On Truth...No BS

Harry G. Frankfurt, On Truth, Knopf, 2006.

[Disclaimer - this review features discussion of a book entitled "On Bullshit" and its companion volume "On Truth" - I realize this word is offensive to some and want to let you know up front that it is coming.  Hopefully the review is not in this category.  Thanks]

A few short years ago I ran across a book with a somewhat odd title which was written by a Princeton philosopher (emeritus) named Harry G. Frankfurt.  At the time was climbing the Amazon.com best seller lists and creating some pretty big buzz.  The book was titled On Bullshit and I clicked my friendly Amazon "add to cart" button and wanted to learn what the philosopher had to say.  Much to my delight (and to the chagrin of others) the book was an actual philosophical essay which was seeking to develop a theory of BS - just WHAT it is and WHY it is so harmful to truthful discourse...even more harmful than lying.  Let me let Frankfurt describe it in his own words from the introduction

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory."

As far as the person engaged in the activity of BS his description about it being worse than lying is quite compelling:

For the bullshitter, however, all these bets are off: he is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all, as the eyes of the honest man and of the liar are, except insofar as they may be pertinent to his interest in getting away with what he says. He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose...

Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game. Each responds to the facts as he understands them, although the response of the one is guided by the authority of the truth, while the response of the other defies that authority and refuses to meet its demands. The bullshitter ignores these demands altogether. He does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.

On Bullshit, 56, 60-61

So I ordered 10 more copies and sent them to friends and kept some in the office as gifts. I think it may be that I am a closet philosophy geek that I found it somewhat hilarious...and truthful. So that book took up the task to give the world of theory of what our world of spin, media, pandering, politicking and profiteering has come to know; our world is full of it.   

What Frankfurt failed to anticipate is that people may not feel why truth is so important to a culture at all.  Maybe there are so many people among us spouting BS because we do not see the importance of truth for our lives together in our society.  So a sequel was in order and that sequel has arrived in the form of a shiny little gold volume in the same diminutive 154x106mm hardback. In this installment Frankfurt goes back to lay some ground work to bolster his bullshit argument in the previous volume.  In On Truth, his goal is to explore just why truth is so important to a society.  Let me allow him to explain his purposes.

At the time (of writing On BS), that seemed like enough.  I realized later, however, that I had paid no attention at all in my book to an issue with which any adequate discussion of bullshit must certainly deal.  I had made an important assumption, which I had offhandedly supposed most of my readers would share: viz., being indifferent to truth is an undesirable or even reprehensible characteristic, and bullshitting is therefore to be avoided and condemned. 

On Truth, 5.

Dr. Frankfurt, boy were you wrong...welcome to my generation.  You ever watch Big Brother or the Real World?  Not too much truth loving my friend. 

The book does a good job in exploring the issue of why truthfulness is so important while calming down the postmodernist and the truth deconstructors along the way.  Some unfamiliar to philosophical essays may struggle with why he takes so long to state the obvious, but hey, this is actually fun stuff to many of us.  About a third of the way through the book, Frankfurt does a good job at summarizing his conclusion.  It reads as follows:

For these reasons, no society can afford to despise or to disrespect the truth.  It is not enough, hwoever, for a society to merely acknowledge that truth and falsity are, when all is said and done, legitimate and significant concepts.  In addition, the society  must not neglect to provide encouragement and support for capable individuals who devote themselves to acquiring and to exploiting significant truths.  Moreover, whatever benefits and rewards it may sometimes be possible to obtain by bullshitting [like winning big brother], by dissembling, or through sheer mendacity, societies cannot afford to tolerate anyone or anything that fosters a slovenly indifference to the distinction between true and false. Much less can they indulge in shabby, narcissistic pretense that being true to the facts is less important that being "true to oneself." If there is any attitude that is inherently antithetical to a decent and orderly social life, that is it.

On Truth, 33.

Pairing this with his explanation of what bullshit is in the first volume and why it is injurious to truth, we now know once again that we should cut the BS and as Jan Hus, my old dead friend from Bohemia, once said "search for Truth, hear Truth, learn Truth, love Truth, speak the Truth, hold the Truth, and defend the Truth til Death." 

Amen!?

Interestingly enough Frankfurt, while beginning with a rather consequentialist view of truth, does attempt to move past this to penetrate the concept of Truth and why it brings such utility to life.  In a great pass at boldness he seeks to call us all into the light of truth:

The problem with ignorance and error is, of course, that they leave us in the dark. Lacking the truths we require, we have nothing to guide us but our own feckless speculations or fantasies and the importunate and unreliable advice of others.  As we plan our conduct, we can therefore do no better than to spin out uninformed guesses and, shakily, to hope for the best.  We do not know where we are. We are flying blind.  We can proceed only very tentatively, feeling our way.

On Truth, 60-61

This reminds me of the words of the word who is called Truth "Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" and again "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

For those who know the names, there are treatments of some philosophers in the work.  Kant is featured of course, what modern philosopher can't mention the patron saint.  Aristotle, as in most works of philosophy, gets a little guest appearance in a discussion of why lying is hurtful. Strange enough there is an odd little chapter on Baruch Spinoza's view of joy, love and their relationship to truth. Interesting enough, but to be honest I find Augustine's meditation on the supreme good of human beings to be a much better treatment on these subjects than Spinoza.  But I digress.

