Jordan B Peterson

My friend W. have me this link for XMas:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wWBGo6a2w

I am only about halfway into the second of at least 15 lectures in his series "Biblical Series." 

So far, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING EXCELLENT!  In the face of all the crap that we "entertain" ourselves with, or what passes for "higher education" these days, I almost forgot what it's like to listen to a true thinker speaker. 

Don't be put off by the title you self-described "open-minded" atheists.  It's not a guy who cares about saving your soul... but he's very concerned about your mind.

Talk about food for thought! My mind's jaws are already sore.

I am excited about YouTube like never before.

Crest Christmas

I'd like to believe it has to do with having reached an "enlightened" state of being...  but it doesn't. It's more likely due to facts in my life right now that I don't want to go into here. But, regardless the reasoning, through a coincidental alignment of the calendar and my dental hygiene practices, today I realized I am more excited about opening the new box of toothpaste I bought last week than I am about any possible Xmas present.

I'm gonna take it as a reminder from the universe of an age old lesson: Focus on the simple things and great gratitude can be yours.

A Father Vision

I wonder a lot lately how much a father really can see of the relationship between his actions (or lack thereof) and the resulting effects in his son.  Obviously, the more salient facets of our behavior alter the shape our children take.  E.g. if we are overall more cruel versus kind, I have no doubt you will get a different type of young man from the experience. Yet, as any man who had a less than perfect relationship with their father knows, you still end up doing things as a father that you HATED your dad doing.... and swore you'd never do. Of course the boy is not the exact same person as the man.... one has a different view when one stands in a different place in life. But, I grow ever more suspect that we are less in a directing role, and instead are more a bundle of largely automatic processes with a thin layer of individual "personality" wrapping the "machinery," with our children generally running the same "code" in their own box of automation but mostly taking "inputs"from their peers and the society they are immersed in..... and only tiny snippets here and there taken from the parents and embedded into their being.

I'm not saying we don't owe it to our children to give them all the love and care we can. I'm just questioning if we have as much influence as we like to believe.  Perhaps we are applying our time, energy and anxiety based more on wishful thinking than factual results.  A bit like trying to use extensive vocabulary and proper sentence structures when talking to your dog when all that really matters is attitude and "tone."

Praise Inflation

There is no such thing as "too much" GENUINE praise.

"Get a job, ya bum!"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/24/atheism-richard-dawkins-challenge-beliefs-homeless

Life in the Trenches

Most life is fundamentally based on chemical warfare.