By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 21, 2020
“Why should I live?” This was the question posed by a student to Steven Pinker, cognitive psychologist and Harvard professor. He then took an evangelistic posture to share his worldview with the young woman. He explained that though this was not in his “usual job description as a professor of cognitive science,” he was…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 21, 2020
This week our living room gained a Nutritower. This 5’5 innovation will allow my family to grow our own food year round, using 95% less water and will save 1 million food miles.[1] The added benefit is that my children will learn how to grow and pollinate their own food. It is one minuscule way…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 20, 2020
I have a relationship with Walt Disney dating back to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. I was in the third grade, and my class made a field trip to the Fair, where I first saw the wonders of Disney’s animatronics. The Carousel of Progress was a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction created as the prime feature for the…
By: Harry Edwards on February 20, 2020
I am not quite sure how I feel about Steve Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. It was like riding a roller coaster for me. There is the thrill and edge-of-the-seat anticipation of ratcheting to the peak just before a heart stopping descent through the twist and turns, not knowing…
By: Mario Hood on February 20, 2020
FYI, the title has nothing to do with my post, it just came in my head so I decided to go with it :)! Steven Pinker, Ph.D., is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. In his book, Enlightenment Now, he lays out his argument for why the Enlightenment, reason, and humanism, aka…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on February 20, 2020
“Too long!” It was three weeks after Christmas and the pastoral staff was going over the feedback we had received after Christmas Eve. We had led four worship services, 11:00 AM (the Early Service), 4:00 PM (the Family Service), 8:00 PM (Lessons and Carols – with Communion) and 11:00 PM (the Midnight Service – with…
By: Andrea Lathrop on February 20, 2020
Steven Pinker is a Harvard Professor of Psychology who has studied languages and cognition. He is an ardent atheist and a staunch proponent of reason, science, humanism and progress. His project in Enlightenment Now is to demonstrate the successfulness of the modern era and to recapitulate it so that we do not lose the precious…
By: Sean Dean on February 20, 2020
In the book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress experimental psychologist Steve Pinker explains that using the tools of the Enlightenment humanity is seeing measurable progress. He argues that, while there are risks to be aware of, there is reason for optimism in a world that seems to be bombarded with…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 20, 2020
In most the African traditions, children were taught by their aunts and grand parents through stories which have been passed through generations, that help explain certain myths and traditions that are related to specific communities. Its common in Africa to have stereotypes that are related to particular tribes. Its through these stories that you can…
By: Rhonda Davis on February 16, 2020
**First, I apologize for my tardiness to this discussion. All five members of my family are recovering from round three of the flu. I have either been acting as a nurse or patient over the last couple of weeks, and this week got the best of me. I am happy to be back in touch…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on February 15, 2020
Life is all about experiences: some are good, and some are bad. But experiences are what make up our perceptions and perspectives. It is through experiences that our story is told. I have a friend who wrote a powerful book a few years ago. Roxanne became a close friend who unexpectedly passed away recently. But…
By: Digby Wilkinson on February 14, 2020
Jordan Peterson: Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and author of many books – but who cares, what matters is YouTube and controversy. He’s also extremely unwell. Publicly critiquing Jordan Peterson feels like naively leaping into a mixed martial arts fighting ring with Floyd Mayweather or Connor McGregor…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 14, 2020
How much does the motivation for our research impact what we find? How much does the goal of a journey we undertake determine where we will get to? This is both a question that I kept coming back to in this week’s reading as well as a question raised within the reading. Canadian Jordan…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 14, 2020
Jordan Bernt Peterson (born June 12, 1962) is a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are abnormal, social, and personality psychology. Peterson’s first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (1999), examined several academic fields to describe the structure of systems of beliefs and myths, their role in the regulation of emotion, creation of meaning, and…
By: Mary Mims on February 14, 2020
“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Eccles. 1:1-2 (KJV)” These words of King Solomon were written in the book of Ecclesiastes thousands of years ago expressing the frustration of a King, who had great wisdom, great riches,…
By: Mario Hood on February 14, 2020
The famous or infamous University of Toronto professor and clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, PhD, is an unlikely celebrity in our current culture. Known for his straight forward demeanor and political incorrectness. He is also the author of 12 Rules for Life and this weeks reading Maps of Meaning. In Maps of Meaning, Peterson sketches…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 14, 2020
There is a proliferation of materials and models in the psychological world in recent years regarding meaning making. The heightened need for humanity to make sense of the events of life we are witnessing and personally experiencing no longer seems to fit neatly inside the box of this technologically advanced society. It’s as if the…
By: Sean Dean on February 13, 2020
In May of 1977 we were introduced to the Star Wars universe and its ragtag group of nobodies whose combined talents (and a bit of luck) would save their universe from the ravages of the Galactic Empire. Within this group was the hero Luke Skywalker, who within the scope of the original three films, would…
By: Karen Rouggly on February 13, 2020
I’ve always loved the creation story. Most cultures of the world begin with a creation story.[1] Any good biblical exegesis should first ask the question as to why an origin story is needed. What do people need to know about how the world came into existence, and what did the author(s) of Genesis really intend…
By: Andrea Lathrop on February 13, 2020
I was excited to read another book by Jordan Peterson. Maps of Meaning was much more challenging than his 12 Rules for Life and certainly shows he has an academic and popular style in his writing repertoire. Peterson is a former Harvard professor and clinical psychologist, among other things. His own relating of his nightmares of…
