Posted inPhilosophy

Fireflies, Mt. Hood, and other strange delights

I love watching fireflies do their bioluminescence thing. I've just spent several days in Indiana and Kentucky. Fireflies are common there. They don't exist in Oregon, so far as I know. At least, I've never seen a firefly in my home state. So when the sun began to set on the day my wife and I arrived at a family get-together in a small town near Bloomington, Indiana, I couldn't take my eyes off of the seemingly randomly blinking yellow flashes of light on a large grassy lawn.  Blink here. Then there. No way to predict where the next flash…
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Posted inPhilosophy Salem

Crushing disappointment leads me to channel my Inner Trump and Buddha

Well, I can chalk up another soul crushing moment: a third consecutive rejection of my TEDx Salem speaker application -- which I described in "Free will isn't. Existence is" My hoped-for TEDx Salem talk. The rejection letter reminded me of those I got from publishers back in the days when I was shopping around book manuscripts, before I discovered the Joy of Self Publishing. A polite way of saying, Get lost, loser. Dear Brian, We appreciate your proposal for presenting a talk at TEDxSalem. We received a record amount of applications this year making our decision incredibly difficult. We regret…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Philosophy

What Trump’s triumph tells us about the nature of reality

Lots of people are talking about what Donald Trump's triumph -- he looks certain to be the G.O.P. presidential nominee -- means for the future of the Republican Party, America, and the world. To me that stuff is interesting. But I've got my philosophical sights set much higher: on what Trump's ascendancy tells us about the nature of reality.  More specifically, human reality. So far as I can tell, the rise of Trump doesn't say much about cosmology, dark energy/matter, or how quantum physics and general relativity fit into a theory of everything.  But having closely watched the Trump phenomenon unfold…
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Posted inMarijuana Philosophy

Tom Huth talks about how marijuana makes life better

I love Tom Huth's paean to the benefits of daily marijuana smoking in his New York Times piece, "How Getting High Made Me a Better Caregiver."  I've ordered his soon-to-be-released book: Forty Years Stoned: A Journalist's Romance. Huth clearly is both an excellent writer and an astute communicator of the joys that cannabis brings. Here are some excerpts from his NYT essay. I enjoyed how, right off the bat, he speaks about something marijuana users don't say often enough: experiencing the world while high often (or usually) brings people MORE in touch with reality, not less. Santa Barbara, Calif. —…
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Posted inBooks Philosophy

Greek island wisdom for old men: Cialis yes, testosterone no

Back in my college days, the summer of 1968 it was, I spent some time on a Greek island. Wonderful experience. Bright sun. Blue ocean. Whitewashed buildings. Laid back. I just finished a book by Daniel Klein, "Travels With Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled life."  Reading it also was a wonderful experience, in large part because I could relate so easily to its central themes. Klein is nine years older than me, in his seventies. He went to the island of Hydra, armed with a bunch of philosophy and psychology books, to ponder…
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Posted inPhilosophy Recreation

Look upon life as a beach, rather than a bitch

Until I Googled the phrase just now, I didn't realize that "life is a beach" is viewed as a counterpoint to "life is a bitch." Makes sense, I guess. But having just spent eight days on Maui's Napili Bay beach (photo above), I never thought of that. Almost right away, my wife and I fell into that state of beach'y mind that, really, should be viewed as ordinary rather than unusual. Being a frequent visitor to Maui, I've blogged about this before. For example, in "Life lessons learned on a Maui beach" and "Life lessons I've learned boogie boarding." An…
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Posted inPhilosophy

The social value of getting wasted

With New Year's Eve coming up soon, this seems to be a good time to share some passages about the positive side of intoxication from a book I just finished, "Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity." The author, Edward Slingerland, discusses the ins and outs (along with the yin and yang) of wu-wei, the elusive quality of effortlessly flowing with life so much praised in Daoist and Confucian philosophy.  Slingerland, a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, clued me in to some aspects of both Asian and Western culture that had largely…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Philosophy

Naive realism is wrong. We don’t see the world as it really is.

Back in my San Jose State College undergraduate days I took an Epistemology class. Don't remember much about it, aside from writing a paper on the subject of Zen and Naive Realism. Might even still have it tucked away in a storage box.  Today I came across that term, naive realism, again. I resonated with what psychologist Jonathan Haidt says in his fascinating book, "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom." Each of us thinks we see the world directly, as it really is. We further believe that the facts as we see them are there for all…
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Posted inPhilosophy

2013 high school graduation thoughts, from Class of 1966

This afternoon the Courthouse Athletic Club didn't look like it usually does. Balloons and other decorations yelled "Party!" A fellow senior citizen who I often see in one of the weight rooms asked me if I knew what was going on. "High school graduation," I told him. "I think either South Salem or Sprague High School uses the club for a party every year." Driving home, I saw a car with a big 2013 marked on the back window. To prove to myself that I wasn't too senile to do some math in my head, I calculated how many years…
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Posted inPhilosophy

What does it mean to be “as old as I feel”?

