Why some people deny the obvious and how it affects the rest of us.
We have all been there at one time or another, trying to show a friend or stranger an obvious error in their thinking only to be rebuffed by some inane rationalization. It’s exasperating. It’s truly an exercise in futility to argue with someone when the facts don’t matter. Denial is like that. Once some people get an idea fixed in their head, they can’t let go of it. They fight reality to the bitter end.
Changing one’s thought process or behavior isn’t easy. Anyone who has tried to break a bad habit or develop a good one knows this all…
All God-talk is rife with paradox. The problem of evil is only one of them. Whatever the Absolute is (i.e. God), we cannot comprehend it.
We hold Artificial Intelligence to a higher standard than we do humans because what it does is effectively out of our control. That's built into the very definition of AI. This matter should be given serious consideration as we move forward with it, no doubt. Thanks for addressing it.
The wild says what words cannot say
The hike over Stratton Mountain was harder than they expected, even though I was the one doing all the huffing and puffing. My two grandsons are young, healthy and used to racing up over mountains, but carrying a backpack changes things. I tried to explain that to them beforehand. It didn’t quite sink in. Now here we are with a mile to go before reaching Stratton Pond and they’re both running out of steam.
“The trail of doom,” the younger one Mason calls it. He just turned twelve so the relatively light pack he’s carrying probably feels heavier to him…
It has nothing to do with being civilized.
What am I? This question determines how I live my life, how I give it meaning. “I” quickly becomes “we” as I recognize that there exist others in this world very much like me. I identify with those others the moment I use the word “human.” The definition of this word is the foundation of all religion and philosophy, all political theory, all morality.
What does it mean to be human? This question underlies each and every worldview — mine, yours, and everyone else’s. So it’s important for us to get it right, inasmuch as that is possible.
We are…
Climate change is easy to deny until it’s in your face
Early September is a good time of year to catch a blue-winged olive mayfly hatch on mountain streams in northern Vermont, so I set my work aside and drive to a trailhead near Stowe. There I leave my car and hike the dirt road beyond the gate for a mile before bushwhacking down to the mouth of Cotton Brook, fly rod in hand. I have done well fishing this stream in years past, catching wild trout along with rainbows during long, dreamy afternoons. With mild temps and a partly cloudy sky, I’m excited about the day’s prospects.
Before even reaching…
The inevitability of death and what that implies
Death is surreal.
I was there the moment my father’s heart stopped. The look of surprise that registered on his face is something I won’t easily forget. He opened his eyes briefly then he was gone. I called in a nurse to verify that he was, in fact, dead. “Yes, he is,” she said. Even though his steady decline through the years had given me plenty of time to prepare for this moment, I still could hardly believe it. Gone. Just like that.
Through the years I have lost other loved ones, both family and friends. Most of the time…
Sounds good. But the word "infinity" is where physics becomes metaphysics.
Natural selection is much more than the survival of the fittest.
Survival of the fittest. We’ve all heard this phrase at one time or another. Usually, someone trying to justify getting ahead in this world at the expense of others is the one uttering it. This is the big excuse for the most naked power plays, when one individual or group of people is taking something away from another individual or group. This phrase implies that it is nature’s way for the strong to overpower the weak. But that is not how nature actually works.
The social philosopher Herbert Spencer coined the term “survival of the fittest” in his book Principles…
Groping for meaning in a world we cannot fully comprehend
We are all wrong, all the time. No one wants to hear this, but nothing one can say about human nature has more truth to it. We are wrong in the most fundamental way, in our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. We have done a pretty good job surviving as a species — so far — and are really good at making things. We are excellent problem-solvers. But we are clueless, absolutely clueless about the nature of the universe and our place in it. Oh sure, we have –Isms galore. There are all kinds of…
Walt McLaughlin
Philosopher of wildness, writing about the divine in nature, being human, and backcountry excursions.
