order to select fiction** he picked a film.</div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
**We have changed our reading group format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we have a draft order and whoever is up
picks unilaterally from whichever of our three rotating categories (fiction, theological
non-fiction, secular non-fiction) is up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This new format has been wildly successful in my opinion, giving us a
wide range of books we wouldn’t otherwise read instead of familiar stuff we can
all agree on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a priori</i>.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
Incidentally, I’m assuming that it was the elephant/dolphin portion of him that
made BingBong’s song/weight ratio sub-optimal, because a creature made largely
of cotton candy would be pretty light.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
And <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-reflections-onthe-honey-badger.html">I
go there</a></span> often, incautiously and unrepentant.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
Feel free to go ahead and comment about Jesus being an ‘imaginary friend’ if,
you know, you’re a troll.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
Poetic timing for the reappearance of one who resigned himself to oblivion to
redeem joy.</div>
</div>
</div>
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<![endif]-->stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-16726469045680700392015-03-13T07:36:00.001-07:002015-03-13T07:47:52.575-07:00The Apostle Peter as a Joss Whedon Blurter<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">Joss Whedon once said</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"> that
regular people are too polite to move a story forward in 46 minutes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are socially cautious and take a while to
come to public consensus, circling realizations while we wait for them to become
obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Story tellers don’t have time
for that, Joss says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he has a
solution:</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">Cordelia.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmtjzjOryn1qihsweo1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmtjzjOryn1qihsweo1_500.gif" height="220" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmtjzjOryn1qihsweo1_500.gif)</span><br />
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"> And After he shipped Cordelia off to the expansion franchise, he
replaced her with Anya.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://static.tumblr.com/omo7xif/Vc4lzf0tf/anya_patience.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.tumblr.com/omo7xif/Vc4lzf0tf/anya_patience.gif" height="166" width="400" /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> http://static.tumblr.com/omo7xif/Vc4lzf0tf/anya_patience.gif</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">Anya didn’t do
any of the narrative work Cordilia did, and despite paying off her story into a
top ten episode (and maybe the most disturbing one), she sometimes felt marginal. But Joss said he needed her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said his ensembles always needed a ‘blurter,’
someone too crass or too obtuse to negotiate the complex human world of social
graces, who says what needs to be said even though it is wildly inappropriate...mercifully moving the story forward. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">Firefly had a whole ship full of blurters, Jayne, Zoe, Mal himself…and River did some fine blurting…when she was talking.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li3rpaNzGi1qcey8ko1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li3rpaNzGi1qcey8ko1_500.gif" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">In the Avengers, the blurter can be Tony Stark, who is too rich to care, or
Thor, (<s>who is too hansom to care</s>), who is from another planet or
Captain America who is from another time. Also "Hulk Smash"...</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zN04-TSmwjSYazFElnIn5T6G4HoWM9nsAlcXD0NvvPGl_KT8ENnFA0Se9w5D-8N2ImkaLAfiggAt9-9ZW0-9zYgzE3v6U13NTY8egiIC5zttrqubQvC_pnb3KHsX50K15-V8b_QkGn5U/s1600/avengers_20110731231844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zN04-TSmwjSYazFElnIn5T6G4HoWM9nsAlcXD0NvvPGl_KT8ENnFA0Se9w5D-8N2ImkaLAfiggAt9-9ZW0-9zYgzE3v6U13NTY8egiIC5zttrqubQvC_pnb3KHsX50K15-V8b_QkGn5U/s1600/avengers_20110731231844.jpg" height="202" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">I thought of this narrative device recently as I was reading the
gospels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much has been made of the Apostle
Peter’s total ‘filter lack.’ But it recently occurred to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scrolls were short, and expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke didn’t have time or space for the
apostles to all be polite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So God gave
him a ‘blurter,’ a character who lives on the edge of propriety who can move
the narrative by saying the things that everyone is thinking.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;">Peter is the Cordelia of the gospels…a Joss Whedon blurter.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJ3bEun7njM8so8Mkv2BuukwnV6OExwutDearjVT2FSbVR5giCqRB2QB5I8T2zdNeVHgaoxVJ5jJlzF_DtsQsN_cGO1Yc1z_HHkNJnAZQ_BRRafjmfJH3_6banx9relgYcqihCB1pw3ml/s1600/The+Apostle+Peter+and+Cordelia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJ3bEun7njM8so8Mkv2BuukwnV6OExwutDearjVT2FSbVR5giCqRB2QB5I8T2zdNeVHgaoxVJ5jJlzF_DtsQsN_cGO1Yc1z_HHkNJnAZQ_BRRafjmfJH3_6banx9relgYcqihCB1pw3ml/s1600/The+Apostle+Peter+and+Cordelia.png" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This post was written while listening to Brother Sun Sister Moon by
mewithoutYou (old school) </span></span></div>
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<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is crass paraphrase from a ‘director commentary’ on a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buffy episode (I don’t remember which) that I
watched decades ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> How's that for attribution. </span>And yes, I realize
that if I had a ‘man card’ it would be revoked for not only watching Buffy but
listening to the director’s commentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good thing I haven’t been weighed down by one of those for years. Also, I've made not secret of the fact that I think the only job that could tempt me to leave the one I have (and love) would be to join Whedon's writing team.</div>
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stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-29975930531984877082015-03-06T06:45:00.002-08:002015-03-06T06:45:50.586-08:00Guest Post over at the RASBlogIt seems like guest blogging is all the rage. So I had to give it a shot. I wrote an invited post for Chris Goodell's river engineering blog, which means two things:<br />
<br />
1. It will be my most read post ever, except for maybe the <a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2014/11/psalm-plots.html" target="_blank">Psalm Plot post </a>- which didn't go viral but got a no-kidding case of internet sniffles....and...<br />
<br />
2. It probably will not overlap with the interests of anyone who reads this blog...despite the silly breadth of topics I play with here.<br />
<br />
Never the less....just like a real live blogger...here it is:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hecrasmodel.blogspot.com/2015/03/sediment-transport-features-in-hec-ras.html">http://hecrasmodel.blogspot.com/2015/03/sediment-transport-features-in-hec-ras.html</a><br />
<br />stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-29000943059040702182015-02-15T15:15:00.000-08:002015-02-15T15:21:33.554-08:00A Two Front Strategy: Aspiration and Contentment in Love and Vocation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I recently gave two talks on work. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first argued that our culture underrates
vocation, the second argued that canonical clichés put too much hope in our
careers and dreams.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So what’s true? Is
work too important or not important enough?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Well, yes.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some days we vest our work with too much meaning, giving it
power over us. Other days we despair at the basic meaninglessness or
bureaucratic frustrations that surround it.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #e36c0a;">Life happens in
the tension of aspiration and contentment.
</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overrating aspiration<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
creates disappointment and bitterness.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overrating contentment creates regret and…well…bitterness.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Thesis</u>: <span style="color: #e36c0a;">Aspiration and
contentment aren’t competitive entities.</span></b> They aren’t zero-sum enemies. They are <i>both</i>
necessary components of spiritual and psychological sustainability in our world
and economy. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here’s how I think it works in Love and Vocation (spoiler
alert, they are parallel):</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #76923c; line-height: 115%;"></span><u><span style="color: #76923c; line-height: 115%;">Love</span></u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Love starts easy, requiring neither the hard work of
aspiration nor the hard work of contentment.
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The magnitude of the lover’s passion and the loveliness of
the loved fills the gap between them.
Passion of the lover meets the perceived worthiness of the loved. In other words, between the lover and the
loved (and visa versa) there is enough passion and attraction to fill the gap
between them and <i>everything is awesome</i>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> But, of course, it’s also an unsustainable lie. None of us are as lovely as we appear at
first. We do not withstand scrutiny
well. And as everyone knows, after about
18 months, a crack begins to form between the sufficiency of passion and
attraction, as both begin to wane a bit.
Then the full disclosure of marriage sets in, and the lovers find that
the sum of passion and attraction are not sufficient to carry the day. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrOjQQTbQQH5xhrvueEpRfADb6SjkmeZRwUMWSUINl7RSM_Exn7di397_Y5_Zd5Ah3h3_Unv5XyJD-afhobutGqWBEB6AZoKtRXorjbRs0pqgHMrTVXB7qUZxm8m5Tl53zQUBi51t_riA/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B2).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrOjQQTbQQH5xhrvueEpRfADb6SjkmeZRwUMWSUINl7RSM_Exn7di397_Y5_Zd5Ah3h3_Unv5XyJD-afhobutGqWBEB6AZoKtRXorjbRs0pqgHMrTVXB7qUZxm8m5Tl53zQUBi51t_riA/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B2).png" height="61" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Both sides require discipline. In a real live partnership, a 100%/100%
shared covenant, both respond with action.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The loved responds with <i><span style="color: #244061;">aspiration</span></i>,
trying to become easier to love and the lover responds with <i><span style="color: #632423;">contentment</span></i>, learning to love
the actual person they chose, not some romanticize projection of themselves
they imagined in the sexually surcharged early days of their relationship. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSM0wLrfFg9LLIqdVnBsQRfbMF7UAQLaGdcd0Ur_UmcWgOFu7TYjNu7CYd6Emm5dL8am2Lb4jsaldeLSA-7wDMzm6zd_7uc8QjjO2WWb8AGzNMUqfct1BnGvFujgM_NMTZ443aSB0MG60/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B3).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSM0wLrfFg9LLIqdVnBsQRfbMF7UAQLaGdcd0Ur_UmcWgOFu7TYjNu7CYd6Emm5dL8am2Lb4jsaldeLSA-7wDMzm6zd_7uc8QjjO2WWb8AGzNMUqfct1BnGvFujgM_NMTZ443aSB0MG60/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B3).png" height="62" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Those who stick to it, find real, live, sustainable,
no-kidding, LOVE, as <i><span style="color: #244061;">aspiration</span></i>,
turns into growth, new things to generate attraction and <i><span style="color: #632423;">contentment</span></i>
manifests as grace, enoughness, extending love without condition. And the sum of these, fill the gap.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0sCrcZV9dpFFMs2q_skQZc1WNkoL6bVDVhoVMU_rZf8YnzxLJy8wi10RxCjfYwzOeC1zyxX9_3Ydftmu1BEsoeLqGB-3L73PwJzmju5TmAoNrqQhxWY4W63_B4iDbXLZ_JiM1YLzjF0BV/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B4).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0sCrcZV9dpFFMs2q_skQZc1WNkoL6bVDVhoVMU_rZf8YnzxLJy8wi10RxCjfYwzOeC1zyxX9_3Ydftmu1BEsoeLqGB-3L73PwJzmju5TmAoNrqQhxWY4W63_B4iDbXLZ_JiM1YLzjF0BV/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B4).png" height="57" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And of course, an exactly symmetrical process mirrors this
in healthy relationships.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DgzmrHjOQESUhdcOmaOl59q2w-Qi2x0DDii7te7aT5HFgAUX7Uta3FWlPKq_YjLUMGWVZK-Lm8zw2g8GjR__g4uYyYoCz1RROS8hndOaMOv4RLvi6GZKDBG3k-Z3x3byRC0Y8GCrREZt/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B5).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DgzmrHjOQESUhdcOmaOl59q2w-Qi2x0DDii7te7aT5HFgAUX7Uta3FWlPKq_YjLUMGWVZK-Lm8zw2g8GjR__g4uYyYoCz1RROS8hndOaMOv4RLvi6GZKDBG3k-Z3x3byRC0Y8GCrREZt/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+(dating%2B5).png" height="51" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #76923c; line-height: 115%;">Vocation</span></u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a professor once who said “Freud was wrong about
almost everything, but he was wrong in really interesting ways.” I think one of the things he was actually
right about was the centrality of love and work to our overall well being. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And the longer I do both, the more I find the
skills required to thrive in them complementary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When we start to explore a particular niche in the economy
and world of mutual service, our future work seemed exciting. It seemed to bubble with potential, and it is
easy to generate passion about how work can affect our world. Uncluttered by the boring details or soul
deadening bureaucracies, it seemed that some combination of our passion and our
job’s interestingness should carry the day.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpL6y8wGkxhIKEopY5E1snYuztXo_16Uy2USi1E3QYEljact8CvdqnNwGSuKsvamaS_cx3PFHHQ2nosSLioP1jyE8WBW9NQkxmMmrFFEF3ZUJpM7ZH5_uzhuc6N72KaDXzctdDqGZHsvP/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpL6y8wGkxhIKEopY5E1snYuztXo_16Uy2USi1E3QYEljact8CvdqnNwGSuKsvamaS_cx3PFHHQ2nosSLioP1jyE8WBW9NQkxmMmrFFEF3ZUJpM7ZH5_uzhuc6N72KaDXzctdDqGZHsvP/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+1).png" height="61" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But you don’t have to work very long to get disillusioned
with this. Soon a gap of dissatisfaction
opens between your passion for the work and the work’s worthiness.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YcWAGwS5nnDrrPzR0R13y6Vqn2xVDkPkfXLWsU1qpWAej8RCzgIps2naL7HL_GgkM2-66pfdhXmksWlC1w8ToaRiQ83rCKg6e5YAAuxJwXqxcougWk4IJ6ndYasHZrmchj1THXHYi47f/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+2).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YcWAGwS5nnDrrPzR0R13y6Vqn2xVDkPkfXLWsU1qpWAej8RCzgIps2naL7HL_GgkM2-66pfdhXmksWlC1w8ToaRiQ83rCKg6e5YAAuxJwXqxcougWk4IJ6ndYasHZrmchj1THXHYi47f/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+2).png" height="67" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This requires the same, two-front strategy as love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4KFzHLCCJZ0qogjkuAlPqFzgvjpDMnnhBvG6u1BNXI1hvT48zVqU8E04TPy7fKSIMwiANNhVrUUeZp3gXO_YFToipOGWgH0jahsEvUg22rH_DpdxamlbAKPeVMaCoC1Ycd34d91lgzBW/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+3).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4KFzHLCCJZ0qogjkuAlPqFzgvjpDMnnhBvG6u1BNXI1hvT48zVqU8E04TPy7fKSIMwiANNhVrUUeZp3gXO_YFToipOGWgH0jahsEvUg22rH_DpdxamlbAKPeVMaCoC1Ycd34d91lgzBW/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+3).png" height="60" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You aspire. <i><span style="color: #365f91;">Aspiration</span></i> can go to work on the ‘interestingness’
of your job, tooling up with new skills, qualifying yourself for new projects,
earning trust in small tasks to open the door to bigger, more interesting
tasks, and (in the biggest difference between love and work) getting a new job. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But <i><span style="color: #c0504d;">Contentment </span></i>fills the
gap, active disciplines of enoughness fills the gap between you and your job
with joy and gratitude and the privilege to work, to bring order out of chaos,
to participate in the image of God as a co-maker, as a collaborating artist.<i> </i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXX3gi0Qm1k8KcMlBjWBRaqKP5EW3HA_FuQ-AsR0AGYGsAoD7XuTd7dEdP-0hy-3JwQuj1rC0zUDsTsZY1b4z5P0v6WWPsQ7PQUFC1bBIC0rjhOTm0WugnkcLNer7PN2Pu97hWXYDqpXiP/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+4).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXX3gi0Qm1k8KcMlBjWBRaqKP5EW3HA_FuQ-AsR0AGYGsAoD7XuTd7dEdP-0hy-3JwQuj1rC0zUDsTsZY1b4z5P0v6WWPsQ7PQUFC1bBIC0rjhOTm0WugnkcLNer7PN2Pu97hWXYDqpXiP/s1600/Aspiration+and+Contentment+work+4).png" height="61" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">This post was written while listening to the <i>Beautiful Eulogy<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="color: #262626; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></b></span></span></a></i>
Pandora Station. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /></span></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a>
This is the biggest challenge of preaching. (Or blogging, which I’ve decided is
essentially the new preaching…except for TED talks, which are actually preaching without trying to pretend they are something else.) Most theology and
reality is in tension, and our traumas come from over-emphasizing one side of
the tension or the other. But in any
given room, or sub culture, or ‘readership,’ there are some who need to move
one way and some who have to move the other.
And for most of us, we inflict both traumas on ourselves at various
times. So you can almost never say, “the
problem is.” It is usually “the problem
is cross pressured by these two contrasting distortions." </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
This was the basic motivation of my second talk. Overrating aspiration is one of the reasons
young adults find the 20s so depressing.
</span></div>
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<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></a>
There are two kinds of bitter old people, those who gave it everything, and
came up short, and those who wish they’d tried harder.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></a>
More on this later…but while I was busy dismissing it as an indistinc prong of the CCM industry for the last decade or
so, Christian rap got shockingly good.
