Note from Bob (May 18, 2017): My brother Rich was kind enough to salvage the information on this site after an earlier website appeared to have been hacked, and disabled. Thank-you Rich! Had he not done that, none of the information on this site would be publicly available. Years after I should have done so,…
Written between August 5 and October 2, 2006 Read the entire document in PDF format: Complex Adaptive Systems Essay v2 Table of Contents Complexity Theory for Dummies (Like Me) 2 Introduction 2 Complexity Theory in Context 2 What is an SOS or CAS? 4 The Universal Diagram 5 How Patterns Form in Complex Systems 7…
Review of Michael Ruse’s “Mysteries of Mysteries – Is Evolution a Social Construction?” bob mccue July 26, 2005 A friend asked some time ago that I write a review of Michael Ruse’s (“Michael”) book “Mysteries of Mysteries – Is Evolution a Social Construction?” (“Mystery”) and post it to a science list on which we both…
I watched Lyndon’s you tube presentation to the Red Mountain Community Church near Phoenix, and thoroughly enjoyed it. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECjddl…. He is an eloquent spokesman for the post-Mormon movement. His personal style is folksy, and pleasant. He is the kind of guy that most people would probably love to spend an evening chatting with. I certainly…
Introduction The word “truth” is among the most diversely used, and abused, in our vocabulary. This essay’s purpose is to explore three ways in which that word is commonly used, the reasons for confusion between them, and how disciplining ourselves to distinguish between these kinds of perceived truth and thinking in terms of what can…
November 29, 2005 version 2 Word formatted version of this document: how_denial_works.doc Whether we like it or not, each of us is constrained by limits on what we can do and feel. To ignore these limits leads to denial and eventually to failure. To achieve excellence, we must first understand the reality of the everyday, with…
A PDF version of this Document: http://goo.gl/JvlTY And Answers to Other “Tough Gospel Questions” in Reply to a Faithful Mormon Scholar’s Defence of Mormonism bob mccue June 20, 2004 Version 3 Nothing falsifies history more than logic. Fransois Guizot Introduction In a June 13, 2004 article on page B7 of the Observer/Faith & Reason section of…
The following is something I will send to my clients shortly. It is still in draft form, but I thought some here might find it useful. [here is a eBook formatted version of the complete letter] Happiness Hypothesis letter – April 2008 Dear *: Re: Jon Haidt’s “The Happiness Hypothesis” I thought you would enjoy…
I read an interesting article on the plane from Victoria to Calgary on Saturday. Excellent piece of journalism. I share this not so much because of my interest in the history of birth control, but rather because of the way in which illustrates the complexity of social organisms, and how one thing leads unexpectedly to…
For the last two Sundays, I attended Sky Church. The meetings involve confronting primal fear, and staring it down. This is done on the basis of a desire to fly, an intellectual understanding of the tiny risks you are in fact facing if you choose to do so. Then, while either staring down your demons,…
The following is a lightly edited version of the note I sent to a physicist/neuroscientist with whom I participate on a science and religion e-mail list. I have immense respect for this fellow. However, we have been politely disagreeing with regard to the strategies that are most likely to be helpful to people who want…
This meditation is inspired by an article from the NY Times a friend recently sent me that was written by an intellectual, “born again Catholicâ€, who eloquently described the paradoxical nature of her re-acceptance of her childhood faith. I have cut and pasted the article at the end of this piece. It is worth reading.…
So, here I am sitting in my bathrobe, ready for bed and checking my Internet messages before hitting the sack. I’ve had a wonderful, relaxing evening. My wife made a great salmon salad, garnished with all kinds of things I can’t even identify. That was washed down with a large glass of wine while watching…
Twice during the last week I’ve been asked the same question by successful, highly educated people who are at this moment peering with trepidation through the fog around the edges Mormonism toward the unknown (for them) beyond. That question is whether I could provide them with a list of the pros and cons with respect…
One of Mormonism’s, and organized religion’s, fundamental premises is that the basic elements of our lives must be as they are. God created the cosmos, the Earth, and us. God mandated certain types of relationships. God mandated certain forms of social cialis institutions. Etc. As reality comes into better focus, one of the first things…