Little do the people comprehend the great–that is, the creating. But they have a mind for all showmen and actors of great things. —Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche Two ants were in mortal combat over disputed territory. As I watched, it seemed that this battle meant the world to them. But from my perspective, the […]
Author: Tom F Shadid PhD
There is no Christian church with a more direct, intimate relationship with the life of Jesus of Nazareth than the one I was born into: the Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. Its roots lie in the same ground that Jesus walked on, and are deeper than the written Gospels. The church, my cultural heritage, and […]
I love aphorisms. Below are aphorisms I have written to help express the values of the quadrune mind model of human nature, which is a secular model of spiritual consciousness. Aphorisms that originally appeared in blog posts are hyperlinked to their respective post. I have also used aphorisms with the “30 Habits of the Human […]
(Looking for black and white answers in a kaleidoscopic world) “All we want are the facts, ma’am,” the television police detective Joe Friday used to demand from witnesses of crimes. He just wanted the facts to get at the truth about a crime he was investigating. We’ve all seen television shows in which a lawyer is pressing […]
Background When I was about 9 years old growing up in Oklahoma in the 1950s, I remember stating my opinion to a grown-up man. It started out with “I think…” about some forgotten topic. However, I do remember his response: “Do you think or do you know?” Well, I doubt if I really knew what I was talking about, but […]
(Including Driving, Meals, Sex, and Work) automaton n.1. a machine that simulates human functions (e.g., a mechanized installation device on a conveyor belt) via preprogramed coded instructions. 2. a human acting in an autonomous and routine manner, seemingly without an external driving force. APA Dictionary of Psychology. automaticity n. the quality of a behavior or mental process that can be carried […]
It was like stepping into a tiny 1960s London police box and finding myself in Dr. Who’s TARDIS, suddenly unconstrained by the stifling dimensions of space and time. From the outside the restaurant looked physically tiny and claustrophobically crowded. Inside, the dimensions seemed infinitely spacious. But instead of being swept into Dr. Who’s divided universe of […]
(Or, What the Sackler family and the Haitian refugees have in common) What do the Sackler family and the Haitian refugees have in common? They are both using every resource they have to survive. The Sackler family has armies of highly-paid lawyers and tax specialists, unenlightened elitist judges, ubiquitous myth-manufacturing media, money-oriented medical professionals, and lobbied subservient politicians to […]
Resources for this Post MacLean, P. D. (1990). The triune brain in evolution: Role in paleocerebral functions. New York: Plenum Press. The quadrune mind model of consciousness blog and Study Guide. Purpose of this Post My general purpose for this post is to provide the interested reader statements directly from Paul D. MacLean’s magnum opus, The triune brain in evolution: […]
Dinosaurs became rulers of the world about 201 million years ago after a mass extinction eliminated their major survival competitors. About 66 million years ago the dinosaurs, themselves, ceased to exist along with three-quarters of all life on earth because of another mass extinction. Dinosaurs had been the most powerfully successful creatures in history before their sudden exit. The […]