< Back The Science Behind the 7-Second Rule Dr. Stuti Pardhe "First impressions swiftly shape neural pathways, steering our social interactions through rapid cognitive processes." The concept of the "7-second rule" is often linked to swift assessments or forming initial impressions in the first moments of an encounter. While not a strict scientific principle, it resonates with the notion that our brains excel at swiftly processing information, potentially tied to creating and activating neural pathways. Neural pathways are links between neurons (nerve cells) in the brain, enabling signal transmission. The brain's capability to establish and reinforce these pathways is termed neuroplasticity. Here's how the 7-second rule might relate to neural pathways: Rapid Processing and First Impressions: The brain can handle a vast amount of information quickly. When meeting someone or encountering a new situation, the brain promptly evaluates visual cues, facial expressions, body language, and other nonverbal signals. This rapid processing contributes to forming initial impressions within seconds. Thin Slicing and Neural Efficiency: "Thin slicing" means making quick judgments based on limited information. This swift cognitive process likely stems from neural efficiency—the brain's adaptation for rapid decision-making crucial for survival. In the context of the 7-second rule, thin slicing aids in forming initial impressions, possibly activating specific neural pathways linked to swift decision-making. Neural Plasticity and Adaptation: Neural plasticity allows the brain to adapt based on experiences. Quick judgments and first impressions can impact strengthening or weakening existing neural pathways. Consistent positive first impressions might reinforce neural pathways associated with positive social interactions over time. Emotional Responses and Neural Connectivity: First impressions often trigger emotional responses. Positive or negative emotions can influence neurotransmitter release, affecting connectivity and strength of associated neural pathways. Over time, repeated emotional responses might contribute to habitual thought patterns. While the 7-second rule doesn't strictly dictate neural pathway formation, it highlights the brain's swift cognitive processes and its ability to form rapid judgments. It's crucial to note that the brain's plasticity permits ongoing adaptation and rewiring based on experiences. Hence, individuals can consciously shape their neural pathways through deliberate thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes. In essence, the 7-second rule corresponds to the brain's quick processing, thin slicing, and neural pathway formation. These mechanisms influence the swift judgments and initial impressions formed during social interactions. Neuroplasticity allows ongoing adaptation, offering opportunities for individuals to consciously impact their thought patterns and responses. Dr. Stuti Pardhe is a dedicated professional with a broad spectrum of experience spanning social work, clinical therapy, and alternative modalities. With a profound commitment to mental and public health, she aspires to be a global Brand Ambassador and Role Model, leaving a positive impact on humanity. Click above to return to Winter 2024. Previous Next

< Back Navigating Easter to Pentecost Magesh "Jesus was always teaching. Teaching, all the time." Wait. Pray. Teach. I have been incredibly lucky as a musician to work with some of the world's biggest pop stars like Rihanna, Lionel Richie, Ricky Martin, and a host of others. I attribute my success to hard work and faith in the Lord. The music business, like everything else, has its seasons, and people act in accordance with these seasons. For some reason, people seem confused as to what to do between Easter and Pentecost. Many feel uneasy, unsure of what steps to take. I feel I have a great system that keeps me focused on my faith. It comes down to three simple steps: Wait. Pray. Teach. I would like to talk in-depth about each of these three topics. Waiting is easily the hardest! The world moves so fast today with new technology and our need for instant everything. In the music business, there is a lull in the time after Easter because most major tours have already been booked by this time of year. So there is nothing to do but wait. That being said, I still like being proactive. I organize small club gigs with local bar managers and promoters. These shows are usually low-stress, although they don't pay as well as performing with a major artist. Waiting requires a certain mindset. You have to trust in God's plan and know that He has a way for you. It's important not to get impatient and submit to temptation. In the music business, temptation usually comes in the form of drugs and alcohol. I'm happy to say I never engaged in these negative behaviors due to my faith in the Lord. The period between Easter and Pentecost is a great opportunity to reflect while you wait. I usually write down what I'm thankful for in my life. I also look back on my past success