I see no reason to segregate scientific and technical posts from humanistic ones. In my life, scientific concerns mix with ethical ones, and they shade into a philosophical interest in the nature of cognition and the nature of people. Doing science is as creative as writing fiction, and I get inspiration for both from the same gods.
You will find little here on current politics. I'm activist, but in causes not symptoms. Experience in martial arts shows me that the sure way to lose is reactivity; but if you stay cool and remember your training and what you're there for then you achieve goals and, when conflict is unavoidable, you fight and win. The idea of the liberal arts I was brought up in is that broad understanding of cultures and ideas gives you deeper, better goals -- making success more likely and more satisfying. Negatively, the hysteria since 9/11 shows how a country frightened and reactive can destroy itself more than an enemy can. I'm trying to contribute by changing the terms of discourse. See 
One fact shouldn't require special mention; but -- given the nature of the society in which I've grown up and lived -- it often does: namely that I'm gay. You'll see it in some posts and in some links below. I'm proud of being gay and do not hide; more about this on the 
Tao Te Ching —
The Classic about Ways And Instances
Lao Tzu
(Translated, with comments, by William P. Coleman)
Chapter 7
Heaven is eternal, and earth endures.
About heaven and earth:
the reason they can be eternal and enduring
is they don’t live detached in themselves — and so they live forever.
Therefore,
a sage puts his self in the background — and his self is out front;
he rejects his self — and his self survives.
Isn’t it because he has no personal business
that he’s able to accomplish his personal business?
| <– Chapter 6 |
Chapter 8 –> |
my comments:
When I trained in Aikido, our sensei never let us refer to the person we were training with as our “opponent.” He or she was always our “partner.”
It wasn’t just a matter of terminology — it was a basic state of mind. If you join with an attacker to become a single entity together, then the inherent forces of the universe will work themselves out through you both — in the action you go through. To exactly the extent and in exactly the way there was injustice on the attacker’s part, the balance will be restored. But, if you take it upon yourself unilaterally to become the avenging angel, you will lose — even when you’re right. This is not a matter of theory or conjecture: it’s re-proven in practice in Aikido dojos around the world every day.
I’ve found it works equally in Tai Chi, pushing hands.
For comparison, I’m including the translation by Lin Yutang, which I always love and respect, even when I disagree:
7. Living for Others
The universe is everlasting.
The reason the universe is everlasting
Therefore it can long endure.Therefore the Sage puts himself last,
Regards his body as accidental,
Is it not because he does not live for Self
That his Self is realized?
Tags: Aikido, Ancient China, Lao Tzu, life, Lin Yutang, Tai Chi, Tao Te Ching, Taoism, thoughts, translation