There's a Taoist story about Chuang Tzu not knowing whether he is a man dreaming that he's a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he's a man. This is similar to what happens when I wonder, "how old do I feel that I am?" I don't feel like I'm 64. If I don't gaze at my body, which obviously has aged, the "me" inside my head finds it difficult to tell the difference between senior citizen-me and teenager-me. Yet can I say that I'm now a teenage mind in a senior citizen body? Or should I say that when I…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Nature shows that perceptions are more lively than ideas

Ah, my first blog post title inspired by David Hume, a philosopher whom I've only admired through the admiration of others, not directly through his writings. Until recently. Today I read Hume's ideas about the liveliness of sensual, emotional, and willful "impressions," which he contrasts with less lively "ideas."  Rings true to me. I just got back from a late afternoon dog walk. The two family canines and I meandered along a path that leads across a creek, through some woods, and around a small lake. I always feel restored and rejuvenated when I go on this walk. Because I'm…
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Posted inEntertainment Philosophy

“Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a paean to soulful strangeness

I loved the movie, "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Yesterday I tried to explain on my other blog what the film meant to me.  Don't feel like I succeeded. This try likely won't be much more successful. After all, what I love about "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is its -- no big surprise -- beastliness and wildness. Guess I could roar. Or jump up on a table and scream "I'm the man! I'm the man!" like the marvelous Hushpuppy does in the movie. Or trample down buildings like the aurochs do. Or... I can type away and try to say…
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Posted inHome life Philosophy

Arrival of my Buddha nature has been delayed

Shopping at the south Salem Fred Meyer store today provided more evidence that my boundless compassion for all sentient beings, a.k.a. Buddha nature, has some room to grow. Scene: I'm pleased to find a checkout lane in the grocery section that only has two people in front of me. Hey, I may be retired, but I'm a busy guy. This is only the second stop in my Trader Joe's - Fred Meyer - LifeSource Natural Foods route. I've already been to Les Schwab Tires and the post office. I've got to pick up our tuned-up bicycles at a bike shop.…
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Posted inPhilosophy Skateboarding

When I’m 64… longboard-inspired thoughts on living life crazily

I don't need an excuse to get all philosophical. It comes naturally to me. But armed with a strong cup of coffee, a warm dry Oregon early evening, and a memory of a pleasant afternoon spent longboarding at Salem's wonderful Minto Brown Island Park, I feel especially inspired to muse about what life means to me on my 64th-birthday eve.  The Beatles released "When I'm 64" in 1967. I was a college freshman. Loved the song. Hated the idea of being 64. The lyrics seemed depressingly fantastical back in those youthful days.  When I get older losing my hair,Many years…
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Posted inPhilosophy Scootering

Why biking and other risky activities are dangerous, but not fearful

Thank you, Tim Krieder, for writing such a marvelous New York Times essay, "Cycle of Fear." You wonderfully described why I love riding my maxi-scooter (a Suzuki Burgman 650) so much. Also, why I like boogie boarding on the biggest waves I can find on a Hawaii vacation so much. Krieder talks about riding his bicycle in New York City. But his explanation of why risky activities are so enjoyable applies to lots of pursuits: motorcycling, downhill skiing, rock climbing, skateboarding, horse riding, many others. After speaking about our modern-day hypervigilance to mostly imaginary threats, the worries and anxieties of…
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Posted inPhilosophy Salem

Plant magic mushrooms on your grave for loved ones to enjoy

I haven't spent much time envisioning how I'd like my dead body to be disposed of. But after listening to an episode of Philosophy Talk today, "Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?," I've got an interesting psychedelic option to consider. Here's what a member of the audience said: Hello, my name is Jay Monk. I'm from Willamette University. And first I'll apologize for the asking of this question about a taboo, but I really want to know what your thoughts are. If hypothetically, for my burial, I'd like to be buried in a plot of land that has been inoculated with psychedelic…
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Posted inPhilosophy Sustainability

My question for Humane Society of U.S. leader

This was my big chance. Would I ever get another opportunity to ask the President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Wayne Pacelle, a question about animal consciousness? Almost certainly not. So I stuck my hand in the air tonight when Wayne said that he'd welcome a few questions from the passionate band of local animal activists who'd assembled at Ted and Beverly Paul's beautiful home in the south Salem hills to meet Pacelle. As soon as we arrived, I plunked down $27 to buy a copy of his book, "The Bond: Our Kinship with…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Why men and women talk in different party clusters

First, let's deal with that word "why" in the title of this post. I haven't bothered to research what other people have to say about my subject -- the phenomenon of men and women gravitating into separate groups at parties, where male and female conversations often head off in drastically different directions. Hey, I'm a man. So I'm going to act in accord with what I told a woman last night who wanted to join five guys (of whom I was one) having an interesting talk about world affairs. She sidled up next to me and said, "It looks like…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Philosophy

Rory McIlroy, thanks for a flowing Father’s Day

I'm a big-time golf fan. Meaning, I only watch the final round of big-time major tournaments like the Master's, British Open, and United States Open. And even then I'll record the last eighteen holes so I can fast forward my way through the hours and hours of slow-moving golf (same way I watch soccer). That's what I did yesterday also. But thanks to the amazing Rory McIlroy, I was able to watch the final round in record time. Plus, be wonderfully inspired by the sight of a 22-year old from Northern Ireland blowing away his fellow U.S. Open golfers in…
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Posted inPhilosophy

Sea turtles teach me a mindfulness lesson

Boogie boarding on the left side of Maui's Napili Bay, while waiting for waves I watched a bunch of large sea turtles feeding in the shallows of a reef that I also was interested in -- to avoid running into, as the turtles have hard shells and can handle waves that break over shallow rocks, while I can't. When their heads popped up I imagined they were looking at me curiously. "What kind of fish is that, gray headed with a big flat blue fin that keeps it on top of the water?" But given how many other boogie boarders…
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