So in the tradition of On Bullshit, I found Frankfurt's companion essay On Truth to be both helpful and hilarious.  Though when it gets right down to it he and I might find one another's major views and positions on life and reality...well, quite full of it.  He and I both seem to be the children of western thought - with the understanding that reality and truth is "out there to be discovered" not simply who I am or what I wish the world to be.  The Secret is not dominated and domesticated by us; it is found elsewhere and must be found.  Or it might just find us.  In this we discover who we really are and what we are here for. 

So let me say that though I enjoyed these two essays and find some common ground with them I do find one major issue with Frankfurt.  He is caught in a world of facts, truth, bullshit and "society."  For him truth has value to the person and to the society as it allows us to live in reality and pursue what we are.  Yet I feel he does not go far enough, for truth is more than simply "reality" - it is the reality as seen and known by the one who is the Truth.  The rabbit hole is much deeper than he thinks for truth is lived not only in relationship to facts or bullshit, but in relationship with the one in whom there is nothing false...and if you give me the liberty to say so, no bullshit either.  In him we move past truth living into worshiping the one who is the Truth.  It is here that our eyes are opened, the chains fall off, and we are set free.  So, as a third volume I suggest to my readers "On Jesus" which is the subject of another set of books, the ancient Scriptures.  This book, I suggest we all read.  John's writing on the life and meaning of Jesus is a good place to begin.  

Peta Persuasion

The the fine People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have enlisted some hollywood star power to offer tight reasoning for animal rights. 

I think that we should tell the Coyotes about animal rights...obviously we need to tell them that they should not eat other animals...particularly cats. The tightly reasoned logic will have me ridding myself of all leather products and forsaking meat forever...nah, scratch that - I'm still not convinced.

I have a few simple questions for the radical animal rights activist:

• If human beings are but animals ourselves, why do we have a moral duty to care for other animals - they all do eat one another you know.
• If we DO have a moral duty to care for creation, including kind treatment of animals...are we not distinct from mere animals?
• Yet a purely naturalistic worldview does not support human beings as being distinct or afforded any special status from other animals. So why can't we do whatever we want to survive and pass on our genes? Including using baby seal skins as coats?

It seems to me that only a view that holds that human beings are created in the image of God as co-rulers and stewards with him over creation could have a moral responsibility for how we treat other creatures. I remain unconvinced that certain animal rights positions are coherent, let alone worthy of such radicalism as exhibited by the good people of PETA.

Matt

Many of you have read, heard about and watched Matt.  His videos are cool, his dancing style is unique...but is Matt cool?

I'm just not sure what to think? I think Matt is cool.

My Boys Rhett and Link...

Just in case you were wondering: "What are Rhett and Link up to these days?" - Well, they are traveling the country on a road trip with a little guy named Speedy. I personally liked this one...time wasting hilarity awaits you...then get back to work.

Multitasking - leave it to your operating system

It is well known to technologists that multi-tasking, multi-threading and multi-core are a good thing for computers to do.  Your operating systems pretty much sucked if it could do only one thing at a time...but what about us?  Is multi-tasking as good thing?

The New Atlantis has quite an interesting article focusing on our lack of focus.  I am thinking long and hard these days on how to refocus my attention on singular tasks without interruption.  Turneth off thy WiFi!?

Something to think about...

WALL-E Review

 

Every now again I go out on a date with two ladies instead of one.  Yesterday I had the privilege to have Kayla (almost 7) and Kylene (4.5) with me on each arm for a fun, but expensive, time at the movies.  Apart from the amount of money that movies, drinks and popcorn bleed out of a father's wallet we had a delightful time with a little robot named WALL*E.  To be quite honest we usually enjoy the Pixar fare and this film did not disappoint.  In fact, without being preachy, it explored some very interesting facets of being a human being on planet earth; quite surprising for a computer animated eye feast taking place for the most part in the far reaches of space.

Plot Summary  (Warning - spoiler here)

The film begins with a desolate earth cityscape which for some strange reason reminded me of the abandoned Manhattan of the recent I AM LEGEND flick.  This futuristic world is overrun with garbage with the human beings long gone and apparently did not do a good job with waste management.  What the humans did do before  launching off into space on a luxury cruise liner was leave robots with the acronym WALL*E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) on the ground to compact and take out the trash.  After 700 years one of the bots was still ticking and pursuing his objective of making small cubes of trash and stacking them in an orderly fashion.  Having such a long time for the job this last little WALL*E has literally made sky-scrapers of the mountains of trash. His best friend is a little cock roach named who I believe is named HAL.  Their friendship was quite funny.

During our last days on earth a large corporation has taken over (with the ironic name "Big and Large") and sought to satisfy every consumer delight we could ever imagine.  The end game of all this consumption was a trashed planet earth and an escape to a luxury cruise ship in space known as the "Axiom" while WALL*Es work to de-trash the wasted planet.  On the Axiom human life is reduced to lounging on floating couches, eating shakes flavored like all sorts of foods and being idiotized by holographic TV screens all day long.  The human beings have been reduced to a vegetative like state where humans loose their bone density and get enormously chunky. 

Every so often the Axiom sends out EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) modules to see if new life can be found on the earth.  Apparently all the EVEs always came back empty as the Axiomites seem to have no hope of earth's rejuvenation.  However, WALL*E has found a little seedling growing in the tarnished terra nova of the trashed earth.  Interestingly, WALL*E falls for EVE and they have a nice little budding friendship when he gives her the plant as a gift.  At this point she grabs it, places it in her belly and goes into sleep mode.  To make a long story short, the probe ship returns, grabs EVE and WALL*E hitches a ride through the cosmos back to the AXIOM.

