Concise answers for every classroom, and beyond
It’s mutating as we speak
A virus that originates by habits of just one creature — Sapiens — and can readily mutate to adapt in order to spread more contagious strains is certainly strong proof of evolution. That virus (or the next one we unleash) can also mutate into more lethal strains.
It could even do things we have not yet thought of, or discovered. It is, after all, called the novel Corona virus because in 2019, it was a brand new form of SARS.
We are in a race war — not just the BLM one — with superbug resistance to antibiotics. At the…
Encourage you to write an article on this
We need a new rhyme to describe rich slime
There needs to be a word for rich
Can’t rhyme with “bat turd,” or with “bitch
A word, in fact, that rhymes with jail
A place for many a stale, pale, male
Lest you think this rhyme is senseless
Remember that the world is sexist
Still, most men, even the white ones
Are not Nazi, foam-at-mouth, far right ones
(These men too, are exasperated
Being stale pale male is over-rated)
But if we find that special word
Describing wealth that’s so absurd
It results in men constructing rockets
With loose change found in their deep pockets
So, let’s find a…
An exploration of how, why, and what we perceive as reality.
Forty-Two as the Answer to Everything
Phenomena are those experiences of reality we access through our senses. The types of phenomena available to us are limited by those our senses can recognize. But how many senses do we actually have?
Naturally, I arrived at the number forty-two when I decided to stop counting how many senses I actually have. You may give yourself the benefit of more. Or, perhaps you give yourself just the usual five that all of us are taught in elementary school: vision, sound, scent, taste, and touch.
Many people know the number forty-two as a sort of eighties inside joke, widely regarded…
An exploration of religion, humanism, and atheism in our modern world — and a good reason for hope
The Fleeing Nones
Every where one looks these days, we hear more and more about people abandoning conventional churches, and organized religion.
More people now identify as “Nones” in the questionnaire that asks them to check a box as to whether they see themselves as any particular denomination. Today, most people check off “None of the above.”
This leaves some people lost and alienated. What can be done with our feelings that surround losing religion?
Religion evolved from our need for belonging. We were smaller tribes, once upon a time, but then came the advent of easy travel and a complex, inter-connected world…
Overrun with invasive species, Hawaii has unique issues
Paradise Found
Hawaii can be a terrible place.
It’s nice for the beach and surfing. It’s nice if you usually winter in below freezing North America. It’s nice for thirsty desert dwellers who ache for humidity and reliable water. It’s nice for the green scenery.
That said, much of the green scenery, most of it, in fact, doesn’t belong here. At all. And along with the flora brought here from abroad, came the fauna from abroad.
Brilliant bird species, among them those treasured for feathered capes, are greatly endangered.
…And lost
Hawaii is now home to many nightmares. I think it was E.O. Wilson…
At the intersection of injustice to humans, we always find injustice to Earth, but detecting bias can create a whole new world.
Every little thing is polluted
This last year opened a lot of eyes. Covid and the continual viral infections of racism and sexism showed how “essential workers” are often moms, health workers, servers, clerks, and drivers.
We saw how “all being in this together” affected everyone disproportionately. It showed us that for some “liberty” is of more value than life itself. Some marched for an end to police brutality, some marched for the right to ignore public health warnings, and “nanny-state” big government.
(Does that sound biased? Oh, yeah, I am human too, and therefore, biased toward scientific/medical expertise.) …
Schrodinger’s cat box is both stinky and clean
Dogs drool, Cats rule
A basic thought experiment that cool cats’ hate is called Schrodinger’s box. It displays that we don’t know what we can’t observe.
If you have ever heard the romantic hell-howls of mating cats, you already know it’s not true. Some hep cat IS getting pussy cat style love. AND, you will never observe it because all cats are sneaky little perverts.
The set up
A cat, locked in a box with a hammer and a bottle of cyanide is subjected to your use of a Geiger counter to detect if any released particles indicate radioactive decay. See? …
Wonderful points, and good thoughts. Yet, Humanism is centered on the very parasite (us) who causes harm to our home. Another path is Belonging. Seeing ourselves as animals (we are) helps us recognize and love our kin: forests, oceans, systems, cows, etc.
Know better, do better.
I was humanist, mostly, until I found the higher path of ecopsychology. Hierarchy is problematic, belonging to Earth is simply wiser to expand circle of compassion.
As to religion, there are more than 3 choices. Could a "creator"--the universe-- be "wiser" than us? Yes. Could she/he be neutral so as to be NON biased? Yes. Suddenly, non-interference makes sense!
Nature can teach us that systems and organisms are not only interconnected, we are kin.
This is now proven by science, and we still have to learn that we are one animal among others, dependent upon plants/trees, for clean air, water, etc.
Cooperate among ourselves first, then learn to cooperate with life sustaining biosphere
Christyl Rivers, Phd.
Ecopsychologist, Writer, Farmer, Defender of reality, and Cat Castle Custodian.