as a springboard to create new motivation. I accept that during this season, I may not have an overabundance of work but more than enough to get by. This brings me to my next point. Prayer. There is nothing easier than praying when everything is going well in your life. If you have had lots of uphill battles and challenges, it may not be so easy. Having faith that things will work out in your life is easy when you trust the Lord. I can't remember the musician who said, "Sacred as the prayer that asks for nothing." Pray for yourself but pray for others also. I remember reading that Jesus was always teaching. Teaching, all the time. My life in the music was always hectic so teaching all the time wasn't possible. However, I always took advantage of teaching opportunities that came up during the period between Easter and Pentecost. Drum clinics were the easiest way for me to teach. They were usually held at a music store on a Monday night. The music stores liked putting these on because a top professional would demonstrate the latest gear and talk about music. This always led to packed audiences which led to lots of sales! I liked doing these drum clinics for more selfless reasons. I got to teach others how to play music. My favorite part of the clinics was the question and answer segment at the end. This was enjoyable because I got to interact with all types of people. It made me feel good that my experience could help someone on their musical journey. I feel we all have some gift. Something we can teach to someone else. Whether that is how to cook a meal, fix a car, or throw a basketball. Teaching is a great way of spreading love. This reminds me of Corinthians 1:13 "Love is about action, how a person lives for the Lord and obeys him and how a person lives for others and serves them." A friend of mine knew that the period after Easter wasn't super busy for me and asked if I would teach at a shelter for troubled youth. I jumped at the chance! This felt like the perfect opportunity for me to really give back. I felt as though the Lord's talent was coming through me and now it could affect the lives of young people who were in vulnerable positions. Not only did I get to teach these young people about music and show business, but I also got my sponsors involved. The sponsors gave everyone in the audience a free pair of sticks and a book on drumming for beginners. This really put a smile on everyone's face. So remember the next time you are unsure of what to do with your time after Easter. Remember this formula: wait, pray, teach. Magesh has written for “Lessonface,” “Aeyons,” “The Modern Rogue,” “Euronews,” “The Roland corporation,” “Penlight,” and “Elite Music.” He writes several monthly publications on music education. In the past, Magesh has written for parenting, humor, mental health, and travel websites as well. Return to our Holy Days Table of Contents Previous Next

< Back You have Nothing to Lose but Your Clouds...What if you could vote to change the weather? David Cowles May 3, 2022 Suppose every day we could vote what weather we were to have tomorrow. What fighting there would be, what killing of one neighbor by another…most things that we vote for do not really matter, you are a little more or a little less uncomfortable as the government does one thing or another but the weather oh dear…that would be a disaster.” “Suppose every day we could vote what weather we were to have tomorrow. What fighting there would be, what killing of one neighbor by another…most things that we vote for do not really matter, you are a little more or a little less uncomfortable as the government does one thing or another but the weather oh dear…that would be a disaster.” ( Everybody’s Autobiography by Gertrude Stein) The year is 2075. Scientists have finally figured out how to control the weather. For centuries everybody has talked about it, but nobody has ever done anything about it, until now! Scientists now control the weather, but we still control the scientists. Each evening, we citizens decide by majority vote what the next day’s weather will be. We logon to our computers or smart phones and pick: high temp, low temp, sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, etc. Our present political parties would quickly disappear (irrelevant now), and they would be replaced by competing lobbies: beach goers, ice skaters, sunbathers, farmers, skiers, sailors, etc. But this state-of-affairs would likely prove unstable. As Ms. Stein suggests, it could quickly degenerate into social chaos with violent conflicts breaking out among opposing ‘parties’, i.e., gangs. On the other hand, I do like all the new political slogans that are cropping up. My favorite so far: ‘Sunbathers of the world, unite; you have nothing to lose but your clouds!’ Of course, it is also possible that the reverse would happen. It just might occur to us that compromise was the only viable course: seasonal variation in temperatures, a mix of sun and rain, and a certain number of days set aside each year to meet the needs of ‘special interests’: swimmers, skaters, skiers, sailors, etc. In other words, we could decide to keep things exactly as they are now! Well, not exactly as they are. Nature has provided something for everyone, but the body politic might be willing to ride roughshod over the interests of a few folks on the edges: storm chasers, snow ploughers, rescue workers, i.e., and of course, meteorologists. Of course, there would be unintended, and at least initially unwelcome consequences: what would we talk about during those awkward pauses in a conversation? Could local TV news programs survive without a weather segment? But this fable raises many more serious issues, for example: How balanced are the forces of order and chaos in society? When they clash, what is it that determines the outcome? Are there limits to the justice or utility of majority rule? And if so, what lies beyond? If you enjoyed this ‘Thought while Shaving’ and would like to take a deeper dive into this topic, check out the feature length article, Meteorological Democracy , in Issue #1 of AT Magazine , to be published on 6/1/22. Anytime from 6/1 on, just click on aletheiatoday.com . Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

< Back Maya David Cowles Sep 27, 2021 “Nothing is everything” is an advertising slogan for a new drug that treats plaque psoriasis. Of course, in this context “nothing” refers to unblemished skin while “everything” refers to the goal of the treatment. But what could “nothing is everything” mean in other contexts? “Nothing is everything” is an advertising slogan for a new drug that treats plaque psoriasis. Of course, in this context “nothing” refers to unblemished skin while “everything” refers to the goal of the treatment. But what could “nothing is everything” mean in other contexts? One branch of contemporary physics claims that ‘everything’ emerges spontaneously out of ‘nothing’. Include in this camp Big Bang Theory, Bootstrapping, and the idea of Negative Vacuum Pressure. Another branch of physics claims that ‘everything’ inevitably becomes ‘nothing’. Include in that camp the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Carnot et al), Entropy, Big Crunch, and Heat Death. In one sense both groups are saying the same thing, nothing = everything, but in another sense, they are saying the exact opposite of one another. Of course, one could belong to both schools simultaneously: everything emerges spontaneously out of nothing, and everything ultimately decays back into nothing. This is probably the most cogent formulation of this idea. However, it has consequences. It threatens to reduce so-called reality to the status of ‘maya’ or the cosmos to the status of a virtual particle. Opposing these views is the idea that the cosmos has a transcendent origin (God?) and that whatever is can never not-be (Parmenides, Servino). Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

< Back Logos (not Legos) David Cowles Jun 9, 2026 “If Being is an organism, logos is its skeleton; if it’s an edifice, logos is the foundation and the frame.” 1500 Words, 7 minute read Do you like riddles? Give these a try: (1) What do people fail to comprehend before and after they have heard it? (Heraclitus) (2) What is shared by everyone but acknowledged by no one? (Heraclitus) (3) What separates us from what is closest to us? (Heraclitus) (4) What was before all things, through which all things came to be? (St. John) (5) What scatters all things and gathers them together…simultaneously? (Heraclitus) (6) What is with God (spirit) outside history and with us (flesh) in history? (St. John) (7) How do we know that all things are one? (Heraclitus) Each of these riddles has the same answer and, you guessed it, the answer is logos . But that doesn’t help very much, does it? What is this logos and how can it be all things to all people (as above)? Logos is an ancient Greek word, of course, whose meaning has evolved. The original concept was that of a weir or net, useful for example in fishing. Logos first emerged as an organizing principle in the philosophy of Heraclitus, a 5 th century BCE pre-Socratic from Ephesus , modern Turkey. After a stint with the Stoics, logos resumed center stage with Heraclitus’ fellow Ephesian, the Apostle John (c. 80 CE). It is no exaggeration to say that John’s Gospel is Christianity’s founding philosophical document (vs. biographies, letters, diaries, sermons, exhortations, hymns, etc. elsewhere in the New Testament). Today, logos is typically translated as ‘word’ – not wrong, but certainly the semantic minimum . Odd too, because John uses a completely unrelated term whenever he’s referring to a unit of speech. If we’re sticking with the language metaphor, then logos is more like syntax than word . More broadly, logos suggests order, i.e. the way uniform spacetime accommodates non-linear concentrations of energy such as subatomic particles, atoms and molecules, objects and organisms, galaxies and their clusters, to wit the way it helps me catch a fish. If Being is an organism, logos is its skeleton; if it’s an edifice, logos is