David J Terrell

There are many overlapping principles between different philosophies and traditions. Being a good citizen appear as one of those ideas that spreads across ideologies and cultures. The difference might be in the detail of what it means to be a good citizen. Similarly is the idea that actions are more important than intentions. If we want to be good we need to act accordingly in order to be consistent.

Easy to say but difficult to accomplish. Many of us have good ideas about how to solve a problem, how to improve a dire situation but lack the skills to act accordingly. It is known that there are leaders who are explicitly open to advanced ideas about leadership but in practice lack the human touch to communicate with their subordinates what the path should be. Stoicism is one philosophy that helps to put in practice what we preach.

For more that 2000 years Stoic philosophers like Seneca have been giving advice about consistency. Starting with oneself, being critical of one’s feelings and thoughts. Reflecting on the reality of life and on the permanence of change. The only constant in life is change. Even Jesus of Nazareth told his disciples that one is known by one’s actions and that we should avoid “praying in public” to show one’s righteousness just like the hypocrites do. Good actions are, normally, unseen. The way that these good actions are known is by the effects that they cause. It is always that we know of goodness by what is produced. Peace of mind is the product of having been acting virtuously.

For me, it is during my evening meditations that I do an assessment of my daily tasks and evaluate my actions based on what I am supposed to achieve. All in the framework that I am just another member of society, just another human being.

Many intelligent authors have mentioned that in order to do good in the world you need to be “you”. Trying to be someone that you are not, will not work. One needs to know oneself in order to act and perform in a way that has no contradictions to what one says and to what one appears. I would call this an integral way of being.

In his book The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer mentions how good teachers are authentic, and how good teachers base their pedagogical techniques on some knowledge of who they are. I can extrapolate that idea to every single walk of life. A good mechanic is one who is grateful for her/his skills and happy to do the job; as a good baker is too. And so on.

Of course, there are cheaters who can take advantage of people by pretending that they are someone they are not. In general, these cheaters don’t last long as their lack of integrity sooner or later will throw them into ruin.

Integrity, like all the other virtues, is not isolated. There is always an overlap between virtues. You can’t have kindness without integrity or integrity without courage. All require a deep sense of self and an understanding of our limitations as well as the limitations of our relationships. After all, when we think of being an integral human we see it in relationship to the others in that humanity. The is no sense in talking about the integrity of an isolated individual.

Considering that the goal in life is to live with peace of mind, in the pursuit of happiness, being an integral person is indispensable. False, hypocritical personalities are always in conflict as they can’t have a single undisputed baseline, a reference to which adhere. Having an integral life means that one has a set of moral references that are unchangeable. Even though in some cases these reference frames may have complex definitions. For example, when we say “Liberty and Justice for All” Although it sounds simple, we will find deep complexities when we think about it.

One can change opinion, without breaking one’s integrity. In fact, it might happen that because of one’s integrity, we have to change our opinions based on new evidence, new circumstances, or because we learned that one had the wrong opinion. People without integrity often stick to their opinions, even when facing the reality of being wrong, even when presented with the truth that doesn’t support their opinion, because they want to appear as if they were “integral”. People wanting to appear integral is the first indication of their lack of integrity. Integrity is not an appearance. When someone starts a conversation by saying “Let me tell you the truth” you can be suspicious because that sentence indicates that the normal situation is that they do not tell the truth”.

Like when someone tells you: Believe me! Do not believe it!

February 24, 2023. Portland OR.

Portland Oregon in the USA normally has mild weather winter temperatures can drop down to freezing for a few days and in the summer rarely get to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). So, when we have snow Portland is not prepared and this week we had a snow storm with some places getting as much as 12 inches (one foot or 30 centimeters) so we are taking a “snow day” and working from home. I am teaching online and my students are in their pijamas! In many ways this is giving us another opportunity to think about life.

First I have to say how grateful I am for this opportunity. My job allows me to do it this way, working from home is a privilege that not everyone has. Some how working from home removes the hassle of preparing for going out and commuting to work, so I have the energy to write and share my thoughts with you, even though I am writing to me!

Technology is great! Yes, I know that many people say that technology is dehumanizing us and that we are becoming more isolated individuals because of it, but even though I agree, in part, with this statement I also think that it is also giving us an opportunity to grow and create intentional communities online. The fact that I can teach remotely and my students can participate in class is a wonderful thing. The question now is: How can we make technology work for us not against us? The answer is: We need to understand how our minds work!

We need to engage! There is nothing we can do to change or modify circumstances. The only thing we can control is our own self, how we think, how we feel. Our attitude. Engagement is a personal endeavor, nobody can engage us as nobody can make us happy. we have to make ourselves happy as we have to engage ourselves. There is a saying about taking the horse to the water well but you can’t make the horse drink the water. Same with engagement, same with learning.

Query. How do you engage yourself?

The year that changed everything.

Isn’t it that every year we see changes so deep that makes us see the world from a different perspective? Yes, so what? This one in particular changed the life of my family. We had the joy of the graduation of a daughter and the birth of a grandson. The world saw dramatic, terrible events like the war in Ukraine and environmental devastation with tornados and fires that affected thousand of lives.

My family was blessed with peace and prosperity. We had good times together in different occasions and were able meet and talk about our hopes and plans.

