Writer and Friendly Neighbourhood Philosopher
Just Thinking…
Stepping Into the (Human)Light
I’ll hold as my mantra “There is a crack in everything. It’s how the light gets in.” (Leonard Cohen). I will, as the name of this holiday suggests, look for the sparks, the glimmers that we emit from time to time, in spite of ourselves.
Why Do We Stop Thinking Like Kids?
The wrinkles will come, along with aches and pains, and taxes, but we can still choose not to “grow up” as thinkers. Our success as human beings may very well depend on it.
What It Means To Be A Philosopher These Days
I’m a public philosopher, a friendly neighbourhood philosopher, and after three decades in these shoes, here’s what I think I do.
Does The Artist Know?
Please, please, pretty please, don’t dismiss the importance of art or the people who make it, especially at a time like this. There’s so much comfort and so much connection to be found in a painting, or a song, a dance, a poem... I guarantee there’s one something there for everyone, something that just sums up their slice of the human condition perfectly.
Is Philosophy For Kids Too Little Too Late?
We like to spout epithets about children being our future, musing about the many ways in which the next generation will fix things. I used to hang my practice on these ideas too, reassuring myself that in teaching kids how to think, instead of just what to think, I was helping to correct our course in some small way. Teaching kids to be philosophers was an act of hope, of optimism. Now, I think that part of it is a load of crap. It’s a copout, a wiggly, wet noodle of an excuse.
Why It Just Keeps Growing Back
As Joni Mitchell once said “We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” Put on some gloves and start weeding. No more excuses.
Science, Music, and a Major Case of the Creeps
There’s a certain mood expected from science-inspired music, a certain ambiance, and it ain’t wistful or frivolous. It’s often dour, foreboding and imposing, with a hint of “randomly mash fist into keyboard”. It’s made me wonder what music about science can tell us about how we see science in general. Art, as they say, often imitates life.
Living In The Imperfect In-Between
I wish that everyone could be granted this kind of relief from the big, heavy yoke of perfection. Seeing what we’re going through on a global basis at the moment, “all or nothing” seems like a deadly, but common mantra.
Sorry Folks, But You’re Gonna Have To Be Human.
I cannot tell a lie. I’ve made the acquaintance of our future AI overlords, and I’ve been playing with ChatGPT. I’ve used it for bits of work, asked it silly questions, and pushed it to see how far it would go and what it would do. And, true to form for a philosophy geek, I’ve spent a great deal of time puzzling over how this tool is going to change things in our already mixed-up, discombobulated world.
“I Enjoy Being A Girl.”
I really do enjoy being a girl. I’m happy with the mind I was given, not in spite of it being female, but because of it. It’s not a blessing or a curse, it’s just a fact of who I am, and I’m good with that. So I’m done apologizing, for something that is neither in my control, nor a bad thing to begin with.
It’s The (Really) Little Things That Matter
Here’s to the little things, and to the lovely people who trust us with them. May we take good care of them.
When You’re Not Supposed To Ask…
It’s not like there are easy answers to any of these big questions. Besides feeling like we have much to lose in asking them (though often, there’s much to gain), there’s always a bit of fatigue surrounding the prospect of them being ongoing. Wouldn’t it be splendid if we could just put them to bed and not think about them every again? Couldn’t we just sit with our neat and tidy, nicely-packaged, preestablished views of the world?
For The New Year
All of those things we wish for each other at New Year’s, like love, peace, and happiness, I think they’re all tied to curiosity. None of these things just land on us, not even in the midst of the twinkly magic of a fresh start, without us going digging for them, exploring what they are, why we want them, how to share them and sustain them.
There’s No Such Thing…Until There’s A Lot Of It.
As a kid, I loved the book “There’s No Such Thing As A Dragon” by Jack Kent. It was a sweet story of a little boy who wakes up one morning to find a dragon in his house. It’s a small dragon, and fairly innocuous. When the boy tells his mother about it, she simply replies that it’s not really there.
What We Owe Our Kids
Collectively speaking, we act as if children are a big, expensive, sloppy, sticky, noisy nuisance. We treat them as something to be endured until they (finally) mature and join the rest of us real humans, the ones who are really important.
Not cool, grown-ups. Not. Cool.
So I propose this, as a way to make at least something right with our kids:
We start taking them seriously.
Why It’s Good To Be An Existentialist
It sounds like an angry kid phase one goes through as an undergrad, whilst hanging out in cafes and shaking one’s fist at the establishment. Thank goodness I never outgrew this phase, because being an existentialist philosopher is one of the key reasons why I still have at least some of my wits about me. It’s a big part of why, even in the messiest of times, I still have a little gas left in the tank.
Why Philosophers Are A Lot Like Ghostbusters
Being a philosopher, like being a Ghostbuster, is unexpectedly cool. Even when everyone thinks you’re a modern day Chicken Little, when you’re dealing with demons, when you’re covered in slime (all metaphorical, of course), you can’t quite imagine yourself doing anything else.
Ex Nihilo, Let’s Go!
I wish you all a whole lot of nothing.
An Editor’s Guide To Intolerance
I’m a human being, and every so often, stupid thoughts about other human beings ping-pong around in my head. Honestly, I don’t even believe these things are actually true. These thoughts are basically echoes of historical and cultural “bad grammar”, bits of misinformation or ignorance that I’ve heard often enough to have them lodge themselves into the dark corners of my brain.
Do Us All A Big Favour and Read
I need to know if big meanies didn’t get enough bedtime stories as children. I want to see if getting into the right novel can actually be life-changing. I’d like to hear if other people finish a book and then suddenly see the characters mirrored in people they see on the street. What gaping personal and cultural caverns can we bridge by reading each other’s stories?