Category: Social Issues
Manufacturing Fear
On the NASA Voyager mission in 1977, Carl Sagan curated content for a golden record that was affixed to the space probe, which would eventually reach interstellar space. Hoping to share some details about our celestial neighborhood and the human experience, Sagan chose the material for the record should any spacefaring alien species intercept the…
Thanks For Giving Me Your Attention
Last weekend while searching for new programs to watch on Disney’s streaming platform, I happened on an animated short that centers on a boy in canoe camp who is forced to row with a non-vocal autistic girl. The struggle to communicate served as the ultimate theme for the feature. In order for them to reach…
Myopia of Faith
What I am about to write today has been marinating for many months, but the impetus behind today’s post comes from a single word that stood out to me while listening to the LDS Church President’s General Conference talk, “Let God Prevail.” President Russel M. Nelson related a story about a single word of advice…
It Doesn’t Matter if You’re Zeroes or Ones
Former football coach Chris Petersen, who coached for Boise State University and later, the University of Washington, became well known for analytical thinking when it came to studying footage of his and opposing players. It’s never as good as you think, Petersen claimed, nor is it ever as bad as you think. Petersen used this…
A Balm for Violence
A nation besieged by violence is not an easy one in which to live. Syria has been struggling with civil war as millions flee the in hopes of a new start where they can feel safe. By nature, our species tends to seek comfort and safety wherever and by whatever means necessary in order to…
The Winter of Relativity
In the early 20th Century, a physicist named Albert Einstein posited that space-time becomes warped around massive celestial objects. By building from Newtonian laws, Einstein crafted his famous theory of relativity and suggested that an object’s energy is directly proportional to its mass. Thus the equation E=MC² was born. Many scientists over the decades challenged…
Fiction is Truth
In 1868, American Civil War novelist John William De Forest penned an essay titled Great American Novel, a term that has been used for various purposes ever since. De Forest referred to fictional works by American authors that reflect American traditions, values, and culture. While tradition, value, and culture can reflect a diverse range of…
Nuance Has Taken a Vacation
I came across this photograph earlier, and it made me reflect on some things. I challenge you now to name this edifice. Hint: it’s a famous neoclassical monument in Europe and you have probably seen pictures of it before. This structure is known for its more prominent side. It is the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin,…
Cancel Your Car Insurance, Cancel Your Syrup, Cancel Everything!
Imagine you are standing on the bank of a tranquil lake in the blue light just after dawn, before the sun has crept over the horizon to chase away the subtle mist that has enshrouded the landscape. You are there alone, peering at your dancing reflection on the glassy water, challenging yourself to make a…
The Spark of Freedom
Many years ago, the community in which I grew up decided to end sponsorship of the ever-popular Independence Day festivities and hand over the reins to a private enterprise that promised ‘bigger and better.’ The company hired a conductor to lead a symphony that played patriotic classics in an intimate setting much of the day,…