Christian rap isn’t just a sub-genre of Christian music…it’s something
totally different. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-74305045045141547432015-01-02T06:22:00.000-08:002015-01-02T06:22:54.139-08:002014 in Books (Part 1: Fiction)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A string of excellent recommendations from friends, blogs
and podcasts, translated into a phenomenal year of fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I continued my quest to metabolize the
Speculative Fiction neo-Classics (working slowly through the Hugo winners), and
also surveyed recent, popular work.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As usual, I count down from worst to best, so while there
are only two books I didn’t like this year, the tone starts out cranky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gets better.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skimming is recommended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Key:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(A) -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audio – I
listened to this</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(H) – Won a Hugo</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(h) – Nominated for a Hugo</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441788386/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420205911&sr=1-1&keywords=stranger+in+a+strange+land">Stranger
in a Strange Land</a> - </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Robert
Heinlein<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A) (H)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">"The
only religious opinion I feel sure of is this: self-awareness is not just a
bunch of amino acids bumping together!”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: A child born during the
first mission to mars becomes the mission’s only survivor, and is subsequently raised
by Martians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A second mission brings him
home 20 years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He arrives with
edenic innocence and psychological superpowers and develops into the leader of
a cultish, hippy, pyramid scheme, sex den…in…you know…like totally a ‘good’ way,
man.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This was how good the year was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The worst book won a Hugo.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The first quarter of this book was fun and interesting
and engaging, the classic Sci-Fi the Hugo promised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest was polemical, pedantic and tedious.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Sparrow (see below) is the book I want
to write, this is the book I am afraid I wrote.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nation-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0061433039/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420205776&sr=1-1&keywords=Nation">Nation</a>
- </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Terry
Pratchett (A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: A tsunami wipes out
the villages on a Pacific archipelago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
adolescent, stuck in the ceremonial transition between boy and man, survives alone
from the most populated island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Survivors from other islands (and a white girl from a ship) collect
under his reluctant leadership and he guides them away from pernicious religious
superstition to enlightened secular wisdom…in…you know…like totally a ‘good’
way<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> </span>.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This isn’t really fair. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prachett wrote many many novels that come
highly recommended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose the one because
our library had the audio version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
read more Prachett and am almost sure I’ll enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But like SIASL, the themes of the glorious
victory of rationalisms over the pernicious superstition of religion were so
pedantic and heavy handed (not to mention comically anachronistic) that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nation</i> scarcely felt like a story.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #4f81bd; mso-themecolor: accent1;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: #4f81bd; mso-themecolor: accent1;"></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Goldfinch-Pulitzer-Fiction-National-Finalists/dp/0316055433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420205734&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Goldfinch">The
Goldfinch</a> – </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Donna
Tartt (A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“That
life - whatever else it is - is short…Nature always wins but that doesn’t mean
we have to bow and grovel to it…it’s our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade
straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts
open. And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back
ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and a privilege to love what
Death doesn’t touch.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: Boy looses mom<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> in
terrorist attack and ‘accidentally’ steals a priceless work of art (said Goldfinch).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends and relatives pass him around in a Dickensian
string of bad luck – and the painting moves with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He accumulates traumas that eventually produce
negative character feedbacks leading to a new streak of self-generated bad
luck…until it all comes (700 pages later) to a crisis point.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is how good the year was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 3<sup>rd</sup> worst book I read…won this
year’s Pulitzer.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is the first time I read a book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> it won the Pulitzer, so I read it without knowing that I was
supposed to love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And here’s the thing, I liked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very good novel, as sweeping,
Dickensian, pieces go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you asked me
if I liked it I would have nodded and given you an unenthusiastic ‘Yeah.’</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And then it won the Pulitzer, and I turned on the
Goldfinch.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a novel, it was fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a celebrated piece of literature, held up as the best of the genre
for the last 2 years (no Pulitzer was awarded last year), it’s scandal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But, of course, when fiction is recognized as great by
experts and not by me, I have to own that the fault is at least partially my
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I think I just have to face it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only am I a genre author, I’m a genre
reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I would argue that SciFi and
Fantasy and Urban Fiction are so well written these days, that you don’t lose
much by going genre, and the opposite is not true.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-End-Lane-Novel/dp/0062255665/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204990&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Ocean+at+the+End+of+the+Lane">The
Ocean at the End of the Lane</a> – </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Neil Gaiman (h) </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“I
make art, sometimes I make true art, and sometimes it fills the empty places in
my life. Some of them. Not all.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: A man returns home
for a funeral, and wanders to a farm house at the end of the lane, where he
remembers a mystical conflict (including four trophic levels of cosmic critters<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>) from
his childhood that drives him to ask a hard, fundamental, questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TOATEOTL is fundamentally a story about the
helplessness of childhood and how that echoes into the helplessnesses of
‘adulthood.’<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[12]</span></span></span></a></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I like Gaiman a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I like his short fiction much better than his novels.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ocean </i>started
as a short story, and by the time he was done, it was a short novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I would have liked it better as a
short story, at a quarter of the length.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The best stuff was in the first 4 pages and the last 4 pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story in between gives these pages
weight, but didn’t draw me in enough to feel ‘worth it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Also, despite the sublime sentences and dark ecology, I
think Gaiman lost me in the father’s betrayal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I realize this was a story about how children feel, and most children
feel that their parents are part of the world set against them.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a story in which the father is not
unreservedly for his son violate my plausibility structures more than cosmic
critters.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Still, the last 3 pages and their reflections on the
nature of atonement are almost worth the reasonable price of admission, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Intermission</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
- Song of the year: Holocene</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, at this point, I shift from books I thought were
flawed to books I either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> liked
or loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The 14 or so books after this point all get 5 of 5 stars.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To critique the following books would be nit picking and
ranking them is a little absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In honor of a great year of fiction, let me run my
favorite song of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holocene</i> by Bon Iver easily became the
song I listened to the most times in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is so crushingly beautiful, so hauntingly lovely (especially for
anyone who has spent winter in the rust belt) that I would sometimes just play
it on repeat for hours as I wrote.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TWcyIpul8OE" width="480"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcyIpul8OE</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“An
at once I knew I was not Magnificent</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Jagged
vacants thick with ice.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">And
I could see for miles and miles.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eye-World-Wheel-Time-Book/dp/0812511816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204902&sr=1-1&keywords=Wheel+of+Time">Eye
of the World</a> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(Wheel
of Time Book 1) - Robert Jordan (A)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;">“She
was giving me advice on being a woman...”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;">“Advice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody tells us how to be men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just are.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;">“That,”
Aguain said, “is probably why you make such a bad job of it.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: In the first volume
of twelve<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a>
Robert Jordan resets the post-Tolkien fantasy genre with a classic quest story
that wanders enough to introduce characters that will probably be important in
future books, but still offers a compelling, self contained narrative, not just
an intro to a series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is how good the year was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Possibly the seminal fantasy series since
Tolkien (or, I guess, between Tolkien and Martin) landed in the #14 spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t love ‘epic fantasy,’ the opportunity
costs in other, more disciplined, stories is just too high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long books have to earn their pages in my
opinion, and get graded harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
still, great book.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWr0TrJyxcEcXiLd7yDsBJcTF0asOCrfWROjSzpKlTvkwMl6GHXzlnOSwOaZLYrYqK3YoPC3cfp5ddcsKBNb1LUcLyrkV2VM_EdnqMMdxecVh1AuGhzl7Pln8vSZ4_io_Sf83F5XyU6IZ/s1600/neuromancer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWr0TrJyxcEcXiLd7yDsBJcTF0asOCrfWROjSzpKlTvkwMl6GHXzlnOSwOaZLYrYqK3YoPC3cfp5ddcsKBNb1LUcLyrkV2VM_EdnqMMdxecVh1AuGhzl7Pln8vSZ4_io_Sf83F5XyU6IZ/s1600/neuromancer.jpg" height="221" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.deviantart.com/tag/neuromancer" target="_blank">Image Credit</a></div>
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441569595/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204860&sr=1-1&keywords=Neuromancer">Neuromancer</a>
- </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">William
Gibson (H) (A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Quote
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Cyberspace.
A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate
operators, in every nation.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> (cultural import):
Most trace the origin of the word ‘cyberspace’ to this head spinning novel
which sired the cyber punk genre.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More impressive than naming the internet, is
Gibson’s prescient feel for the future, much of which obtained in the decades
since the novel won the 1985/6 Hugo and Nebula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> (story): A ‘cowboy’
(hacker)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a>
and ‘razor girl’ street samurai (and about a thousand other characters, both
real and construct) pull a job for a mysterious employer, which turns on them
as their employer’s identity proves complicated.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Like the Chiba City gangster who used genetic treatments
to stave off aging, this book defies time, daring it to pass, confident that
culture will simply catch up rather than leave it behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost a literary miracle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neuromancer won the Hugo one year after
Asimov’s acclaimed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Foundation</i>, but
feels 25 years younger, the Ser Beriston Selmey of Sci Fy, casually besting its
spry progeny well into its golden years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The plot is torrential, surging and turning, daring you
to keep up, but not much caring if you do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gibson throws characters and settings at you as fast as he drops transcendent
metaphor.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
is Neuromancer’s glory and its flaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have couple friends that didn’t finish, a couple others who finished out of
principle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard Neurmancer
described as “a book William Gibson wrote, then deleted every other sentence.” I
frankly re-read often passages often, partly trying figure out what the heck
was going on and sometimes just to savor one of those perfect “showings” that
reminds you why film will never render word obsolete.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Neuromancer is a force of nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a transcendent, towering, work of
philosophy and art and prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here’s
the thing; about a decade ago Gibson rebranded, writing less ambitious
near-future science fiction, and I think he got better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pacing, writing, characters, of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pattern Recognition</i> (see last year’s
list) were all just better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its like he
was a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>phenom prospect power pitcher who
traded the brute force of his early years for craft, adding new pitches and studying
hitter tendencies, laying off the heat and becoming great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Neuromancer, Gibson has defied the
deadening effects of time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Swords-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055357342X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204774&sr=1-1&keywords=Storm+of+Swords">Storm
of Swords</a> – </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">George
RR Martin (h) (A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(3<sup>rd</sup>
‘Game of Thrones/Ice and Fire’ Book)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When you know what a man wants you know who
he is, and how to move him.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“…if
we start killing men at weddings they’ll be even more frightened of marriage
than they are presently.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Sorcery
is a sword without a hilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no
safe way to grasp it.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Also, this:</span><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"> www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU8eL2CjzHw</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: In a world that is
simultaneously re-enchanting<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a> and
closing in on a multi-year winter of unknown length, with dragons coming of age
in the east, and a cryogenic army of walking dead (and scarier things) making
things interesting in the North, the people of the seven kingdoms fight over the
‘worlds least comfortable chair,’<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[24]</span></span></span></a></span>
revealing the capricious myopia at the center of the human heart.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Abbreviated
Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: George Martin kills everyone he made you care about in
the previous 2000 pages. Bastard.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is how good this year was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">great</i>
novel by Martin, many say, the best Ice and Fire book, fell in the lower half.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I need to be careful not to drop 3000 words on the top 25
things I want to say about Ice and Fire here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I guess I’ll just say, I loved this book, I love this series, and
between GOT*<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a> and The Wire (and, I’ll
add Firefly), I have been ruined for bad television, which is most of the rest
of it in comparison.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">*A footnote that I want read, so I’m putting it here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of my readers will find GOT too explicit
to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is probably wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We use the fast forward button VERY
liberally. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the truth is, I don’t
actually know how much sex is in this show or how graphic it is, because I
don’t watch that content.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Also, this probably would landed higher on my list if I
read it before the shows.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Also, my favorite character, Thorace of Myr, shows up in
book 3, though like many minor characters, he’s better characterized in less
time in the show:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEj1aN_Rmj0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEj1aN_Rmj0</a>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[29]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQlXu6nrJOE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQlXu6nrJOE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utu-LpJn3Is">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utu-LpJn3Is</a></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeXfQWDEM8UHwktlcOmTbK_tRffcFPEDisarl7yp7KFWAbeiW9Y4pHr6e1hHFgza9X-M8Yj0iCtJNE0WbuCFHjGsZa6Gqyh6p_nle5EWGGr7P8UK37YX5KArTD_OtnpgEGCsu1IvoIhD6/s1600/Canticle-for-Leibowitz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeXfQWDEM8UHwktlcOmTbK_tRffcFPEDisarl7yp7KFWAbeiW9Y4pHr6e1hHFgza9X-M8Yj0iCtJNE0WbuCFHjGsZa6Gqyh6p_nle5EWGGr7P8UK37YX5KArTD_OtnpgEGCsu1IvoIhD6/s1600/Canticle-for-Leibowitz.jpg" height="303" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/most-insane-dystopias" target="_blank">Image Credit</a> </div>
<br />
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Leibowitz-Walter-Miller-Jr/dp/0060892994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204684&sr=1-1&keywords=canticle+for+leibowitz+by+walter+miller">Canticles
of Leibowitz</a> – </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Walter
Miller (A) (H)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“We’ve
been waiting for a long time to see the world start taking an interest in itself
again.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> (import): "may
be the one universally acknowledged literary masterpiece to emerge from
magazine SF." - critic David N. Samuelson </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> (story): An order of
monks protects books through multiple human self-destructions.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The story about this book is as interesting as the story in
it (I told it in the intro to <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5yLYrSTDvD7SzJTLW1TQWMtbFE/edit">this
talk</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miller was a US bomber pilot
in WWII and, on one mission over Italy, bombed a monetary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The event haunted him, led him to embrace the
faith, and eventually, to take his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He only published the one novel, and it’s remarkable.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Oryx-Crake-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385721676/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204450&sr=1-1&keywords=Orax+and+Crake">Orax
and Crake</a>/<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Year-Flood-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0307455475/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420204496&sr=1-1&keywords=the+flood+atwood">The
Flood</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">*
- Margaret Atwood (A)</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">*Note: For Margaret Attwood and Kim Stanley Robinson I read
the first two volumes of their trilogies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ranked their work based on the first novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both cases I liked the first one better,
but the second one was also great for many of the same reasons.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“When
did the body first set out on its own adventures?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[30]</span></span></span></span></a>…It must
have got tired of the soul’s constant nagging and whining and the
anxiety-driven intellectual web-spinning of the mind, distracting it whenever
it was getting its teeth into something juicy or its fingers into something
good<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[31]</span></span></span></span></a>… Why
not cut to the chase?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the body had
its own cultural forms. It had its own art. Executions were its tragedies,
pornography was its romance.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: A young man grows up
in a genetic engineering compound in a near-future dystopia, and he, his
friend, and his girlfriend - who grew up as a sex worker - turn things into
full-blown, post society dystopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
narrator’s bizarre, solitary, dystopic, daily existence mingles with flashbacks
to tell their intertwining story, delaying the ‘how things got so bad’ reveal,
focusing instead on the character’s adolescence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Sequel covers the same history from
different POVs and ends in the converging events.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[32]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When HBO announced they would adapt the MaddAdam trilogy,
I decided I wanted to read on the front end of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, in accordance with my ‘read more women’
new years resolution from 5 years ago, Attwood was near the top of my list
anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her dystopic near future is
dark, engaging, and well crafted, and, while Attwood’s ideologies are well
documented, the novels have the girth of moral investigation without becoming
polemical.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;">Intermission 2</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">:
Song of the Year Runner Up</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My brother does not share my passion for music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may have once described my musical tastes
as “intentional nervous system assaults.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But he sent me this link late in the year with the subject “this
song”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is exactly the way I
feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Song.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[34]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vin0U-ej1L8" width="480"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vin0U-ej1L8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vin0U-ej1L8</a></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ficciones-English-Translation-Jorge-Borges/dp/0802130305/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420203981&sr=1-1&keywords=ficciones">Ficciones</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> - Jorge Luis Borges (50%)</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“A
man sets out to draw the world. As the years go by, he peoples a space with
images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms,
instruments, stars, horses, and individuals. A short time before he dies, he
discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own
face.” </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(not from Fictones, but my favorite Borges
quote…from a copious selection)<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ruthlessly efficient short stories that
imagine an infinite library, a recursive narrative labyrinth, and an
encyclopedia of a fake world that calls it into being, Borges demonstrates why
he’s one of the classic South American authors.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At this point a ranked list become absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Borges </span>plays a different game in a different
era than most of the authors on this list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His penchant for ‘found literature’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[35]</span></span></span></span></a>
made me immediately warm to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCsnKa0-yFF7GV35TCnnZtktnDK801f6nnsd9Zt080UkR3aQWHKLia_8QwmaRx4OrouHO4znUNf86YbS4g0R2lqg-fhjtWaZTJJz2HnLpI_WVyKERTpxy-jWwM6TI22c2IXl056aUF0Hd/s1600/the+Magicians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCsnKa0-yFF7GV35TCnnZtktnDK801f6nnsd9Zt080UkR3aQWHKLia_8QwmaRx4OrouHO4znUNf86YbS4g0R2lqg-fhjtWaZTJJz2HnLpI_WVyKERTpxy-jWwM6TI22c2IXl056aUF0Hd/s1600/the+Magicians.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></div>
</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magicians-Novel-Trilogy/dp/0452296293/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420203695&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Magicians">The
Magicians</a> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">–
Lev Grossman </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(A)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“He
had reached the outer limits of what fun, capitol F could do for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cost was way too high, the returns
pitifully inadequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mind was dimly
awakening to other things that were as important or more so.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“If
there is a moral to Martain Chatwin it was that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure you can live out your dreams, but it
will only turn you into a monster.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[36]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“It
wasn't even worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's the funny
part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You came here for the same reason
we did, and are you happy now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You found
out didn't you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's no getting away
from yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even in Fillory.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: (according to the
Amazon reviews) Harry Potter with lots of sex.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: (according to John
Green) “… knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre…”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Actually, that’s not bad, but let’s try one more.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Actual
Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: A mash up of demythologized Potter and Narnia that
simultaneously adores and eviscerates each, and is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">much</i> better than it sounds like it should be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lev Grossman wrote a Nanorimo pep talk last November<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[37]</span></span></span></span></a>,
and it was so understated and wise and winning that I immediately got his book
even though I forgot it didn’t sound interesting in John Green’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4UT9iBdQDI">review</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found the book similar to the pep talk,
understated, wise, and winning, but with much more sex, and, like, 100% more wolf
sex narrated in the first person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is actually two novels, the naturalized Harry
Potter-esqe wizard school story that prepares the characters to explore a demythologized,
dystopic Narnia.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn38;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[38]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved them both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept wanting to drop it below the GREAT,
classic texts it on the list, but I just really enjoyed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It evoked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I loved the bored protagonist, the driftless privilege, the
self-destructive longing, the tedium of magic, the enchanted world that felt
flatter and less enchanted than our own, the understated playful writing that
kept the whole thing from trailing off into farce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved that the deadening forces of
adulthood disenchanted Quinton’s world faster than he could enchant with actual
magic.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Years-Best-Science-Fiction-Twenty-Third-ebook/dp/B005OS3BX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420203034&sr=8-1&keywords=dozois+2006">2005
Sci Fi Compellation</a>/<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Years-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-Edition/dp/1607013924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412954045&sr=8-1&keywords=2013+science+fiction+and+fantasy">2013
Sci Fi and Fantasy</a> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">–
Rich Horton and Gardner Dozois</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Quote:
“(Dave) still wears his hair long, covering his ears, and I think he's secretly
a little bit vain about it. A little bit proud of still having all his hair. I
think there's something in this, something valuable, something he could use to
get back. You don't cling to personal vanities if you've given up all hope of a
normal life. At least, I don't think you do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>- Sofia Samatar - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Honey Bear</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: Horton and Dozoios
each compile the best Sci Fi/SciFi-Fantasy short works of the year, every year,
in a svelte 400-600 pages.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">After these volumes, I seriously questioned why anyone
reads novels, and why I want to write them.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Compellations are hit or miss…but if you are willing to
bail on underwhelming stories, heterogeneity doesn’t matter as long as quality
