Tic-Tac-Toe is not a Challenging Game

Talking with some folks is like playing tic-tac-toe against a chicken at the county fair. The chicken only knows a couple simple rules, but keeps beating you because you don’t understand that the point of the game isn’t to beat the chicken…

…but to keep you playing at a quarter a pop.

(Also, the chicken craves attention.)

I Think the Needle Needs to Point in the Opposite Direction.

Adults tell children “No, you can’t do that. Stop that. Put that down. Don’t put that in your mouth. Only one cookie. No ice cream after eight. No watching five episodes of Battlestar Galactica in a row” and when kids object, adults tell them “When you live in your own house and pay your own bills, you can make your own rules.”

Continue reading “I Think the Needle Needs to Point in the Opposite Direction.”

The Secret Enemy

In a society where claiming one is an atheist results in one not being considered “trustworthy,” one cannot depend on claims of religious affiliation to indicate “trustworthiness.”

The most successful viruses out there succeed by pretending to be valuable to the cells they invade.

Make or Break

Sometimes I try to solve my problems as if they are a supply chain issue — with many elements contributing to the success condition, and many elements contributing to the failure condition. It’s not a magic bullet, but it reminds me that any selling one-stop solutions is probably selling snake oil.

Career Living

It’s probably about time we stopped thinking of our careers as our identities. The time when employers had to respect their employees for fear of losing them is gone, and the time when employees could count on their employers “taking care of them” is also gone.

Our parents and our grandparents had a life like that, but that is not what the future holds.

Loving the Sin

It is not shocking that those who allege to “hate the sin yet love the sinner” seem deeply incapable of manifesting this alleged love in any way that can be identified, measured, or noted. For all intents and purposes, “hate the sin, yet love the sinner” manifests as “hate the sinner and act accordingly.”

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“An Honorable Man”

Be cautious before offering “honor” a place at the table without a deeper look. A man who says he is going to kill and eat one hundred babies live on stage who actually does so is inarguably “true to his word” and could be considered “honorable.”

But you might not wanna break bread with him anyway.

“Playing God”

I am exploring the notion that “It is not right for Man to play God” is actually code for “Don’t use big words. Big words are scary. Stop it or I shall encourage other people to kill you by burning you alive or perhaps beheading you, unless that is not currently socially acceptable, in which case I shall shun you publicly.”

Humanity plays “God” practically every day of the week (and twice on Sundays).

Why draw the line at big words?