The Belief Box
Billy has a box. In his box is a belief. It is both important and special—a belief to be guarded and treasured—something of which to be proud and confident.
He was given the belief long ago by a highly-trusted person who passed it along in good faith. Billy took it as his own. Continue reading
Some paradigms disappoint because they turn out to be simply dysfunctional, while others seem to work immediately upon adoption, fulfilling our vision for them in a most satisfactory way. But then there is a third kind of paradigm. This sort is not flawed, but will not work well without one or more complementary paradigms also in play. This is the type I’ll be describing in this article. Continue reading
For years I have been re-thinking my beliefs and learning that many of them have been wrong. I have tried regularly to convince others along the way, but have failed almost without exception. Generally speaking, it is as if I were speaking a different language from those I try to convince; they simply don’t seem to comprehend my reason for rejecting this or that popular belief or tradition. Further, when I have tried to wrestle with people’s attitudes about their beliefs, it only irritates them in most cases, and they regularly conclude that I am either dull or evil. Continue reading
In the middle of a remodeling project today, I (accidentally) broke a water line, creating a gusher flowing from the wall of the bathroom underneath the sink. Naturally, this provided fun for the whole family as we engineered a way to route the gushing water outside before it flooded the entire floor.
Somewhere in the course of the emergency management, or perhaps the aftermath thereof, Kay asked me, “How do you know how to do all this stuff?” I asked for clarification and she mentioned carpentry, plumbing, and electrical circuits. The answer was simple: Dad taught me.
It sparked a conversation, as do most things in our ever-thinking family, and I recalled that even as far back as high school (where I learned most of what Dad taught me on such matters), I noticed that my peers at school had little idea how to do any of it. Whatever their dads may have taught them, it seems that carpentry, plumbing, and circuits were not on the list.
My Dad is not nearly as active as he used to be—depending on how you look at it. While he doesn’t get his tools out very often anymore, his son and grandson do. Today, James used the reciprocating saw to cut some scrap lumber to manageable size. And yesterday, he removed some wall boards with a power screwdriver. He can change a plug on a power cord and change out a wall switch. He has learned all these things and more from his Dad (that’s me) because I learned them from my Dad.
So my Dad, Jack-of-all-trades that he is, has replicated himself twice in my line—so far. And that’s what a Dad can do.
Dear Readers,
I have been attacked by computerized spam registrations on my blog site (jackpelham.com). I have over 1,500 registered users who are not real people. Therefore, I am about to purge my users list.
This means that those of you who have been receiving email notifications of new posts will no longer receive them. But not to worry; you can register again on my blog to receive notifications of new posts. And when (if) you do, you’ll see a new security feature that makes it really difficult for computers to register.
I’m sorry for your inconvenience, but I have no way to sort through all the registered users to tell which email addresses are spammers and which are legit.
As soon as this post has published, I will delete all subscribers.
Happy New Year!
Jack
In a gratuitous attempt at positive thinking, I thought it would be useful (to me) to document a few of my 2013 activities that turned out to be good ones. So, without further adieu, here is a list, in no particular order, of 2013 activities that I generally consider improvements upon my life.
1. From the Ground Up! I changed the style of shoes I wear and it has made a huge difference. I now believe that we have been duped into thinking that we need “arch Continue reading
Here’s one of the best Shakespeare quotations ever! And my, how it applies to our modern hearsay/Facebook culture!
“Merrily posteth the Fool, yet vetteth not, that which he wast but told I had said.”
Shakespeare
~ Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene 1
There is, to me, no house so cold as one that needs no fireplace. The building and tending of fire has become for me such a primal instinct as to leave me feeling incomplete when it is not needed. In my unapologetic opinion, one might as well build a house without inhabitants in mind as to build one without a fireplace in mind.
This fireplace is all I need. And a dog. Continue reading
I have coined the term Sole Reform Fallacy (or Sole Remedy Fallacy) to name a cognitive error I have seen frequently in play with regard to politics and religion. Here is its definition.
Sole Reform Fallacy—the error of judgment by which a proposed act of reform that is both needful and useful is shunned because it alone will not solve the entirety of what is perceived to be wrong.
Here are three examples of this cognitive error in play. Continue reading
The following article was written with these goals in mind:
