Category: Conversation Pieces
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Artistic Integrity Is Expensive
If you have never been called a “sell-out” then a couple things may have happened 1. people aren’t really being honest to your face or, 2. you aren’t making that much money. There is a rare faction of creatives that manage to drive head first into the world of profitability without having to confirm to…
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Human Compromise: A Society Of Anarchy
The passionate anarchist who screams “Down with the system.” while throwing a molotov cocktail at a riot control officer believes that he is calling for anarchy when he as well as the officer in front of him may ALREADY be living in anarchy. Is it possible that what we think of as social order is…
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Culture In Pandemic
Photo by Daniel Tafjord The first case of COVID-19 was traced back to November 17th in Wuhan, China. Four months since then, the U.S. is starting to feel the full weight of the virus which can go highly undetected given “mild” symptoms in 80% of those infected. Over the past week, life has been transformed for…
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Equal Access To Creativity?
Do you remember MacGyver? It was a TV show in the late 80’s with a secret agent who basically could build just about anything with duct tape, a swiss army knife and a few random objects that might be lying around. Watching an old re-run of this show will easily get you thinking about how…
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Mind Blown: Grieving Knowledge
If the beliefs we have about ourselves make up our identity are not connected to truth. It means that we could be 1. incorrect about our identity but also that, 2. our identities (self-perception) can shift with knowledge alone.This shift in identity from wise to ignorant can be significant enough to require reconciliation. It’s worth…
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Are You Reading Too Much Into Things?
Do you remember your high school literature class? The teacher told you to read a poem by Shakespeare or Langston Hughes and made you pick apart every word in every line to try and dissect the author’s intent. The key to this exercise is that by looking at the authors choice of words, their characteristics,…
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Outsourced Thinking & Authority
Ask yourself what you know, then ask yourself how you know it. When you look up above your while standing outdoors, how do you know that to be the sky? You know that you are looking above your head because of the position of your own neck, but the fact that what you are staring…
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Broken Trust = Broken Faith
There is a lot of stigma surrounding religion in some circles. It is some times described as oppressive and homogenizing. Criticisms about traditions of various religions come in to question for moral reasons. At the same time we find ourselves more and more secluded and disconnected from each other in a data driven world. We seek…
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The Privilege Of Curiosity
The differences between science and religion are often argued. Each attempts to explain, observe, and reveal insight about our reality and universe. The solutions posed are as varied as the people that propose them but beneath them both is a desire to seek a broader understanding about our existence. Investigation is not a uniquely human…
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Your Desires Dictate Your Direction
Ever wonder why chastity is so heavily suggested in Christianity or why Buddhist monks live modest lifestyles? The core tenant is simple, our desires are powerful and obstruct “good” decision making. What is said to be good or bad is completely subjective to the particular person but we all have done things in the past…