Bow your heads. Close your eyes. Hold hands. Feel the pleasurable effects of oxytocin. Amen.
The theologian Bart Ehrman describes his personal journey away from fundamentalist christianity in a recently published book. That may be a place to start. Some seem to assume that christianity is a monolithic set of beliefs and practices. In actuality, of course, there is considerable variation across christian denominations--which themselves change over time. Strict churches tend to ask and therefore receive more from their members in terms of morale and commitment. If you're in a strict church, I think deconversion presents more of a challenge, but...
"Hedge-fund people sparkle with extra life force. At least the ones I've talked to. Large amounts of money seem to attract smart people."
That is impossible to dispute. Might the statement, though, indicate the happy glow of survivorship and the survivor bias? After all, what of all the other hedge fund people, smart ones no less, who were also attracted to large amounts of money, but whose fortunes fared less well? Some of the clues include multiple references to "aura," "sparkle," and "life force." Does framin...
There is a stated assumption that this folk tale is viewed as reflective of important wisdom, as in a wisdom tradition. That may be so, but such is not self-evidently the case in any conventional sense. Framing the story alongside Aesop possibly leads to overinterpretation, with Aesop serving as a sort of social value anchor. But what if the story is really just a play on words in the Hausa language, or something akin to a limerick, or even spoken ironically? What was the tone of voice in which the orignal was told? We are attempting to derive textual ... (read more)