Lots to be gleaned from Judith Shulevitz’s “The Lethality of Loneliness” in The New Republic and not just because it dovetails so neatly with Ethan’s post on the bodily aspects of anxiety last week. The article explores some recent research into loneliness and manages to ring a few alarm bells in the process. It may go without saying, but far from being just a spiritual or emotional malady, loneliness has been shown to have a clear physical component/consequence. Introversion or extroversion simply changes the way a person experiences loneliness–it does not protect them from it outright. More commentary at the bottom,…
Tell Me Again What The Body’s For…
We have posted one of Brian Jay Stanley‘s essays before, and heaven knows we’ve posted nearly everything that’s come from the Opinionator’s “Anxiety” series. This one is an unique take. Stanley here is talking about the body-soul/body-mind dualism we still believe today, the gnostic cleanliness we desire over the viscera and guts of nature. We are made anxious, in other words, by the body and the parts of nature’s innards we cannot control. Stanley points to Plato’s discourse of mind over matter, and inverts it: as much as we’d like to lord our big hearts and nervy wits over the…
The Flying Dutchman, Schadenfreude, and Tim Tebow
The scientist who yields anything to theology, however slight, is yielding to ignorance and false pretenses, and as certainly as if he granted that a horse-hair put into a bottle of water will turn into a snake.
–H. L. Mencken
Saturday was my birthday, and I was showered with a heap of my favorite kind of gift: Stories about triumphant people whose lives have been ruined. I’d like to say that it is theological conviction that makes me read these stories end to end, but it is probably some sort of dopamine-stimulating Schadenfreude. Either way, it is an embarrassment of riches.
First, the…
Is Google Searching Me?
After reading this very short clip from Nicholas Carr over at NPR’s Marketplace, I immediately had to order his book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. For now, I’ll suffice it to say this won’t be the only post on Carr; he’s a terrific writer of science and the brain and it doesn’t keep him from speaking confessionally, or leading off Chapter 1 with 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s not so much neuroscience as it is a scientist’s probe into a very “being” shift that is happening here in the internet age–you know, as if streaming…
This Just In: In the Quest for Self-Improvement, Ideals Hinder, Don’t Help.
To be filed under “no duh” for any Mbirder (or anyone with the least bit of self-knowledge) comes this piece of news from NPR this morning: Skinny Models Undermine Dieting Goals.
Dr. Anne Klesse, a researcher at Tilburg University in the Netherlands (as I’ve always said, if you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much:) and her colleagues recently conducted an experiment to see what effect skinny models had on dieters…
…They recruited female volunteers who signed up for a weight-loss program and gave them diaries in which the volunteers could note down precisely what they ate and when — a standard technique in weight-loss programs nowadays.
But half the…
Walker Percy on Naming Sparrows and Self
This comes from the scientist-novelist’s essay, “Naming and Being,” in which he talks about symbols and meaning–and how humans derive their special meaning from naming and being named. In doing so, Percy also catches on to modern anxiety’s root cause: the human awareness and fear in the face of something unnameable. One is, as Freud might say, “afraid of nothing,” while at the same time, as Kierkegaard might say, afraid of “a summons to an authentic existence.” Anxiety, as Percy pronounces, is also the experience of the strange, unnameable self. Though we can categorize quite well any other thing, including…
Rise of the Time Lords: A Geek’s Guide to Christianity
What do failed stars, Firefly, and engineering specifications have in common? About as random as mustard plants, or misplaced coins. In (sometimes Mbird contributor) Michael Belote’s new book, the hilariously named Rise of the Time Lords: A Geek’s Guide to Christianity, all things geeky, from supply-and-demand to the Theory of Relativity, illustrate the old, Christian story. More than that, all of his illustrations are spot-on: that is, they not only make points, but also they deepen the doctrinal positions that people more than familiar with incurvatus in se – but perhaps less familiar with stellar gravity – already “know.” The theology in…
The Parable of the Monkeys in the Vineyard
Unbelievable and unbelievably relevant, ht CR:
Comfortable Myths, Outright Lies and Breaking through the Fog of Disbelief