is in there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I bought the 2005 compilation at a garage sale for a
quarter and scanned the first lines of each story until one drew me in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read the second one front to back, giving
stories more patience, only bailing on a couple that did not seem promising
half way through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The short digital form
made perfect plane reading.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But both programs produced phenomenal stories including:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“The Black Feminist’s Guide to Science Fiction Film
Editing” by Sandra McDonald<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn39;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[39]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“One Day in Time City” by David Ira Cleary</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And in the 2005 Dozois volume I really enjoyed </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Triceratops Summer”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Case of Conciliance”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn40;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[40]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But one story was worth the price of admission alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Honey Bear” by Sofia Samatar is in the mix with Ted
Cheing’s “Stories of Your Life” (see the final entry below) with the best fiction
have read not only this year, but in very a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I won’t summarize Honey Bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's one of those stories that works better
the less you know about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
I’ll <a href="http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/samatar_08_12/">link to it</a>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But I’ll say that the precision with which Sofia Samatar,
a young, single woman, imagined my emotional world of fatherhood is
uncanny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not even sure if she was
trying to do that, it is speculative fiction after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it felt like a well crafted metaphor for
the tensioned responsibilities and fears of fatherhood.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ll be reading more Samater (and not just because she
got her Phd from University of Wisconsin and now teaches in the UC system, and
not just because I am trying to read more diverse and female authors, but
because her short fiction is stunning), and apparently I’m not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She got Nebula and Hugo nominations this year
for her first novel and another great short story<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn41;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[41]</span></span></span></span></a>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Mars-Trilogy-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553560735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420203139&sr=8-1&keywords=red+mars">Red
Mars</a>/<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Mars-Trilogy-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553572393/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y">Green
Mars</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn42" name="_ftnref42" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn42;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[42]</span></b></span></span></span></b></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> - Kim Stanley Robinson</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">"The
only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people
arguing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>X claims a, and Y claims
b.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They make arguments to support their
claims with any number of points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
when their listeners remember the discussion, what matters simply is that X
believes a and Y believes b.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People then
form their judgment based on what they think of X and y."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">"But
we're scientists! we’re trained to weigh evidence."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">John
nodded (to Maya) "True.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
since I like you, I concede the point."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: 100 scientists go to
Mars to start a civilization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the
following decades, as immigration soars and things start to go very badly on
earth, the ‘first hundred’ form factions and align with a wide variety of
forces trying to assert their agenda on Mars.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn43" name="_ftnref43" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn43;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[43]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve decided that ‘hard science fiction’ (HSF) is like
Opera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a virtuosity genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HSF is world building virtuosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story and characters are tour guides to
physical and social worlds so richly and rigorously realized that they are worth
exploring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stories of their lives
are secondary.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn44" name="_ftnref44" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn44;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[44]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In this way the HSF novel is kind of like the literary
novel (where word-craft trumps plot, and, sometimes, even characterization)…only,
HSF it is more my kind of virtuosity.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But just like Opera, it appeals to a pretty narrow
sub-population. In one stretch of the second Mars book, a character attends a
scientific conference, going to talks and perusing posters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It captured the petty personalities and dull
culture and hard-to-define joy of a scientific conference perfectly, speculating
about technical details of Martian terraforming (including a quantified heat
budget and a row about the role of carbon).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But as I realized how much I enjoyed the chapter I wondered, “What kind
of market does this have?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many
people would enjoy this as much as I am?” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Anyway, Robinson (who, from what I can tell, has no forma
scientific education) is remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With my four graduate degrees, I know 3 or 4 scientific fields well
enough to evaluate the technical detail of his prose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can say, he nailed the science (at least at
the time of his writing) on those.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
I’ll just go ahead and assume he got it right in the other 16-17.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn45" name="_ftnref45" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn45;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[45]</span></span></span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1YQRltRS5HKO3B1pnsp1XFqsZpphrIAZ2jCHE2EFFcVmr6_vjJlhW30bePfj3nZ-Q0rS10KvrMwHoSp6vyBTFpw8U6A3BP9E1QBGyg2cJXnsv5apc0UP2k1YFRi8fZdP2oG40GIIXI_l/s1600/GGK+Last+Light+of+the+Sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1YQRltRS5HKO3B1pnsp1XFqsZpphrIAZ2jCHE2EFFcVmr6_vjJlhW30bePfj3nZ-Q0rS10KvrMwHoSp6vyBTFpw8U6A3BP9E1QBGyg2cJXnsv5apc0UP2k1YFRi8fZdP2oG40GIIXI_l/s1600/GGK+Last+Light+of+the+Sun.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Light-Sun-Guy-Gavriel/dp/0451459857/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420203212&sr=1-1&keywords=last+light+of+the+sun">The
Last Light of the Sun</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
- Guy Gavriel Kay<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">"As
far as Kendra was concerned, defiance had to get you somewhere, otherwise it
was just noisy."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Aeldred’s
younger daughter did something almost unspeakably brave, going alone at night
into the blackness of a wood believed to be hunted, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">intending</i> to confront the spirit world…And spoke a message, the
message of warning she’d come to give – and it signified nothing at all, in the
wheel and turn of that night.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: LastLightoftheSun;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“The past, what we have done or not
done, slips and flows, like a stream to a carved-out channel, into the things
we do years after. It is never safe, or wise, to say that anything is over.”</span></span><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: In his distinct
genre which melds historical fiction with speculative fiction, we get the story
of England, Whales, and the Vikings in the time of King Albert the great (of
England), in a parallel reality populated with thinly veiled religious analogs,
fully realized, sympathetic characters, and fairy queens.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In speculative fiction GGK is a writer’s writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other speculative fiction writers talk
about the best pure prose in the genre, his name tops the list in almost reverent,
hushed tones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to see what all
the fuss was about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fuss was warranted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Speculative fiction sometimes seems to be a multi-axis tradeoff
between concept, character, prose, theme, and plot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pick two, three if you are a great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe, if you are a savant, four, but no one
gets five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the thing that makes
GGK special, is that he is the proverbial ‘five tool author.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn46" name="_ftnref46" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn46;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[46]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sparrow-Novel-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/0449912558/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420203270&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Sparrow">The
Sparrow</a> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">-
Mary Doria Russell (A)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“When
faced with the divine people chose the banal – what do you do with the burning
bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Call 911 or get the hot dogs.”</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn47" name="_ftnref47" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn47;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[47]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: SETI hears music
from Alpha century, and while the world governments decide what to do, the
Vatican sends a team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t go
well.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn48" name="_ftnref48" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn48;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[48]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Better
Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: Just read the prologue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of the greatest prologues I’ve ever read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you don’t want to read the book after
reading the prologue, you should probably ignore the rest of this post, because
our literary taste probably doesn’t overlap.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Abbreviated
Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: Jesuits in Space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">30 pages in, I told my reading group, “This is the novel
I am trying to write, only mine is in the middle of the Pacific…and not nearly
as good.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn49" name="_ftnref49" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn49;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[49]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn50" name="_ftnref50" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn50;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[50]</span></span></span></span></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMAw9UJKhaXfo3TpdYWP7YrNOaeGeV28gOnCb9LPfPxmNKGkVtCZ0reUpzqxP8PJeueldSWFcKTZzvfkuQHLW1hiTi3fvEIVA64M6eqQCqPmoGKFK-em0QlEhij9m0H-9nxsDASQawJK0/s1600/Stories+of+your+life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMAw9UJKhaXfo3TpdYWP7YrNOaeGeV28gOnCb9LPfPxmNKGkVtCZ0reUpzqxP8PJeueldSWFcKTZzvfkuQHLW1hiTi3fvEIVA64M6eqQCqPmoGKFK-em0QlEhij9m0H-9nxsDASQawJK0/s1600/Stories+of+your+life.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420203318&sr=1-1&keywords=Stories+of+your+Life+and+Others">Stories
of Your Life and Others</a> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">-
Ted Chiang</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary</span></u><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">: The Speculative
Fiction community sometimes calls Ted Cheing the ‘most decorated author per
word.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has written about a dozen
short stories and has won four Nebulas and three Hugos.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn51" name="_ftnref51" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn51;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[51]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a collection of some of those works.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn52" name="_ftnref52" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn52;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[52]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Stories of your Life,” the story that gives the
compilation its name may be the greatest piece of fiction I have ever read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With one exception, every other story in this
anthology is at least ‘great’ and several are ‘phenomenal’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
When I started blogging I committed to praising at least as much culture as I
criticized, and that I would try to err on the side of praise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The critics work is cheap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes years to build and seconds to tear
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note, I wrote this sentence
before I wrote the previous post, which essentially explains why.)</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Short
human words were never like a short Martian word — such as "grok"
which forever meant exactly the same thing. Short human words were like trying
to lift water with a knife. And (God) had been a very short word.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Also, the placement of ‘grok’ in Mad
Men was perfect.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"> "My dear,
I used to think I was serving humanity … and I pleasured in the thought. Then I
discovered that humanity does not want to be served; on the contrary it resents
any attempt to serve it."</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
That is just my literary analysis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, since SIASL was more philosophy than literature here’s my take
on its content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it was
sub-mediocre as a work of literature, it was horrific as philosophy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this is what people believed in the 60s,
no wonder boomers are so simultaneously self involved and moralistic.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
OK, that’s a little sarcastic, but yes, it was thematically heavy handed.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> An
observant reader might be skeptical that both of my ‘worst books’ featured
anti-Christian themes and could reasonably conclude that I can’t separate
polemic from art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would respond,
‘check out the top two books on the list.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both of my favorite books are full of religious themes but aren’t by
Christians and are often antagonistic to my world view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I loved them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem with Nation and SIASL is that
they were polemic first and art (very) secondarily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which, is precisely what I am concerned about
in my writing.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is a perfect example of what Jamie Smith (cribbing Charles Taylor) calls
the challenge of our ‘cross pressured’ age (see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How (Not) to be Secular</i> in my non-ficiton list, next).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secularism is not just a subtraction story
because as we disenchanted the world western culture was not content to release
meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the modern secular creates a
new ‘cultural imaginary’ to rescue meaning from biology, but is rarely self
aware of the construct of its new canonical ‘additive’ story.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
Not a spoiler, we’re told in like the 5<sup>th</sup> sentence.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a> I
recently read that just like art departed from representation when photography
became common, the literary novel departed from plot when film took over middle
brow story telling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I reject both as
false dichotomies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Photography does not
make representational art obsolete and film makes imagination engaging story
telling, arguably, more important.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"> “I was a
normal child. Which is to say, I was selfish and I was not entirely convinced
of the existence of things that were not me,</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>
In trophic ecology, a 4 layer terrestrial chain (four levels organisms that
each eat the next one down) is like the holy grail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a prof at UCD who is famous for
discovering one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So my favorite little
detail of this book was the cosmic cascade and the implications for trophic
ecology.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Grown-ups
don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and
thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just
like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there
aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a>
Graveyard book excepted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That book was
great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the children’s literature
genre might temper Gaiman’s darkness in helpful ways.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“I knew enough
about adults to know that if did tell them what had happened, I would not be
believed. Adults rarely seemed to believe me when I told the truth anyway.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a>
Robert Jordan died 75% of the way into the series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brandon Sanderson (of Writing Excuses, see
non-fiction post) took it over for the last three books.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a> I
think I’m contractually obligated to use that quote, some say the greatest
opening line in sci fi (and maybe fiction) even though 25 years later its an
anachronism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 25<sup>th</sup>
anaversery edition I listened to included a preface by the author about how the
book aged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it aged better than
many classic sci fi novels half its age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a transcendet pay phone scene (Gibson cites the failure to
forsee portable communication devices his greatest miss)…but mostly, it was
prescient.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a> James
Hynes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from Iowa state (see my
non-fiction list coming soon) made the case that Gibson borrowed a pretty
standard Noir thriller plot (think Maltese Falcon) that he set in a totally original
(for the time) sci fi world.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a>I
read one plot summary that said ‘you could accuse Gibson of falling into a
clichéd hacker stereotype…if hacker’s existed when he wrote.’</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a>
**Spoiler: Hint - the climax includes a confrontation with the Touring police</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is a weird part of being an amateur sci fi writer…transcendent metaphor is
bitter sweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of me appreciates the
difficulty of apt metaphor is and surges with wonder when it happens, and part
of me is filled with longing, the desire to paint a picture of something in
analogy that ‘shows’ it better than film could.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“There is a
savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send
him forth to war, the beast stirs.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“A harp can be a dangerous as a sword, in the right hands.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a> “<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Lord Seaworth
is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think
of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to
win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the
kingdom to win the throne.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn23" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a>
People always compare I&F with LOTR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that makes sense, both are rich narratives with deep characters and
richly built worlds with centuries of back story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there are two big contrasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LOTR happens in a world that is gradually
disenchanting, while I&F happens in a world that is gradually re-enchanting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But somewhat counter-intuitively, LOTR is
still a story of the struggle of courage and justice against the push of evil
even if hope is lost, while I&F is a story about the victory of caprice and
pragmatism against honor and justice.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn24" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is a quote from someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
remember who.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn25" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a>
Or should I say, Snow…or River…or Sand.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn26" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a>
Martian is a fiction celebrity, which means he gets to write unedited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is never a good idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, as brilliant as his fiction is, it
suffers from the bloat of indulgence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am reading the books after the shows as
midrash, a sort of canon fan fic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
could say I’m reading them for the bloat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the television version had to cut the bloat by necessity, distilling
the finest plot and dialogue, mixing it with superb acting and visually
arresting locations, and mostly outstanding direction.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn27" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a>
After finishing season 4 of GOT, we went into ‘tv reconnaissance mode’ sampling
different shows each night we had visual media time, rejecting each in turn,
until we gave up…like literally, canceling Netflix for a while.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn28" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[28]</span></span></span></span></a>
And when I go back through the books I realze that I missed some of the plot
points…but I do not care.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn29" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[29]</span></span></span></span></a>
Incedentally “sotries for the children to make them behave” describes my
position on religion as a 10 year old.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn30" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[30]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Snowman thinks;
after having ditched its old travelling companions, the mind and the soul, for
whom it had once been considered a mere corrupt vessel or else a puppet acting
out their dramas for them, or else bad company, leading the other two astray.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn31" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[31]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"> It had dumped
the other two back there somewhere, leaving them stranded in some damp
sanctuary or stuffy lecture hall while it made a beeline for the topless bars,
and it had dumped culture along with them: music and painting and poetry and
plays.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn32" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[32]</span></span></span></span></a>
Which is often the best kind of sequel.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn33" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a> I
also feel like </div>
</div>
<div id="ftn34" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[34]</span></span></span></span></a>
Two other songs by Dawes worth checking out: “When my time comes” and “Window
Seat” (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH8Jjz6PRYk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH8Jjz6PRYk</a></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
) -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>thought the
latter may appeal especially to me, as I hit Platinum status and crossed the
quarter-million mile mark on a single airline this year (approaching half a
million on all carriers life-time).</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn35" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[35]</span></span></span></span></a> A
fictional genre I have loved since my Kierkegaard phase (I wrote something like
6 papers on SK in seminary) and have experimented with.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn36" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[36]</span></span></span></span></a> “<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">How was buffalo?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like a vision of the apocalypse.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“We have reached the point where ignorance and neglect are
the best we can hope for in a ruler.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn37" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[37]</span></span></span></span></a> <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/lev-grossman/">http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/lev-grossman/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite quote: “…keep your nerve. If
talent exists, that is talent.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
“Being a writer isn’t like being a musician. You don’t have to get it right
every day. The wonderful thing about being a writer is, you only have to get it
right once.”</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn38" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref38" name="_ftn38" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn38;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[38]</span></span></span></span></a>
Full disclosure: I love Narnia* almost as much as the protagonist of this
Novel.</div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
*<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Magicians</i>
exists in a world where the Harry Potter books exist (and the students make
reference to them) but Narnia is actually replaced by a fictional series called
Fillory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think both choices were
wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grossman ends up doing such
violence to Fillory (and its author) that I would not have stood by and watched
him S%#$ on Narnia like that (and I assume he had too much affection for Narnia
to allow himself an all out assault).</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn39" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref39" name="_ftn39" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn39;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[39]</span></span></span></span></a>
This story is a little uncanny given the recent decision to remake Ghostbusters
with an all female cast, and I think weighs in on both sides of the
tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is why, for all the
polemical potential of its title, I loved the humanity of this story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love how it tries to humanize ‘the
other’…even when ‘the other’ is the SWM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I love the protagonist’s complex intersectionality*, which goes mostly
un-explored but lies always beneath the surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I love that a story called “The Black
Feminist Guide” includes a smarmy SWM character the author seems to actually
like, choosing exploration over polemic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe this is self serving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
conversation in speculative fiction makes me feel unwelcome as a SWM…and maybe
it should…maybe there are too many SWM in speculative fiction and I should
stick to my STEM wheelhouse (yes, another SWM dominated field…I will write a
post on privilege at some point…as soon as I have something useful to say…so
maybe never).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I found this story
more than engaging, entertaining and clever (though it was all those
things).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it loving.</div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
*Leaving the character’s intersectionality unexplored,
as an under-the-hood dissonance, was arguably more effective than spelling it
out.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn40" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref40" name="_ftn40" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn40;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[40]</span></span></span></span></a>
This summer I lead a reading group where we read and discussed “Short Science
Fiction with Religious Themes” which basically consisted of Ted Chang’s works
(see below) and this wonderful story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, it is a deconstruction of Bish’s “Case of Concience,” which with
Canticle for Lebowitz and the Sparrow, makes up the ‘trilogy of monasitic
Sci-Fi,” a very specific sub-genre, and the tradition I found myself in with my
first novel.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn41" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref41" name="_ftn41" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn41;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[41]</span></span></span></span></a>
Selkie Stories is also great (look up Selkie on Wiki first if you don’t know
what they are) but Honey Bear captured my experience precisely, which is part
of the idiosyncrasy of taste.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn42" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref42" name="_ftn42" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn42;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[42]</span></span></span></span></a>
Robinson is considered among the vanguard of hard Science Fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, he’s from my town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided I was overdue to read the Mars
series.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn43" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref43" name="_ftn43" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn43;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[43]</span></span></span></span></a>
Another book where we learn of one of the main character’s death on the first
page, but he doesn’t die until most of the book is over.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn44" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref44" name="_ftn44" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn44;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[44]</span></span></span></span></a>
Every ‘how to write fiction’ book I’ve read rejects this idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They say ‘good characters can redeem a flat
setting but you can’t get away with the opposite.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But hard sci-fi like the Mars series<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or Necromancer, or more recently, Glasshouse,
the characters, while good, are secondary to setting, and we’re ok with
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also gives me a little hope,
since setting is about the only think I am consistently pretty good at (which
