We have 2 theories of greatness. It’s easier than it looks or you’re born able to do it. Our myths about creativity and creative work feed a mythos we have about work in general. That mythology can be summarized by 2 prevalent delusions about playing the quintessential instrument of popular music—the guitar. Myth 1: You can play guitar with 3 (or some number of) chords. Heard in countless…

We Reject it Not Because its Policies Are Always Wrong, but BecaUse Empowered People Don’t Maintain A Victim Narrative It is my hope that the doctrine of deep personal disempowerment which has most recently emerged as Trumpism — its leader continually citing his victimization by institutions from the media to…

I Want the Best Parts of the Rural Right and Urban Left, Without the Worst. City + Education without Political Correctness; Land + Work without MAGA Parochialism. — Why must we choose the worst tendencies of each vs. the best each has to offer? I come from a mixed (blue-collar / white-collar) background. Fathers side: educators & engineering. Mother’s side: military & farmers. I speak both languages. …

It Seems I‘m Going to Die — Sooner Than Expected Our bodies start trying to murder us at some point. Eventually, they’ll succeed. If outside forces don’t get us first, the inside ones inevitably will. Mine has finally come for me, and my response is: “I’ve been waiting. What took you so long?” There’s this “mass” in an unwelcome area…

In the late 1990s, America got a divorce. From itself. The center did not hold, and we chose one parent or another. A few of us left both. We do things when we’re young we wouldn’t do later. We do things later, we wouldn’t do again. The biggest mistakes I’ve ever made were personal — relationships and vocation. I think it’s safe to say we’re capable of those until we die. …

Monoculture, Monomaniacs, and Monolithic Approaches to Problem Solving — Each are Hallmarks of Monotheistic Theocracy Political Monomaniacs As I watch Pence and the other envangelico-republicans operating in lockstep and ironically saying they’ve prayed about their decisions and gotten the answers from “God” and are acting accordingly, I can’t help but contrast that…

Healthcare is making phenomenal strides. Your heart could go bad, and we could still save you. Your lungs could get diseased, and we might still save you. Your brain might get a tumor, and there’s a shot at saving you. But if you have a cancer that goes from localized…

I sat in a cafe and listened to the person who filled my cup say to her colleague, “I have always loved Woody Allen’s films, but now he’s sh*t. I won’t look at any of them ever again.” I drained my coffee and walked out, disgusted. It’s her call —…

I propose to provide an itemization of what is meant by “traditional values’ that is neutral to religion, agnostic to politics, and nonetheless faithful to the culture that, by being scolded and ridiculed when not forcibly obliterated, testifies always to the robustness of its effects and the resilience of its…