Presentism – What is it?

Is it ok to use today’s standards to judge the actions of yesteryear?

Listen to the most recent episode of my podcast: “Presentism” – A useful and interesting word. https://anchor.fm/john-bartels/episodes/Presentism—A-useful-and-interesting-word-e2061dk

The Window: Have you seen it?

“The shortest essay in the recently rereleased collection, Confessions of a Heretic, is entitled “Effing the Ineffable.” In it, the late Roger Scruton speaks of the brief and indescribable glimpses we human beings are sometimes afforded of a world of meaning that seems to exist on a plane just outside of our reach. In these moments arising from contemplation or from the experience of great beauty, we sense that the deep mysteries of existence are somehow brought before our eyes, but they still defy our attempt at understanding. “When they occur it is as though, on the winding ill-lit stairway of our life, we suddenly come across a window, through which we catch sight of another and brighter world—a world to which we belong but which we cannot enter.””

Quote from Here

Get Ready to be Amazed – Really Amazed

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN – THANK YOU

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I guarantee that if you don’t know about the Golden Ratio, when you learn about it you will think about it and remember it for the rest of your life. You will want to tell others about it.

Please follow steps 1-5 in order. It is best to look at the video (step 6) last.

1. Look at this sequence of numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 

2. Get out your calculator,

3. Notice that each number is the sum of the two preceding it. i.e. 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+2=5 and so on….

4. Notice that if you divide any number by its preceding number you get 1.6*

e,g, 21/13 = 1.62*

e.g. 8/ 5 = 1.60*

e.g. 987/610 = 1.62*

5, look at this shell. Note the spirals.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

6. . Now watch this excellent video. It will blow your mind. Watch to the end.

You may have to click on the video while it is loading. The link is: https://youtu.be/wntIMD9wbR0

Please do not miss watching the whole video.

Footnote

Calling all photographers. I know you will enjoy and use what the excellent video teaches.

John Bartels

What does this tell you? Just look at all the nebula!

To God be the Glory

How brave are we?

Consider this quote attributed to Nietzche:

“The strength of a person’s spirit would then be measured by how much ‘truth’ he could tolerate, or more precisely, to what extent he needs to have it diluted, disguised, sweetened, muted, falsified.”

This forces us to ask ourselves two questions:

  • How much truth can we tolerate?
  • To what extent do we dilute, disguise, sweeten, mute and falsify truth?
Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

Are you a prisoner?

Is there a person who you constantly and obsessively want to please? Take care. You may have become their prisoner.

Photo: Hasan Almasi

The Miracle of Reading

“Reading is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude” – Marcel Proust. Please scroll down

Photo: Kourosh Qaffari – Thank you

Do words speak for themselves in argument?

No. Words do not speak for themselves. So, what do words do? Words support or refute an argument or theory.

Blog inspired by Thomas Sowell in “Dismantling America”

Reading and Digestion

The next time you read something, consider Edmund Burke’s observation:

‘To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.’

Facts versus Opinions

“You’re entitled to your own opinions. You’re not entitled to your own facts.”

Daniel Patrick Moynihan


Here is a beautiful and interesting blog

I just discovered this blog. It looks looks like a real winner with a promise of being very helpful.

Click here: https://shortwisdom.wordpress.com/

There is treasure here!