is probolby not unusual for a scientist trying his hand at sci-fi).</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn45" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref45" name="_ftn45" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn45;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[45]</span></span></span></span></a>
In her great little blog post Sophia S (see Honey Bear below) said something
like “I describe my science fiction as character driven, but my insecurities
say that is code for ‘my science isn’t that strong.’” </div>
</div>
<div id="ftn46" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref46" name="_ftn46" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn46;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[46]</span></span></span></span></a>
Ok, that is proverbial in the sense that I just made it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a very new cyber-proverb, borrowed from
a passé baseball concept.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn47" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref47" name="_ftn47" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn47;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #76923c; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">[47]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Anne can work
up some agnosticism with a couple beers in her but I’m a flat out atheist.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’ve been married at least 4 times to 4
different men...They’ve all been named George Edwards, but believe me the man
waiting for me down the hall is a whole different animal from the boy I
married.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn48" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref48" name="_ftn48" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn48;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[48]</span></span></span></span></a>
Again, not a spoiler, she reveals the tragic mission end in the first few
pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn49" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref49" name="_ftn49" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn49;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[49]</span></span></span></span></a>
My friend Alex then said one of the nicest things someone said to me this year
when I shared this with my reading group, “That’s funny, because as I read this
I thought, this totally seems like the sort of thing Stanford would write.”</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn50" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref50" name="_ftn50" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn50;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[50]</span></span></span></span></a> I
am 70% convinced that this whole novel is fan fic of Canticle for Leibowitz,
allowing that classic novel to ask the question, what if the Vatican was
responsible for our first contact with cosmic neighbors.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn51" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref51" name="_ftn51" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn51;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[51]</span></span></span></span></a>
And reportedly turned down one Hugo nomination because he was unsatisfied with
the story.</div>
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<div id="ftn52" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref52" name="_ftn52" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn52;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[52]</span></span></span></span></a>
Cheing, arguably one of the modern genius’ of speculative fiction, never quit
his day job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am beginning to wonder if
‘going pro’ can be antagonistic to great writing, forcing you to pump out
saleable prose rather than craft a few great works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Authors like Chein and George Saunders (who
topped last year’s list with a collection of shorts) encourage me, because I’d
love to develop my speculative fiction to the point that people read it…but I
never foresee giving up my day job for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
Also, both Cheing and George Saunders (who held the
top spot on my fiction list last year) found their way into short, genre
bending, speculative fiction through the woods of technical writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to think technical writing and
creative writing were antagonistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The precision and
economy of clear technical writing IS THE SAME SKILL as the modern conventions
of short speculative story telling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
gives me hope that I might already have some of my 1 million words in already.</div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-83531707923884989052014-12-24T09:41:00.001-08:002014-12-24T10:37:11.894-08:00A Summary of a Summary: James Smith on Charles Taylor...in charts and memes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James Smith<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> summarized Charles Taylor’s<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/A-Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674026764/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0T4XFBAPR5EPJCKCWKKB" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Secular Age</i></a>, distilling a 900 page tome into a thin, accessible ~140 page volume...and also readable (Smith is a phenomenal writer with playful sensibilities who shares my love of 'cross-pressured' fiction).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He called it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-Secular-Reading/dp/0802867618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419442468&sr=8-1&keywords=How+not+to+be+secular" target="_blank">H</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">ow (Not) to be secular: Reading Charles Taylor.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is a wonderful little book, that took me longer to read
than most books three times its length, as I tried to inculcate the language and
ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to my custom, I tried
to capture the more complex or helpful ideas into images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then I realized, I had a series of images that was
essentially a pictorial summary of a 140 page text that was a summary of a 900
page text…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">…a sort of <span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;">reading James Smith reading Charles Taylor.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So why not post it? This blog has seen stranger, more obtuse content after all: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Role of Reform in Contemporary Social Imaginary</span></span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is Taylor's historical story of how we got to this cultural moment that could have been otherwise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0gTfpSh9zRZLI9dNRRYBW-qkrzSPiBjXOOxiO7J634Ii-fh74mHX_aX63b9OXoPtyNrbaSLv1pYoTdXxLYMpVtpC6C4hlt3WT0UJFF1rINKdHuj44zxMeyKTdxMM4EcysIalbQe5pWFZ/s1600/Two+Paths+to+Refrom+(James%2BSmith).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0gTfpSh9zRZLI9dNRRYBW-qkrzSPiBjXOOxiO7J634Ii-fh74mHX_aX63b9OXoPtyNrbaSLv1pYoTdXxLYMpVtpC6C4hlt3WT0UJFF1rINKdHuj44zxMeyKTdxMM4EcysIalbQe5pWFZ/s1600/Two+Paths+to+Refrom+(James%2BSmith).png" height="265" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Hubris of Inevitability</span></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Smith/Taylor's emphasis on the non-inevitability of secularism reminded me of analogy in Gould's evolutionary narrative:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsusfob5ZfN6vpNDSUXKeAjxZXu_LDS6kGGsfgVt0OF5A5Vclz91YSGPUc0Gs3WvYX8DCDf38mJC0-8-2-CY9Fy2w3PRpcx42N2Hkewu-BWYYzBhdk5MBJoBcr5cvug64pJe5SCktans7/s1600/Hubris+of+Inevitability+in+Gould+and+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsusfob5ZfN6vpNDSUXKeAjxZXu_LDS6kGGsfgVt0OF5A5Vclz91YSGPUc0Gs3WvYX8DCDf38mJC0-8-2-CY9Fy2w3PRpcx42N2Hkewu-BWYYzBhdk5MBJoBcr5cvug64pJe5SCktans7/s1600/Hubris+of+Inevitability+in+Gould+and+Charles+Taylor.png" height="298" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Art as Meaning Refugia</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">And their assertion that secularization cannot be accounted for with the standard 'subtraction stories' but requires 'additions of meaning' to get to the current synthesis, 'inventing' 'art' as an end rather than a means, reminded me of this year's complicated Pulitzer (You'll have to wait until next weeks year end fiction summary for my take on the novel).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn1SYlhuOEPQdLE3YYBG_yXNYboM25EpoZ4vvtDmUzZE_7CqpfkPCVo5wkW4AhKwceZYNP5X6MTOOMEZAdVwdnLkpSrt0HfR6aN-8-Czkp_n5tOGhsOEcDqFpOKhqkOaj1OsQX0TSXNub/s1600/%E2%80%98Art%E2%80%99+as+Refuge+from+Reality%E2%80%99s+Cross+Pressure+Donna+Tartt+James+Smith+and+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn1SYlhuOEPQdLE3YYBG_yXNYboM25EpoZ4vvtDmUzZE_7CqpfkPCVo5wkW4AhKwceZYNP5X6MTOOMEZAdVwdnLkpSrt0HfR6aN-8-Czkp_n5tOGhsOEcDqFpOKhqkOaj1OsQX0TSXNub/s1600/%E2%80%98Art%E2%80%99+as+Refuge+from+Reality%E2%80%99s+Cross+Pressure+Donna+Tartt+James+Smith+and+Charles+Taylor.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Where:</span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Art = an immanent space where we try to satisfy lost longing for transcendence…a ‘place for modern unbelief’ to live without
settling </span><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">for the utterly flattened
world of mechanism or utilitarianism – but also without having to </span>return<span style="color: black; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> to religion </span>proper<span style="color: black; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">The Francis Rorschach </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">The Francis Rorschach self-diagnoses pretheoretical unthoughts that predispose our 'secularization stories.'</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VGdYa0fHcujOnQG36CByTGFdkHzJ6Vhjz1scn7RPcXOhLLNjG7kGONnganWA1_PpI1fagQg0NyaQ8sJLTqrlRCj2ZSH4Lu_a4UptxlFAy0vRQzl6IY8AaDLNGXa3Wq1QdZWYLFGUffcA/s1600/The+Francis+of+Assisi+Rorschach+James+Smith+and+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VGdYa0fHcujOnQG36CByTGFdkHzJ6Vhjz1scn7RPcXOhLLNjG7kGONnganWA1_PpI1fagQg0NyaQ8sJLTqrlRCj2ZSH4Lu_a4UptxlFAy0vRQzl6IY8AaDLNGXa3Wq1QdZWYLFGUffcA/s1600/The+Francis+of+Assisi+Rorschach+James+Smith+and+Charles+Taylor.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aspiration to Wholeness</span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">‘Aspiration to wholeness’ was one of my favorite ideas - which takes two forms, depending on which way we've flattened our world. Those who major on the immanence of this world have to account for fullness, and those who major on transcendence have to affirm the ordinary (which has occupied much of my preaching lately, the transcendent frame has to make as much sense of immanence - work, romance, pain, tedium - as the immanent frame has to account for transcendence).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDpSLMJ2NoybvbDPqR1AFlFBfbRbdt5WDdPhRJzvcyzmu-a3WRiLpwr1FS_ug75hnRPKDdercQepg2PAmaaKQaMKx-bzw9cesAMpPH2L5mHA5D163Y3oqkuxC5PAHFJAwCsRFIXcsM72y/s1600/Aspiration+to+Wholeness+James+Smith+on+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDpSLMJ2NoybvbDPqR1AFlFBfbRbdt5WDdPhRJzvcyzmu-a3WRiLpwr1FS_ug75hnRPKDdercQepg2PAmaaKQaMKx-bzw9cesAMpPH2L5mHA5D163Y3oqkuxC5PAHFJAwCsRFIXcsM72y/s1600/Aspiration+to+Wholeness+James+Smith+on+Charles+Taylor.png" height="160" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Epistemology Follows Ethics</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Epistemology follows ethics regardless of worldview (note: the meme isn't meant to suggest mystery, but sequence. Biologically, the egg unequivocally precedes the chicken, laid by some evolutionary proto-chicken) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXG3pAW3rsX2UnWB4dTGE4a8zNieBSGIcGkj1Y5637KztHadH0vKC_LY7oi9bSMe-4AMdMcT5u10KlD4D8ljmTJxPTFIXrkL7ZMVcs6XHuk-nbsoqqMFbvUfjwbrMu-XR_PIUknpLf4uJ/s1600/Epistemology+ethic+chicken+egg+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXG3pAW3rsX2UnWB4dTGE4a8zNieBSGIcGkj1Y5637KztHadH0vKC_LY7oi9bSMe-4AMdMcT5u10KlD4D8ljmTJxPTFIXrkL7ZMVcs6XHuk-nbsoqqMFbvUfjwbrMu-XR_PIUknpLf4uJ/s1600/Epistemology+ethic+chicken+egg+Charles+Taylor.png" height="343" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">“Baseline moral </span><span style="color: black;">commitments </span><span style="color: black;">stand behind close world structures, specifically the
coming of age</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"> metaphor of adulthood”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Taylor Summarized in an Equation</span></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;">Of course, it wouldn't be a stanford summary without trying to express something analytically. Taylor argues that transcendence haunts us. It is the feeling that our experience and observation is not somehow divisible by 'The Closed Frame' of the secular subtraction stories or exclusive humanism.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Sure, we can make sense of beauty without reference to the
transcendent,</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> but is it parsimonious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it leaves us cross pressured,
leaving a remainder of reductionism</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The closed
frame lacks “sufficient resources to account for </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">fullness”...or, it is indivisible, leaving non-trivial remainders that require explanation for our synthesis to truly 'correspond with reality.'</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Long Middle</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXonaTqlNvGhf7MUBKiMGEPl1prVNlKvamdg770qyhXavK_FjuRLnbg2lp-fHHAkRkkqaJP5em9JrgbbYmHFeXQhsV8xgyHAmhG8bNl5u3e36GSx7p8SyrATeJ2hUuNnXv2msBOIpDZQ2/s1600/The+long+middle+Acceptable+activites+for+a+deity.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXonaTqlNvGhf7MUBKiMGEPl1prVNlKvamdg770qyhXavK_FjuRLnbg2lp-fHHAkRkkqaJP5em9JrgbbYmHFeXQhsV8xgyHAmhG8bNl5u3e36GSx7p8SyrATeJ2hUuNnXv2msBOIpDZQ2/s1600/The+long+middle+Acceptable+activites+for+a+deity.png" height="237" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Human Porosity and the Buffered Self</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">“Malaise is itself one of the consequences of the
buffered identity” 64</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">“The same “buffering” of</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-text-raise: 0%; vertical-align: baseline;"> the self that
protects us also encloses us and isolates us…sealed off from enchantment the
modern buffered self is also sealed off from significance”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Insulation<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-text-raise: 0%; vertical-align: baseline;"> leads to isolation.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Excarnation</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Four Eclipses of Exclusive Humanism</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of Taylor's central and most helpful ideas is that the subtraction stories of secularism (e.g. Dawkins God's =n-1), that what we have is the inevitable remainder of disenchanting the universe, is insufficient, mainly because we insisted that 'meaning' remain in our disenchanted universe. To retain meaning, we had to add something for everything we subtracted. So secularism was not so much a series losing but of eclipses, replacings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5t5gKELQ1wTlf2LkrxBQh5a6vum3qiE0_39Kn_dNimfDCy1YV_t9XRcexwaFi7Q9TZvDsFlql_-sp5j9Tbhf6OY9A893uMNhVy1d-LpYwjpveUofjUlTKcUHaD2gnLMGDi8Y7B0NWSqWw/s1600/Insufficient+Subtraction+Stories+Four+Eclipses+of+Modernism+James+Smith+on+Charles+Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5t5gKELQ1wTlf2LkrxBQh5a6vum3qiE0_39Kn_dNimfDCy1YV_t9XRcexwaFi7Q9TZvDsFlql_-sp5j9Tbhf6OY9A893uMNhVy1d-LpYwjpveUofjUlTKcUHaD2gnLMGDi8Y7B0NWSqWw/s1600/Insufficient+Subtraction+Stories+Four+Eclipses+of+Modernism+James+Smith+on+Charles+Taylor.png" height="298" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">This post was written while listening to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Suburbs</i> by Arcade Fire </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Which Smith
also claimed as the dominant soundtrack of his book, not only because its good
writing music, but because it captures the cross-pressure of modernity so
sublimely).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Philosophy professor at Calvin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
Philosophy Professor at Toronto</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: #5f497a; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">Note:
It is awkward to write about Black Mirror (now on Netflix).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first episode is among the crassest<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #5f497a; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
most desultory bits of film I've seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don't recommend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recommend skipping
it, actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the series isn't
serialized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each 60 minute show is a self
contained work of short fiction.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #5f497a; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the second episode was one of the best
things I've watched in a long time.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #5f497a; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm writing about the second episode (15
Million Merits), and it is impossible to write about without spoiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this piece assumes you've seen it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can find it on Netflix or in its entirety
on YouTube:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYPbZNTbnko">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYPbZNTbnko</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(Spoilers below)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fifteen Million Merits is a sweet, innocent story of two
young people trying to find something real and substantial in a world reduced
to simulacrum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it keeps that light,
almost cartoonish tone until the moment Lady Cybil (er. Abi) sings her earnest,
movingly imperfect ballad on the talent show…and is swiftly offered a lucrative
place in the burgeoning porn industry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Ojp0u4BVoEX_8ve08Ycnt8VolavWEnhyphenhyphenmn_5bE2qLEetkspo4JFfw15Qnrbsa93aSiUBaUwS0iQOhUJSgl0zj3_wvpBB34jiCNIjKaf3qqBIWbRZkXn_twpQZax2y7vtkdtgV1xVb62T/s1600/mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Ojp0u4BVoEX_8ve08Ycnt8VolavWEnhyphenhyphenmn_5bE2qLEetkspo4JFfw15Qnrbsa93aSiUBaUwS0iQOhUJSgl0zj3_wvpBB34jiCNIjKaf3qqBIWbRZkXn_twpQZax2y7vtkdtgV1xVb62T/s1600/mirror.jpg" height="258" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The powers enslave Abi, distilling and commodifying her
beauty into something salable and sad and thin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The episode could have ended there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would have fit the tone of the series, and the theme.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrative
counters with a montage,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> as
the protagonist sets out on a rescue mission of sorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bing, is motivated, we suppose, either by
love or by justice or by some other noble sentiment we do not bother to define precisely,
but cheer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This redemption narrative
sets up the actual, more devastating reveal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While we can easily imagine the commodification of physical
beauty, we did not suspect justice or love might be quite so vulnerable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But the three judges are very good at their jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They immediately see what we could not. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTKKQa63vQrP4m0W1K6RON2lXFIeLCRJG5jil0HpI23rkNCVCWBetxxrJ5rRkhXpT_xxBgCUEoJ95__Ik_TEbXW0fOfkX0sa2Gekm6JeyOVPkTJAEqkFY7pGUx9Mzvno5RSWTFOfIxfLN/s1600/BlackMirror1x02_1382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTKKQa63vQrP4m0W1K6RON2lXFIeLCRJG5jil0HpI23rkNCVCWBetxxrJ5rRkhXpT_xxBgCUEoJ95__Ik_TEbXW0fOfkX0sa2Gekm6JeyOVPkTJAEqkFY7pGUx9Mzvno5RSWTFOfIxfLN/s1600/BlackMirror1x02_1382.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Outrage is a commodity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Anger creates </span>celebrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
story argues that the moral distinction between the pornographer and the
prophet is fuzzy, both are profitable diversions, stimulating our nervous systems to
provide ‘bait’ for our indentured labors.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Just like beauty, which starts out pure and real, then distilled
and monetized by a ‘service industry’ for its neural signals, the stirrings of
justice can be redirected to create desired brain states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The denunciation of diversion becomes
diversion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Outrage is so often about us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is about our desire to feel justified, righteous,
wise, to transcend the rabble to be more than the mindless masses, to assuage the
guilt of the violence we are part of but powerless to subvert. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outrage is a desired (and addictive) brain
state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an arousal, an
appetite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like other forms of
arousal, an industry springs up to meet the demand…and…cha ching.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That’s how we get Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, John Oliver, Sean
Hannity<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>,
Rachel Madow, Glen Beck, et al. and yes, even Jon Stewart<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>,
when most of us find their worlds cartoonish and barren and flat, without the
topography of nuance or the ecological heterogeneity of generosity for the
other.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">More importantly, outrage is easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tears down the makings of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breaking is easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Making is hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crafting beauty or value that survives the
onslaught of outrage, that persists beyond distillation of appetites, that
rings true (because it is) or makes sense of our swift brief lives or tangibly serves
the human experience (of particular humans) is the mandate.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In my work and art and preaching, I long to be more maker
than breaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to be good enough
at these things to eschew the nervous system subsidy of commodified outrage,
offering an alternative that ‘rings true’ that is constructed more of hope and
joy and generosity than self justifying anger.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">This post was written to the Dawes Pandora Station.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Footnote on the final scene<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Here's a spoiling summary: "A British princess
is taken hostage and the only demand for her safe return is for the Prime
Minister to have sex with a pig on live television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public sentiment drives him to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later, it seems he's a hero, but his
marriage is destroyed."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, you
are up to date. You can start with episode 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Incidentally,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this was very
clever and artfully made, it was just felt like it was intentionally trying to ‘cross
lines’ – shocking for shock's effect that underestimated me as a viewer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other three we have watched have been brutal and devastating, but have not made
that mistake.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> As my end of year reading summary will show, I have
gotten into short fiction in a big way (both reading and writing), specifically
short science fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since science
fiction is fundamentally a thought experiment, the short form is usually
optimal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have thought more than once, ‘this
story would make a great film, if it was ok for films to be 45 minutes,’ and
then thought about Louie’s work and the old Twilight Zone stuff thinking that
the artificial film length really limits us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It turns out, Black Mirror was exactly what I was hoping for.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> And the next two episodes were both brilliant too,
though they are uniformly devastating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Black Mirror’s thought experiments are uniformly dystopic, in
understated ways, but is darker and rings truer for casting a modest but hardly
livable sentence on human technological futures.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Which, if it hadn’t been the second episode, I would
have known to distrust.</span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> As does denunciation of denunciation of diversion…the
‘irony’ (AIHCTBK) is not lost on me.</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> There’s a pun for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> This guy is my least favorite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to watch him in a hotel twice, and
just couldn’t do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first draft called him John Hannady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I can’t claim a lot of knowledge, and my caricature
might be unfair and is based on unflattering Stewart clips, but I put the risk
of him not belonging in this paragraph at ‘low’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Stewart gets a pass so often because he’s genuinely
likable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, to his credit, he
interacts with larger conversations, something we like to call, ‘books’ in a
way almost no one else does. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while I
agree with his content 60-70% of the time, his rhetorical tricks are often
sleight of hand, converting outrage (lazy outrage, outrage that requires simultaneous
entertainment, which makes him something of an artistic savant) into
advertising dollars.</span></div>
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<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> At the heart of my theology of work and art is that
when Genesis says we were made in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>image of God, that the context suggests that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we were ‘made makers.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Seriously, have you heard “A Little Bit of Everything”
– Brilliant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vin0U-ej1L8</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Unrelated, to the essay: The final scene
shows him looking out a big window to a rain forest vista.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The popular position on the internet seems to
be, ‘the outside isn’t real, it’s just an upgrade on the simulacrum.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have an unlikely alternate hypothesis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think ordering society into an economy of energy
production and consumption of electrons, made society sustainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This little dystopia was the way we ‘saved
the planet.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might have been a
televised illusion, but what if an isolated world of self generated
entertainment and sustenance is the only way the rest of the world heals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We inflict violence on each other in our own
little ecosystem, to restore the rest of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would add another level of moral complexity to the story,
sacrificing humanity (so to speak) to save the rest of the biosphere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And then
there’s the penguin statue, which is a metaphor for the conversion both Abi and
Bing experienced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bing 'upgrades,' his
penguin totem converting something ephemeral but real into something
sustaining, reproducible, and false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Grasping at the ephemeral, and destroying it in the attempt to
generalize it, and sustain it.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-25557023097267202852014-11-05T06:13:00.000-08:002014-11-07T11:58:57.970-08:00Psalm Plots<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I set out to teach any part of the Christian Scriptures, I feel like I have to understand how it is situated on multiple scales. But at the least, I have to study the 'book' scale, to understand how it is situated in the genre and work of art in which it lives and breaths.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is why I seldom accept preaching gigs on stand alone 'passages.' There is too much overhead. I try to do talks in clusters, to leverage the time spent exploring the 'work of art' scale for several of my own 'makings'.[1]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But I do something else peculiar. When presented with any large data set I usually try to translate it into visualizations. I try to make sense of the world by turning words or ideas into pictures or plots. In the past, I've just done this for my own understanding.[2] This time, particularly because we were tackling the most vast and varied book of the Christian [2.5] Scriptures, I figured, if they were helpful to me, they might be helpful to others. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So I crafted <a href="http://stanfordmp3.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a talk</a> around them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">(Note: These are still kind of a work in progress. So if you find errors or curious editorial choices, let me know, and I'll update them at some point.)</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Without further preliminaries, here are some visualizations of the book of Psalms...with some quotes from the talk.</span></span><br />
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<h2>
