By: Kally Elliott on March 5, 2024
I am ever so guilty of throwing around the word, “post-modern” without fully understanding how deeply ingrained this philosophy is in how I think and live. As I slogged through Stephen R.C. Hicks’ book, Explaining Postmodernism Skepticism from Rosseau to Foucault, and more willingly listened to some podcasts with Hicks as a guest, I began…
By: Jennifer Eckert on March 5, 2024
The year was 1995. I was 22 years old, and it was a regular Wednesday morning. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The skies were clear with a soft, cool April breeze. The typical rush hour traffic had subsided, and people had successfully shuffled themselves nicely into their cubicle workstations for the day. Tick tock…
By: Nancy Blackman on March 5, 2024
“Wer bin ich? Der oder jener? Bin ich denn heute dieser und morgen ein andrer?”[1] ——Dietrich Bonhoeffer Who am I? This one or that one? Am I then this one today and tomorrow another? The Identity Trap by Yashca Mounk covers six concepts: identity politics, group identity vs. individual identity, social fragmentation, intersectionality, tyrannies…
By: Debbie Owen on March 5, 2024
“I’d say that it’s one short step from ‘Wizards first’ to ‘Purebloods first,’ and then to ‘Death Eaters,’” replied Kingsley. “We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.” — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [1] I was applying to colleges during the fall of 1980. My father…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 5, 2024
The challenges associated with the Identity Trap make leading a faith community increasingly tricky. We see increased tension when we add the complexity that the Bible is often at odds with popular societal thinking. In 2013, the Telegraph printed an article in which Amber Dillon writes, “I can’t help thinking that some of the Bible’s…
By: Scott Dickie on March 4, 2024
In his book, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (1), author Stephen Hicks attempts to…well…explain postmodernism! I suppose that’s relatively self-evident (Although I will argue a little later that he actually seeks to dismantle it and not simply explain it). Hicks begins his book with a few chapters introducing the topic and…
By: Jeff Styer on March 4, 2024
Have I fallen into The Identity Trap? In his book, The Identity Trap, Yascha Mounk identifies and discusses the seven main themes of what he calls “Identity Synthesis.”[1] Mounk states that Identity Synthesis was “deeply shaped by the triple influence of post modernism, postcolonialism and Critical Race Theory.[2] I teach a course titled Cultural and…
By: Adam Cheney on March 4, 2024
I am white. I am male. I am heterosexual. I am middle-class. I am Christian. I voted for Bush, and I voted for Obama. These traits are identifiers, some outside of my control. Yet, none of them speak to my true identity. My true identity is found in Christ, as a child of God.…
By: Tim Clark on March 4, 2024
I spent my formative teenage and young adult years in 1980’s/90’s Los Angeles, which seemed to be a ground zero for postmodernism in the United States at the time. In fact, I remember in college hearing a lecture on emerging postmodernity and thinking “that’s not emerging, it’s what I grew up with” (now I would…
By: Travis Vaughn on March 4, 2024
Postmodernism is “skepticism toward metanarratives.”[1] In an interview with clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson, Stephen Hicks attributed this perspective to the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard. I recall a seminary professor once describing a metanarrative as a “grand and expansive account of truth and meaning,” something postmodernism rejects. In Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to…
By: Russell Chun on March 3, 2024
ܙܒܢܐ ܡܬܚܠܦܢܐ، ܣܟܢܐ ܕܟܠ ܓܒܪܐ” (zevna methhalphana, sekana dkul gavra) Aramaic, Shifting Sands, Everyman’s Peril Introduction – Shifting sands, Everyman’s peril Part 1 Post Modern Impact on Christianity Part 2 Focus on Chapter 6 Epilogue – Not a modernist or a post-modernist. Introduction Post modernism is not a topic that excites “everyman.”[1] To even begin…
By: Akwese on March 2, 2024
As I continually examine my current state of leadership, I find myself reminiscing about the days when I could truly live out what I believe, putting it into action. Now, more often than not, I find myself frustrated that much of what I know and think about leadership, I am failing to move into action,…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 2, 2024
Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” The word is derived from the words: SAN (return) KO (go) FA (look, seek and take)[1] In my early career, at North Park University in Chicago, IL,…
By: Noel Liemam on March 1, 2024
‘Thinking, Fast and Slow,’ by Daniel Kahneman is a highly recommended reading to anyone including leaders and aspiring leaders. He talked about the two ways in which our brain works, “System 1 and System 2. System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort of voluntary control. System 2 allocates attention to the…
By: Erica Briggs on February 29, 2024
Pretend you’re being chased by a bear. You are all alone, you have no weapons, no sense of which direction might aid escape. You don’t even have the right footwear. The bear is getting closer, you can hear the forest brush cracking and snapping behind you. The ground shakes from his weight. Suddenly, your kindergarten…
By: Elysse Burns on February 29, 2024
This was a challenging book. I found each idea made sense on its own, but I struggled to connect the ideas to get the big picture. I became a bit suspicious that I might be part of Kahneman’s research project to observe ways doctoral students panic when they do not fully understand the assigned reading.…
By: Russell Chun on February 29, 2024
龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese = Enter the Dragon Introduction Part 1 How Malik defines the debate Part 2 What my peers are saying Epilogue – Enter the Dragon Introduction About three hours of Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) training are required every semester for teachers at Pikes Peak State College. DEI…
By: Joel Zantingh on February 29, 2024
A few weeks ago, in my post related to Tim Harford’s cautions around data, I made the connection to my mode of making fast connections, even being duped by data that supports pre-conceived theories [1]. This week, with my encounter with Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Fast and Slow”, I was drawn back to a similar caution.…
By: Chad Warren on February 29, 2024
A couple of months ago, I had my first Tesla experience. When my plane landed in Austin, TX, I headed straight to the rental car counter to gain access to my ride for the next week, a 2023 Tesla. Among the many curiosities I had about driving a Tesla, I was looking forward to experiencing…
By: Daren Jaime on February 29, 2024
Who remembers being in the classroom with a problem on the board or a video question on the screen, hoping the teacher would not call on you. It was early in my freshman year of college; the problem was on the board. The room was full of students whom I did not know. All…
