He walked straight out of college into the waiting arms of the Navy.
They gave him an intelligence test. The first question on the math part had to do with boats on a river: Port Smith is 100 miles upstream of Port Jones. The river flows at 5 miles per hour. The boat goes through water at 10 miles per hour. How long does it take to go from Port Smith to Port Jones? How long to come back?
Hierarchical organization: The original presents ideas in relatively undifferentiated prose blocks; the second edition implements a systematic hierarchical structure with numbered sections and subsections (e.g., chapters like Belief have explicit sections on Intensity, Faith, Formation of Belief Systems)
Topic segmentation: Original flows between topics without clear transitions; second edition creates distinct sections with explicit headers (e.g., separate sections on Galileo’s Trial and Stepping Deeper into Ignorance)
Logical progression: Second edition reorganizes material to create a more linear path through complex concepts, while the original has a more associative flow
Taxonomic approach: Creates a formal three-part taxonomy (ordinary, willful, and higher ignorance) that serves as a conceptual foundation
Galileo reframing: Repositions the Galileo material as an exemplar of different types of ignorance rather than primarily as an example of belief conflict
Conceptual scaffolding: Provides preparatory concepts that readers need before encountering the central arguments about belief
Integration function: Connects historical examples to abstract philosophical concepts more systematically
Enhanced structure: Original presents the Martin Luther case study in an uninterrupted narrative; second edition breaks it into explicitly labeled sections like Luther’s Legacy
Comparative examples: Second edition adds more structured comparative examples (like the parallel between religious and military language)
Contemporary relevance: Second edition adds more explicit connections to modern issues (e.g., unlawful orders in military contexts, enhanced discussion of willful ignorance in politics)
Visual distinction: Case studies are more clearly marked off from theoretical material in the second edition
Conceptual primacy: In the original, higher ignorance is one important concept among many; in the second edition, it becomes the central organizing principle
Definition expansion: Second edition provides a more detailed explanation of higher ignorance through extended examples
Historical contextualization: Second edition connects higher ignorance to thinkers like Nicholas of Cusa more systematically
Application range: Second edition shows more explicitly how higher ignorance applies across different religious traditions
Formation process: Second edition adds a more detailed analysis of how belief systems form and develop (with a table of features like “Comprehensive Explanation,” “Ultimate Authority,” etc.)
Psychological dimension: Enhanced discussion of the psychological factors that contribute to belief formation and maintenance
Opposing functions: More systematic analysis of how belief systems define themselves against others
Internal contradictions: More structured presentation of the contradictions inherent in belief systems
Our awareness and everything we experience appear within consciousness. It includes all our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and the way we experience the world around us. One aspect of consciousness is what philosophers call the primacy of consciousness. This means that consciousness comes first in how we understand and experience reality. We can’t measure our consciousness or compare it to anything. Everything we investigate, including our brains, happens within our awareness.
I spent about a decade in the Southeast. I lived in Charlottesville, VA from 2011 to 2017 and in Richmond, VA from 2017 to 2021. Although I identify as one of the most privileged demographics, a white heterosexual man, I suffered from the racism of the Southeast. There is a subtle vibe of cruelty that taints everything from wealthy suburbs to the decaying downtown. I am so glad to leave that place.
The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague. In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior. The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets. The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch, and nothing less than the integrity of our constitutional democracy hangs in the balance.
Just when you thought that science and spirituality were hopelessly irreconcilable, cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman proposes a very interesting perspective.
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Hoffman, D. (2019). The case against reality: Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. WW Norton & Company.
Many assume that the invention of a phonetic alphabet only brought
benefits. In a somewhat speculative reassessment of history, Shlain
makes the case that the phonetic alphabet advanced lawyer-style
thinking that greatly facilitated the justification of violence.
The book is unlikely to be 100% true, but also unlikely to be 100% false.
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Shlain, L. (1999). The alphabet versus the goddess: The conflict between word and image. Penguin.
May 16, 2025