Archive for January, 2007
5-7-5
As of 1.31.07 …
Chutney 17 votes
Arbitrary Marks 4 votes
UU bloggers please
Don’t make me write a haiku
I hate them so much.
Later this week…
Later this week, you’ll hear from me on
- The Internet and relationships
- Ursula Goodenough on morality and nature
- More thoughts on the self and ethics/metaphysics
- Buddhism and neurology
That last topic will be taken from this Diane Rehm interview, which should be available for podcast:
Sharon Begley: "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: (Ballentine Books)
Recent research demonstrates how our brains can change both in structure and in function. A review of recent neurological research and its remarkable confluence with centuries old Buddhist thought. Sharon Begley is science columnist for the "Wall Street Journal" and co-author of "The Mind and the Brain."
(Description from the Diane Rehm website)
Last, but not least, help me beat Chutney and hear about Lion-O’s conversion to Unitarian Universalism! Right now, it’s 16 to 3 and you’ll have to hear my horrible haikus if I lose…
Goodenough @ Schlafly Bottleworks
01.30.07 - I’m moving this up to the top as a reminder. Should be a good time. And they have the new Scotch Ale available now…mmmm.
For any of you readers in St. Louis, Ursula Goodenough will be at the Schlafly Bottleworks on January 31 at 7:00 PM, as part of the Science on Tap series. She’ll be speaking on "Is it Natural to be Moral?" I plan to be there for at least part of the time (I have a prior engagement at 8 PM). If you’ll be there, leave a comment and we can meet up.
The Daily Scribe = Meeting House Network
Breaking news from the website-formerly-known-as The Daily Scribe:
Making it interesting…UU Blog Awards
Okay, folks, the UU Blog Awards are on, and I’d like to make it interesting. I’m betting Chutney that I will beat him in Best Religious Writing or Theological Commentary - Best of Class. If I win, I am requesting that he write a short story about Lion-O’s conversion to Unitarian Universalism and post it on his blog.
In the interest of having an actual winner of the bet (because neither of us may win the category), the definition of a winner will be the one who gets more votes. This post will stay at the top, with a tally of current votes. Go on, head over and help me win! You know you want some UU Fan Fic of Lion-O!
1.31.07
Chutney 17 votes
Arbitrary Marks 4 votes
(Please vote only once from your ISP–multiple votes will be ignored by the admin.)
Not sure who Lion-O is? Shame on you! Go here to find out.
Stay tuned to see what Chutney requests from Arbitrary Marks…
If I lose, I have to write a series of haikus on how wonderful Making Chutney is. Please people, don’t force me to write haikus! You’ll have to read them and that makes you the losers…
Ugh.
First PhD program “acceptance”
In the mail today, I received my provisional acceptance to the Graduate Theological Union in San Francisco, California. Now UC-Berkeley will review my application, as part of the GTU consortium, and in four weeks, I’ll have their final conclusion (and my financal aid award letter).
Advice for Would-be-Philosophers
Through delicious, I’ve begun tagging blog posts and websites that I find useful as advice on being a succesful philosophy student (which really should be differentiated from being a successful philosopher). You can find them at the previous link or by looking up the tag "PhilosophyAdvice." Suggestions for adds are welcome in the comments–what’s available is just a start.
UU Blog Awards - Voting
The countdown is on, and you can vote for ArbitraryMarks for just a short 4 days, 11 hours and some 40 minutes. I’m eligible in these categories: Best Religious Writing or Theological Commentary, Best Political Commentary, Best Non-UU-Themed Blog. Go on over and give me a vote or two if you appreciate my work!
Buddhism and my human self
As promised last week, I’m getting around to writing on Buddhism and the self, from a humanist perspective. The more I learn about Buddhism, the more I recognize that I am not a Buddhist, although I may appropriate some of their practices and reflections about reality. One especially fascinating area of reflection in Buddhism is on the nature of the self. This topic was debated between Hindus and Buddhists and within Buddhism itself.
Today, as neuroscience makes more advances in our understanding of the human mind and its mechanisms, these studies demonstrate that some of the themes in Buddhism which seem counter-intuitive may, in fact, touch upon something very fundamental. In what follows, I’ll write a little about the practice of meditation and its underlying philosophy. I’ll try to show that far from being an impersonal, self-denying cult, Buddhism actually can provide us with rich insight into the workings of ourselves and our world.