Reading James Hillman's The Force of Character. The book talks about what is more important in the later years of our lives.
In trying to last, we seek to extend life. It is equally important to extend our understanding of life: life as it is, not as it was; life structured with intelligence; life as instruction.
In old age, interest shifts from information to intelligence. Information brings news, while intelligence searches it for insight. Information merely accumulates; insights last.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Connecticut Elementary School Shooting
Dr. Ding, the Hong Kong sociologist, said mainland China schools he has visited in the past two years have beefed up security in the wake of the knife attacks.
"I think these kind of attacks become more frequent in many countries, not just China and U.S., because of a number of different factors," Ding said. "Number one is the increased pressure for individuals. Today's world is very different from the world we saw 50 years ago ... individuals in their daily life face much more uncertainty, risk, financial pressure and competition."
"The second thing is we live in a global village now, where the spread of information -- especially bad news -- is so instantaneous," said Ding, leading to more copycat crimes across the globe.
"I don't think we should limit the free press ... but people are watching this, they are learning from these kind of attacks. They are becoming more and more organized, better planned -- and that is horrible."
"I think these kind of attacks become more frequent in many countries, not just China and U.S., because of a number of different factors," Ding said. "Number one is the increased pressure for individuals. Today's world is very different from the world we saw 50 years ago ... individuals in their daily life face much more uncertainty, risk, financial pressure and competition."
"The second thing is we live in a global village now, where the spread of information -- especially bad news -- is so instantaneous," said Ding, leading to more copycat crimes across the globe.
"I don't think we should limit the free press ... but people are watching this, they are learning from these kind of attacks. They are becoming more and more organized, better planned -- and that is horrible."
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The Necessity of Atheism
The Necessity of Atheism
By DR. D. M. BROOKS
FREETHOUGHT PRESS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK
1933 BY FREETHOUGHT PRESS ASSOCIATION
(From Free Books)
Freethought has dethroned the gods from the pedestal, and has replaced, not an empty idol, but an ideal, the ideal of a man who is his own god.
It was Spinoza who remarked that, "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live." Religious creeds can but teach how man should live, so that when he dies, he may be assured of salvation; and the important thing is not what he does to help his fellow men while he is living, but how closely he lives in conformity to a reactionary code of dogmas.
By DR. D. M. BROOKS
FREETHOUGHT PRESS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK
1933 BY FREETHOUGHT PRESS ASSOCIATION
(From Free Books)
Freethought has dethroned the gods from the pedestal, and has replaced, not an empty idol, but an ideal, the ideal of a man who is his own god.
It was Spinoza who remarked that, "The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live." Religious creeds can but teach how man should live, so that when he dies, he may be assured of salvation; and the important thing is not what he does to help his fellow men while he is living, but how closely he lives in conformity to a reactionary code of dogmas.
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