On the AXIOM the two rouge robots work with the humans to re-grasp hope and purpose in order to head back to earth as stewards to re-populate the earth.  Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth...rule over it and subdue - Part 2 if you will.  This time as stewards of the land rather than rapers thereof. 

I found the story fun and compelling and a bit surprising.  Rather than being a space age sci-fi flick it is a very human and earthy affair dealing with interesting philosophical issues - much like the new Battlestar Gallactica...yet rated G.  In what follows is a few of the things we enjoyed following the little square through the galaxies. 

Bright Points in WALL*E

Critique of Lazy Consumption

In the story human beings sink to quite a low.  Instead of Homo Sapiens (thinking beings) the human beings in WALL*E have been Homo Consumptorus, creatures that take in and produce trash without regard for the planet. Additionally, they love being pampered in five star luxury so much that not a one of them works or thinks or learns.  They are simply lobotomized by service robots doing everything for them and constant blathering media numbing their minds.  Now it is a bit ironic to get this message at "a movie" but it comes through powerfully nonetheless. 

Hard work, moderation, learning and relationships with human beings are put forth as a remedy to laziness, excess, passive minds and individual isolation.  I was refreshed by this and found my kids very teachable - I now have a new illustration to use when I joke around with them about their minds turning to mush from watching too many cartoons.  We are not Luddites in our family, nor do we avoid all media, but we do want to read, think, pray and worship as a family and not become people on floating Axiom lounge chairs.  Kayla and Ky got a kick out of getting that message from a place other than Dad - thank you Pixar.

When things start to change, the captain of the Axiom chooses active learning over lounging around and discovers that the earth and all that is there is quite glorious, full of a wonder and majesty.  He realizes he needs to get back and get to work - to learn and live rather than survive in a robot pampered "paradise."

Creation Stewardship, Not Creation Worship

If you miss the environmental message of this movie you are simple asleep or perhaps have been on the Axiom too long yourself.  WALL*E is mercilessly green in its message but surprising at the same time.  Most green visions are political and preachy and can at times make a god out of mother nature.  Additionally, some green ideas teach that human beings are not special in nature and are just a part of the big biosphere like barnacles and bacteria.  You will not find such fare in WALL*E.  In this vision both humans and creation have their place and the view here is quite biblical. 

In Scripture human beings are called by God to rule and care for the created order; it has been made for them and they are to be good stewards of the earth.  There is a fascinating scene in WALL*E when the captain of the Axiom holds the little seedling and says - you are going to be alright fella, you just needed someone to take care of you.  It is obvious that he means the earth as well as the little green sprig before him.  In this film, Humans are specially called to care for the earth - this view is not consistent in worldviews which do not have man as a special creation of God.

One other facet of WALL*E I found very interesting.  In most stories involving a post apocalyptic earth and humans escaping to the stars the idea is to flee from earth and find a new home among the galaxies.  In this film, earth was and remains the home for human life - our station in space is only temporary - we need the earth to survive.  I thought it was a nice touch to see humans go home rather than leave it.  The credits even show a "new history" unfold after the Axiom returns - quite creative.  

Existential Struggles

So much of secular modern discourse explains all of life in terms of "survival." Why do we do what we do?  So our genes will pass on and we will survive as a species!  We have to evolve, we are just a part of nature, we will do anything to live and mate just to do that over and over and over again.  It is no wonder why human beings find such "truth" to be unlivable.  All manner of thinkers have desired to avoid the conclusion of secular/non theistic thought. 

The atheist attempts to be brave and bold in the embrace of the empty meaninglessness of life.  The new atheists try to be brave, bold and rude - isn't that special. The existentialists looked at nihilism - that life has no ultimate meaning - and said "we will irrationally choose to create our own meaning in the act of choosing" - those wild and crazy guys. 

Yet there is another view of life - that of LIVING and not just surviving.  That of seeing that life has ultimate meaning and value rather than trying to create it on our own.  In WALL*E there is a line, I think it was from the Captain, that lights up the dark night.  The robots want to keep the humans from going back to earth in the name of "survival" and the captain shouts out "I don’t want to survive I want to live."  I think humans will always feel this way.  There is a greater search in life than merely keeping a float the existence and propagation of human DNA. Long ago Blaise Pascal wrestled with the dilemma we faces before an immense universe.

I see the terrifying immensity of the universe which surrounds me, and find myself limited to one corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am set down here rather than elsewhere, nor why the brief period appointed for my life is assigned to me at this moment rather than another in all the eternity that has gone before and will come after me. On all sides I behold nothing but infinity, in which I am a mere atom, a mere passing shadow that returns no more. All I know is that Imust soon die, but what I understand least of all is this very death which I cannot escape.As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go. I only know that on leaving this world I fall for ever into nothingness or into the hands of a wrathful God, without knowing to which of these two states I shall be everlastingly consigned. Such is my condition, full of weakness and uncertainty. From all this I conclude that I ought to spend every day of my life without seeking to know my fate. I might perhaps be able to find a solution to my doubts; but I cannot be bothered to do so, I will not take one step towards its discovery.

The captain of the Axiom found the search worthwhile and overturned the robots and turned the ship towards earth.  Indeed, the soul itself longs for LIFE and a home...and is restless until it finds it. Two voices from our past come to mind.

Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee?  - Augustine's Confessions

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly - Jesus, The Gospel of John chapter 10

Love and Relationship a New Directive

Finally, I enjoyed the humanity of the robots in WALL*E.  These robots were personified yet not turned into humans.  They took on human traits to teach us about being human, they were not in the universe to replace us as is common in other robot fare.  Each robot has a "directive" a purpose for which it was made.  The robot does what it was made to do and nothing else - yet there is an interesting aspect that peeks out in the film.  The directive that ends up over-riding all others was that of love and friendship. 

Some may wonder why yet another film is put forth with a future where God and religion are simply not present.  Many times sci-fi writers present a godless future because this is their hope and expectation - that worship will some day be quenched like a flickering flame.  I get frustrated at how often the futures presented by Hollywood have no mention of spiritual life and reality.  Some may be tempted to see WALL*E as another such film.  I did not see this one that way - just as in the biblical book of Esther, where God is not named, his fingerprints seemed evident to me in this story.  Whether people would acknowledge it or not, I found the worldview of WALL*E to be quite biblical...I don't know that its hopes, its stewardship, its low and high view of humanity could be found anywhere else.

I liked WALL*E and I liked WALL*E the little robot - he is funny, he is cute, he is caring, he is daring, he is hopeful and he loved what is good...I think we all could use a little more of him in each of us - perhaps this was the hope of the minds behind the film.  In reality, all echoes of goodness must find their source and such is not in social contracts, the will of men or our DNA.  There is no one good but God and we are but mere reflections of that image - we are capable of Axiom-like existences or seeing redemption come to us from the working power of God.

Thankfully our redemption comes through the incarnate God, Jesus Christ, not a cute little robot. Yet that little robot reminded me of important truth - we do need a Savior and he has appeared and calls us forward today.  To be good stewards of creation, to love him and our neighbors and to live his mission right here on the earth.  His mission is different than the savior cruise ship - he is the ark that saves us and brings us the hope of a Kingdom without death, disease, dying or being over run by trash.  His future for us begins today and will be consummated in eternity.  He does more than bring us back to earth - he forgives sinners by grace through the work of Jesus on the cross and then brings them to an eternal home with a new heavens and new earth.  Such is a blessed hope beyond what is found at the Movies.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

Wordles and Jacob's Well

I have been having some fun with a little Java Applet called Wordle. It basically takes in large amounts of texts and then visualizes them in cool ways.  The more a word is used the larger it appears in the cloud of words.  Anyway, I dropped to things into Wordle to see what Jacob's Well was all about. 

First, a document that has our purpose, mission and values for the church - it represents well what we want to be about. Second, I dropped in our doctrinal statement...yeah, this is what we believe.  Interesting results that were encouraging to me. Click on each image to see a larger version...just reading which words end up close to each other in these clouds is an interesting thought experiment.

Now I know some people would want to see certain words bigger and more prominent...but overall I like the words that showed up BIG - they seem to me to be the main things...

Jacob's Well DNA - Purpose, Mission, Values

 

 

Jacob's Well Doctrine

 

 

 

Perspective

More photos here...

FireFox 3 - Two Thumbs Upward

I have been using Firefox 3.0 for a bit now, both in the betas, release candidates and now the final version since Tuesday.  In this mini review I want to give it an unequivocal, if cliche, two thumbs up. If you have not grabbed the newest version you can do so here.

Not to sound like marketing firm for Mozilla, the non profit behind the Fox, I have found the version 3 is the best browsing experience in my many years of using the World Wide Web (I have used the Web way back to the Lynx and Mosaic days).  Some things I like...

Your Actual Favorites

To be honest I don't use web browsers' favorites or bookmarks features.  Ever since address bars started using autocomplete I really have bothered with bookmarking.  Plus, there are so many ways today to go back to sites you find (Delicious, stumble upon, etc).  Yet FireFox 3 adds a fun little feature which creates a list of you "Most Visited" sites - this little list reveals what, in fact, are you actual "favorites" - For me it is Facebook, Acts 29 Members Forum, My Blog Control Panel and Yahoo Mail (my wife's primary account where all our recent real estate correspondence is happening).  Of course these are sites I go to with the browser not the ones I read through RSS.  But it is cool to see what sites you visit most.

Awesome Bar - Yes, it is Awesome

FireFox 3 introduced something with what I thought was a cheesy name.  The "awesome bar" is an interface improval which combines the address bar and search bar together in a cool way.  The size of search and address fields are resizable with the mouse and allows you to click on a Favicon for site information - very cool.  Also it searches your recent browsing history in an intelligent way, dropping a graphically pleasing list of sites based on the letters you type.  It is like a smarter, more intuitive "auto complete" - So I don't think the name is cheesy any longer...I think the awesome bar is, well, awesome.

Saved Passwords

Ever ask your browser to save userID and password information only to see that your login was wrong?  Happens to me quite a bit.  Well Firefox allows you to save the password info even after you see that the login was successful - very, very well done and practical.

Forward and Back

The new way in which the browser handles forward and back is a bit different in that there is only one drop down list showing you the history of the sites you visited.  However, as you mouse down the list an arrow appears showing you whether this is forward or backward in your recent history - very efficient and elegantly implemented.

Save all those open tabs

When you close the browser, either on purpose or if it happened to choke on some badly code web site, you can rest assured that the tabs you had open will come back to you.  When you close the browser you can select the option to "Save and Quit" which will reload the tabs and state of the browser upon the next launch.  If the browser crashes, the tabs open prior to the crash will load again nicely.  I use this all the time as I open stuff in tabs I want to go back to later to read, or blog about.  There is also a new "Re-open Recently Closed Tabs" feature under the history menu for the times when you click the little "X" on a tab accidentally.  You can reload it no problem.  Tabs were an innovation FireFox brought to the browsing world...their handling tabs just leaped forward with Version 3.0.