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Mood Map</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQrUmTbmvNh2kZZPicCTJnKozGzIOx6EVZ2qkzPaD3kfUPriJRk84SYUuUqRVBhGbgXKdwBMODhFb7kdYwI2jqIET4WlCnL5AbnO2eCsdHPnbH2xpciyghc3S9Uf-a5M9cV38rQeGq_y-/s1600/Psalm+Mood+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQrUmTbmvNh2kZZPicCTJnKozGzIOx6EVZ2qkzPaD3kfUPriJRk84SYUuUqRVBhGbgXKdwBMODhFb7kdYwI2jqIET4WlCnL5AbnO2eCsdHPnbH2xpciyghc3S9Uf-a5M9cV38rQeGq_y-/s1600/Psalm+Mood+Map.png" height="301" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"The answer to the question, what is the primary mood of these "authorized sample prayers" is "yes." There are as many ways of talking to God as there are ways to be human."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simplified Summary Plot:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5uSLsHvth0aHU6Y-fopN60EaGCPDMJQzUTEwpmPmGNbbOjkhsfNggNYMAefArJTgIJ0KcK3as__OiRcdOAhTDXc5-eI6POEfCeXIwBJ7N0_vdP6OpnEZ3juU42O_CMnko7XMVHKn5DkH/s1600/Psalms+in+3+Emoticons.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5uSLsHvth0aHU6Y-fopN60EaGCPDMJQzUTEwpmPmGNbbOjkhsfNggNYMAefArJTgIJ0KcK3as__OiRcdOAhTDXc5-eI6POEfCeXIwBJ7N0_vdP6OpnEZ3juU42O_CMnko7XMVHKn5DkH/s1600/Psalms+in+3+Emoticons.png" height="400" width="385" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Temporal Distribution</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsJTuRLPVEtoM5kfrXFM1IAiUg6IxZOcaKaWLZ1ZRPvB4jFzTNddPPnkG2XRSRkYMN0IIAO7gv5WamNRFwrK0cuSYusnihy10I0EOM8bQLHWtXZYAh3YErEeH8Jqcy-1YA78HjxJoBjcB/s1600/Temporal+distributiono+psalms.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsJTuRLPVEtoM5kfrXFM1IAiUg6IxZOcaKaWLZ1ZRPvB4jFzTNddPPnkG2XRSRkYMN0IIAO7gv5WamNRFwrK0cuSYusnihy10I0EOM8bQLHWtXZYAh3YErEeH8Jqcy-1YA78HjxJoBjcB/s1600/Temporal+distributiono+psalms.png" height="287" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNE7KZHBuLyJFdbSx07Ov4iqktkSiMtHGAlk3X5Pz3rn_kCfznhw-qKYxTGckgcR_e69X8nENgatNPcunULPpmV-e8ngF0rk4Dj_wmhUBvctegtq-oWa2GfdavE_geSQP_WW3FfIebLaKk/s1600/Temporal+distributiono+psalms.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"How long should you pray? Psalms answers, as long as it takes. Communication in all your best relationships happens on a distribution of temporal scales, logging the long talks makes the frequent, quick check-ins, possible. And the distribution isn't symmetrical. A simple Gaussian distribution doesn't capture it here. I'd go with something more like a Gamma distribution."[3]</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"The longest psalm has more verses than the shortest has characters (you could literally tweet 117)." </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Cumulative Punctuation Plot [4]</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj7X301NzA7l3bhleEU6axJb3rO4AkoBLx2R5oaD3aFFk8pbXHTeWJ3hEyqdUI1zkCFRJo0BdxWXh8bdfiLZAGvE0cr7o_m6VWFK2nkBdWp9ocmRSYoyIEptBbUNuLjJU7puuxGgKOJl1/s1600/Psalm+punctuation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj7X301NzA7l3bhleEU6axJb3rO4AkoBLx2R5oaD3aFFk8pbXHTeWJ3hEyqdUI1zkCFRJo0BdxWXh8bdfiLZAGvE0cr7o_m6VWFK2nkBdWp9ocmRSYoyIEptBbUNuLjJU7puuxGgKOJl1/s1600/Psalm+punctuation.png" height="247" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"That is a rate of over 3 exclamation points per Psalm...and nearly a question per prayer. The idea that 'Christians aren't allowed to ask hard questions about God and reality' is empirically false, here are 120 little counter factuals to that claim."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"There are also a lot of semi-colons, which makes sense, because an omniscient God may be alone in the universe in understanding precisely how to use those little monstrosities." </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Directional Diversity</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj076erMjXYcOUVSGzF_hSDtQggS67weZZgtKBEAOI-M23BN7P1INj5xi-1QrySnN5NtoarFut-itL29xJ0dqXJWq-CLxJRTJueGUWgKdBudH0jzSHRSFO9FAyGgd0AICYfouxsGFGJ2QMz/s1600/Psalm+Classification+(direction).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj076erMjXYcOUVSGzF_hSDtQggS67weZZgtKBEAOI-M23BN7P1INj5xi-1QrySnN5NtoarFut-itL29xJ0dqXJWq-CLxJRTJueGUWgKdBudH0jzSHRSFO9FAyGgd0AICYfouxsGFGJ2QMz/s1600/Psalm+Classification+(direction).png" height="400" width="375" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"Many of these little prayers are 'worship set pieces' what we call liturgies, meant to be prayed again and again, by believers throughout the centuries and millennia, alone and together, but always in inter-generational community."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Summary Chart</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> <span style="color: black;">I </span></span>set out to create a 'periodic table of Psalms.' I ran out of time. I still hope to do it. But for now, here is the raw data I collected, that can still be a guide to finding an authorized sample prayer that matches your state in mood and content, when you don't have the mental energy to make something up...and want to channel all your energy into volition instead of creation.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdu-HDJrgwBePAJ31an_gOZEbmj_p-IRrLeExz_HzaSqlnzueQXhgwHtqEDGCAFwZOPx9ky_i4mJPokcI7ADTnBRK3gSqzZLRFX9RSjOk7VnSb9sBydZDqImBLq3nBqZjGkfweahz19KU/s1600/Psalm+Classification+(all%2Bdata).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdu-HDJrgwBePAJ31an_gOZEbmj_p-IRrLeExz_HzaSqlnzueQXhgwHtqEDGCAFwZOPx9ky_i4mJPokcI7ADTnBRK3gSqzZLRFX9RSjOk7VnSb9sBydZDqImBLq3nBqZjGkfweahz19KU/s1600/Psalm+Classification+(all%2Bdata).png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This post was written while listening to The Rand Collective Channel on Pandora</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">_______________ </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[1] I have <a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2010/01/labor-art-or-sacrament-lessons-from.html" target="_blank">argued before that preaching </a>is more than collaborative art with the original authors (both created and creator) but it is not less.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[2] In a few weeks, I'll run the visualizations I created for the Gospel of John a couple years ago.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[2.5] With no real narrative thread to hang my hat on. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[3] Gamma distributions get a skew with only 2 parameters, while you need 3 to get asymmetry out of a Gaussian distribution.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[4] This all got cut</span></span>stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-8645300331777782452014-10-24T07:09:00.001-07:002014-11-06T07:12:03.583-08:00The Verdict on Human Nature: A Lament<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The jury is in. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Centuries of debate about human nature have come to an end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are we, at our core, kind and altruistic, or self serving
and basically shit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That used to be a debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A legitimate question for discourse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A rhetorical arc from Locke vs. Hobbes to Annie vs Jeff<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But we have adjudicated it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The conclusion, it turns out, wasn’t philosophical, it was empirical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A grand social experiment tested these
dialectical hypotheses, revealing which obtained.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We call that experiment the internet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People are who they are when the social enforcement
mechanisms are suspended...or as we like to call it, under the cover of
anonymity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The internet is a place where people are who they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YouTube comments do not represent a few
crazies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a good empirical
sample of the human condition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And what do we find there: racism, sexism, anti-religious
vitriol, anti-irreligious vitriol, <i>ad hominem</i>, bullying, intimidation, and
every other way that a human can degrade not only another human's attempt to make
something in and out of the world...but to degrade the human doing the making. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then there’s Twitter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How do we negotiate power imbalance without external enforcement? How do we handle power imbalance when we can handle it any way we want?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Felicia Day doxxed for expressing fear that she might be doxxed
for speaking out? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Christ have mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Grant us wisdom and courage to be who we aren't.</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Ref.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Community</i></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-30653448593571780532014-10-12T12:49:00.001-07:002014-10-12T13:18:42.228-07:00Tiffany's Top Ten: Study Advice Part 2<span style="color: #741b47;">My friend Tiffany is an English Professor at a great school (bias alert - I have a degree from there). She is the author of the recent book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Word-Eschatology-Reading/dp/1451470320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413142498&sr=8-1&keywords=tiffany+kriner" target="_blank">The Future of the Word</a>", which I am half way through and loving. I e-mailed her to get her thoughts on my <a href="http://www.stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2014/10/study-tips-ten-thoughts-on-optimizing.html" target="_blank">10 study tip thoughts</a>, and she generated her own. I just decided to run it as its own post. Also, I may have riffed once or twice in footnotes:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
I think about undergraduate experience, the thoughts are really much different
than about grad school or beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
are some random thoughts from a teacher of undergrads and from my various
regrets, etc. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1. Stay at school for the whole four years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
there's ANY WAY, don't fast track it. Gotta have time for the discoveries that
happen when you take the courses you don't think you'll like, etc. etc. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2. BUY IN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you can, at all possible, try to get at the nerdiness and geek out about
whatever course or thing you’re doing--to not think of something as for a
grade, but for as much as possible to give in to it on ITs terms, not
yours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if you actually thought of taking the foreign
language as a chance to learn the language rather than get a particular grade
or fulfill a requirement--if you decided that yes, the love of the Trinity
inheres in the magical translatability of the gospel and in the love across
cultures, and that therefore, you will learn a LANGUAGE, not a textbook, then
you would perhaps consider the following:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>try church in the language; do some geeky conversation table in the
community at the local library; read Bible in both languages; radically,
publicly, and awkwardly practice it, etc. etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do extra drill and practice, even try starting to write or worship in
the language--not to get an A in Spanish 103, but to find the glory of the Lord
in the multiplicity of languages, etc. etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that metaphor applies across disciplines, I think. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Show your buy in
during class in the following ways:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(1) If you can nod sincerely (not nod off) during class, DO IT.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers teach better when they feel the buy
in. Indeed, sometimes I feel like I’m giving myself totally to the people who
nod or show buy in, trying to teach specially for them </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(2)
If you can, visit office hours at least twice a term per class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helps YOUR buy in and, (forgive this
vulgarity) I think people who visit office hours get better grades than they
would have without (basically, the teacher, hearing your story, begins to BUY
IN to you even more than they already do or would).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you get stuck, MOVE
YOUR BODY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have heard countless stories about people trying to stick it out, stick it out,
sit there until they crumble into dust in order to study, but often, exercise
of a kind works out a problem, opens you for revelations that you won’t get if
you try to just brain power through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Poet
friends tell me of, after a fruitless day of trying to power through, having
even the WALK TO THE CAR be enough to open them to revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One friend had to stop on the side walk and
get out paper and pad right there on the concrete because the solution to the
structural problem had, as it were, sort of showed up without him, as soon as he
moved. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">5. That whole getting off the media thing is for reals. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Serious.
Trade Facebook (or whatever sites you go to, I know, Facebook is for grammas
now) passwords with a friend, then change your friend’s password (and vice
versa) for a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Use stayfocusd.com or
other browser aids to keep you from that terrible track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">6. Consider the talks and plays and concerts</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> that are available in your
department and across disciplines on campus to be </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">PART of your
education</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> and
budget in time to see the experts (even if you haven’t heard of them) that your
professors spend great amounts of time and institutional (and sometimes
personal!) money to bring in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try to remember that
there are two ways that God has given us to serve him, married and single, and
that both are good ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Try
very hard to remember that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I
would have thought about the first way much less during college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I would have been able to do more
good work and do better work, if I didn’t assume that my whole life was
pointing toward marriage (ok, sex. Mostly sex, and because I’m sort of a
Christian traditionalist, marriage.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider that colleges
invent lists of requirements in and across disciplines for a reason and don’t
think you’re too good to benefit from the wisdom of those who put together
those lists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
bucked this SO SO many times—in undergrad, for instance, I took “Theology and
Oxford Christian Writers” to fulfill the theology course requirement for
general education—basically so I could read as much Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S.
Lewis as I wanted to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I screwed myself
out of systematic theology at a Christian college because I thought I was too
good for the required course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HUGE
mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
not just for theological reasons—it works in other disciplines too. In grad
school, I made my own prelims reading list—another disaster that I’m still
paying for. Oh, and by “don’t think you’re too good to benefit,” I mean both
that you should take the courses that are required, AND that you should BUY IN,
rather than doing the minimum possible.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">9. Don’t underestimate the extent to which all disciplines
fundamentally rely on writing.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Learn,
in college, not just how to write, as if it were a universal, but rather learn
how to LEARN how to write in different fields:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>by acquiring subject matter knowledge, knowledge of the genres that
writers in the field tackle, knowledge of writing process, rhetorical
knowledge, and knowledge of the discourse communities in which you’ll be
writing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10. Start every single day reminding yourself practically and
tangibly (on paper, on your knees, in song, out loud) some version of John 15’s
assertion that without Christ, you can do nothing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">Footnotes by stanford </span></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> This also works during Collegelife
talks<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">Seriously. Teacher-learner energy is a feedback loop. And I am more motivated to put in the extra time to prepare the next one if i had the sense that the last one mattered to someone.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> I also have regrets with
respect to this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I endured modern
physics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In retrospect, it should have
been my favorite class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>15 years later I
devour all the modern physics I can – it is one of my 4 or 5 favorite topics
(which is saying something given the length of that list).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then it didn’t seem sufficiently
practical to warrant my attention at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wish I had asked “why is this required and how could it capture my
imagination.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I had a similar experience with at least 3 other classes in undergrad.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> As a full fledged STEM
(Science Technology Engineering and Math) nerd…let me say…Yes!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>STEM is not exempt from this advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took me 10 years to learn the technical
writing skills I should have picked up in an undergrad class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every profession writes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And also, for some of us, writing is a mode
of thinking.</div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-76785084098075674232014-10-10T09:43:00.000-07:002017-10-17T23:11:43.050-07:00Study Tips: Ten Thoughts on Optimizing the Academic Life<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This week I’m giving a talk on cultivating ‘disciplined
curiosity,’ which makes a case from the book of Daniel that studying hard, even
when the work is tedious or dull, can be part of Jesus following, God loving,
faithfulness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It may or may not have included a clip from everyone's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMRTGv82Zo" target="_blank">favorite song</a> about Ashurbanipal.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The talk focused on the
‘why’, of taking studies seriously, but did not expand on the ‘how’.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I have no formal
training on pedagogy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But I have studied
a lot, so I thought I’d pass along the results of my anecdotal experience.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Here are my thoughts on how to discipline curiosity and
thrive academically in undergrad:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understand the Concept of Flow and the Value
of Momentum.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Momentum is the currency of all creative work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether you are writing a paper, or solving a
problem set, or generating a lab report, or learning a language, <b>90,
consecutive, undistracted minutes are much more valuable than 90 minutes interspersed
with 30, or 60, or 90 minutes of ‘study breaks.’</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b> </b> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Creativity isn’t magical or mysterious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our brains are wonderful and even mystical
organs, but they can be trained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Creativity inhabits a mental space psychologists call ‘flow.’ The key to
productivity in and after college is to learn how to create and sustain flow.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Create Sustained Undistracted
Time Windows</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The environment for flow is a substantial, but tractable,
block of undistracted time.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think for most people it generally works
best if it is in a regular, predictable time and space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Predictability and structure may seem like
the opposite of the conditions for creativity, but <b>creativity is a discipline
not an emotion</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If you learn to create a
habitat for creativity, it will become a regular companion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buy a timer,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
set it for 60 minutes at first, then 90, then 120 and, don’t go online or check
e-mail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See if you don’t learn to create and sustain
momentum.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Track Your Time and Budget Your Hours</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">How many hours a week do you study?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t know the answer to that question
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">±</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">3 hours you
are probably working reactively rather than proactively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Time is a commodity, and if you are going to
spend it wisely, you need to budget it</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
my recommendation:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Lay out a week in your favorite medium (graph paper, calendar,
Excel, dragon skin and the blood of a newt,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
medium doesn’t really matter).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Subtract a healthy amount of sleep. If I was to make
one change in the many regrettable study practices of my undergrad, I’d sleep
more.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iii.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Then block out the non-negotiable activities that are
‘above the line,’ activities that you prioritize before academics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, in undergrad, it was church,
participation in Intervarsity large and small groups, and, in my senior year, a
Saturday date with my girlfriend.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some this will include exercise, close
friendships, a sport or club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> With the rising costs of school, for more and more students, this includes non-trivial hours, working to pay the bills. </span>If video
games or television are non-negotiable, budget a reasonable (and I would argue,
a reasonably brief) time for them, and then stick to the budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabbath is a good principle here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make time for rest<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> and
protect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">iv.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Then find the blocks of time for work and study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark some in stone as non-negotiable, the
same time and place where you are not likely to be interrupted by friends or
internet, and make others flexible in time and place, experimenting with what
is most conducive to flow…but assess that critically and don’t self-deceive.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Whatever you are doing, be fully present.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t watch Netflix during study time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t worry about the test while you are
enjoying time with friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like
with money, if you make a budget and stick to it, it not only keeps you from
wasting the resource, it makes enjoying the part set aside for fun guilt free.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Find a Study Group for Problem
Set Classes</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This one is particular to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good study group can be hit or miss in the
humanities, social sciences and even the descriptive sciences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can sometimes waste more time than they
save for reading, essay exam, discussion, and term paper based classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for classes based on problem sets (Math,
Physics, Chem…) find a study group, or make one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best study groups meet at the same time
each week to tackle a regular problem set, early enough before it is due so
that you can each visit office hours to get help on problems that you get stuck
on.</span></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It is ideal if there is someone else in the group as good or
better than you at problem solving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Often if there is at least someone of your caliber in the group, you
will figure out different problems or different parts of the same problem,
saving time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a study group is
valuable in STEM even if you are the strongest performer in the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as the others don’t simply copy your
work, if they solve the same problem even with your approach, they can verify
your solution independently (or catch mistakes).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Go to Class…Always…and Early</span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Class is the best use of your study time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>There is no better return-on-investment for your time than
going to lecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>The time cost of
reconstructing the material from a class is almost always much too high to make
missing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>class worth it, even if you have
a test in your next class.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, if you get to class 5-10 minutes early and review the
previous class’ notes, you will get more than 5-10 minutes of value from that
time, because it is close enough to the first introduction to plant it more
firmly in your memory, and because it will help you understand the new material
(that will, presumably, build on it).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">6. Notes > Text</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This might not be true for English, but in all the STEM
classes I took, and most of the liberal arts classes, the professor was far
more interested in what he or she told me than what the book had to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many cases the professor has forgotten
what was in the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a very
close friend whose GPA jumped a full point when she stopped spending all her
time reading the text and really metabolized the notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Granted, this is a tip for grad chasing
rather than learning, but it is best if your learning manifests as grades, and
your time is limited.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And while we are talking about grade optimization rather than
learning, the best thing you can do for your grades is to read the syllabus, carefully,
paying attention to the percentages, and apportioning your effort accordingly.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Stop Telling Yourself You Work Best
Under Pressure…Seriously, Just Stop</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“I work best under pressure” is self deception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Work under a deadline is rushed and
unreflective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you are experiencing
‘counterfeit flow’ is a truncated version creative productivity that comes from
finally giving yourself a small, sad, exhausted block of undistracted
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you would have had the same
experience, only sharper and more productive and more creative, if you had
given yourself the same block of time a week earlier, in the morning or mid-day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Necessity is the friend of productivity but the enemy of
creativity.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">You might work fastest under pressure, but real learning requires
time to reflect, and creativity is a middle-distance race not a sprint.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are most productive when you capture a
state of flow (see #1) which usually requires regular, predictable setting of
undistracted time.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Work While You Aren’t Working…By
Working Ahead</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Most creative work happens when you aren’t actively
working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While you are eating or
exercising or at a job or talking with friends…shoot, I once dreamed the solution to a
physics problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you can only take
advantage of the ‘work when you aren’t working’ phenomenon if you start early
enough to have the basic ideas you are working on in the cognitive hopper for a
while before the deadline.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have a paper outline in your head, you will fill it
out while you walk to class, then when you sit down to work, momentum is close
at hand.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">9. Ask Yourself “Why Did my Professor
Find this Subject Interesting Enough to Dedicate her Life To It?” and Then Try
to Contract the Virus.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Your professor dedicated her life to this topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one time or another she found it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>that</u></i> inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely there is enough beauty and value in
there for you to squeeze 4 quarter credits of attention out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if your professor is seriously done, like
out to tenure pasture done, long past inspiring anyone, then try to figure out
what is so enchanting about the topic that your TA is committing her future to
it.</span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">You don’t have to make the topic your vocation, but you’ll
have a lot more energy for the quarter if you find the secret to their passion.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">10. Experiment with Academic Generosity.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m convinced that generosity is the most powerful
prescription for worry and discontent.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that we generally think of
generosity in terms of money, and undergrads have none of that…in fact, given
the loan situation, most undergrads actually have negative money.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But the most precious resources in undergrad are time and
GPA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experimenting with academic
generosity, giving time and donating insight when your time and insight can
make the difference for someone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This will deconstruct the competitive power of the academic life.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So that is my eccentric, anecdotal top 10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I also reached out to some of my professor friends to ask them. I posted my friend Prof. Rich's, Prof. Teresa's, and Prof. George's thoughts in the comments and rolled Prof. Tiffany's thoughts into a second post <a href="http://stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2014/10/tiffanys-top-ten-study-advice-part-2.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What about you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please share some of yours in the comments.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">This post was written while listening to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Aeroplane Over The Sea</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a>
by Neutral Milk Hotel</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> I
have a friend who used to work in increments of ‘one laptop battery’ (which
used to be just over two hours).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
him, that enough time to achieve flow, but stopped<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for a break before the point of diminishing
returns.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
Like a real, life, physical timer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
rely on an internet timer, because you want to be going to the internet as
little as possible.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
Actually, dragons are apex predators, so even in an imaginary world, commoditizing
their pelt is probably morally dubious, and if you are handling dead newts, be
aware that the contain one of the most toxic neruo toxins in the animal
kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe better to go with a
molskine and a pen…or at least sheep hide and frog blood.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">I use software for
this, but I’ve had friends tell me that is weird</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> The
sleep deficit I ran made me exhausted in class, so even though I was there, I
had to re-learn the material and had horrible notes, and when I tried to work,
I was too tired to be creative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
physicalogical reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are more
creative when you are well rested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red
bull does not provide the same brain chemicals as sleep…espresso does not
consolidate and reinforce neural pathways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sleep is part of learning.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> My
now, wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the best investment
I made in undergrad.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
Rest gets confused with as entertainment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In your very limited non-work time, make sure to actively choose
activities that are life giving.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> If
you don’t have enough time in iv, revisit iii and your definition of ‘non-negotiable,’
or lower your academic expectations and be cognoscente of the future costs of
that decision.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>
This was my friend Tiffany’s approach to her first year of Grad School at a top
5 English program (where she measured the reading she had to do that year in
meters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stole it, and it has served
me well.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> I
think the ‘marathon-not-a-sprint’ metaphor is overused and mostly
inaccurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If an all nighter is a
sprint, by simple temporal upscaling, writing a paper carefully and
reflectively over the course of 2 weeks is a middle distance race, something
like an 800m or a 1600m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing in the
quarter system is a marathon, but it’s also better if it’s not a series of
