Our movies and literature are full of heroes these days. They often have superpowers that lift them out of the ordinary mold, and their challenges are equally out of the ordinary, with circumstances or cosmic karma pitting them against world-destroying cosmic evils. It’s all very exciting, but it isn’t very useful when what I really… Continue reading Models and Heroes
Month: January 2021
Continuous? Step-wise? What’s up with that?
You may have seen a picture of movie film. A movie film consists of a large sequence of still images, which are presented so rapidly that the viewer perceives it as motion. This is true whether the pictures are photographic images of something with physical existence, or whether they are drawn or composed artwork. (Collecting… Continue reading Continuous? Step-wise? What’s up with that?
Names
They are one of the first repeated sounds that a baby hears and learns – and arguably the one vocalization that you hear more than any other in life. Names are central to how we think of ourselves – that’s the underlying import of the verse in the Revelation to Saint John that God will… Continue reading Names
A Rhetorical Superhero
I’ve learned many useful things from my students through the years. Last fall, Peter Jackson from my Senior English class drew my attention to the the term “Steel Man”. I’d understood the concept it represented, but not encountered the term; as often, however, having a name for something makes it easier to handle and promote.… Continue reading A Rhetorical Superhero
Seeing Clearly
When I was about eight, and in third grade, our class was ordered to report to the nurse’s office for vision testing (this was back in the day when schools could afford music programs, art instructors, and school nurses). We dutifully lined up single file in the hall in alphabetical order, and when it was… Continue reading Seeing Clearly