the foundation and the frame. On the other hand, logos is nothing like an architect’s drawing. Blueprints specify a building’s details down to the positioning of fixtures in the bathrooms. Logos , on the other hand, is ‘detail agnostic’. It does not care how spacetime clumps, only that it does so inexorably and spontaneously: “Light appeared in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 5) It is as if your contractor said, “Here is the house’s footprint; it’s non-negotiable. But you can break up the interior space (rooms, corridors, etc.) anyway you wish. One great room, 100 tiny cells, it’s up to you.” *** “Cold enuf 4 ya?” (What, you don’t speak New England ?) If it is, then pour some water in a bowl and watch it freeze. Fascinated? Well, it’s better than watching paint dry! Ok, so do it again…and again. Each time, you begin with a liquid and end up with a solid. But the process is not instantaneous; phase change takes place over time, and the specific sequence of crystallization never repeats…exactly. Did you make videos? Then note that while no two crystallizations are the same, there’s no way to distinguish one pattern generation (in space and time) from another…except point. The most we can say is, “They look different.” The territory is the map. Or we could say that the crystallization patterns (in space and time) differ from one another infinitesimally. Therefore the difference between any two patterns is the difference between every two patterns. We could say the ‘difference’ is really a differance (Jacques Derrida). “Cold enuf 4 ya?” No worries, I’ve got a Markov Blanket that will keep you warm (below). *** Logos is a rich philosophical concept, an abstract model of physical process. Recently, however, developments in math and physics have identified concrete correlates. For example, in 1995 Michael Talegrand conjectured that given any unspecified number of points scattered across an unspecified number of dimensions, it is always possible to connect some of these nodes to form a convex surface that divides the space asymmetrically into a compact, self-contained interior and its exterior template. Unexpectedly, Talegrand’s conjecture was recently proven (with some help from AI) and is now a theorem. It basically states that the tendency of spacetime to self-organize is endemic. Logos is what Being is. Order is neither imported nor injected; it emerges naturally. This tendency of chaotic elements to self-order ( logos ) is what distinguishes fecund Being from sterile Void. Logos is Being and Being logos . That is how there is something rather than nothing. The Book of Genesis outlines the process. Beginning with that inert Void, the primal separation of light from dark kicks off a process (crystallization?) that results in the World as we know it today. Genesis , of course, attributes the process to divine agency but there is no reason, at least not initially, to accept that conclusion. *** The bifurcation of spacetime creates a non-linear gradient that distinguishes inside from out . In living organisms (cells), this gradient takes the form of a semi-permeable membrane, an organelle responsible for the structural integrity of the organism and for its long term survival in an ever changing environment. To achieve this dual mandate, the membrane must enable, but censor and ultimately limit, the exchange of energy/matter/information between the interior and the exterior of the organism. This limited exchange of elements across a non-linear gradient is characteristic of so-called dissipative systems . When spacetime self-orders, it does not break into inert monads, forming a multiverse. Solidarity is always preserved by logos . Here Aquinas was right, “Being is one!” And so Riddle #7 is solved. Congratulations, BTW. I beg your pardon: I promised you a Markov Blanket (above) and so far all I’ve delivered is a semi-permeable membrane. You must be freezing! What gives? Well, turns out our membrane includes a Markov Blanket, so it’s everything I promised you…and more! (With a track record like this, I should run for public office.) To the extent a Markov Blanket is in place, interior and exterior are isolated. Nothing inside can communicate with anything outside, or vice-versa, without the intermediation of the Blanket: I → MB → O and O → MB → I but never I ↔ O. In living organisms, a Markov Blanket is one function of a membrane. It preserves the integrity of the interior. It functions like Big Brother (TV show or novel); like a prison warden, it reviews all communication between inmates and the outside world; it mediates all communication…until it doesn’t. Communication is one thing. Food and Waste are something else again. The warden does not monitor the daily delivery of food nor the continuous discharge of waste. These functions are organic to a prison. The membrane allows order to be concentrated and conserved in convex regions of spacetime known variously as ‘insides, interiors, figures, or bubbles’, even as the whole (inside/outside) obeys the 2 nd Law of Thermodynamics, i.e. even