10 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
We Should Appreciate the Winter Solstice
We have become too wise in our own
conceits if ever we let a winter solstice go by
without a glance upward to rejoice that the
sun will sink no lower in the darkening sky
. .. We walk too hurriedly if ever we pass the
season’s first pasqueflower by, too busy to
let its meeting stay us for a quiet moment
before this token of the covenant of life to
continue in beauty despite the storm.It's a shame if we do not at least glance up at the sky to appreciate the fact that the days will be getting longer.
18 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
We Must Apply the Scientific Method to Ourselves
If it is to be applied consistently, science imposes, in exchange for
its manifold gifts, a certain onerous burden: we are enjoined, no
matter how uncomfortable it might be, to consider ourselves and
our cultural institutions scientifically and not to accept uncritically
whatever we're told; to surmount as best we can our hopes,
conceits and unexamined beliefs; to view ourselves as we really
are. Can we conscientiously and courageously follow planetary
motion or bacterial genetics wherever th...Skepticism must extend to ourselves, our culture, and our institutions.