Any posts including religious content or significance.
Jun
16
About Empathy (and a cool video)
Submitted by Jeffrey on Wed, 2010-06-16 23:59
What an interesting presentation! The RSA Animate collection takes a short audio lecture clip and "animates" it with coordinated time-lapse video of a whiteboard sketch artist. What a wonderfully engaging experience! I've watched several of these and "The Empathic Civilisation" [sic] caught my interest—enough to spawn this post!
Jan
26
Persuasion, Correction, and Righteous Influence; a How To
Submitted by Jeffrey on Tue, 2010-01-26 13:27
The following is an excerpt from a post to the MormonVeg email list that I helped moderate several years ago. After a major upheaval over post topics, conflicting opinions, and accusations of apostasy (in both directions), I wrote a studied response which really summed up my feelings about righteous influence and persuasion, while respecting an individual's agency.
Originally posted Mon Apr 22, 2002 12:22 am, I have added some links and edited a little here and there to apply the message generally.
May
28
Finally, Open Development for the LDS Church!
Submitted by Jeffrey on Thu, 2009-05-28 18:07
I have been hoping that the Church would open up some of their projects to outside help. Last week, Joel Dehlin announced that the church unit websites will soon be more open to general development.
This is welcome news. It's a good step in the right direction. Next, I hope they open-source the Membership & Leadership System (MLS). That would be fantastic!
Jun
15
Preparedness
Submitted by Jeffrey on Sun, 2008-06-15 18:33
I have begun writing a new section of my web site dedicated to the subject of preparedness.
My hope is to collect a great deal of material into one place, both to help me understand it, and to help you find it!
I'm not a paranoid type. I am also not a dismissive optimist (though I am an optimist!). There are signs of trouble all around us, and signs of hope too. There is also a great deal we can do to prepare every needful thing and remove fear from our lives.
Jan
27
The Death of a Prophet in the Information Age
Submitted by Jeffrey on Sun, 2008-01-27 23:26
The prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died less than three hours ago. While this was a little surprising (no illness, just increasing frailty), he was 97 years old! And he missed his wife terribly. President Hinckley was a great example and I'll miss him.
Sep
16
Are the Constants of Nature Evidences of Intelligent Design?
Submitted by Jeffrey on Sun, 2007-09-16 22:47
I was just listening to an Engines of Our Ingenuity podcastnetcast on the Constants of Nature, by Andy Boyd.
Boyd discusses Richard Feynman's exploration of nature's constants (like the speed of light) saying, "Feynman realized that if the fine structure constant was somehow even a tiny bit different, the universe we experience would not be the same. Certainly, human life would not have evolved."
Jul
13
Does Religious Obedience Generate Happiness?
Submitted by Jeffrey on Fri, 2007-07-13 17:46
Jun
26
TED Considers Ethnograpic Extinction
Submitted by Jeffrey on Tue, 2007-06-26 13:56
TED released a presentation by Wade Davis on the extinction of culture and ethnicity. While viewing it, I was astounded at the pace of the extinction and the scope of the loss and destruction. I also wondered how to reconcile my religion with this issue (my Christian religion certainly contributes to the decline of diversity). I also had to decide if this extinction was really a travesty, or simply a natural, even essential form of progression and change unavoidable in our mortal experience.
