Daily Devolutions

Entries Tagged as 'Daily Devolutions'

Luna Christo

May 6th, 2012 · No Comments · Daily Devolutions

Last night’s moon transit produced some stunning photography, including this apt juxtaposition which can be read several different ways. My preference is: “From Sky Spirits to Earth Gods”

(AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

[Read more →]

Tags:Jesus over Rio·super moon

Thomas Kinkade in Luminous Place

April 7th, 2012 · 2 Comments · Daily Devolutions

Thomas Kinkade is now presumably in a place that has all the luminosity of his paintings. When this blog was in its infancy, the spirit of whimsy possessed me for a brief post which deserves to be resurrected. May he rest in delightful peace:
Having long been interested in art and aesthetics, I must confess to [...]

Religion in America: The View from Britain

December 18th, 2011 · No Comments · Daily Devolutions

I always find it amusing when our British cousins, being a bit older and often wiser, look at the American scene and feel compelled to give us a gentle reminder or serious lecture. In this case it is a sage reminisce on the Founding Fathers, religion, and politics. The chiding was prompted by the usual [...]

Give Us Our Daily Bread

December 17th, 2011 · No Comments · Daily Devolutions

Here are some last minute gift ideas for those who like inspiration with their daily carmelized bread:
The seller suggests that quality is beside the transcendent point: “Normal toasters are tamed and subdued by unfortunate limitations; but great toasters rise above them and become Jesus & Virgin Mary Toasters.” The Jesus toast looks disturbingly [...]

Better Angels of Our Nature

October 8th, 2011 · 7 Comments · Daily Devolutions

Although I can acknowledge that the world is a better place because Steven Pinker is in it, it is harder for me to acknowledge — as Pinker argues in his new book The Better Angels of Our Nature — that the world has gotten better because violence has progressively declined during the course of human [...]

Between Christian Rock & Science Hard Place

September 23rd, 2011 · No Comments · Daily Devolutions, Evolution

Yesterday on NPR, Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan conducted a fascinating interview (Christians Divided Over Science of Human Origins) with Daniel Harlow, religion professor at Calvin College, and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The topic: Whether Genesis should be interpreted literally or metaphorically. NPR religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty [...]

EP Therapy: Foraging Camp for Autistics

June 17th, 2011 · 14 Comments · Daily Devolutions, Evolution

Everyone knows the experience: you happen upon a wreck and know you shouldn’t look but can’t help it. While there is a chance of seeing something disturbing, you look regardless. There should be a word for this and in the absence of one, I will call it car-wreck voyeurism. I felt something like this after [...]

A Theory of Mind

June 6th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Daily Devolutions

I am not talking about theory of mind the concept but A Theory of Mind, a newcomer to the blogging community written by Erika Salomon. Erika is a graduate student in social psychology at the University of Illinois.
She is one of Jesse Bering’s former students, having earned a master’s degree in Cognition and Culture at [...]

Stone Age Germans

April 1st, 2011 · No Comments · Daily Devolutions

At one elementary school in Germany, the fifth grade curriculum includes a unit on the “Stone Age.” As an anthropologist, I have to say this sounds great in theory. It was a bit morbid in execution.

As reported by Spiegel, the teachers invited a local farmer to provide instruction on killing and butchery. In years past, [...]

Believing & Perceiving

March 25th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Cognition, Daily Devolutions, Paranormal

Every once in a while, I encounter studies that deserve a category of their own. If I were feeling churlish, I might place them in a “No Sh*t” file; if I were feeling humorous, I might place them in my Bart Simpson “D’oh” folder.
It is an uncontroversial truism that learning affects perception and experience. This [...]

Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion