reasonandmeaning

[reasonandmeaning]

Review of Appleman's: The Labyrinth: God, Darwin, and the Meaning of Life (Part 2)

Philip D. Appleman (1926 – 2020 ) was an American poet, a Darwin scholar, and Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana University. His final book was titled Continue reading Review of Appleman’s: The Labyrinth: God, Darwin, and the Meaning of Life (Part 2)

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Review of Appleman's: The Labyrinth: God, Darwin, and the Meaning of Life (Part 1)

Philip D. Appleman (1926 – 2020 ) was an American poet, a Darwin scholar, and Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana University. His final book was titled Continue reading Review of Appleman’s: The Labyrinth: God, Darwin, and the Meaning of Life (Part 1)

[reasonandmeaning]

David Foster Wallace - This Is Water

[I first published the following post almost ten years ago. Pursuant to a recent reread, I decided it deserved a reprinting.] Continue reading David Foster Wallace – This Is Water

[reasonandmeaning]

The Metaphysical Beekeeper

From “The Bad Beekeeping Blog,” by Ron Miksha. He died [more than]  20 years ago. But Richard Taylor is interesting enough to remember, … Here’s my tribute … which celebrates the great commercial beekeeper, writer, and philosophy professor … Continue reading The Metaphysical Beekeeper

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How To Stop Believing In Conspiracy Theories

From 3 Quarks Daily, by Rachel Robison-Greene. Reprinted with permission. Earlier this month, “No Kings” protests set records for being among the most well attended political protests in recorded American history.  The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful.  On the same day, a politically motivated killer shot two Democratic politicians and their spouses in Minnesota, killing two and critically…

[reasonandmeaning]

To Birth A God

On Superintelligence, Moral Ignorance, and the Hope for a Future that Remembers by Joshua Shrode Prologue: Descent into the Deep It started, strangely enough, with a question about saturation divers — the people who live for weeks at a time in steel tubes at the bottom of the ocean, doing dangerous, technical work in total darkness, cut off from the surface, from sunlight, from the…

[reasonandmeaning]

Smartphones and Mental Health

A colleague of mine recently wrote: An increasing number of observers suggest that the obsessive use of smartphones and social media that most people seem to suffer from makes them feel anxious and depressed. Continue reading Smartphones and Mental Health

[reasonandmeaning]

The Ultimate Question: A Poem

A friend penned this thoughtful, short poem, one of the best philosophical poems I’ve ever read. And it rhymes. As Robert Frost said, writing free verse was like “playing tennis without a net.” Continue reading The Ultimate Question: A Poem

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Pessimistic Hope Revisited

In the past, I’ve outlined a concept of hope that I believe is both intellectually honest and that sustains me against many critics of hope. I’ve also used that concept of hope as a primary response to the failure of intellectual analysis to demonstrate that life is now or is becoming fully meaningful. Thus, I was delighted to discover two new philosophical books that defend a concept of hope…

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How Does Life Feel Different At 70

I turned 70 years old a few days ago. While I don’t feel old, take no prescription medications, eat a plant-based diet, work out at the gym, and walk 6 to 8 miles almost daily… there is still something about turning 70 that freaks me out. I feel like I’m about 40 on the inside, but that’s not what my birth certificate shows. It is just hard to believe that you were a kid or teenager and then,…

[reasonandmeaning]

Do We Naturally Rebel Against Inequality?

Chris Crawford penned this thoughtful response to my recent post on economic inequality. I reprinted it here unedited. 1. The Economist just published an article about inheritance as a growing factor in the increase in the Gini Index (a measure of inequality). 2. I have long felt that inheritance taxes are an ideal solution to the problem. They work slowly, but are minimally invasive of property…

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Living Your Best Life?

By Martin Butler. (From 3 Quarks Daily; reprinted with permission.) The expression ‘Live your best life’ is very much in vogue. It appears more than 3 million times in Instagram posts, which are no doubt full of pictures of smiling attractive 20-somethings completing amazing sporting feats, strolling along glorious beaches or doing exciting things in exotic places. Continue reading Living Your…

[reasonandmeaning]

Does Wealth Inequality Matter?

By Martin Butler. (From 3 Quarks Daily; reprinted with permission.) In the UK and USA the gap between the richest and poorest ten percent continues to grow. Continue reading Does Wealth Inequality Matter?

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Cosmic Death and The Meaning of Life

Thomas Moynihan, a research affiliate at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, recently penned a thoughtful essay in Aeon magazine, “The bookends of time: Nothing lasts forever: not humanity, not Earth, not the Universe. But finitude confers an indelible meaning to our lives.” Continue reading Cosmic Death and The Meaning of Life

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On Solitude

If these times endure, I shall become a hermit, For I see nothing here but grief and torment; Evils reign, good folk are held in scorn, And the wicked seize the seats of government. Eustache Deschamps (14th century French poet) Continue reading On Solitude

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How To Stay Sane In An Insane World

Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Roman emperor. I watched a fine Youtube video on Stoicism (see below) the other day titled “How To Stay Sane In An Insane World (12 Stoic Practices That Actually Work)” It’s a bit long so I thought I’d summarize its main points. Continue reading How To Stay Sane In An Insane World

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Summary of Sean Carroll's "Purpose, Freedom, and the Laws of Nature"

Sean Carroll (1966-) is an American theoretical physicist who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He was formerly a research professor at the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology department of physics. He also is currently an…