Monday, July 18, 2011

left-brain vs right-brain revisited

I had posted this and didn't know enough to find comments.

so I am revisiting my answers - doesn't change the result - I am still terminally left-brained.

  1. Are you better at math and science than art and literature? Yes but love both
  2. Do you love playing sports outdoors over reading indoors? No but have done both
  3. Do you prefer verbal communication over physical communication? Yes and it helps me to think
  4. Would you rather draw pictures freehand instead of putting together a model airplane? neither - I don't draw but do handyman stuff around the house
  5. Do you like being in groups more than being alone? lean to No but find a need for both in my life - I have been a leader of men's groups @ church
  6. When given instructions, are lots of pictures easier to understand than lots of text? lean to No but I as I have gotten older I handle abstractions less well
  7. Have you noticed that you're better at providing the details and necessary information for a project than coming up with the initial idea? lean to Yes
  8. Do you need a quiet environment when you are working? absolutely yes
  9. Would you enjoy helping someone solve a relationship problem more than a math problem? lean to No
  10. Are you better at helping someone solve a relationship problem more than a math problem? absolutely No
  11. If you were a writer, would you prefer to write nonfiction books instead of fiction? lean to Yes
  12. If you were a writer, would you be better at writing nonfiction books instead of fiction? absolutely Yes - fiction never wants to leave my head - it's shy :-)
and the bottom line - my training is in physics but my career going back to college is in Information Technology

Sunday, July 17, 2011

comments on comments

My favorite blog http://www.patheos.com/community/deaconsbench/ has closed comments for a while.  This post has comments on the closing.

Since I can't find his email address, I'm going to post here my thoughts.

First, though, as I typed the previous sentence, I started to use the word feelings instead of the word thoughts.  That identifies part of the problem.  This is a hot, immediate medium.  Words go directly to the screen w/o passing through the brain for very long.  Sometimes called blogorrhea.

Second, there is ignorance.  Too many people pontificating without know what they are saying.  Funny word pontificate - it has come a long way.  It began life meaning a bridge builder from that fashioable language Latin: pons - bridge and facere - to make.  Pontiff (or a member of the same word family) was a title for Roman leaders.  With seven hills and many valleys, there was a need for bridges everywhere.  Since the Pope has this title, it can be inferred that bridge-building is somewhere in his job description.  Although it has secular roots, many would say it has a basis in faith.  Cf the writing of Paul the Apostle.

The root cause of problems is the lack of consensus on what it means to be a Christian.  For that matter, there are a number of terms that, as we say in information technology, are overloaded.  They have been given multiple meanings.  Computer languages have evolved ways of handling that situation.  It does not appear humans have done so with human languages.

Try to come up with a commonly acceptable definition for Christian or Jew or Muslim,  In the first case, wars were fought over the definition; in the last case, those wars are going on even as I write.

There have always been apologists.  They were critical in the early church as people trained in Greek philosophy tried to get their heads around the Semite sayings and ideas of Jesus of Nazareth.  They wrestled with the notion of who is God?  who is Jesus? what are their relationship?  those ideas that were boiled down to form the heady potion that is the Nicene Creed.

People like G K Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc were called controversalists.  They seem to relish a verbal spat.  But they did so with a flourish and good humor that belied the seriousness of their discourse.

What we have today are trolls.  I am reminded of a scene from the movie "Good Morning Vietnam."  The General at the radio station is telling the Sergeant Major why he is being banished to a backwater post from the front lines. "At first I thought you were tough, but now I know you are just plain mean."

Perhaps, a good start would be a conversation, if that is possible, on what it means to be Christian.  Part of the root cause as regularly identified on the above mentioned blog, stem from a radical (from the Latin word radix for root) difference of opinion on that issue.  While the study of that issue would be theology, the practice of the issue is just living as a committed Catholic Christian.

btw the technique could also be used as a party game - do those still exist?  Gather the players into small groups and give them one or two related words for which they are to come up with a mutually agreed defintion.  Then bring the groups together for sharing.  Start with the pairs conservative/liberal and Democrat/Republican before moving on to the more tendentious Christian or Jew or Muslim.

Let the games begin!

Dear facebook

I think you need to see a doctor.  You have been looping lately a lot.  My machine has to be rebooted.  Not a pretty sight.

Go see the doctor.  Discuss your diet, meds and exercise pattern.

Have the doctor discuss the debilitating effects of stress.  Have heard your growth patterns are slowing down.  Yes you are not that old in calendar years, but in app years you are ancient.  Take better care of yourself so you can take good care of us.

concerned user

Dear blogspot

Have you been getting enough of the right things to eat? Are you taking your meds on time? Are you getting enough sleep? You seem to be sluggish lately.

concerned user

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Lemon picker wanted

The woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed to be far too qualified for the job; given her liberal arts degree from the University of Michigan and her jobs as a social worker and school teacher. The foreman frowned and said,
I have to ask you this: Have you had any actual experience in picking lemons?
Well, as a matter of fact, I have! I've been divorced three times, owned 2 Chryslers, and I voted for Obama.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Wounded Warrior

On Monday, I played the Disney, Lake Buena Vista course. As usual the starters matched me with three other players. After a few holes we began to get to know each other a bit. One fellow was rather young and had his wife riding along in the golf cart with him. I noticed that his golf bag had his name on it and after closer inspection, it also said "wounded war veterans". When I had my first chance to chat with him I asked him about the bag. His response was simply that it was a gift. I then asked if he was wounded and he said yes. When I asked more about his injury, his response was "I'd rather not talk about it, sir".

Over a few holes I learned that he had spent the last 15 months in an army rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio TX. His wife moved there to be with him and he was released from the hospital in September. He was a rather quiet fellow; however, he did say that he wanted to get good at golf. We had a nice round and as we became a bit more familiar I asked him about the a brand new set of Ping woods and irons he was playing. Some looked like they had never been hit. His response was simple. He said that this round was the first full round he had played with these clubs.

Later in the round he told me the following. As part of the discharge process from the rehabilitation hospital, Ping comes in and provides three days of golf instruction, followed by club fitting. Upon discharge from the hospital, Ping gives each of the discharged veterans, generally about 40 soldiers, a brand new set of custom fitted clubs along with the impressive golf bags.

The fellow I met was named Ben Woods and he looked me in the eye and said that being fitted for those clubs was one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was determined to learn to play golf well enough to deserve the gift Ping had given him. Ben is now out of the service, medically discharged just a month ago. He is as fine a young man as you would ever want to meet.

Ping has the good judgment not to advertise this program. God Bless America and the game of golf.
- q.Beliefnet - America in Uniform