TED Talk Tuesday: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow

Flow in psychology is described as a feeling everyone has at times, characterized by a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill—and during which temporal concerns (time, food, ego-self, etc.) are typically ignored. 


Csikszentmihalyi discusses ecstasy--a state or feeling of stepping into an alternate reality, or getting "lost" in what one is doing. He notes that what we have left of great cultures of the past is their temples and sanctuaries, where they went to experience life in "a more concentrated and more ordered form," where they sought ecstasy.


I'm investigating ecstasies myself these days.

TED Talk Tuesday: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow

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I'm reading this. Commentary to follow.

I'm reading this. Commentary to follow.

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When you didn't fit in, but part of you still kinda wishes you had.

PBS broadcast a fantastic documentary by Helen Whitney called The Mormons a few years ago. This segment's been on my mind lately.

When you didn't fit in, but part of you still kinda wishes you had.

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Friday Funny: Good Samaritan - That Mitchell and Webb Look

Friday Funny: Good Samaritan - That Mitchell and Webb Look

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TED Talk Tuesday: Sam Harris says science can answer moral questions

I was blown away by this. No commentary from me. This speaks for itself.

TED Talk Tuesday: Sam Harris says science can answer moral questions

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Gone fishin'

I'll be visiting family in Utah over the next week. Blogging shall recommence when I return.

Also, the Red River Freethinkers are having their spring potluck, next Sunday, March 21 from 1:15-3:00pm large conference room of the Fargo Public Library. Hope you locals can make it.

Gone fishin'

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Friday Funny: xkcd - I Am

Friday Funny: xkcd - I Am

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TED Talk Tuesday: Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?

Fascinating and funny talk. One great quote regarding our tendency to pick the default: "We care (about a particular decision), it's difficult, it's complex, and it's so complex that we don't know what to do. And because we have no idea what to do, we just pick whatever it was that was chosen for us." And another: "The moment you set [an option] as the default, it has a huge power on whatever people end up doing."

How often do we pick the default by.... default?

TED Talk Tuesday: Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?

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More prayers for me.

I wrote a few weeks ago about my friend who told me he'd been praying for me. Just yesterday, another friend informed me of prayers offered on my behalf.

I genuinely like that my friends are praying for me. It's a new experience for me to have people praying for me not because they think I'm damned (like my mother does), but just because they love me and they want me to feel loved and cared for. And I do. I feel very loved and supported.

I say without reservation, thank you for your prayers. It really means a lot.

More prayers for me.

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Friday Funny: You are here.

Friday Funny: You are here.

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TED Talk Tuesday: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday, but I had other stuff I wanted to write about yesterday. Plus, Sabio hadn't yet posted this lovely piece that reminded me of this talk. Jonathan Haidt discusses how a trait called openness to new experience forms the basis for why liberals and conservatives tend to have different views of morality. Notably, he emphasizes why both views are useful and necessary.

TED Talk Tuesday: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives

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Evidence of Evolution

Check out the pdf sample of this stunning book. 

Photographs by Susan Middleton
Text by Mary Ellen Hannibal

Evidence of Evolution

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Response to comments on my "unfair" assertion that patriarchy does in fact still exist.

Check out the picture I posted last week if you haven't already. Otherwise, the rest of this won't make much sense.


Mike thought the depiction was "unfair." Unfair to whom exactly? Satan? Then he accuses me of coloring a whole group of people. What group is that? Christians? Because I know Christians who don't believe in Satan, so I don't see how this picture can be construed as coloring all Christians. I heartily applaud religions that are moving toward a more egalitarian worldview, but why is the fact that some religions are making positive changes make it not okay to call attention to those who aren't? 


I found this statement interesting: "While I get the medium of picture/caption isn't geared toward nuanced conversation I figured that I would at least get a head nod that infact there are people out there in their respective faiths that would like to work to see this attitude go away. Its a shame we couldn't even agree on that." Well, Mike, it's a shame you couldn't be more clear about what you meant. When you start out saying that it's "dated" and "unfair," it sounds an awful like you're saying that there's no problem and therefore no need to discuss anything.


And I've got a bone to pick with this one too: "So I guess your experience of religion trumps all of the people in the christian church." Well, um, last time I checked, this is my blog and I do an awful lot of talking about my own experience. And thank you, Infidel753, for pointing out: "Funny acoustics in here. It almost sounds like there are people telling you that your actual experience of life doesn't count or is 'unfair' to talk about because it doesn't fit in with their view of the world."


I appreciated Jonathan Blake's comment, that the picture is not so much satirizing a religion as much as an attitude, an attitude that does in fact still exist and needs to be challenged.


As XR4-IT pointed out, "Religion may not be the only anti feminist influence, but it has been a major player."


Patrik, Patrik. (Patrik and I go way back.) I'm developing a love-hate relationship with your comments. ;-)  Mormons definitely hold onto patriarchy and traditional gender roles more than most of Christianity, I'll give you that. (Although Mormons are certainly not the only sect to have a problem with this.) I think it is wonderful that your mother is a nurse and your wife is a teacher, but I hardly see how that proves that neither of them felt constrained by traditional gender roles. Before you get mad, let me finish. If, in fact, these women did have an opportunity to consider any and every possibility for what they could or should be and then decided that they would truly love being a nurse and a teacher respectively, then I'm very happy for them and their accomplishments, and they should be commended, and definitely be paid more. Teachers and nurses are both underpaid and under-appreciated professions, largely because they have been regarded as "women's work," and therefore not important and not deserving of recognition or fair monetary compensation. 


Now about stay-at-home moms. There is nothing wrong with a woman (or a man, for that matter) deciding that she wants to stay home and devote all her time an energy to raising her child. There is everything wrong with a woman being told that that's what she should do, and that she's a bad mother or a bad woman if she chooses otherwise. And again, motherhood should be acknowledged and recognized as a valid profession and I dare say mothers (or whichever parent is the primary caregiver) should be monetarily compensated, as happens in many European countries. Parenting is absolutely real work.


Which brings me to what I thought was an excellent comment from TheOtherOne:"Do they even notice that these people subtly redefine "feminism" as a woman seeking out non-traditional gender roles?" Thank you! Feminism is not just about women having the option to pursue non-traditional paths. It's also about women being validated, affirmed and appreciated when they do traditionally feminine work (mothering, teaching, nursing, etc.).


Finally, Leif, it really has been a long time since we've talked, and I very much appreciate your comment. I think it's fantastic that you're working at the school and trying to give some hope to the kids there. The town where we grew up has a problem with kids not feeling like life has a lot of possibilities more than many other places, I think. Religion is part of that, but there are other factors as well, as you point out.

Response to comments on my "unfair" assertion that patriarchy does in fact still exist.

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