Monthly Archives: January 2012

Quote for the Day

A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands … Continue reading

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And They Lived Happily Ever After

My wife and I met while she was an undergraduate and I was a graduate student. Many of our dates were spent at Denny’s eating French fries and studying to all hours. Even when we went places, we tended to … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

The fact that we have not yet found the slightest evidence for life — much less intelligence — beyond this Earth does not surprise or disappoint me in the least. Our technology must still be laughably primitive, we may be … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

I think that science fiction, even the corniest of it, even the most outlandish of it, no matter how badly it’s written, has a distinct therapeutic value because all of it has as its primary postulate that the world does … Continue reading

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Conspiracy

Conspiracy theories by their nature are, in my experience, impossible to discredit. It is not that they are not discreditable, but rather that the difficulty and amount of time necessary are disproportional to the value, generally. For instance, there are … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

It is World War II and Madge Arwell is trying to hide from her children the awful news that their father, a British bombing pilot, was lost over the Channel during a bombing mission. It is Christmas Eve and she … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

There is a difference between crime and rebellion, as there is a difference between sin and denouncing the concept of morality. Saying let he who is without sin caste the first stone is not the same as approving adultery. –Jerry … Continue reading

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Cognitive Dissonance

Teaching students can sometimes be difficult. I often make use of skills that are not so very different from what politicians, lawyers, and used car salesmen (are those really three different groups?) practice. Students, by definition, come into a class … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” –Muhammad Ali Send to Kindle

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Quote for the Day

Sulky faces, morose thoughts and boring ways of thinking are intolerable in this science. –Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, regarding theology Send to Kindle

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