Speed - Yes, believe the hype...it is very fast and responsive in loading pages. Apparently they fixed the memory leaks from Version 2.0 which would slow a machine down if FireFox were leaft open for long periods of time.

You can check out all the new features on the Firefox site - I haven't used the new "tagging" feature but that looks to be sweet as well.  The features I already loved stay nicely available too.  Here I am thinking of integrated field spell check and helpful right click menus for bloggers (Copy image, Copy image location, Copy Link, Copy Link location) are all still there. Additionally, all the add-ons should be available soon as well.

If you are a casual user you will like the new Fox. If you are a blogger or power user you need to stop internet exploring or going on safari and use FireFox 3.0 - you will not be disappointed.

POC Bundle 6.16.2008

General News

• Gregg Easterbrook says "Life is Good" even when everyone is saying how terrible things are today
• S. T. Karnick thinks the media is interested in making all of us Girly Men with an attack on masculinity.
  

Technology

• Too much e-mail - I think I feel what this New York Times piece is getting at...between blogs, e-mail, Facebook...it gets difficult to focus.  Lost in E-mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast.
• Nicolas Carr in the Atlantic Monthly asks a poignant question - Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Personally, we were probably stupid before Google...but maybe we are getting stupider. I just finished a book about Google so this quote was not surprising...it may surprise you though - Perhaps Google will BE Skynet some day...we'll see.  I'll give you some context:
  

The company has declared that its mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” It seeks to develop “the perfect search engine,” which it defines as something that “understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want.” In Google’s view, information is a kind of commodity, a utilitarian resource that can be mined and processed with industrial efficiency. The more pieces of information we can “access” and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers.

Where does it end? Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the gifted young men who founded Google while pursuing doctoral degrees in computer science at Stanford, speak frequently of their desire to turn their search engine into an artificial intelligence, a HAL-like machine that might be connected directly to our brains. “The ultimate search engine is something as smart as people—or smarter,” Page said in a speech a few years back. “For us, working on search is a way to work on artificial intelligence.” In a 2004 interview with Newsweek, Brin said, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” Last year, Page told a convention of scientists that Google is “really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale.”

Such an ambition is a natural one, even an admirable one, for a pair of math whizzes with vast quantities of cash at their disposal and a small army of computer scientists in their employ. A fundamentally scientific enterprise, Google is motivated by a desire to use technology, in Eric Schmidt’s words, “to solve problems that have never been solved before,” and artificial intelligence is the hardest problem out there. Why wouldn’t Brin and Page want to be the ones to crack it?

Still, their easy assumption that we’d all “be better off” if our brains were supplemented, or even replaced, by an artificial intelligence is unsettling. It suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of discrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized. In Google’s world, the world we enter when we go online, there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive.

Nicholas Carr, Is Google Making us Stupid? The Atlantic Monthly July/August 2008, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google - accessed June 16, 2008.

Peripateo - My Walk

• The Boston Globe teaches us about napping - now we are talking.  Power Naps actually boost productivity...How to instructions here.
  

SAHD Fathers

Yesterday was a sweet day for me.  I have two little girls who love making plans and love surprising their Daddy.  To be honest, my kids love me...I don't say this out of pride or anything, they just love me and I know it.  To be quite honest the love of my children is one of the most gracious and lavish gifts of God in my life. Part of the new covenant is that the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children (See Malachi 4 and Luke 1).  Many of us are aware that the involvement of fathers with their children is vastly important in their upbringing and the results of absent fathers upon our society are undeniable. See this site for more information - http://www.fatherhood.org/

Yet oddly enough I have been meditating upon a differnt "trend" in our society...perhaps not as harmful as the absent father, but the stay at home dad (SAHD). Now here we are not talking about Dad being at little league games, dance recitals, schools and spending good chunks of time with his children.  This phenomena is men choosing not to work, to stay at home and be the primary care giver for young children.  Mr. Mom, Daddy Daycare - Daddy with the diaper bag going to the play group. 

I recently watched an ABC News report about stay at home fathers which began some thinking about the issue.  You can read the transcript of that report here.  It was actually entitled "When a man's place is in the kitchen - How Stay-at-Home Dads Redefine Gender Roles." The report was couched in the notion that these men are challenging the status quo, living enlightened lives and pioneering new social trends. Several things stood out in the report.  One of the reasons that was given for Dad to take up the bottles and diaper bags was financial.  She makes more money and we want to care for our kids.  Of course most of it was couched in language of "doing whats best for the children." Additionally, the report made such a choice to have Dad at home sound like a significant social trend.  Oddly enough, the US Census reports the number at only 143,000. The report clearly wants to tell us that Mr. Mom is a new trend, a new way that is being taken on by men in rising numbers.  The truth of the matter is that throughout history, and everywhere in the world today, Mothers and women are the primary care givers for small children. Yet there are men doing this today and you can find several web sites which offer things from articles to "support groups" to men staying at home full time.  See Rebel Dad, At Home Dad, Daddy Stays Home. 

