Why do I write a blog? I can even ask, why do I teach? It was Stanford University's psychologist Leon Festinger who wrote the following in the 1950s: "A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point." In other words this blog is an exercise in futility.
I think I am a teacher at heart (sometimes to the chagrin of people close to me who try to remind me not to lecture) and hopefully an eternal optimist; hoping that I will be able to change one person in my lifetime. The thought of motivating people to see the light and do the right thing (or maybe what I think is the right thing) keeps me going.
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| I hope I can help someone see the light |
Of course, I realize that here I suffer a little bit of what the 17th century British philosopher Francis Bacon called the "idols of the mind", meaning that I have fallen in love with my own theories. However, the theories I have fallen in love with were adopted from main stream science, and have undergone very rigorous peer review and institutional (but also my) skepticism after which they prevailed and are now generally accepted.
In my spare time I am a photographer at heart; love to sail; love to bike; and I am convinced I suffer from "Nature Deficit Disorder" if I do not get out in nature frequently. I think I am an avid reader, but fiction often bores the heck out of me. I have too many hobbies or things I want to do and too little time. Finally, yes I want to loose an additional 15 lbs.
So that's the philosophy of my blog, a little nature, a little sailing, a little photography, a little philosophy, a little education and a very little bit of politics; and hopefully some fun as well.
If you want to know more about my life and career, this link will give you my LinkedIn page.
A quick August 2018 update: Having turned 65 in June and watching everyone near my age retiring, I feel I should as well. But then on the other hand I have been an iconoclast all my life. Moreover, I greatly (still) enjoy my job. So I am hanging in there. But then in addition to that, given the current political climate, I have become a bit more radical on these pages, over time, while on the other hand hopefully also a bit more educational.
Nothing changed as of December 2021. I am still kicking and screaming. Not retired yet and still wondering about it as I increasingly write about it in my pages. In addition, I don't like getting old, but it still beats the alternative. I still worry about society; having lived in many countries lead by dictators and ruled by voter suppression it scares me what I am seeing here. Stories about teens asking when they are going to take up guns to target liberals and left wingers are even scarier.
