The Renaissance

Occasionally when I’m writing something for the website my inner voice warns me against self aggrandizement, ‘it’ tells me to hold back, make the topic less about myself and more about the specific topic at hand. I think this is a good thing in almost every case, however, I personally love reading autobiographical accounts. I love reading other people’s thoughts and experiences and how they arrived at a certain place. So with that in mind and riding a wave of inspiration from Nate’s last post I’ll write a small story of my own.

It was a late summer day in 2006, Sabrina and I were spending the day in perhaps my most favorite town I’ve ever been; Homer, Alaska. This was an interesting time in life; I had no job and no destination. We knew we didn’t want to be in Alaska for the winter, but were considering Anchorage out of economic necessity. The coin-toss the eventually settled us in Bellingham (another story) was not yet a dream or a thought. For the moment we were enjoying the freedom of non-attachment to obligation; a sweet taste that must always be enjoyed while it lasts.

Homer always strikes a chord with me; it is a reflective place, a good place to walk and think. Sabrina and I were taking our time that day, entering small unique shops at our leisure. We ate dinner at a place called the ‘Cosmic Kitchen’ and I remember explaining to Sabrina why the Homer Spit shared the same name as the action of spewing saliva onto the ground - when you live with a non-native speaker you are daily educated on the nuances of the English language. After eating we continued walking and eventually found our way into a small bookstore with a coffee shop. While Sabrina ordered a coffee I browsed through the books, searching for the science section. At this point in my philosophical life I was an agnostic, and had been for about the past 3-4 years. I knew it was a somewhat honest position, but more of a safe-house than anything, it was a position that didn’t alienate or commit me to anything particular. However if someone would have asked me if I was also an agnostic about unicorns, fairies, or any other unproved supernatural phenomena they would have burst my insular bubble in a split-second. In a way I wish it would have happened like that; eureka moments are precious and rare.

As I browsed through the books I happened to pick up “The Demon Haunted World – Science as a Candle in the Dark” by Carl Sagan. I’d never heard of the book, and only vaguely knew of the man, but the back cover sounded great:

“How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudo-science, New Age thinking, and fundamentalist zealotry and the testable hypothesis of science?”

I bought the book and was immediately hooked; I never knew that the scientific, skeptical way of thinking could be so informative in our every-day lives. Up to that point I’d assembled various pieces of thought, arguments, and points of reason, yet this book provided me the necessary cipher with which I could assemble the pieces of my education. No longer did I need to live in an intellectual haze; I could use reason to inform my choices and thoughts. It sounds heady, but it really isn’t; a skeptical interrogation of claims both religious and otherwise is within the ability of all people, and I can attest that once the door is open the view is just beautiful.

I’ve been busy these past couple years; doing a lot of reorganizing in my head; categorically for the better I’d say. If there is an interest I’ll write more about it, but for now I’ll put it simply: when one takes a rationalist approach to life many of the problems inherent to superstition simple disappear, the struggles I had in years past, the fights I wondered why I could never win turned out to be with a non-existent foe. Too often, religion creates a problem where none first exists.

It turns out that we humans live on an amazing planet in a wondrous galaxy. We live in the greatest time of our species short history; at the birth of science and technology. When I think of the things we are learning every day, and what we will learn in the next 50 years (within the scope of our life spans) I just can’t help but get excited! And of course what is learning without friends to share the excitement with? I know I’ve got at least a couple whom I can and will learn a great deal from. What can be more valuable than that?

To be continued!

Thoughts from the Front

As February rolls hurriedly in, the knowledge that spring is not far off is comforting. Soon the rain and cold will be replaced by green trees, cherry blossoms, and warm blue skies; afternoon rides will become a norm and the thick mud will be reborn into buff singletrack.

Not all news is good however; to my dismay I read that the hit and run murderer Ashley Wick is back on the streets, free after her parents posted $50,000 in bail money. Apparently she had brain surgery as a young child, and will exploit a loophole in Washington law to gain an even lighter sentence than the maximum of 3 years. This is of course if she is even sentenced, I also hear that her rich parents have hired two powerful attorneys. Perhaps it is because this crime occurred in an area I frequent daily, or that I empathize with the student who died, but something strikes me as very wrong here. The small details too, such as the blood spilled at the crime scene, the arrogance of the murders parents, and the sickeningly self-righteousness that money can buy a way out of any situation grind against everything I know to be right. When I learned that the dead students parents arrived in America, mere hours after their son who was on life support died, I didn't know what to think. They were robbed of even a simple goodbye to their son. Ashley Wick drives free; having exploited the system in every possible way imaginable.

It crossed my mind today that perhaps I have given this sad story too much thought, or that my stance against the car culture is at times too strong. I was born as stubborn as anyone, but even I feel the sheep mentality calling in the back of my head every now and then. It is always non-offensive, appealing to a sense of shared apathy; that no one else cares so strongly about such things, that it is useless to stand in independence, that it would be easier to just give up contrarian opinions and meld minds with the collective conscious that inhabits this society. Perhaps it would be easier, but the small voice never calls strong enough. The French Philosopher Blaise Pascal addressed his Pensee to the one 'so designed as to find belief impossible' and while Pascal was writing about those who are born without the ability to live a life of faith, I think there are striking comparisons to be made with the contrarian spirit that inspires one to disavow other social norms. I find it simply impossible to fall in line with many of the creeds we are all supposed to adopt, and while it may sound self-righteous I really can't take full credit, the streak is simply born in, as it is in many people whether they have come to realize it or not. It is in this spirit that I must carry on in my own fight against apathy, hoping that by attempting to live in accordance with my personal views that I can inspire other in the same way that many people continue to inspire me.

Ride on.