Nevertheless, the tone of ABC report showed that this was a new sort of gender enlightenment happening in our time. I found it to be quite sad and a bit silly. One guy even laments how it is still not "socially acceptable" to invite another woman over "to play."  Good grief, I felt bad for the guy - maybe the world will make it better for him to go to play group with the Moms and other SAHDs some day soon.  Now I am sure this post mayperhaps anger some SAHDs yet I wanted to look a little bit into this phenomena. I mean no harm to anyone walking this route, but I do hope they would change their minds.  In this post I am not referring to temporary situations or single fathers or fathers who work from home.  What I am addressing is men who intentionally do not work to be the primary source of care for babies and small children.

Not just wanting to have an emotional response against stay at home daddydom I thought I would think through my initial objection and think about "why" I do not think this is a good plan for men or for society.  One more disclaimer.  As this is a new "trend" and therefore a social experiment their will be more sociological studies of this phenomena in the decades ahead, I do not claim to offer anything here that claims to know the outcomes or social trends related of this configuration.  What I do want to do is offer some reason why I do not think it is a wise path for men and women to follow.  I reasoned this from first a secular naturalistic worldview AND then from the biblical worldview to which I subscribe.

Evolutionary Explanations against Mr. Mom

In the worldview of naturalism, humans and our societies are the result of material and environmental concerns (also completely material) by which species struggled to adapt and survive on the earth.  Evolution is driven by our genes desire to replicate and pass their information on to the next generation.  Mutations and adaptations to various environments created fit species which thereby passed on their genes to the next generation.  Such thinking has been applied to literally all areas of human life be it ethics or societal structures.  If you ask "WHY" about various phenomena we see and experience, today's evolutionary ethicists and psychologists can cook up a recipe that tells you why evolution favored certain behaviors which then were carried into the community/society.  If you ask why societies favor altruistic behavior, it must have had an evolutionary benefit for our ancient ancestors as they climbed down from the trees. 

Such a way of thinking can be applied to explain WHY mothers have always been the primary care givers for young children.  First, and too obvious, babies come from and feed from their mothers.  OK, we are modern people and can get away from that...we'll create ways for a man to feed the baby so the mother does not have too.  Second, for whatever reason, evolution has created almost a universal situation where women care for young children...in this worldview this configuration MUST have evolutionary advantages.  At this point, it is usually thought that the male needed to be out hunting and gathering...jumping on the back of prehistoric animals with spears and bone made weapons.  So Dad had to go to work as it were...even way back in the day.  Of course male and female bodies were "designed" by evolution to care for children or fight back the saber tooth tiger.  My whole point in all this would be this.  In a naturalistic worldview evolution has created the childcare scenario and helped us survive.

Of course the apologetic given at this point would be - but we humans no longer need submit to evolution, we have become so smart we can now "take control of our own evolution" and do whatever the heck we want.  We can jettison nature for technology so that men can feed infants and Mom and others (men, women, gay people) can use tanks to fight off any wild beasts.  There are so many problems with this system of thinking.  First, it assumes that humans, because we are smart, can actually escape "natural evolution" and be "guides" of evolution. That is like saying nature can overcome nature to make a new path.  Of course, this worldview offers no such resources.  What is will evolve and we cannot kick against the goads of what matter + time + energy do in their mindless contortions.  Perhaps if humans are "special" or "different" we could do such things, but this worldview lacks these resources.  Second, if the system of mothers caring for children and fathers providing for families and protecting their flock evolved in every human society that rears children (and please, no comments about Amazons or the island of Lesbos) should we not see the wisdom of nature and align to her wishes?  Could intentionally rejecting breast feeding, mothers caring for their children and other "ways of nature" be unwise. OK, I fail to see how naturalism would support Daddys becoming the primary care givers for children, so perhaps human beings want to make choices based on other concerns than mere survival...but of course this is precisely what we cannot do if evolutionary naturalism is true.

OK, enough with naturalism, I find the worldview fatally flawed anyway.

Biblical Manhood means providing and protecting

Scripture teaches a different story about sex and child rearing.  From the beginning human beings were designed by our creator as "male and female" of equal value in the image of God (see Gen 1:26,27).  The role of child bearing is a great gift of God to women and also part of God's work in redeeming and sanctifying women.  Men are also charged to love their wives and care for them.  Men are to serve their wives and sacrifice for them.  Fathers are called to teach their children (Ephesians 6) and provide for their household (1 Timothy 5). Additionally, men ought to care for their families and protect them from evil doing as much as possible. I am also not a pacifist and believe that some men ought to learn to fight.  This is a necessary reality in a fallen world filled with sin and violence and a responsiblity of good government (Romans 13). I have written at length on gender roles from a biblical perspective so you can read the rest here. My little apologetic for virtuous fighting is here.

Now, this is not a discussion about whether a mom should stay home or pursue a career.  That would be for another day.  I will only say that families should work for Mom to have that option available and not force her to work for "lifestyle" issues...simply for money.  We counsel young couples to plan for one income and save aggressively when you have two.  This way a couple actually has a real choice to make when the wonderful words "I'm pregnant" come forth. There are many creative ways today for both parents to work and there are many creative ways today for a Mom to choose to stay at home.  Planning ahead makes it a real choice.

What I am saying here is that men ought to work and learn to provide for a family. Men are called to be responsible, to learn to stand on the wall for others. It is good for young men to feel and teak responsibility, in fact this is part of becoming a man.  We have far too many little boys today prancing around the world living maxim magazine manhood and checking out of their families.  The solution is not taking up the pacifier and baby food jar, but rather commitment to work and family.  That work exists to give honor to God and to provide for those in need.  Furthermore, if more men in a culture are moving to man the diaper bag I fear for our future ability to fight off the hoard.  Of course the response is that universal stay at home dadness is not probable, practical or realistic.  I would simply agree as it points out the weaknesses of the practice.

Final Thoughts

I simply find very few good reasons for a man to choose a permanent and perpetual post as Mr. Mom.   In reading on the subject it seems that social goals are part of the motivation as much as money or looking out for the kids.  What we have seen in segments of western culture is the evacuation of the words "Mom" and "Dad" from any sort of meaning.  They can mean whatever we construct them to be - if that means Dad acts like a traditional Mom then lets cheer the innovator (it seems ABC News will publish on it just about every year around fathers day - at least a search of their site seem to show this). It seems that many like to see themselves as more just, more enlightened, more progressive than other humans - and being a stay at home dad perhaps say "we get it and reject backward patriarchy so much that Dad stays home."  If there is ever a contraption created to have men become pregnant or physically bear the children, I am guessing some "progressives" would cheer the development and some would sign up for this as well.  Huxley foresaw a new world where Mom's loose the ability to bear children and the human race was forever produced in little bottles.  I, for one, am thankful for Moms and Dads.

Thanking God for Fathers and Mothers

So on the day after Fathers day I want to thank God for both Fathers and Mothers.  I want to thank God for the stay at home Dads who are married to one woman and giving their lives to their kids.  I want to say again that I mean no harm to any guys who are SAHDs in writing this. I then want to exhort them to get out of the play group and make their stint as primary child care giver as short as possible.  For their sake and for the sake of the kids...especially their sons.  For the little men will be watching Dad to learn how to focus and develop masculinity. He needs to see a humble king who provides, a tender warrior who fights for what is good right and true, a gracious mentor who will coach life for young men and a friend to guide him through the perils of life outside of the garden. 

POC Tech Bundle

Technology Motions...

• For the Firefox users out there, I am currently using Release Candidate 2 of Firefox 3.0.  The final version should be available for download on June 17th.  Apparently Mozilla Corporation, the non profit who produces the fox, is looking to shock the world and set a world record for downloads.  Be one on June 17 and be part of history...and Firefox 3 is awesome. I have greatly enjoyed RC2 - RC3 is up here. This is an area where Mac people and PC people can unite against the man...neither Safari nor IE for me for let Firefox 3 cometh to me.
• For Palm, Facebook Users - if you use a Treo or a Palm Centro, Palm just released a Facebook client that runs on your phone.  I downloaded it and it is pretty basic but very nicely implemented and pretty peppy as well.  If you have a Palm phone and you are hooked on Faceboo, you can get that here.  
• Of course I am sure you have read all the news on that other little phone that was announced on Monday. iPhone 3G. Amazing price on this thing, though AT crap T has raised its plan prices so it will actually cost you more after the 2 year contract.  But at least you feel like you are getting it for 199. This phone looks amazing...I still like real keyboards though.  We'll see - I may move to iPhone or wait another year.  We are contracted with Spring until Fall 2009.
• Electronic Notetaking - I have recently been using Microsoft OneNote 2007, digital notetaking software that was bundled with Microsoft Office. I will just say that it is killer - sort of like a moleskin that is searchable, etc. I have also been looking at Evernote which has an online client in beta which is accesible from any web browser.  It also syncs with a Mac OSX or Windows desktop client. Cool software category which is likely to get better.  Windows Mobile has a OneNote client and Evernote is on Windows Mobile, Java Phones and soon to appear on the iPhone.  I will still likely use a moleskin at red lights but having a "thought space" on my laptop that integrates with web browsing, e-mail, search etc is pretty sweet. Some other apps in this space: Google Notebook (web based) Zoho Notebook and NoteScribe...
  

Enlightened Obama OR How to freak out PreMillennials

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article about the effect of Obama on certain people.  Now those of you know this is not, and will never be a political blog. I encourage people to vote and vote their conscience knowing that there will never be a candidate that perfectly aligns to all of one's political, moral, intellectual or philosophical convictions.  So when November rolls around, vote for the candidate of your own choosing. 

Yet sometimes in the political posturing, commentary and banter some interesting things are said "out there" - On Friday, there was just such a strange article on the San Fran newspaper's web site.  Here is an excerpt from Is Obama an enlightened being? Spiritual wise ones say: This sure ain't no ordinary politician. You buying it?

Dismiss it all you like, but I've heard from far too many enormously smart, wise, spiritually attuned people who've been intuitively blown away by Obama's presence - not speeches, not policies, but sheer presence - to say it's just a clever marketing ploy, a slick gambit carefully orchestrated by hotshot campaign organizers who, once Obama gets into office, will suddenly turn from perky optimists to vile soul-sucking lobbyist whores, with Obama as their suddenly evil, cackling overlord.

Here's where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul. 

That quote will make premil anti-Christ hunters out there a bit freaked out and will make some political hacks want to puke.  To me it smacks of new age silliness and is another line in the long record of human beings putting their trust in human princes, rather than in our creator.  Kingmakers will soon abound...pundits will urge you to put your hope in McCain or Obama.  It seems everyone will want to be Hillary's very best friend.  Well maybe some will never desire to be bff with Mrs. Clinton.

Yet I am reminded today of the truth of Psalm 146 in light of such outlandish comments about a mere man.

146:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Yes, do vote.  For Obama or McCain or write in Ron Paul or Hillary if it so suits your conscience. Yet do not trust in new political regimes to fix your own heart or redeem the world in the end.  This job belongs to another - and he will come on his own terms, not on the whims of a fickle, self serving electorate.

(HT - Uncommon Descent)

Brooklyn Cool

Some people are cool, some people are hip, some people are Brooklyn/Cool/Hip...and go to cool flea markets. Manhattan is so yesterday...

Jacob's Well Update...

 

We just posted a new update on our move and progress on getting to NJ.  For those interested you can find that here.

Breaking Faith...

British bishop Michael Nazir-Ali has an intersting essay in the June 2008 issue of Standpoint magazine...his premise is that he collapse of British Christianity in the last half century has left the culture beleagured and ripe for Islamic radicals to fill the ideological void.

Interesting read - the source can be found here - Breaking Faith with Britain - When one looks at history the armies of Islam were held at bay in Europe by two powers.  First, the hammer of Charles Martel and the Frankish armies.  Second, the philosophical and scientific efforts of the great philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas.  My fear is that Europe has neither the will to dispute with or resist Islam - I hope I am wrong.

2 Million Minutes...

I just read an interesting BusinessWeek article on the documentary 2 Million Minutes which chronicles the high school experiences of 6 students: 2 from the US, 2 from India and 2 from China. Here is the trailer below...interesting stuff. 

Memories, Nostalgia and Contemplating the Horizon

I am sitting in a restaurant in the place of my birth...or, uh, rather the place of my new birth.  Today I was completing a drive from my former home in Franklin, TN to our temporary home this summer with Kasey's parents in Raleigh NC.  We have detoured for a few weeks as we finalize housing for our actual move to New Jersey.  As I neared Raleigh I felt drawn, somewhat magnetically, to exit and take a drive through Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I have since called my wife and told her I would get to Raleigh later this afternoon and needed some time to think.

For some reason, the whole process of raising funds, finishing ministry, selling a house, finding a new one and preparing to move has swamped my soul a bit.  I have struggled in the last few weeks to find my passion as a myriad of details has swirled about me.  I have also been a bit distracted reading two technology books - one on the history of the iPod, the other on Google.  I guess I was interested in tech history as I once studied to work in the technology field and have kept an interest.  Anyway, it has been a bit tough of late to see the forest from the trees so I am thankful for today's detour.

I drove around the campus and looked at dorms I once called home, places I used to party, athletic facilities where I sweat and bleed and paths I walked daily to classes.  I saw Phillips Hall where I studied Physics and Sitterson Hall where my love for computer science blossomed so many years ago.  Yet the most profound thing I remembered here was meeting Jesus in some quiet places around this campus and having the direction of my life profoundly changed.  I ate lunch at a place called Armadillo Grill, a place I visited often during my time here - at least when wrestling was not in season and I could actually eat a little. Smile.  I even talked to a homeless guy about Jesus and probably gave him beer money for the day.  We used to hang with the Chapel Hill street guys back in the day as well.  Sitting there in the tex-mex grill, the classic rock, the smells and the scenery brought me to a place of nostalgia.  So many things happened in this town for me.  I became a Christian, I met Kasey Monroe (now my wife of 12 years), I grew in my love for truth and intellect ual life and received a calling upon my life that, to my knowledge, God has not in any way revoked.  

I am 35 years old and in transition - this can be a tough time for people.  I sense this in my soul. At my age you now have a bit of a past, a few memories, and if motivated, you still feel like you have so much left to do.  I'm really not sure why I pulled off here in Chapel Hill today, nor why God detoured us to NC for a short season.  My conclusion is that I needed to remember, to reflect and contemplate the horizon before us.  So I am wandering Chapel Hill today by foot and in my black Mazda 3 hatchback.

For some strange reason I live with a constant concern of my life not counting for much.  The reality is this world and our lives within it are so brief in their passing.  What else can we do but try?  To be honest I wonder where this present age is heading long term with so many competing views of reality, people with agendas and clashing ideologies clamoring for supremacy.   I also find the level of understanding and intellect in the church to be troubling.  Yet I am convinced of a few things in this life:

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.  2 Timothy 1:12

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69

Why am I in Chapel Hill today?  Perhaps to remember Jesus and him crucified and his work to save people far from him...Perhaps to remember Jesus, his wisdom and the truth he revealed to the world.  For if I have hope it is in him, not in Steve Jobs or the Google Guys as cool as their products may be.  For that matter, our hope is not in any others who desire to proclaim themselves saviors of the world...for that title is reserved for the one who created to world, then lived, died and was raised...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.

Good Quotes

Met a new friend today through Facebook...I really enjoyed his quotes so I thought I would share them here on the POCBlog...

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. - Martin Luther

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God. - Martin Luther

When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it, he keeps a very small stock of it within - C.H. Spurgeon

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
- C.H. Spurgeon

Jesus is mighty to save, the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you.
- C.H. Spurgeon

Good meeting you Beau 

Moving soon...matured a bit

Kasey and I are moving again next week.  Not to where we were hoping but to an interim stop on our journey towards New Jersey.  We have a slight game delay so we have to pull the tarp over the field and sit in the dugout for a short season.  As I think about moving I can testify that I have grown and matured a little in the last four years...want proof? I promise I will NEVER do this again.

Figure 1 - Reid's moving schematic (yes schematic) from May 2004...man, did I have issues.  Now I will only do this in my head and not do it on the computer.  For those who are wondering...yes, it was all "to scale." For larger version - click here.