sprints either.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>
This may seem to contradict my advice to ‘be fully wherever you are’ but it
doesn’t really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘be fully present’
principle is about worry and distraction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you have learned why your topic is fundamentally interesting or even
beautiful, thinking about it recreationally does not violate the boundaries of
Sabbath.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a> I
actually did a talk about this.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a> I
have reached out to some of my professor friends to provide a few thoughts of
their own.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a>
It was also written <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">IN</i> an aroplane,
somewhere over Nevada.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-32341667898675738492014-08-11T06:22:00.000-07:002014-11-10T07:44:32.160-08:00Praying the Psalms from Privilege: Reclaiming the Psalter after Afghanistan<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:DoNotShowComments/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-fOY6heXcPQuVk3IRaymuPJvdatKaaWFpAXA0ud8d9TFJ34Sq4C3zbWWPuKmuR54W9XeiVaXp9xcUMIuWNcsKxsgULzjPU7HEdb3mqo2p6bqlUNX25Yst-yYaJxA6rchrCXS2DYmNYvc/s1600/Ps+120+I+am+for+Peace,+but+when+I+speak,+they+are+for+war..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-fOY6heXcPQuVk3IRaymuPJvdatKaaWFpAXA0ud8d9TFJ34Sq4C3zbWWPuKmuR54W9XeiVaXp9xcUMIuWNcsKxsgULzjPU7HEdb3mqo2p6bqlUNX25Yst-yYaJxA6rchrCXS2DYmNYvc/s1600/Ps+120+I+am+for+Peace,+but+when+I+speak,+they+are+for+war..jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let’s start with a trick question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What is the most violent book of the Bible?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s a counter intuitive proposal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Psalms.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">OK, maybe second after Joshua.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, Revelation is pretty violent too
depending on how you read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But, the Psalms are definitely top five.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is surprising, because, unlike those other
texts, we are accustomed to thinking of Psalms as the kinder, gentler face of
the Hebrew Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Biblical
texts occupy a continuum between challenge and comfort, most of us would plot
Psalms all the way on the comfort side, as if it were the “Philippians” of the
OT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You know, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want,” green pastures and still waters, refreshed souls and pretty words like
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wall hanging fodder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crochet clichés.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But at least half of these poems - more if you read
carefully - reverberate with the terminology, objects, psychology, and other
accoutrements of violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
songs of fear and danger and pursuit and pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of these tracks were written with a harp in one hand and a sword in
the other, birthed in the minds of frightened men, their bellies pressed
against a cold damp of a cave floor, their pursuers voices audible as swelled
ranks passed their obvious hiding place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">These are war songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And more often than not, they are the songs of those
on the business end of the swords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So years ago, I hypothesized that Psalms would make
more sense in a war zone.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Then I tested the hypothesis…and it obtained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Last time I centered my devotional times on the
Psalter I was in Afghanistan (http://afghanistanford.blogspot.com/), shortly
after the US intervention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ancient
songs read differently while I was grounded in a USAID compound, riding out a
no-roll command after an Embassy bombing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They reached deeper into my psyche while wearing 30 lbs of bullet proof
camo, stuck in traffic, daily crossing Kabul’s clutter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did new things in my heart the night an
explosion rattled the window next to my bunk, shattering the fog of jet lagged rest
with the confused dopamine cocktail, equal parts fight and flight.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But then, in accordance with my privilege, I came
home, soon and on my own terms, never more than a useful<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
tourist to a place and people who have known only violence longer than I’ve
lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And after, I found it harder, not easier, to appropriate
these old words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Psalms seemed more foreign for having felt more
real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I do not fear violence day-to-day and much of our
world does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the Psalms often left me
feeling guilty<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
rather than comforted, a stark reminder of my privilege rather than consolation
in my trivial troubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This reality
left me with the question:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Is there an honest and productive way to pray Psalms
from privilege?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The answer, unsurprisingly, is Yes.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In his popular<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
commentary, John Goldingay<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
suggests that these war zone Psalms can serve practical purposes in the piety
of privilege:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“If readers of the Psalm in (non-violent) parts of the world do not need
to pray for themselves in the manner of (war zone Psalms), then such a psalm
becomes the way we identify with our brothers and sister who have the
experience the psalm describes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray
it on their behalf…”</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This has been particularly helpful in the last
couple months, while the world erupted with new war zones, fresh innocents
facing violence, more children gripped with fear, my Facebook cluttered with
stories so disturbing I want to believe they are products of sensationalism,
but I don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Reports of atrocities in Gaza, beheadings in Iraq,
even Ebola in Africa - which may not be a direct act of human-on-human
violence, but it is a sort of human violence as the deaths pile up that could
be avoided if we were more generous – suddenly give shape to the words in those
middle pages of my Bible.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Now as I pray each Psalm twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I do a preliminary pass, allowing my intercessory
thought to move between my little problems at work, the decisions my friends
are making, the struggling marriages and businesses and churches in my
immediate world, and, mostly, the physical, spiritual, and psychological peril
my children will face in the years to come, despite their 95<sup>th</sup>
percentile privilege.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But then I pray the Psalm a second time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I pray it for people I have never met in Iraq, West
Africa, and Gaza.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Suddenly these texts are visceral and real,
expressing the helplessness I feel and giving words to rage building to hard
boil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are artful words, but they
aren’t pretty words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are words
crafted for situations just like these, which makes them more fitting than the
weak words I try to whisper.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They spit anger and hurt, sometimes
questioning God to his face, then, in the next breath acknowledging God’s unwavering
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hessed<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></b></span></span></span></a></i>
and beg his intervention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">He saved (you) from (your) strong enemy,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from people who were against
(you)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because they were stronger than
(you).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>18:17</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">May Yahweh answer you on the day of trouble,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the name of Jacob’s God shelter
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20:1</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Yahweh in anger swallows up (your enemies);</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fire consumes them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">When they have directed evil against you, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>thought up a scheme, they do not
succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>21:9&11</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">My God, my God, why have you abandoned (them),</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>far away from delivering them,
from the word I yell?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">But you, Yahweh, do not be far away – </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my strength, come quickly as
(their) help.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Save (lives) from the sword, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(their) very self from the dog’s
power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>22:1&19-20<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Now, in my skeptical days<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a>,
I might be tempted to dismiss this as a “prayer placebo,” creating the illusion
of action, a convenient self subterfuge to deceive my conscience, illicitly convincing
it to quit it’s infernal nagging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my
response to skeptical Stanford (and others who would echo that objection) might
be something like: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Clearly you don’t have a lot of experience with
prayer.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There is nothing more motivating to sacrificial
action that speaking words of intersession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing builds solidarity more than begging God to act on another’s
behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing breaks down the us-them
divide more than coming before God, identifying ‘them’ as ‘us’.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I find that God’s most common response to
intersession is deployment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, yes,
that second pass, praying the psalm for sufferers, has sent me to the web sites
of reputable organizations, looking for ways I might responsibly bring
resources to bear on behalf of those gripped by fear in Gaza, Egypt, West
Africa, that I might render my prayers in cash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Selah</i>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And that is how I’ve learned to Pray the Psalms from
Privilege.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Yahweh, I call to you;</span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my rock, do not be deaf toward
me…<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #365f91; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Listen to the sound of my prayers for grace</span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when I cry for help to you</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when I lift up my hands to your
holy room.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Do not drag (them) off with faithless people, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with people who do wickedness…</span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Yahweh is my strength and my shield;</span></div>
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<span style="color: #365f91; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in him my soul has trusted, and I
will find help. Ps 28: 1, 3, 9</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #bfbfbf; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">This post
was written while listening to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transcendental
Youth</i> by The Mountain Goats</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Image citations<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
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<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
You guessed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m teaching Psalms next
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the blog will get some Psalter
reflections that don’t make talks.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> If
you posit the Christian assertion that the Scriptures are God’s self disclosure
to people across generation, class, and situation, it follows that some parts
of it would be more pertinent to different expressions or situations of the
human experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modernity is an
eccentric experience of humanness and despite the demands of our Pietistic
heritage, I don’t expect all of these texts to inform the peculiar human
expression I experience with equal weight.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
And, as with all self aware development work, this modifier was questionable.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> The
issue of the utility of privilege-guilt is a complicated one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Holly Burkhalter</span>’s thoughts on it as useful as you might expect
given here perspective (late life Christian conversion after years of service
in governmental organizations and NGOs fighting poverty and oppression).</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
One of the themes of my novel is that the surprising thing about Jesus is not
that he loved the culturally and economically oppressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are biologically (and those of us with metaphysics
that allow for it, spiritually) wired for pro-social emoting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is REALLY remarkable is that he took
time to love the men of privilege that opposed him.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
‘Popular’ as in, written accessibly for general conception, to distinguish it
from his technical, scholarly tomes…not ‘popular’ in the sense that millions
have read it like Twilight or Harry Potter.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
Incidentally, after illustrating half of the “Old Testament for Everyone”
series with poignant and heart breaking (not to mention, credibility building)
illustrations of caring for his wife, rendered unresponsive for a decade by
illness, and eventually, her death, it’s a joy to read illustrations of a
septuagenarian newlywed.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
Sorry to reveal the weakness of my feminism here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a white, blonde, girl raised in a college
town, with every financial advantage, in a secure, two parent family, with an
attentive father and a remarkable full-time-mother, who attends one of the
nation’s finest school districts, who will have access to a no-debt college
education, doesn’t get to claim victim status of some pernicious
patriarchy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My daughters <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> struggle with gender inequalities,
but in the accounting of global privilege, they owe way more than they are
owed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will need to expend <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">much</i> more energy considering how to use
their privilege well than how to fight the privilege set against them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, all of this is even more true of
my son.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is also helpful because the words I slap together on behalf of real sufferers
seem so thin and weak and hypocritical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The opportunity to talk God’s speech back to him from situations like
those I pray for makes praying for these situations possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is like hotwiring a car, plugging prayers
under oppression into situations of oppression, removing my hypocrisy and
privilege laced language from the equation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Outsourcing the script to victims of violence gives the words of my
intersession unearned *</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
*I’ve said this before, but the evangelical insistence
on ‘originality’ and ‘spontaneity’ in prayer, has lead to one of the most
unoriginal and dully repetitive prayer traditions in Christian history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I am not responsible with crafting clever
words, but borrow them, my mind and heart are freed to invest the words with my
will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your prayer life is dull, it
might be time to pick up a prayer book, maybe even the one in the middle of
your Bible.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a>
Love and kindness and faithfulness.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>
Psalm 22 is one of the finest prayers of the sufferer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goldingay argues that <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“It resolutely insists on
facing two sets of facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It invites
people to look directly in the face of adversity that has happened to them but
also to stay attentive to the facts about God they already knew.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>This mixture of holding the reality of
a violent world and the love and kindness of God (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hessed</i>) is probably why this works so well as foreshadowing the
work of Jesus…not as a kind of magical crystal ball foretelling events, but as
a theological statement of who he will be, the cosmic non- sequitur, the
metaphysical paradox who reconciles our stark hatred of our world’s atrocities
and our cosmic intuition that justice reigns.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a>
Which were almost 20 years ago now…but really, were also yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a>
Not that I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prayer is the Christian
discipline I am worst at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe just
enough to know how it works.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a> I
am writing a talk on these passages that articulate the common experience of
finding God remote or hidden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote a
line today about this verse which may or may not make the talk, but I like
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“’Are you deaf…’ seems passive
aggressive…like something you would yell at a ref who just made a call for the
other team, not a sanctioned line from the great prayer book of four millennia
of Yahwehists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out God’s a big boy
and is not afraid of our wonderings, our doubts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while the Palmists are fearless in their
doubts, they also doubt productively, hopefully, looking for him to answer
their doubt, and generally, are not disappointed.” </div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="color: #bfbfbf; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Lead Image: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benn illustration of Psalm 120:7 from a
scanned collection at 50Watts: <a href="http://50watts.com/#Light-in-the-Darkness-Benn-s-Psalms">http://50watts.com/#Light-in-the-Darkness-Benn-s-Psalms</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: #bfbfbf; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Goldingay
image from: <a href="http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/person/john-goldingay">http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/person/john-goldingay</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
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<![endif]-->stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-59858818358443796092014-06-03T07:06:00.001-07:002014-06-13T07:49:44.269-07:00Can Your Work Make You Good? - A Thought Experiment Exploring Moral Frameworks of Vocational Choice<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">People want
to do work that matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of us feel
either a lot of moral satisfaction or moral guilt (usually both) about the work
we do (or don’t do).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working in both
environmental restoration and international development (both considered
‘moral’ felids) I have observed something interesting. My environmental
colleges seem a little jealous of the development work I get to do and my
development colleagues seem a little jealous of the environmental work I get to
do. The opportunity cost of their choices pigeon holes their vocational
morality and leaves them with a sense of guilt for work not pursued.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I think
we need to cool our jets a bit…and ask a couple fundamental questions about an
assumption we don’t evaluate:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is morality
tied to vocation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if so, how?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What is the
moral framework in which we make vocational choices?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And is
‘moral value’ a self deceiving heuristic for other factors that drive
vocational choice like job satisfaction or social status?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I talk to
students all the time that want to do work that ‘matters.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they all want to work with the poor in
sub-Saharan Africa, or stand up against corporate excess, or go into ministry, or
become artists, or, recently, to get involved in disrupting and caring for those
affected by sex slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting a
‘normal’ office job or public works position or starting a business seems at
best amoral or usually immoral.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Students are
terrified of ‘selling out’ which, if you dig a little, usually means, ‘having a
boring life.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The University is not only
failing to prepare most of them for vocation but the Liberal Arts Education isn’t
preparing them to think about vocation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I have
found the assumption that our moral ‘score’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> is
tied to our vocation to be almost as dubious as tying our morality to our
voting record.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To explain, let’s do a thought experiment.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Thought Experiment: </span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text2;">Scenario 1</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: Consider three lawyers of equal
skill and qualifications (L1, L2, and L3) who all apply comparable jobs 3
firms:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4u6fPsIcPf_BmrrSMmm78TUicEidZkcgi4JZPso50fEhejQS0TvtNLsM0-jyMjbWssOHSen1BJKD4gG5UIMSF-ePK-uqO-Wz5isax_urlYU4J_jsYbFAJ-b0wGqfv2L3IyL9sF5qWfDQ/s1600/introduction+of+firms+and+workers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4u6fPsIcPf_BmrrSMmm78TUicEidZkcgi4JZPso50fEhejQS0TvtNLsM0-jyMjbWssOHSen1BJKD4gG5UIMSF-ePK-uqO-Wz5isax_urlYU4J_jsYbFAJ-b0wGqfv2L3IyL9sF5qWfDQ/s1600/introduction+of+firms+and+workers.jpg" height="400" width="378" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa = A law
firm that specializes in adoption advocacy, logistics and streamlining the process,
which effectively decreases the time children spend in ‘the system’</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fe = An
environmental law firm that aggressively litigates against any government
policy or commercial development that endangers natural resources<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fc = A job
in the contracting office of a major corporation to craft and enforce contracts
that protect the corporation’s financial interests.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the sake
of the experiment, let’s say that all three firms produce positive social value<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
but that they do not provide equal social value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s say that the relationship of social
value is Fa>Fe>Fc.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s say<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
that each of the offices offers all three of the applicants identical packages
(with identical future possibilities for advancement and increases in salary
and benefits) at $50k a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
applicant takes each job such that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L1</span>--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L2--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fe, L3--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fc.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSs2phvVwUWV-YYoSIOlsFsTYol2hQvS_SIv6ACyl5DWkQC97ZysMpfN0jqI4l2UzJBDZyzju85TCdb_VebkHLAUCU3gFkuxcSOi_dle2JLX1sqqwgC-OQR8E6q5MWwYPf5jBmMOTUXwHY/s1600/Scenario+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSs2phvVwUWV-YYoSIOlsFsTYol2hQvS_SIv6ACyl5DWkQC97ZysMpfN0jqI4l2UzJBDZyzju85TCdb_VebkHLAUCU3gFkuxcSOi_dle2JLX1sqqwgC-OQR8E6q5MWwYPf5jBmMOTUXwHY/s1600/Scenario+1.jpg" height="295" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Who made
the most moral choice?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text2;">Scenario 2</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: Consider the exact same situation,
but a different sequence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three applicants
apply for the adoption job (Fa) with the intention to take it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is selected (L1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remaining two apply for the environmental
position (Fe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is selected (L2).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remaining lawyer (L3) applies for and
gets the third job (Fc).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All compensation
packages are identical.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMzrpqt4b4PqrWLzsDd4em_6TMFRJqB-3eoiruTiq7Ly2fZu4QVRUhrD4tKxSveVcC5G3uXnBdxbREm-uvyF7-lm87CBwpGw4uKnV8qsHaU_FDGQmq2GfM8ZOVctaXadfdNuU5f8_PEja/s1600/scenario+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMzrpqt4b4PqrWLzsDd4em_6TMFRJqB-3eoiruTiq7Ly2fZu4QVRUhrD4tKxSveVcC5G3uXnBdxbREm-uvyF7-lm87CBwpGw4uKnV8qsHaU_FDGQmq2GfM8ZOVctaXadfdNuU5f8_PEja/s1600/scenario+2.jpg" height="252" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The outcome
is exactly the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">L1--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L2--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fe, L3--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fc.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is the
morality of the choices the same or different?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Scenario 3</span>:
</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now consider a
situation identical to the first one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All three applicants get offers from each firm and one applicant selects
each firm…except the remuneration packages of the three jobs is different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa offers all three $20k, Fe offers all three
$35k, and Fc offers all three $50k.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The outcome
is the same L1</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">--></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L2--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fe, L3</span>--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fc, but the first two have left money on the table to take
the jobs they selected.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuw1f6XuAxH23MUGcNyU2Vm0bk1SLcYFVgmt1q_t11ImcYaMV3pTYeHmK8RhHhAL4UPHPieqLRn4naMBSzahV4hUaOTLLDsi_cmzcoyKvdzAB9bnKK8w_5SoerfHojrxGfo7DNDkHxVCvK/s1600/Scenario+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuw1f6XuAxH23MUGcNyU2Vm0bk1SLcYFVgmt1q_t11ImcYaMV3pTYeHmK8RhHhAL4UPHPieqLRn4naMBSzahV4hUaOTLLDsi_cmzcoyKvdzAB9bnKK8w_5SoerfHojrxGfo7DNDkHxVCvK/s1600/Scenario+3.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Does this
affect the morality of the choices?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scenario
4</span></u></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now consider the second scenario again, equal
pay for the three positions, and all of the applicants apply for the adoption
position first with the intention to take it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One is selected (L1), the remaining two apply for the environmental
position, one is selected (L2), and the remaining lawyer (L3) applies for and
accepts a position at the corporate office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The difference in this scenario, the applicants are no longer
identical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite identical lives with
respect to privilege (class, ethnicity, gender, monetary assistance from
parents and the state)<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[9]</span></span></span></a></span>
and genetics L1 had a much higher GPA and LSAT score than L2 and L2 performed
better than L3.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiyDyDdcV0WQ3m6BLQSvQe0sXFy_vQEkU5WvD7TIFkOtMFQF6JAe7f4tTBtnPX1ogXK2r13Uely6fWqgrYNb18_iEemKNA23g1oQ2JdZd8pNqs5d_alwN8G8XsL1U8XO3ncnHOYrHgzgm/s1600/Scenario+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiyDyDdcV0WQ3m6BLQSvQe0sXFy_vQEkU5WvD7TIFkOtMFQF6JAe7f4tTBtnPX1ogXK2r13Uely6fWqgrYNb18_iEemKNA23g1oQ2JdZd8pNqs5d_alwN8G8XsL1U8XO3ncnHOYrHgzgm/s1600/Scenario+4.jpg" height="256" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The outcome
is, again, identical, </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK1"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">L1</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">--></span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L2--></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fe, L3--></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fc</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">but does the
differential qualifications of the workers (especially if their ability is
equal) change the moral value conferred on the three workers?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Scenario 5</u>: Let’s revisit Scenario 1
but say all three applicants accept jobs at the adoption firm (Fa).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">L1--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L2--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa, L3--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fa</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPg-ZgB8bpIpjmYLHTTxWbFhAkYpvukcf9O0tEwBW2EyTG7R-lhnETcsupi-oyT4m7CeLA3tw2HPD3dNHyyyh4ZVn2ROAMIu58Ra4pnzGi90bkUaOhFco6x4JHx1vhXYnNMp8jUlvslyY/s1600/Scenario+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPg-ZgB8bpIpjmYLHTTxWbFhAkYpvukcf9O0tEwBW2EyTG7R-lhnETcsupi-oyT4m7CeLA3tw2HPD3dNHyyyh4ZVn2ROAMIu58Ra4pnzGi90bkUaOhFco6x4JHx1vhXYnNMp8jUlvslyY/s1600/Scenario+5.jpg" height="247" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But F1 works
longer hours and gets a Masters Degree that helps her do her job better and
after 5 years has done more to advance the goals of the organization.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How does
this affect the relative moral value each gets from their work?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Does this
change if L1 gets a promotion/raise to reflect her disproportionate
effectiveness?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Discussion: </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So what did
our experiment produce?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a few
outcomes:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scenario
1</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNIm2tiFst1EsAWF_Py5RPGxn-0nIcMzpQbXp2_EvfSw153XrNKlkpjTmCAeTBv1B2lZYa8ei5XVE0AVonlpb6SR63VPLqp4rn_-_iofoxLJJLHhdlxsmD_hsrPWIL3PfCpu3WK2W9voW/s1600/Scenario+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNIm2tiFst1EsAWF_Py5RPGxn-0nIcMzpQbXp2_EvfSw153XrNKlkpjTmCAeTBv1B2lZYa8ei5XVE0AVonlpb6SR63VPLqp4rn_-_iofoxLJJLHhdlxsmD_hsrPWIL3PfCpu3WK2W9voW/s1600/Scenario+1.jpg" height="295" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These jobs each need to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each worker is being equally compensated for equal
time and energy.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a>
Can the first job be more ‘meritorious’ because it has a greater social
good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Does fair remuneration mitigate or
invalidate a moral claim?</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For example,
Jesus makes what I think is a pretty reasonable suggestion (whether or not you
think he was right about other stuff).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He argued if you receive public recognition for an act of kindness or
generosity (things it generally considers moral goods) this recognition
mitigates the merit of the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
social recognition is pretty modest remuneration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what happens if you get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paid</i> for an act?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does that do to a moral good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Money
mitigates merit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deriving moral superiority
from a job with equal remuneration seems suspect to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is merit to be had it goes to those
who sacrifice to donate to your salary, especially if the donation is non-voluntary
(e.g. taxes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love my public sector job,
but it always seemed odd to derive moral satisfaction from work that I get to
do what I do because others (including many who make less money than me) gave
up part of their pay check.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[11]</span></span></span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have
trouble distinguishing between these three jobs morally.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scenario
2</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pxISOSx_qn9_xg_xGwPJaLIwdljU2mJyL0uF4jFqXkaXrc7v5dgebxDl-6oWZ3IsuNvrw-teeKZ6LUfh3f9ZOF9Z2iHcys_SE7VXzYLMJ3lwLU5Y0Ss1NNQ7gL8yhyQUr_icRd0xRaV5/s1600/scenario+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pxISOSx_qn9_xg_xGwPJaLIwdljU2mJyL0uF4jFqXkaXrc7v5dgebxDl-6oWZ3IsuNvrw-teeKZ6LUfh3f9ZOF9Z2iHcys_SE7VXzYLMJ3lwLU5Y0Ss1NNQ7gL8yhyQUr_icRd0xRaV5/s1600/scenario+2.jpg" height="252" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If there are multiple people who are willing
and qualified to do a job, doing it is a privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can a privilege be meritorious? If a job or
project is highly competitive and well compensated and there are multiple well
qualified individuals who are competing for it, winning the competition by a
narrow margin does not confer moral value.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And what if
L3 would have actually done a better job in Fa than L1?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By underperforming in an important position
L1 is actually taking social value off the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accepting and continuing in that position is
actually immoral.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scenario 3</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZeMPh83SCLLtUrw2dDAwfLkFlHXCiONunOYqi5t_-yXS520lyn9XTj3METukiNgczlUchJQl_IG-ycqIDQp_XnS8qrd2yR181PTNdb1hucnXBG8uk9VyQjiaDWSg2gkQNi-KDhv2fCtJ/s1600/Scenario+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZeMPh83SCLLtUrw2dDAwfLkFlHXCiONunOYqi5t_-yXS520lyn9XTj3METukiNgczlUchJQl_IG-ycqIDQp_XnS8qrd2yR181PTNdb1hucnXBG8uk9VyQjiaDWSg2gkQNi-KDhv2fCtJ/s1600/Scenario+3.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By leaving significant money on the
table to do work that presumably provides more value L1 and, to a lesser
extent, L2, have arguably made more morally admirable vocational choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But it is
not the work that makes their vocational choices moral, it is the
generosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">L1 has
essentially made a $30k annual donation to adoption advocacy, which is an act
of generosity rather than a moral work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, this generosity is mitigated by the intangible value of the
job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L1 receives job satisfaction and social
status (the cocktail party effect) from her job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, let’s say that job satisfaction and
social status have a street value of $20k,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a> selecting
job Fa over Fc is only ‘moral’ to the tune of a $10k annual donation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But let’s say the social status and job
satisfaction of Fc have an annual value of $40k (making the total financial and
social compensation package $60k which is > Fa).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now who has made the more ‘moral’
choice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our society doesn’t function
without drafting and the enforcement of corporate contracts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You could
argue that in shouldering social responsibility in a dull, thankless job (that
no one will care about at a cocktail party and won’t get you any play on
internet dating sites), L3 has made a more moral choice.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To push the
experiment a little further, consider this question:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wouldn’t L1
working for Fa be the moral equivalent of L3 working for Fc and making a $30k
per year donation to Fa?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And what if we
account for the fact that L1 has more job satisfaction and social status than
L3?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scenario 4</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZpfsutr7wKoz-y5DY6icb7VkJI5HOJmYAWo-q2C96Jg2GbPp3nsnNsTOwsNkU-_df8gxdn2qA5z0XeevPDieEhT866TGaXLAsvGlRpMD3zAsfJ8eGIymYU68E_eOEkLlPZ0H_f-VinOt/s1600/Scenario+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZpfsutr7wKoz-y5DY6icb7VkJI5HOJmYAWo-q2C96Jg2GbPp3nsnNsTOwsNkU-_df8gxdn2qA5z0XeevPDieEhT866TGaXLAsvGlRpMD3zAsfJ8eGIymYU68E_eOEkLlPZ0H_f-VinOt/s1600/Scenario+4.jpg" height="256" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Let me start the analysis of this scenario by introducing a baseball
statistic: Value Above Replacement (VAR).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The VAR is a
statistical measure of how much value a player adds above a ‘replacement level’
contributor (the kind of talent that the organization could go out and get from
the ranks of current job seekers).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are inclined to ask the question ‘how
much of the value that we offer to the human experience’ can we ‘take credit
for’ we might consider the possibility that it is our ‘value above
replacement’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much better are we
doing the job that the person who would replace us tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If my job
contributes 10 units of value to society/the world/the universe, do I get
credit for all 10 units if someone could come happily fill my chair before it
cools and produce 8 units?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what if I
have a negative VAR?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if the
replacement level worker could produce 8 units and I consistently produce 6?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I am in a socially prestigious
job that has high ‘moral value’ I am actually taking value off the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My work is the opposite of meritorious.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Which leads
me to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moral Sweat Equity</i>, which is in
play in this scenario, but is best illustrated in the next one.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Scenario 5</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPg-ZgB8bpIpjmYLHTTxWbFhAkYpvukcf9O0tEwBW2EyTG7R-lhnETcsupi-oyT4m7CeLA3tw2HPD3dNHyyyh4ZVn2ROAMIu58Ra4pnzGi90bkUaOhFco6x4JHx1vhXYnNMp8jUlvslyY/s1600/Scenario+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPg-ZgB8bpIpjmYLHTTxWbFhAkYpvukcf9O0tEwBW2EyTG7R-lhnETcsupi-oyT4m7CeLA3tw2HPD3dNHyyyh4ZVn2ROAMIu58Ra4pnzGi90bkUaOhFco6x4JHx1vhXYnNMp8jUlvslyY/s1600/Scenario+5.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZpfsutr7wKoz-y5DY6icb7VkJI5HOJmYAWo-q2C96Jg2GbPp3nsnNsTOwsNkU-_df8gxdn2qA5z0XeevPDieEhT866TGaXLAsvGlRpMD3zAsfJ8eGIymYU68E_eOEkLlPZ0H_f-VinOt/s1600/Scenario+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only
real way to generate merit in remunerated work, besides leaving money on the
table, is moral sweat equity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is over
performing your salary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generating value
above replacement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is this really
distinguishable from ‘leaving money on the table?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If I over perform my remuneration, if I work
hard to generate value above replacement, I am essentially making a donation of
that work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, again, an act of
generosity<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a>
rather than meritorious work.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the end,
I can find only two things that make work disproportionately ‘morally
meritorious’ that actually collapse to one:</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Leaving money on the table in order
to work in a strategic position that provides large social value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is essentially an act of
generosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a financial donation
to a cause.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> 2. Moral sweat equity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Providing value above replacement by
improving skills and performance and essentially over-performing your salary.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this basically boils down to ‘leaving
money on the table’ since you are generating non-remunerated value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are accepting less money than you are
worth – so you are making a donation to a cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this moral value is mitigated when the
contribution is recognized with remuneration (e.g. a promotion).</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> So, I tend
to think that the moral stratification of work actually makes a sort of hurtful
and even dangerous class system.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course
I’m thrilled to see some of our students to live on a shoe string while caring
for orphans in Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am also
proud of our students who take the underwhelming work available in this economy
to provide that shoe string.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">Results</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few
overall outcomes:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Quantifying merit is absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are there too many free parameters
and unintended consequences to accurately assess moral outcomes…but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the tangled web of self serving motivations
involved in our actions makes evaluating the merit of our action impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moral striving is important, but moral
comparison is not as easy as it seems, and is socially dangerous, creating an ‘other’
who isn’t really that ‘other.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 2. <span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We need to be honest about the
selfishness involved in ‘moral prestige.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Taking jobs in fields considered morally admirable provides job
satisfaction and social status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems
students I talk to are confused about wanting to add value to the human
experience and having a job that makes them feel like (and seem like) they
matter.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 3. <span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Morally stratifying the workforce is
false and dangerous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It undervalues
important jobs that quietly add value to the human experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It generates annoying pride in those who have
the privilege of working in socially esteemed jobs and unnecessary guilt and
dissatisfaction in the majority that don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It confuses young people and positions most of them to self assess as
sell outs in their mid 30’s.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 4.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Among the jobs that are considered
‘moral goods’ most are publically funded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Considering a vocation a moral good creates a sense of entitlement,
particularly in the arts and the sciences.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 5.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Work becomes a moral placebo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we think our work is morally meritorious
it can reduce our motivation to things that actually are…like generosity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My work does
not confer moral merit on me for several reasons:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am well compensated.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am publically funded, so that my
work happens because of the non-optihnal donations of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone receives moral merit for my work,
it is the tax payers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have high job satisfaction, which
is worth more than the money I leave on the table </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So is it a
problem that my job is not morally righteous?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because while work does not make me good, work
is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christian Scriptures teach
that we were made to work and that vocation is part of human flourishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A moral stratification of work undermines the
basic idea that all work that isn’t immoral is good and ennobling and valuable
and part of adult satisfaction.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s the
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the accumulation of moral
merit is an unstable life style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
center of my moral theory is that we all self deceive in order to overrate our
moral value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We employ flawed heuristics
(the poor<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a>
and the environment = good – corporations and military<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a> =
bad) to come to unreflective conclusions about our actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have trouble with the actual moral
calculus of a complicated world so as Kannaman says, we ‘replace a hard
question with an easy one.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We replace
the question ‘why do I work’ with ‘can my work provide me with emotions that I
associate with moral actions.’</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the
alternative offered by Jesus is that personal merit is not only ‘uncalcualtable’
and generally overrated…but it is a poor parameter to optimize our performance
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">And once we clear the air on the 'what' of work, we can turn our attention to the 'how' of work, which is the more interesting and important question for long term flourishing. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">This
post was written while listening to The Head and the Heart Pandora Station</span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> We have all sorts of
implicit narratives about moral, immoral and amoral work, that are unreflective
and, frankly, harmful to long term satisfaction in most jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a hundred examples of this but here
are a couple:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In television and film, a person’s job is short hand for their
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone is a preschool
teacher, we are expected to believe they are good and kind (and should be
elevated over the hot stock broker as a romantic interest).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Over a very short period of time, I saw two fields where the male romantic
interest was a landscaper, which is short hand for ‘masculine works with his
hands’, ‘artistic and soft – likes flowers’, and ‘entrapenurial and successful.’
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An engineer can be all these things, or
an accountant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it doesn’t fit our shallow
categories of ‘moral work.’</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In the Lizzy Bennett Diaries, and excellent recent adaptation of Pride
and Prejudice as a series of contemporary vlogs…one of the characters undergoes
an awkward moral evolution which he signals by dropping out of med school and
moving to an unfamiliar city with no skills or plan but with a vague ambition
to ‘help people’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved this series,
but the way they treated that character was not only unfair, but
illogical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while we are at it, Big
Lee (just a great great name by the way) as a picture of a man whose choices
are motivated by coming to terms with privilege is an excellent example of how
the important discussion of privilege gets confused in the step between
“recognizing that I am the product of privilege” and “what should I do about
that?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I have a post brewing about
that. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">4. For Christians the
decision to go into ministry is usually celebrated as a ‘moral good’ while
becoming a dentist or an engineer is tolerated politely (as long as you tithe
and volunteer).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This creates a status
hierarchy in a movement that supposedly abolished the excesses of clerical
privilege and veneration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the exact
same dynamic is at work in the secular academy…where tenured professors who get
to ‘fight the man’ for fun and profit have the same kind of status and veneration,
leaving their students feeling like ‘normal jobs for the man’ are a sellout, in
almost precisely the same way.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Now, those of you who know
my Christian tendencies and my commitment* to the doctrine of depravity - the
belief that most of the things we derive moral pride from are illicit self deceptions
and that any moral distinction between humans is ‘noise’ in the cosmic
evaluation of moral worth - will be able to anticipate that I think deriving
moral satisfaction from work and developing a moral stratification of types of
work is dubious at best and dangerous at worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t think trying to accumulate moral merit is a great way to
organize your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I feel like this
is how many religious and non-religious people approach their vocational
decisions (even if they would never use these terms) so I thought I’d try to
think it through.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">*’Commitment
to depravity’ is a funny phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
not that I am committed to being deprave, but that empirically I find any
anthropology that sees humans as fundamentally free moral choosers to be naive biologically
and metaphysically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Pulling that lever costs
most of us NOTHING.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can it confer
merit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I’m a fiscal
liberal-ish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think our society would
be more just if the wealth distribution was a little more…distributed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I support higher marginal tax rates on the
higher brackets and the Capitol Gains Tax is extremely complicated…but also
seems absurdly low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is strange to
me when people derive moral satisfaction from voting to raise taxes, as if it
could be meritorious to decide what to do with someone else’s money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can be just or wise…but good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only political choices on this topic that
seem like they could be meritorious would be someone like Buffet voting and
advocating for raising the marginal tax rates or a potential beneficiary of
what those tax increases would pay for voting against them (which describes
many many Republicans).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> A problem has already
arisen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both of these ‘moral’ firms
the morality involved is not without dissent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is easy to argue that ‘streamlineing adoption’ undermines the rights
of natural parents who have made mistakes and gotten crushed by power
structures to fight for their kids and environmental litigation often seems to
be unnecessarily costly and, even, trivial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But moral ambiguity is a totally separate problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, let’s pretend that the outcomes of
these firms are, on balance, moral goods.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> There are vocations that
major on moral evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, being
a pimp or economic rent seeker have clear negative moral implications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They incur a moral debit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But selecting between vocations which each
provide value is the more difficult, practical and interesting question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, basically, I am arguing that none of
these jobs is a career path to become the Barkdsdale’s Lawyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYj7q_by_2E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYj7q_by_2E</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> If you just can’t see any
job in ‘a major corporation’ providing a social good…what if I arbitrarily
replaced ‘corporation’ with ‘coalition of small, locally owned, sustainable
businesses.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This has already gotten
complicated because this hierarchy reflects my values and the interaction of
values and morality is the Gordonian knot at the center of ethical theory (in
this analogy, Jesus is Alexander…but I digress) that I am not even
touching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, again, that is why we do
experiments, to see if we can learn anything from simplified assumptions that
might help us understand the sensitive parameters in complex systems.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> In a scenario that is
absurd in the current economy…but it’s a though experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s philosophize like its 1999.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Incidentally, by
normalizing for privilege and gender we have removed many of the interesting
ethical questions…but experiments need to control for confounding variables.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Another simplifying
assumption we are making is that the three jobs are equally stressful and
taxing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all of the jobs pay the same
but one requires more hours and more sleepless nights, then they don’t actually
have the same cost/benefit ratio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if
they all have the same pay but one has the more costs…that is actually an
analog to Scenario 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incurring personal
costs (monetary and not) reduces the net value of the compensation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you could say that a $50k job at Fa that
has $30k of personal costs in stress and relationship trauma and sleepless
nights is equivalent to the $20k package offered in Scenario 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize some people will object to putting
a dollar figure on social and personal costs, but we do it all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is actually surprisingly easy to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid $20k more for my house because it was
next to a green belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid $100k more
for my house because it reduced my commute by 15 minutes a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have friends who have taken less salary to
work for better bosses and others who have accepted long commutes (the #1
factor associated with job dissatisfaction) for more pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We put dollar values on personal and social
costs all the time.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This holds for the church
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get tired of church workers
calling themselves ‘private sector’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tithe makes church economics a very different sort of thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American ecclesiological landscape is ‘competitive’
in a way the public sector is not, but it also does not provide services at
value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tithe is mandatory and
subsidizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And church workers get to
do what they get to do because of the generosity of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is merit there, it is at least a much
more complicated moral calculus than we give it credit for.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I see this in ecosystem
restoration work all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a
certain river restoration or dam removal is funded contractors and public
agencies begin to circle like vultures, each hoping that we can be the one who
gets to do the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you narrowly
outcompete competitors (particularly if you outcompete more qualified
competitors who would have done a better job) is it meritorious?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This is not as absurd as it
sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In The Social Animal, David
Brooks surveys a literature that tries to associate a range of social behaviors
with the ‘equivalent increase in salary’ that would comparably improve well
being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a non-linear scale, but
there are PIs who think it is measurable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But even if it isn’t measurable, it is still analogous.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This is something we talk
about in Fantasy Football as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
question is not ‘how many points will a quarter back put up vs a running back,’
if I am considering a choice between two players in different position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question is how many more points will a
QB put up than the best QB on wavers (VAR) in a given week compared to the RB
under consideration compared to the best RB on waivers (because in any given
week, the best QB on waivers will out perform the best RB on waivers by almost
10 points).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignoring this nuance of the
statistic leads to overvaluing quarterbacks and the devastating outcome of
consistently losing a fake sport.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> And, now, let’s bring
privilege back into the mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if L1
out performs L3 not because of effort<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span>
but because of privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This is part of the
education debate in Wisconsin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns
out there are dramatic increases in test scores in the first three years of a
teacher’s career, but there are dramatic diminishing returns after that even as
teacher’s salary’s grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that means
that a teacher’s VAR decreases over time.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Which spins off into a totally
different ethical question: Does the magnitude of generosity matter morally or
the effects?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If two people give $10k to
two organizations that fight Aids in sub-Saharan Africa but one organization is
much more effective than the other, do the two donations have the same merit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if two people donate $10k to the same
organization but they use one gift effectively and the other carelessly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or in the terms of our thought experiment, is
there a moral difference between L1 leaving $10k on the table to join Fa and L2
leaving $10k on the table to join Fb if the services provided by L1>L2?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This plays on both sides of
the current political debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
attempt to paint public servants (which is even embedded in the language of
‘public service’) as morally worthy of higher remuneration (e.g. we should pay
our teachers better because they care for our children) conflates morality and
economics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But paying public sector
employees poorly means that ‘replacement value’ (the body you could find to
fill a chair tomorrow) is low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending
on teachers to make a moral choice to ‘leave money on the table’ for the
children rather than take a better paying job is an unstable public
policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By under paying public sector
employees we reduce the replacement level and depend on a moral subsidy as
individuals provide ‘value above replacement.’</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Which, is, essentially, the
doctrine of depravity, whether you like the name or not.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[20]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I have a post brewing about
this, but here is the basic gist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pure
science (like a lot of stuff I get paid to do) and the arts do not have enough
market to sustain them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they are
publically subsidized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that is a
good idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But public funding is still a
limited resource that we have to compete for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My degrees (and even my past results) do<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>not entitle me to do science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Science is a privilege I earn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And so is publically funded art.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[21]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> There is an analog here in
voting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A recent study demonstrated that
political conservatives tend to be more financially generous (even after
removing ‘church giving’) than political liberals (who, on the whole, are more
prosperous).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think part of that is
that political liberals (which describes me poorly but better than the
alternative) see their vote as an act of generosity even though it costs them
very little and feel less moral oughtness to personally intervene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politics is a GENEROSITY PLACEBO!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is also why I am nervous about moral
programs that seek to ‘raise awareness’ where inducing guilt in others is seen
as an alternative to positive moral action…but I have a post brewing about that
topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[22]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Kanaman cites a really
interesting study in Thinking Fast and Slow which demonstrates that people can
be enticed to select opposite politicial proposals depending on which one is
framed as ‘pro-poor.’</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn23" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[23]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Much of the international
development work I do is funded by the military.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Multiple branches of the military have funded
me for pure water capacity building based on the hypothesis that building good
computational water modeling capacity in places with projected water shortage
will help the negotiation process and avoid costly future conflicts over this
resource.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What most people don’t
understand about the armed forces mission is that they make investments that
they think will help governments avoid violence.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-27796007625795136372014-04-13T15:52:00.001-07:002014-04-13T17:16:38.422-07:00Could Jesus have been a lizard?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #b2a1c7; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themetint: 153;">Note:
