This post continues my Story Structure series.
Some people may have found the writing examples in my previous posts, Pieter Brueghel and W.H. Auden and Two Frescoes, by Giotto and by Taddeo Gaddi, unconvincing — because a painting, which tells its story in a static snapshot, isn’t like a movie, which progresses in time.
I disagree: I think there’s significant overlap. But, OK.
I can give examples from music, which does progress in time.
In fact, classical music from the “Classical” Period (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) and the “Romantic” period (Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms) had something that superficially might seem like 3-Act Structure. Read the rest of this entry »
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 