as entropy increases inexorably. This remarkable existential feat is known as homeostasis , a complex of self-regulatory mechanisms that allow a figure to maintain its integrity (order) against an entropic ground for an extended period. In the case of living organisms, e.g. cells, homeostasis requires a regulated exchange of particles/energy between the interior and exterior of a cell. These exchanges serve solely to maintain the character and the integrity of the Bubble. They do not satisfy Gregory Bateson’s ontological criterion: they do not constitute ‘a difference that makes a difference’. In other contexts, figures can act intentionally to modify their grounds ( techne ); this is not that! Here the exchange of energy occurs only to suppress change, i.e. to propagate the status quo . It has no informational value. Other than homeostatic noise, no direct communication occurs between interior and exterior . All communication is mediated by the membrane functioning as a Markov Blanket. Information generated internally impacts the Blanket and, if appropriate, the Blanket impacts the exterior. Likewise, information generated externally… The natural tendency of spacetime to bifurcate into convex shapes, sustained by homeostatic processes but otherwise segregated from their exteriors by a Markov Blanket, is direct, experiential evidence of the operation of logos at the heart of Being. So back to our riddles: (1) What do people fail to comprehend before and after they have heard it? logos. (2) What is shared by everyone but acknowledged by no one? logos. (3) What separates us from what is closest to us? logos. (4) What was before all things, through which all things came to be? logos. (5) What scatters all things and gathers them together…simultaneously? logos. (6) What is with God (spirit) outside history and with us (flesh) in history? logos. (7) How do we know that all things are one? See above, logos. Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

< Back 03/16/2022 So for 25 years you do nothing to anyone or for anyone; everyone does everything to you and for you. Other people feed you, clothe you, shelter you, teach you, play with you, hurt you, etc. Then, for the next 50 years, you do everything to and for others: you feed them, clothe them, shelter them, teach them, play with them, yes, hurt them. More later… -David So for 25 years you do nothing to anyone or for anyone; everyone does everything to you and for you. Other people feed you, clothe you, shelter you, teach you, play with you, hurt you, etc. Then, for the next 50 years, you do everything to and for others: you feed them, clothe them, shelter them, teach them, play with them, yes, hurt them. More later… -David Previous Next

< Back Nicholas Senz Contributor Nicholas Senz is a husband and father who tries every day to live Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." He is Director of Religious Education at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Mill Valley, CA, a managing editor at Catholic Stand, and a Master Catechist. A native of Verboort, Oregon, Nicholas holds master's degrees in philosophy and theology from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. His work has appeared at Catholic Exchange, Crisis Magazine, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, and his own blog, Two Old Books . Nicholas is a science fiction aficionado, Tolkien devotee, avid Anglophile, and consumer of both police procedurals and popcorn in large quantities, usually together. Twitter at @NickSenz . Transubstantiation for the Rest of Us

Imagine a complete Theology (Judeo-Christian), Ethics (Pauline), and Cosmology (21 st century), condensed into just 50 words. Now imagine an army of out-of-work college professors and librarians. That is the Lord's Prayer. Time Crystals and the Lord's Prayer The Lord’s Prayer is a fractal: It consists of 3 stanzas, each in turn consisting of 3 verses, each verse self-similar to the other verses in its stanza, each stanza self-similar to the other stanzas in the prayer and to the prayer as a whole. Cosmologists today like to talk of the Universe as if it were a hologram (The Matrix). LP presents it just so! The Lord's Prayer Paul’s First Letter to Corinthians includes a well-articulated system of values, which upon analysis, turns out to be an elaboration of ethics embodied in LP:er for a crystal of time? What if I threw in Knicks tickets?” St. Paul's Lord's Prayer But before all else, LP is the cornerstone of a theological and spiritual tradition with roots in ancient Judaism and parallels in RCC tradition and Kabbalah. Kabbalah and the Lord's Prayer Folks often wonder why Jesus only taught his disciples one short prayer. Why? What more was there to say? The Our Father “This tiny prayer…is a cyber-wonks dream. The density of information content is out of this world, quite literally!” Readers React What's the buzz about? Our readers' reactions to Aletheia Today... Additional Reading Can't get enough of Aletheia Today's content? Check out the books that inspire our magazine.

< Back Corinthians David Cowles How is it that God can perform the miracle of Incarnation? Or to put it more accurately, how is it that God is the miracle of Incarnation. In the Bible’s New Testament, 14 letters (‘epistles’) have traditionally been attributed to Paul of Tarsus, St. Paul. The authenticity of some of these letters is in dispute, but scholars agree that 7 of them were almost certainly written by Paul himself. One of the most important is Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians , often referred to simply as Corinthians (even though there is a second letter from Paul to the congregation). Corinthians is one of the oldest books of the New Testament (probably written before 60 AD). It reflects Christian Christology, ecclesiology and eschatology during a relatively early period in Christianity’s development. It is important to note that Paul wrote this letter while he was in Ephesus, a city in Asia Minor that has an outsized role in the history of Western philosophy and theology. Heraclitus, for example, was a member of the Ephesian royal family and John the Evangelist is thought to have been the Bishop of Ephesus at one time. Just before visiting Ephesus, Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans from Corinth. While the doctrines advanced in the two letters are certainly compatible, Corinthians marks a profound change in emphasis. While Romans is focused on sin and the salvific power of Christ’s crucifixion, Corinthians focuses more on Christ’s resurrection, the role of the Spirit and the nature of eternal life. Did Paul’s visit to Ephesus enrich his theology? Like any ordinary letter, Corinthians is a mixed bag. It contains personal greetings, biographical updates, advice, exhortations, and even a bit of old-fashioned gossip. But woven into the fabric of this letter, in between the dominant lacunae, lies a complete systematic theology. Nowhere except in the Gospel of John is early Christian theology so thoroughly spelled out. We proclaim Christ crucified…the power of God and the wisdom of God… Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption… Paul begins by juxtaposing ‘Christ crucified’ with ‘the power and wisdom of God.’ Superficially, the two seem to be in conflict, but Paul and his followers knew differently. Christ crucified is precisely ‘the power and the wisdom of God.’ How so? Creation is a neat trick if you can pull it off, but God’s defining ‘power’ lies in the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. God, the ‘creator of heaven and earth’ quite literally turns himself inside out to become a single quantum of being (Jesus) in the vast spatio-temporal universe. It is as true to say that the God is embedded in Universe as it is to say that Universe is embedded in God. Christianity threads with the needle between pantheism, on the one hand, and Deism, on the other. In Paul’s theology, God is ultimately “all in all.” You might say that God manifests himself in three stages: Creation & Providence Incarnation & Resurrection Salvation & Redemption And wisdom? Wisdom is you being aware of the world, and of yourself, and of yourself in the world, and of yourself being aware of yourself in the world, all at the same time. Wisdom is very different from knowledge. All the knowledge in the world does not make a person wise. Knowledge tends to be linear; not wisdom! Knowledge can masquerade as static information; wisdom is always dynamic. Knowledge is something you can park on a shelf; wisdom is a way of living, a state of being. If you are wise, you understand ‘the ecology of the moment.’ You are neither subject nor object, noun nor verb. You are the perceiver-perceived and the perceived-perceiving. God’s wisdom is his perception of himself through, with, and in Christ. Old Testament Wisdom ( Sophia ) is related to New Testament Logos . The Father is perceiver-perceived while Christ is perceived-perceiving. That is wisdom. God is wise by nature, you are wise through grace and through worship, study, prayer and good works. With wisdom comes righteousness, sanctification, and ultimately redemption. Through wisdom, one comes to know what is right (‘righteousness’), one comes to live what is right (‘sanctification’), one comes to be what is right (‘redemption’). This is why Solomon, the wisest of men, asked God for one gift only, Wisdom, trusting that all else would follow. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things will be given to you.” (Mt. 6:33) How is it that God can perform the miracle of Incarnation? Or to put it more accurately, how is it that God is the miracle of Incarnation. The Nicene Creed tells us it is “by the power of the Holy Spirit,” and Paul agrees. (Or perhaps we should say that the Council of Nicaea agrees with Paul.) It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father. The Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son” ( Nicene Creed ) and Paul tells us that the Spirit dwells in each of us. Because we have received the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells in us, we have the mind of Christ. