thoughts on life

Alfred Russel Wallace was the co-discoverer, with Charles Darwin, of natural selection. He wrote within a decade of the “Origin of Species” that the mystery of consciousness was proof that…

The ancient Romans had terms for a duality that persists to this day. They referred to ”vita contemplativa” versus ”vita activa” — the contemplative life vs. the active life.

A flock of small birds lands in the shallows, and a few begin furiously beating their wings in the water. More join in, and suddenly there are a dozen birds…

Having been at the epicenter of a 7.1 earthquake along California’s San Andreas fault, in which the apartment building rolled like a ship in high seas, I can attest to…

President Obama recently suffered the indignity of having 51 mid to high-level diplomats at the State Department openly dissent against his non-policy on Syria. Bill Clinton has said that his…

The ubiquitous, puddle-deep Charlie Rose had two disquieting presentations of technological dystopia dressed up as utopia on his nightly show last week.

Instead of scaring up a couple of ducks as I coast down the dirt path to the creek, I surprise a man standing in the middle of the stream. He’s…

There is a relationship of course between hard science and human psychology, besides the fact that the human mind gives rise to scientific discovery. It isn’t, however, the relationship that…