When I was a naïve, novice psychotherapist, I had the good fortune of a psych hospital’s support to attend professional conventions, partly to learn, and partly to represent the hospital. I remember my first psychoanalytic convention: I was thrilled to sit in the presence of famous psychoanalysts, soaking up their wisdom. I was at just […]
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Timidity
Deliberative humility can be conceived as a “mean between extremes,” which implies a continuum. At one end, we’ve seen what we might call deliberative arrogance, but what’s at the other end of the continuum? We don’t really have an adequate word for it, so I’m co-opting the word timidity — though diffidence usefully captures another […]
Continue ReadingHumility
As we saw in the introduction to the Everyday Excellence challenge, deliberative humility is one of the basic excellences of mind. Superficially, this is the excellence of being open to the possibility that we don’t have all the answers. But if we don’t have all the answers, then what should we do?On this first day […]
Continue ReadingI know how you feel
Knowledge, narrative, and insight Have you ever shared one of your experiences and got a hearty “I know just how you feel!” in reply? Were you skeptical that your conversation partner actually did know how you feel? Because of what we share, we are tempted into believing that we know more about each other’s experience […]
Continue ReadingBelief Formation
Most of us haven’t given much thought to the way we acquire our beliefs, but this is a hot topic for philosophers like me, mainly because we’d like to know how to go about forming beliefs that are grounded and good for us. Essentially, the way people form beliefs is a lot like the way […]
Continue ReadingHabits
The new year marks a season of expectation, guilt, and failure brought on by one of the curses of our primate nature, the New Year’s Resolution. It’s been decades since I joked that my new year’s resolution was to give up making any. I encourage you to join me, and I’ll give you a very […]
Continue ReadingPrimate Science
Science as progressive lying Much has been made in recent news of Anthony Fauci’s “deceit,” and to be honest, the whole story brought to mind my granny, alas now deceased. I loved my granny dearly, and she doted on me, her first grandchild, from as far back as my memory extends. Nevertheless, my affection for […]
Continue ReadingEmptiness
A memorial for 2020 The beginning of a new year always seems full of promise, and the first day of 2021 tempts us to close the door on 2020, a year of disappointment, loss, and suffering for so many, and on such a scale. Before you close that door, think along with me about how […]
Continue ReadingThe Talents
Prefer to listen? Here’s the podcast version of The Talents. Yesterday was the 24th Sunday after Pentecost, and this year the gospel reading was one of my favorite parables: The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The author of Matthew uses this parable to portray the End Times, a discussion begun by the disciples’ question “What will be […]
Continue ReadingThe Poet who saved St. Pancras
The poet whose campaign saved St. Pancras Station was Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984), poet laureate of the United Kingdom from 1972 until his death.
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