This is a thought experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might
be wildly mistaken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my science
career has demonstrated that fear of failed experiments might be the only
limitation a quest for understanding can’t overcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So don’t take this too seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I wanted to see if it didn’t take us somewhere helpful.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wonderful Life</i>, Steven Jay Gould,
proposed a paleontological thought experiment that he called “replaying the
tape<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It went like this: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Press the rewind button (on the
history of life) and, making sure you thoroughly erase everything that actually
happened, go back to any time and place in the past . . . . Then let the tape
run again and see if the repetition looks at all like the original.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gould then
argued that it would not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He says, <span style="color: #76923c; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">“any replay of
the tape would lead evolution down a pathway radically different from the road
actually taken”</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In other
words, he argues, not only is the human condition accidental, it is unlikely,
and non-repeatable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human existence was
not inevitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The history of life is
the sum of countless random events that moved the history of life in arbitrary
directions rather than towards a pinnacle with human culture and consciousness
as its inevitable glory.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So let me pose
a theological question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if
Gould is right?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Would that
be a problem for Christian theology?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One thing
that bugs Christians about evolution is that it seems to undermine the
‘specialness’ of humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Gould’s
stochastic<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
formulation amplifies the non-uniqueness of humanity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If evolution itself is non-directional and
there is nothing inevitable about where it ended up, what possible refuge could
there be for human specialness?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But let me
answer this question with a a question:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What is it about
a hairless bi-pedal primate that is fundamental to the ‘image of God?’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Or let me
ask the question even more bombastically:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Could Jesus have been a
lizard?</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To set up my
response, here is a brief synopsis of my working hypothesis about the
integration of the Genesis narrative into early hominid evolution:<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Creation was
progressive along the lines of the evolutionary narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And at some point, God ‘ensouled’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>
and entered into a special relationship with an early hominid<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a>
couple<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a>
in a pristine corner of a Mesopotamian floodplain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He chose hairless primates to be the care
takers of his creation and to a special relational status and spiritual reality.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We became a chosen species, not unlike how he
chose the Hebrews for a special purpose many many years later…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But let me
ask again…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if our
hominid nature is arbitrary?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if our mammalian
form is arbitrary?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if,
when Gould’s tape ran, and Genesis described it in its particular metaphor of Hebrew
poetry, a reptile emerged?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if a
lizard developed the cognitive raw material and communication capacity that
prepared it to receive God’s gift of mathematically untenable altruism,
artistic sense, and overlapping citizenship in God’s realm?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if we
were ensouled lizards?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Does that change
the story even a little bit?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wouldn’t God
have still invaded his fallen creation of altruistic but selfish, creative but
devious, benevolent but violent, artistic but oppressive lizards?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Couldn’t
Jesus have been a lizard?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He would
have still been the Truth, and the Light of the world, the second Person of the
Trinity, and God made flesh…the atoning sacrifice for our leathery green brokenness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He still
would have shed his blood…it just would have happened to run cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The ‘lamb
that was slain’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a>,
would have been more like a gecko than a bonobo…but it wouldn’t have changed
the spiritual reality one bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
details of our story might be different (e.g. Pharaoh’s army would have had to
sun themselves on a rock before chasing the Hebrews to the Red Sea) but the
fundamental narrative would have been mostly unchanged.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we were
insects in-carn-ation would be in-chitin-ation…but it would still be atoning.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This little
thought experiment suggests that the answer to the assertion:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Humans
aren’t biologically special.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘So what?’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We could be
God’s scaly reptilian image just as easily as we could be his ridiculous
primate image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it would be just as
astonishing for Jesus to take that form as this, just as sublime for him to eat
bugs after his bodily resurrection as it was for him to eat bread.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If species
choice is functional rather than intrinsic - (say, like ‘choosing’ the children
of Israel out of the early near eastern cultures<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a>)
- then lack of biological specialness is a non-factor.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some of us cling
to a form of specialness…which science has eroded.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a>
But the Scriptures never attributed specialness to our phenotype.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We aren’t special because of our opposable
thumbs or unique pelvic construction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are special because we are the only instance of God’s makings that have dual
citizenship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything else he made
traffics <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">either</i> in material or
spiritual realms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Only we walk
both banks of that particular river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Only we
inhabit both realities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And that
matters more than our phylum. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: grey; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;">This
post was written while listening to Radical Face “The Branches” (still).</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Note: This is a companion piece to the talk I am
giving (see MP3 page in a couple days) on reconciling the scientific and
biblical origins narratives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is
also the final installment in a three part series on the overlap of theological
and physical anthropology including:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Part 2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2013/12/why-recognizing-my-apeness-makes-me.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A Recognition of Apeishness as a Call to Worship</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Part 1: </span><a href="http://www.stanford-gibson.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-monkey-jesus-colossians-and.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Monkey Jesus and the Illusion of Apeishness</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> An quaint artifact from a time when we actually
stored information on flimsy strips of magnetic tape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> This is why he calls is book on the Burgess Shale
“Wonderful Life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He leverages the
metaphor from the sappy Christmas special that there are no small changes in
history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few random events set both
human and natural history on dramatically different trajectories.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> And he may not be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A little reflection on the nature of convergence in evolution evokes
some dissonance.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> What he means is that evolution (like many many
processes –er, economics) is driven more by small random events at important
bottlenecks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore minor
perturbations drive large changes in directionality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> There IS something about this added layer of the
improbability to human existence (on top of the joint improbabilities of
existence in general, the conditions for life, the actual generation of life,
the collection of life into more complex forms in a relatively brief period in
the early Cambrian, the conditions for consciousness, the development of self
awareness, and the survival and eventual thriving of bipedal primates with
altruism math that doesn’t compute) that gives the whole thing a gestalt of
providence.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> The subtle argument is that humans aren’t special,
therefore, God doesn’t exist…which is asserted in two ways: primatology (we
aren’t distinct from animals) and the study of extra terrestrial life (we are
not the only place this all happened).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But neither of those fields of study (or in the later case, speculation)
support the syllogism when you really parse it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> This has shown up in a number of footnotes and I have
referenced it parenthetically, but here I’ll just spell it out.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> “Formed from the earth” could be metaphor (he formed
them out of the elemental and genetic material of previous hominids through a
portfolio of direct and indirect agency) or he could have started from scratch,
fashioning that particular pair to exist in an ecosystem in which hominid
evolution had already prepared an ecological niche for something very much like
them. </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> A pair of early homo sapiens or their ancestors that
emerged approximately around the time that Australopithecine was dominant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> So, yes, I guess you could say that I believe in a
‘historical Adam,’ and that the Genesis 2 and 3 narrative played out pretty
much the way it is described.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
don’t think you have to to claim a high view of Scripture.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> But they would not have had to be the only ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea that God started with more than just
2 makes ecological sense and also addresses the otherwise puzzling ‘where did
Cain’s wife come from’ question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
moving the Genies narrative back into the early days of our species and adding
the realization that modern humans have Neanderthal DNA (from what appeared to
include a time of limited cross-breeding) could elicit a pretty non-traditional
reading of the Nephilim passages in Genesis.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> What John Walton describes as ‘God’s half way
creatures,’ unique in the universe because of our complete citizenship in both
the material and spiritual realities (unlike the animals OR the angels who both
hold a single ontological passport).</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> There is no agreement about what aspect of humanity
is the ‘Imago Dei,’ the Image of God that connects our species to Yahweh in a
unique way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like the context
asserts two things: language and creativity…word and art (or engineering).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is no serious theologian that
thinks it is any part of our phenotype.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> The soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Regardless of the philosophy of mind you adhere to (I am still a
dualist…like a freaking dinosaur but I can’t seem to find anyone persuasive
enough to move me off it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The soul
doesn’t have to be the seat of personality (though, I kind of think it
is).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can simply be a
trans-dimensional existence…the brute fact that we exist in the material world
and in God’s ‘parallel and intersecting’ dimension…the part of us that has
citizenship in a non-material reality.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[16]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> What if Jurassic Park was about clever but non-verbal
mammals running away from us?</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[17]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> A decidedly non-anthropomorphic image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have another post that I’m not going to
run…but it makes the technical textual case that the Scripture is careful and
even emphatic about upholding the non-hominid nature of spiritual
realities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can send it if you are
interestd.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[18]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> I actually think this is what Lewis was getting at
with both Narnia and his Space Trilogy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He maintained (in a personal letter to an American child, which is the
only place I know of where he explains this) that neither series is
allegory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead they are thought
experiments about “What if there was one God but many worlds?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially he is investigating the idea that
there are aspects of human life that are arbitrary, and that God is still
loving and just and self giving with his creation even if the creation is very
different and his relationship takes on a different tone.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[19]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> What I am really trying to do here is a little bit
Chestertonian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Only when we realize that
the apple could have been gold are we astonished that it is red.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[20]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Not because they were fundamentally special or
intrinsically more lovable but because they were uniquely equipped to be the
agents of redemption.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[21]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> But if the analogy with the Children of Israel holds,
it also means that being selected as the bearer of God’s image also bears a
responsibility for the rest of creation.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[22]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Gould’s original point is that there are both
spiritual and secular narratives of our specialness (the latter as the ‘pinnacle’
or ‘goal’ of evolution) that the actual stochastic nature of the process cannot
support.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-65614264757555581202014-03-31T16:57:00.001-07:002014-03-31T16:59:36.498-07:00Comedians and Quarterbacks: Alternate Divergence from Background Belief Patters<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:DoNotShowComments/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The number of comedians that are not only non-religious<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> but aggressively anti-religious is pretty remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of them have ‘Christianity is dumb/evil/absurd’ bits…and sometimes multiple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list of comedians with anti-religious bits is too long to exhaust including those I love (Louie CK,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Chris Rock<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>), those I like (Michem, Axis of Awesome) and those I don’t care for (Ricky Gervais,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> George Carlin).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On the other hand, the number of quarterbacks (in particular and athletes in general) that are religious is also pretty remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Athletes in general and quarterbacks in particular, seem to be disproportionately people of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I feel like that poses a really interesting question:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why do these two populations seem to diverge from the statistical preferences of a random sample?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there something inherent in the professions or the type of people that excel at them that distorts their metaphysical preferences or plausibility structures?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is actually a question I have given more thought than it deserves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I have come up with five hypotheses.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">The “Dumb Jock” Effect</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The most obvious solution to this is that comedians are intelligent, rising to fame based on wit and creativity…and athletes are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Athletes are affirmed for physical prowess their whole lives and are not required to develop critical reasoning skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect anyone who has given this question any thought has probably settled pretty quickly on this explanation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But I don’t totally buy this.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I play sports…badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And despite my substantial physical limitations, my game is actually intellectually limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am bad at sports because my brain cannot process large data sets quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My game is not limited by my physical feebleness but by my mental feebleness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My very modest physical prowess is actually more prowessy than my spatial recognition software.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The amount of data that Kurt Warner and Drew Brees process in moments is astounding to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are non-trivial ways in which Kurt Warner is more intelligent than Ricky Gervais.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why would we think that the kind of intelligence that makes you clever would provide a keener insight into reality than spatial reasoning.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why are either more impressive that the kind of pragmatic intelligence associated with engineers (who are disproportionately religious) or biologists (who are disproportionately not).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">The “Every Day is a Miracle” Effect</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Essentially, every NFL player has experienced a miracle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The probability of succeeding (or even sticking) at the professional level of sport is so low, that it might follow God has taken a personal interest and does unlikely things on the behalf of someone who does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the same argument could be made for comedians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the compensation is not nearly as rich, it is arguably harder to emerge as an A-list comedian since we require so few of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happened to CK is statistically more unlikely than what happened to Drew Brees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day of Louie’s life is more improbable and, more potentially miraculous than any day of Tebow’s.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">The “Make People Laugh for Attention” Effect</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We could argue that comedy often, fundamentally, comes from a place of despair<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> or attention seeking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we could make the logical leap that these activities emerge from backgrounds or brain states that are not compatible with Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I don’t have great reasons to reject this, but I don’t have any real reason to accept this either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t seem parsimonious.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #76923c; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 191;">The “Taboo Subsidy” Effect</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why is so much comedy about sex?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it’s easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taboo sets up emotional tension and a punch line delivered into the milieu of taboo releases more endorphins than those earned by the linguistic cleverness of a well crafted joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s call it the ‘taboo subsidy.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the religious affiliation of successful comedians could be a matter of ‘directional selection’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Comedy selects for those who dip in and out of taboo with relish and skill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So maybe it is not so much that comedians are disproportionately anti-religious as it is that mocking religion makes us mildly uncomfortable and puts us in the brain space that easy comedy works.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a cultural evolutionary argument and I actually think it moves us forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think the most compelling explanation is still on the table.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Many Democrats implicitly believe that there are more smart people in Massachusetts than in Mississippi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you really investigate unspoken (and usually, unreflective) Republican epistemology, some accident of geography has populated, Alabama with a higher percentage of clear thinkers than California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when ideology correlates with a situational artifact, it should immediately be suspect.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When beliefs are culturally or spatially distributed we need to question their transmission.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I think the best explanation for the statistical deviations from the overall population in both these sub samples is episimological feedback…or what Peter Berger calls ‘plausibility structures.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Why are comedians disproportionately irreligious?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Because comedians are disproportionately irreligious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There was a founder effect (which I suspect can be traced back to the ubiquitous veneration of Carlin among the current generation of humorists) that is transmitted by peer effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, likewise, quarterbacks have their plausibility structures set in communities that are disproportionately characterized by faith (which, presumably, could be traced back to a similar stochastic founder effect).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Communities have rewards and penalties for beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">They are environments of ‘stabilizing selection’ for beliefs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">‘Peer effects’ are underrated in epistemology and if we don’t give them their due, we can end up thinking that beliefs are matters of the intelligence of populations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We end up evaluating which population is more likable to determine which belief is true,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a> rather than wrestling with the actual content of the world views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The pursuit of truth doesn’t require the rejection of cultural feedbacks, but recognition that they are not the unique preview of “the other guy’s” beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is not brave or stark for a comedian not to believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are conforming to the plausibility structures of their community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And their community is selecting for skepticism.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And so, when Dawkins breaks out the study that found that the National Academy of Sciences has much lower levels of conventional religious belief than the general population, he invites us to imagine that the smartest, most intellectually honest sub-sample of the world’s population dismisses religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he fails to tipping his hand to the fundamental question of correlation or causation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">His stratification is confounded by an implicit correlation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scientific communities have epistemological feedbacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have cultural (and sometimes more tangible) rewards and penalties for beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peer effects matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plausibility structures are powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the more uniform a population is, the more powerful they are.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This post was written while listening to Radical Face: The Branches</span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> John Stewart falls in this category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is clearly non-religious and takes pains to deconstruct religion (usually respectfully and occasionally fairly), but he’s not an a-hole about it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> The undisputed reigning champion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ‘man crush’ on Louis is exceeded only by the one I have on Russell Wilson…which is surprisingly fitting for this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two men who currently capture my imagination include a comedian and a quarter back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I once tried to use his rant about Levitical code in a message despite the occurrence of 16 expletives in 90 seconds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I honestly cannot tell why he is funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He might be the least funny celebrity I have encountered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only think of one time I have even been entertained (let alone amused) but RG…and it was totally ad lib.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’ll <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr9_5uZn6ds" target="_blank">link </a>to it, because it is fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point is that this is funny because it leverages taboo in a fundamentally fresh way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elmo is culturally pure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His innocence is an unrecognized cultural taboo, and Gervais s^&#s on that purity, and we laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he has never made me laugh by the pure sublimity of his observation or linguistic cleverness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I don’t totally reject this either. I just want to press it a little and see if maybe it is insufficient. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In fact, it doesn’t really bother me all that much when intelligence correlates with religious skepticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To explain this I usually ask a question: If God exists and wants us to seek him, would it be fair if those he created intelligent had some sort of advantage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tend to think that intelligence makes people better at everything, but I’m not sure why it would be an unqualified spiritual advantage.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> I think you could make an interesting case that the hyperactive spatial reasoning required to play quarterback might lead one to perceive world as a place where things are highly interconnected.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span>Along these lines<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chad Harbach make the argument in – The Art of Fielding<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that sports place so much emphasis on very thin stochastic advantages, that it drives people to metaphysical (or chemical) assistance…"<span style="color: #38761d;">I played in the minors for nine years, batted twice in the majors, and I'll tell you something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much everyone I shared a locker room with ended up becoming either an alcoholic or a born again Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Booze or God, that's what this game does to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The name of the game is failure, and if you can't handle failure you won't last long." </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Note the well documented correlation between comedians and death by self-harm either intentionally or by careless self abuse.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Another of my favorite comedians Jim Gaffagan has pointed this out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He claims that his style of comedy is particularly difficult because he does not<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>leverage taboo, but rather crafts hilarious narratives about things that are decidedly ordinary (e.g. Hot Pockets and Cinnabon).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he is right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is more talented because he doesn’t need what is essentially a ‘taboo subsidy’.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Note: this does not make any of these things false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, I believe Christianity is true despite a substantially lopsided geography (though, there are probably more professing Christians numerically in India and China (4%*2 billion=80 million) than in Western Europe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all world views are subject to these special and social correlations which should be a call to self skepticism and an invitation to evaluate motives and assumptions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> People tend to adopt the beliefs of people they want to be like…but my favorite statement of this is actually from a fictional work (Red Mars): </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">John: "The only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people arguing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>X claims a, and Y claims b.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They make arguments to support their claims with any number of points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when their listeners remember the discussion, what matters simply is that X believes a and Y believes b.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People then form their judgment based on what they think of X and y."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Maya: "But we're scientists! we’re trained to weigh evidence."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">John: "True.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, since I like you, I concede the point."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2395090220691101609#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Seriously, “The Crooked Kind” is unreal.</span></span></div>
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UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]-->stanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.com3