My blog mission revisited: A word about the mission of my blog and the relevance of recent postings. My mission statement (found in the ‘About’ section) indicates that my blog is primarily about autism and its effect on me, the sibling of an individual with autism. For the first year or so, this was the […]
The subject of yesterday’s post was advice. I was aghast that some people would actually consider not listening to me, in my well-considered analyses of their problems. Today I want to discuss the idea of responsibility. If my advice was actually correct, my advisee did not follow it and dire consequences occurred, how should I […]
I am a logical person. I also am pretty well informed. When it comes to helping other people, I am usually right on the money with my analysis of the problems of other people and suggested solutions; solutions that makes perfect sense to me. Mystery I am flummoxed by the fact that no matter how […]
I just started reading The Science of Evil by Simon Baron-Cohen, the autism researcher who also wrote Mindblindness. The subtitle of the Science of Evil is, On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty. Baron-Cohen’s thesis is: cruelty exists when empathy fails. Baron-Cohen’s definition of empathy First part of definition: “Empathy occurs when we suspend our single-minded […]
Faith is a complete trust in someone or something without requiring proof. Infants have complete trust by dint of the actions of their parents. No baby wonders whether he or she will be fed, under normal conditions. It just happens, no proof needed. Is being fed, in the world of a baby equivalent to the […]
In yesterday’s post I began with definitions of the what it means to be human. Does the definition of humanness matter? Yes. It matters because many human beings feel free to mistreat others they deem non-human or less than human. Worldview One’s worldview has an influence on one’s view of humanness. There seem to be two […]
What does it mean to be human? On the surface, this may seem a frivolous question. Isn’t the answer obvious? Here are a few definitions: Dictionary definition – The Oxford Dictionary defines a human being as a “man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power […]
This was the original name for my post several days ago, when I discussed Socrates’ aphorism, “An unexamined life is a life not worth living, for a human being”. [1] I was thinking of the process of examining my own life, which seems to be a never-ending process. So, would Socrates be proud, or relegate […]
Almost as soon as I scheduled yesterday’s post, a musing about Socrates’ quotation, “An unexamined life is not worth living,” I had second thoughts. My premise was to accept this aphorism and analyze it with respect to the phases of life, from childhood to old age. I concluded that it is not the examination of […]
I wonder how many of you have heard someone say, “You should have taken better care of yourself”, after you catch a cold. “What did I do to deserve this?” is the same question. This time it is the victim that blames him or herself. Why is it so easy to cast blame? Does it […]
