Category Archives: Uncategorized

How to thrive while living

Posted on March 1, 2018 by hessd

In May of last year, Carol Marat wrote a piece called “How to Thrive While Living Alone.” Nearly everything in my response to this lovely piece could be construed as criticism of it, so I want to take the time … Continue reading →

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Recharge your battery!

Posted on December 13, 2017 by hessd

There is a new ad by a product called 5 Hour Energy that I found really appealing—until I had a chance to think about it. [1] Then I found it appalling. Today I’d like to write about the appalling part. … Continue reading →

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My first victory lap

Posted on December 10, 2017 by hessd

The first day of my first victory lap is December 17, 2017. That will be the day after I turn 80. I can hardly wait. What is a “victory lap?” It’s an old story, well known by my family. Not … Continue reading →

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Righteousness v. Mercy in Matthew’s account

Posted on December 1, 2017 by hessd

Joseph was a righteous man. Matthew 1:18 That’s what it says right there. “Her husband (it says in the previous line) being righteous AND not willing to expose her publicly.” OK, let’s start off with the apologies. First to Professor … Continue reading →

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Personal authenticity and robots

Posted on November 29, 2017 by hessd

I had never heard of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics (FRR) until I read “Bad Day for Human Dignity” in This Week magazine, [1] but there is such a foundation and I’d like to explore today what it might propose … Continue reading →

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I was “only joking”

Posted on November 15, 2017 by hessd

The serious work to be done in this essay is a consideration of what the word “only” contributes to the expression, “I was only joking.” This is something that might be said by someone who has just been reproved for … Continue reading →

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A Better World

Posted on November 4, 2017 by hessd

Jean Paul Sartre published Being and Nothingness in 1943. I was five years old, so I missed most of the early discussions, but as I came to understand it, Sartre argues that life has no intrinsic meaning at all and … Continue reading →

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A Marriage Covenant

Posted on November 1, 2017 by hessd

We call it a “marriage covenant” without thinking much about it. A covenant is a “coming together,” certainly; every way of parsing the word must note com = “together” and venire = “to come.” But we “come together” in so … Continue reading →

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Is “the good doctor” candid?

Posted on October 14, 2017 by hessd

You can ask questions so that they are easy or so that they are hard. This one seems hard to me. [1] The doctor—the titular doctor in the new ABC series, The Good Doctor—is a very young man. Also autistic. … Continue reading →

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What to say to the climate change deniers of Texas and Florida

Posted on September 14, 2017 by hessd

This is the prime moment for environmentalists who have been screaming their heads off about the urgency of the need to change our practices and begin to deal seriously with the global warming catastrophe. This is the time when they—“we” … Continue reading →

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