Virtue Quest

as revealed by the Holy Prophets – Spinal Tap!

BBC: Laser gun fired from US ship.

But I’m still waiting for my jet pack!

First off: I’ll be speaking this Sunday morning at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle. The topic: Virtue in Everyday Life.

When: 10:30am, Sunday 20 March 2011
Where: 5062 9th Avenue NE, Seattle – the downstairs room in the school across from the church

Here’s a chart I’m putting on the handout:

Foundation	Form	Strength
Prudence: natural foundation – discern good and evil	Justice: natural form – give what belongs to another	Fortitude/Courage: overcome external obstacles
		Temperance/Self-control: overcome internal obstacles
Faith: supernatural foundation – remain in trusting relationship	Love: supernatural form – give oneself for another’s good	Hope: direct life toward God with purpose and meaning

I expect that’s perfectly clear to anyone who thinks exactly as I do. The above organization is (as far as I know) my own invention. If anyone out there actually knows stuff about virtue ethics and thinks I’m barking up the wrong tree, or am just barking mad, please drop me a line and correct me. I’m working stuff out as I go.

Anyway, if you want to know what I’m talking about, come hear me talk!

Second, and far less importantly: I’ve had tech troubles with my old computer for the past few months. Random crashes and so on. It finally became intolerable, so I have a shiny new laptop. (Okay, it’s actually a matte finish.) Now I have to constantly remind myself that cool new toys do not equal happiness.

“Yes, I love technology / though not as much as you, you see / but still, I love technology / always and forever…”

Just finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. Yes, I know I’m a decade behind on that trend. I found it an easy read, full of motivation to actually learn how statistics work so that I don’t make the same mistakes Gladwell does.

But the most important thing I learned came, not from Gladwell himself, but from an author he refers to: Judith Harris, in her book The Nurture Assumption. The following is Gladwell’s summary:

Parents provide food and a home and protection and the basics of everyday life that children need to be safe and healthy and happy. But does it make a lasting difference to the personality of your child if you are an anxious and inexperienced parent, as opposed to being authoritative and competent? Are you more likely to create intellectually curious children by filling your house with books? Does it affect your child’s personality if you see him or her two hours a day, as opposed to eight hours a day? In other words, does the specific social environment that we create in our homes make a real difference in the way our children end up as adults? … [page-and-a-half snippy] … On the contrary, all of the results strongly suggest that our environment plays as big – if not bigger – a role as heredity in shaping personality and intelligence. What it is saying is that whatever that environmental influence is, it doesn’t have a lot to do with parents.

In other words, I maybe should stop blaming my mom for everything that’s wrong with my life.

Except that I don’t really buy Gladwell’s arguments*, so I’m not sure how much credence to give his summary of Harris, whom I haven’t read at all. So…

I guess I’ll keep blaming Mom. For now. Better than taking responsibility for myself, anyway.

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* He essentially argues for general principles from anecdotal evidence, and tries to bolster it by referring to statistical conclusions without actually providing any statistical data to show he’s not cooking the books. So I’m not saying he’s wrong; I’m just saying he hasn’t made his case in a convincing way.

If you’re in Ohio, you might try St. Colman’s:

This year’s principal Christmas Eve Mass at St. Colman of Cloyne Catholic Church, located at the corner of East East and South North streets, will herald in several joyous celebrations for the church and for county residents.

That address is almost as paradoxical as an infinite transcendent God being born as a frail baby from a virgin mother!

Happy Christmas to all!

And it’s only one hour long!

Here’s a resource to find out just how many ways your thoughts can go wrong: The Fallacy Files!

Use with caution. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Hat tip to Mark, who’s forgotten more about the internet than I’ll ever know.

I check my email and one of my best friends has sent me a link to someone who says it better than I can, and is funny to boot:

This Is Why I’ll Never Be an Adult.

‘Nuff said.

This is almost ten years old, but it still cracks me up:

That is, from our betters in Britain:

Yes, I usually hold off on politics till Friday, but couldn’t resist.

Hat tip to Mike Flynn.