Definitely recommend you seeing this movie… make sure your partner has their nails trimmed… don’t want them digging into your arm… it could happen!
Get Tickets: 47MetersDownMovie.com
the travels of mark twain
Often overlooked are the books that famous authors write of their personal travels around the world. In truth, I find that they give me great insight into the person well beyond their popular novels.
One of my favorites is Darwin’s “Journal” which logs the great explorer and artist ( did you know that?) as he traveled around the world on the Beagle. Mark Twain’s books entitled ‘Following the Equator’ (volume 2 – 1899) is a great read… that I often have to reread a section to insure he wasn’t pulling my leg. For example, he discusses the works of Jane Austin seemingly with high praise until you realize that he really doesn’t like her work.
Mark Twain was quite a hunter killing more than a dozen tigers while in India. BTW, tigers are quite a pest as they hide in overhanging trees and scoop up the locals as they pass by in their boats. I am sure that Twain viewed this as a ‘public service’. He was not without a sense of humor with his readers as well; he had the publisher print an authentic looking signature at the front of every book attesting to its authenticity. Sadly, some folks cut these out and sell them as the originals on the net.
In any event, this is a fun series to have and to read.
Inside the seals in Iraq
My daughter Kristin gave me this wonderful book for Christmas “American Sniper” by Navy Seal Chris Kyle. Like “no Easy Day”, I sat down and read it in one day!
What is unique about “American Sniper” is not just Chris Kyle’s perspective… But the inclusion of long sections written by his wife that added a meaningful perspective on the sacrifices everyone made.
For those looking for drama and action it is there… Even a bit of family and romance. The story to me was also about Chris finding what was valuable in this world, moving on and paying back to those who made his life successful and meaningful.
I don’t think it hurts the story to say that Chris is learning the value and contribution to the greater good in being a better husband and father. His contributions speak for themselves… But what he is now doing also helps build a better future.
I am reminded that one of the top Christmas wishes for this year… Was for a father.
the devils are within the walls
When you live in a university town, one suspects that it is only YOUR university that persecutes unfairly — sometimes illegally — students, staff and faculty who have crossed some imaginary line. When you see YOUR university violate people’s legal rights, when you witness unconscionable and unethical ( sometimes illegal) behavior, and then see those same individuals proudly promoted, you hope that YOU are seeing only the aberrant behavior of a few individuals in only one troubled university. Reading Greg Lukianoff’s book clearly documents that YOUR university isn’t really alone. What is most disturbing to me is that never is there an ounce of concern or remorse by college faculty or administrators on the harm they inflict to others, the careers they ruin or the families they harm; they are proud because they feel completely justified; they believe they are on the side of the angels following orders from on high.
The university ‘culture’ is not without justifiable criticism. Speakers coming to campus should be allowed to speak; mob rule is not a form of government. Conformity and compliance are the mainstream values of many faculty and administrators and these values are strongly monitored and strictly enforced. I was once told that the university ‘rewards compliance and not achievement.’ We’ve all seen the result of compliance taken to the extreme before; people have claimed to be “Just following orders” to justify doing horrible things. Under the right supportive conditions, horrible things can be done by almost anyone.
Stanley Milgram wanted to see how far you could push people (Americans) to achieve compliance on a task that may result in the death of another. His experiment is legend .
“Milgram devised his psychological study to answer the question: “Was it that Eichmann and his accomplices in the Holocaust had mutual intent, in at least with regard to the goals of the Holocaust?” In other words, “Was there a mutual sense of morality among those involved?” Milgram’s testing suggested that it could have been that the millions of accomplices were merely following orders, despite violating their deepest moral beliefs.” (Wikipedia)
Milgram’s study clearly demonstrated that Germans were not inherently barbarians, but under simple guidance, this barbaric behavior could come from almost anyone, even from Americans.
Greg’s book is a grave warning on the future of American society that blindly complies and allows their ability to speak opposing views restricted. It is chilling to think we are not far from a society where you could be silenced by what you say, or even, by what someone thought you said…. and those in authority would feel no guilt because ‘they we just following orders.’
Buy “Unlearning Liberty” the Book (Amazon) a book everyone going to college and their parents should read!
discovering psychology – the science of mind
Recently, my bride Laura and her coauthor John Cacioppo launched their first project together. It was an introductory psychology textbook entitled: Discovering Psychology – the Science of Mind. It is a fascinating and a remarkable peek into a dynamic changing field.
Now, I know very little about the writing of textbooks, but for me the experience was something akin to trying to escape second hand smoke; you can’t do it. I was Laura’s ‘minion’: fetch her coffee or fix a platter of cheese and crackers and in one bazaar episode I even was asked to paint my tongue blue and take a picture of it for their book. Depending on how you measure this project, it started somewhere between 7 and 10 years ago. Neither John nor Laura wanted to begin a project if it was just going to be like everything else in the field of psychology. However, John had observed that the field of psychology was evolving and that a textbook addressing this natural evolution was needed.
Psychology, like so many very large fields of study, had been chopped up into pieces for 50 years to aid analysis. Experts developed in the new fields of Physiological, Clinical, Social, Developmental, Cognitive among others… and each defended their territory religiously from the intrusions of other disciplines. However, as multidisciplinary and Transdisciplinary teams began to define how modern solutions to academic and social challenges were being met; it seemed quaint for scientists to limit their expertise to a narrow field. Psychology among other hub sciences were reaching out to other disciplines and pulling together the disciplines of psychology at the same time to help address the big questions of our day.
We’ve all seen buildings designed by architects who forget that people have to live in them, business offices that create unhealthy social environments, and engineers that fail to introduce the human equation to designing solutions to structural challenges. I think this textbook models the right approach and it is a first step in the right direction.
Congratulations John and Laura.