Anatomically modern humans have been fighting nature for around 200,000 years. The idea of ending hunger might seem especially implausible given the challenges. For instance, one influential fraternity of theorists argues that life will always be an ugly struggle due to economic Darwinism. In this model, a few fortunates get a whole lot while the rest suffer comparatively desperate lives and then die unceremoniously. All of this is supposed to lead
Everything does not happen for a reason. The notion that it does is a self-centered human fantasy based on limited, exclusionary knowledge. It helps people deal with immense uncertainties beyond their powers of perception. The concept of “a reason” only exists for humans. When you remove us from the picture, the pursuit of reason doesn’t exist. If a lizard in the desert catches and eats a fly, did that happen for a
Wes was nearly done writing a long letter he had been working on for two days. He put the pen to his lips and listened to the wind blow outside. Another cold and lonely Christmas had come and gone, but working on the letter gave him special purpose. He lived in a small storage shed in his friend Larry’s back yard. In the ‘60s, Wes thought he would be drafted
George Harrison once sang, “It’s all up to what you value in your motor car.” We can argue the same for how we behave in restaurants. Following are ten reasons to treat your server with respect. Your server plays a valuable role in your life. In his book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg describes three places that define our personal and cultural identities: the home is the first place;
In the mid-1700s, natural phenomena were so poorly understood in the American Colonies that lightning was considered by many to be an indicator of God’s wrath. Accordingly, if lightning struck a house and caused a fire, neighbors often let the home burn to the ground because they figured this was God’s intention. Then in 1753 Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod because he rightly intuited that lightning was a buildup
The African grey parrot began rocking back and forth in its cage when it saw the Golden Retriever enter the kitchen. The dog trotted over to an unattended skillet of bacon that was popping and splattering hot oil all over the counter. Another six pieces of bacon sat cooling on a plate next to the skillet. The dog stood up on its hind legs, put its paws on the counter,