The world has continued in turmoil as a paradox of advance with recoil. News are always focusing on the negative so that is the impression we get from the situations; negative. But under everything we see or read or hear there is an underlying silver lining (as it is said) that a lot of good is happening. The Russian invasion of Ukraine for example will end the tyranny of Putin and the liberation of the Russian people for a new world order. The changes in Primer Minister in the UK will bring British people to a new reality that we all are connected and it is not possible to isolate even if you live in an island. The USA went through another national elections process making evident that people want normality in public life. Extremism, even though impossible to avoid, will be only to indicate limits of behavior. In the USA laws have been passed this year that will make life better from guarantee of marriage equality to investment in environmental solutions like support for the electrification of transportation.

Seeds of new higher education are being planted all around the world as evidence that the old model is not working. Students ending their college or university with huge debt is not sustainable and people are questioning the value of many higher education degrees. Interdisciplinary approach has been the answer for many years and will continue as entrepreneurial skills are introduced to the other disciplines. New ways of funding low income students so they are able to get the education they need in this more technological environment. Top-down organizations will change into more democratic bottom-up or horizontal organizations which will be nimble and more efficient as well as better equipped for change and adaptation. The way higher education is organized will include aspects of finance like the use of ledgers in blockchain so students will have their records transferable in a safe manner.

To end this post I just want to send my best regards to all with wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Tell Congress – We Need Climate Action Now!

I am copying this message from EEN.

“This is a critical decade for climate change, and we must continue to act boldly and swiftly to address this pressing crisis. The House-passed reconciliation bill includes $555 billion in transformative climate investments that will make our air cleaner, our communities safer, our economy stronger, and our families and neighbors healthier. These investments also put the U.S. on a path to hit our national target to reduce carbon emissions 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels and the ultimate goal of net-zero by 2050. 

Additionally, these investments include:  

– Historic investments for clean energy jobs and community climate resilience

– Incentivizing American innovation to help cut carbon emissions in half by 2030

– Stopping wasteful leaks of climate-warming methane and associated toxic air pollutants 

– Lowering energy bills for families with affordable clean energy and home energy efficiency

– Creating a new Civilian Climate Corps to advance environmental stewardship and harness God’s creation as a climate solution

– Directing 40% of investments to frontline communities

– Protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Tell your members of Congress to support the reconciliation bill and the passage of these critical climate provisions. We cannot delay defending our children’s health, our community’s safety, and our environment.”

We have today a situation that is allowing a conversation about the need for scientific thinking and the dire consequences of having people in political power that are ignorant and not versed in scientific thinking. Some are so ignorant that present themselves as anti-science advocates. Their ignorance is so deep that they think they know it all and hide behind so-called religious beatitude to act in a way that is contrary to true religious beliefs.

Take for example how so-called evangelicals are against the intentions of state and federal government to require vaccination. Their argument is based on the freedom of individuals, but forget that in any tradition the common good is emphasized. The knowledge that comes from the interaction of individuals as members of society is what allows society to survive and prosper. On the other hand, we know from history that when a society is falsely representing reality that society disappears with time. Just remember the religious society of “Shakers” that believed that all sex was bad, sinful, and thus should be forbidden. With no newborn within the Shakers, the society disappeared in a short time!

Some would call this event an example of human evolution where the fittest is the one that survives. Now for more than one year, our society around the world is suffering from a pandemic. This pandemic is caused by a virus, we all know, and we also know how to deal with virus infections. But some do not want to follow educated advice from the experts. These people are against any kind of expertise as if the expertise was a product of elitism. Even if acting in this way is contrary to their own interests.

The main problem I see today is that people do not listen. They are afraid that if they listen they may have to change how they think. Not being sure of their ideas the main strategy they can follow is not to question these ideas. As any questioning will shake the foundation of their ideology. Sad indeed, that they any blocked out of progress, out of the benefits of discovery. It is even sadder that they think they are not doing it, because they are users of modern technologies like cell phones that give the impression of modernity, of keeping up with the time. But it is only an illusion.

There is little we can do. Those of us who know that medicine has advanced to the point of developing vaccines against COVID-19 that are very effective and that using proper face covering and distancing will protect us will survive to next epoch of our society. We are just in the process of natural selection, as was somehow described in the theory of evolution.

You might say that happiness is … happiness, or that happiness is complicated and beyond a simple definitions, that it is difficult to articulate what happiness is. True, it is hard to know what is the meaning of the word happiness. But then we think about why semantics matters. It matters because words must have a meaning, when we talk we should mean something.

A few years ago I asked my students in Chemistry class to ask me a question, any question. All stayed quiet for what it appear to be a long time, a very long time, until one asked the following questions: “What is the meaning of life?”! What a question! I thought. A question that for sure requires a thoughtful answer. An answer that had to be articulated after a long and deep mental effort and exploration. Not easy task when the question was completely unexpected.

Unable to help students get to the answer to this question, which by the way has been raised many times by many important philosophers during centuries, I decided to keep thinking and doing research about it. As we research about the meaning of life, we will find that often the problem circles around the word “meaning”. Many authors talk about the purpose as synonym with meaning. The problem with this approach as with the way dictionaries resort to circular definitions (for example: “Meaning” what is meant by a word, text, concept, or action https://www.google.com/search?q=meaning&rlz=1C1GCEV_enUS884US884&oq=meaning&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l6j69i61.1284j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) or like according to Dictionary.com “Meaning” what is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated.” Not much help at all!

So how can we go around it? Will describing context help to see what we mean?

One likes to think that what ever is coming will be worse than what we have seen in the past. I do not know who said the following (sounds like Yogi Berra) : Don’t worry things are going to get worse.