Hat tip to a wise friend who recently sent me an article from The Chronicle of Higher Learning entitled “Why Lies Often Stick Better Than Truth.” The thrust of the article has to do with recent psychological research about how people often hold onto slanted information and outright lies—even after being presented with sound counter arguments. It would appear that rejecting previously-believed misinformation involves some hard and undesirable work, which many of us would rather not do. In my context as a minister, the article inspired a brief exchange about why, even when we repeatedly preach salvation by grace through…
The Beautiful Identity Crisis of Radiolab
“Comfort zone” speak is generally relegated to those who live life, you know, really take it on. I’m reminded of the crew of bros driving that snazzy Cadillac ATS full bore through those Chinese mountain tunnels and laughing and talking about the extremeness of it all. Those guys, the ones who relish taking jumps over waterfalls with helmet cameras, are bent on motivating themselves and others to “push beyond.” And beyond isn’t just testosterone-based; there’s plenty of ways to be someone who goes beyond, just like there’s plenty of ways to be uncomfortable. You can adopt a child, you can…
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Another Week Ends: F. Scott FitzDylan, Dormroom Surrender, Self-Fulfilling Paranoia, Caveman Vulnerability, Campaign Boredom, More Olympics and Air Conditioning
1) The New Yorker recently released a very good (and very short) story from none other than F. Scott Fitzgerald, called “Thank You for the Light.” A “pretty, somewhat faded woman of forty,” a midwestern corset saleswoman, she cannot find a place to smoke a cigarette away from judgmental eyes. She is becoming desperate and in her desperation she finds, yes, a church. A small sampling here, but be sure to take the extra five minutes and read the whole thing here.
And to herself she was thinking, If I could just get three puffs I could sell old-fashioned whalebone.
She had…
America / Books / Everyday / Identity / Law / Money / Psychology / Science / Sports / Technology / TV
Another Week Ends: Fans and Debtors, Reverse Psychology, Brooks on Merit Power, Batman and Walter White, Spousal Surveillance and Christian Technology
1. From The Atlantic comes “Why Being an Obsessed Soccer Fan Can Make You Really, Really Happy,” a look into the camaraderie of fandom–which seems simple enough–but not only does fandom give purpose and an unusual chance to breach the confines of self-interest, it also provokes inclusion by way of exclusivity. People have the opportunity, despite their level of fandom, to be fans, together—to identify with something that’s not themselves, together.
The Penn State Nittany Lions Paternoville “White Out”
Trying to rationalize fandom can be a complicated, even futile process. But studies by psychologists have shown that identifying yourself with a…
Something Comes From Nothing: Colbert the Apologist
Be sure to stick with it to the very end:
The Colbert Report
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Argumentative Apes and the Wisdom of Foolishness: A Social Science Roundup
Two weeks ago, New Scientist wrote an excellent article alluding to many of the social science themes we cover. We’ll start with two thought-experiments noted in the article that illustrate human selfishness or irrationality:
1. Imagine an outbreak of disease threatening a small town of 600 people. Given budget constraints, we can develop treatment A, which is guaranteed to save 200 people, or treatment B, which has a one-in-three chance of saving everyone and a two-in-three chance of saving no one. Which would you pick?
2. Imagine a different outbreak in a different town, with another choice between two…
Engineering Specifications, Bell Curve Holiness and the Gospel
This one comes to us from our friend Michael Belote of Reboot Christianity (who recently published a terrific write-up of Game of Thrones, btw):
Earlier this week, I found myself groggily trying to explain the concepts of engineering specifications and process controls to a Danish colleague via conference call at 5 am. About halfway through, it occurred to me how well this could serve as an extended metaphor for the Gospel. Bear with me.
Let’s pretend that you are an engineer helping to design a bridge. Your part of the project is to specify and oversee the incoming quality of the structural…
Emily: Amazing!...
Jim Kress: This is an outstanding post. Thank you for the courage and risk. I app...
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Zach: The Brooks piece is typically silly, as his work on political issues g...
Cal: Ever hear about the recent video game "Gods Among Us"? It's a take on ...