Author: Mr Nobody
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Thoughts on my thesis
Here is my Masters thesis. I’ve never let anyone read it. Apart from my committee. Even I haven’t opened that file for about ten years. But I’m letting it go. If you do read it, you will find it quite long, about 60 pages. It’s actually much more readable than most graduate-level philosophy, extremely so,…
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Truth or noble lies?
Most information in the media these days can be classified as “noble lies”. Not outright untruths, but polemical constructions, deliberate narratives, with a practical or political goal in mind that shapes and provides the primary organizing principle for the information. I believe Jonathan Haight gave a lecture about this conflict in the university, that it…
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Love and trust
The two most valuable resources a child has is their parents’ love and their parents’ trust. Yes, both parties have a say in the future of both. Especially as the child grows and the relationship becomes more complex and reciprocal and less dependent and authoritative, good action on the part of either can make a…
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Autonomy or tyranny?
We have attempted to correct some of our excesses by living more for ourselves and doing things for ourselves, rather than for the groups or some others. And this is close to wisdom, but misses the mark. It’s an attempt. The closest I think we’ve come in crystallizing the proper way to approach things is…
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The prism of wisdom
Light comes from all directions, wisdom is the jewel where light is gathered and refracted into the places the light is needed. The more facets the prism has, the more complete it is, the more of the light of creation it gathers. God is the source of all light, he is the being of completion,…
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Relational rather than absolute measures
The ancient measure of the cubit was not absolute but relational. Geometry and relation was more important than absolute values or integers. In large part because a system of absolute values was very difficult to maintain. The important thing was to keep people consistent within their situation. This might be useful to remember as an…
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Where things are going
It’s very hard not to see our country as being in a slow process of gradual collapse. We have an enormous amount of inherited cultural capital. We have so much infrastructure and so much law, so many systems and institutions that have enormous power and value and utility. We have traditions and attitudes and conventions…
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Why should I care about charity during the lockdown?
Let’s be honest, I’m in danger myself, I’m stressed, I’m dealing with employees who are stressed. I’m in need of charity myself right now. I’ve got people to take care of who whose livelihoods are threatened. I had to accept some charity myself recently and figure out how I felt about it. I wasn’t going…
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Facts vs narratives of blame
Facts of blame are useful. They help us identify problems and where things went wrong, and solve them. Narratives of blame organize all facts according to an explanation and an enemy that has already been identified. They do not help you soberly identify or correct real problems. They help assuage your instinct to scapegoat and…
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Politicization, polarization, and extremity
I have a philosophy degree; we’re used to exploring different ideas and hearing different viewpoints, in fact we demand it. We demand testing and argumentation. We demand refinement and consistency. So I’ve been listening to the views of many opposing sides. I’ve been immersing myself into the arguments of the ideological right and the ideological…
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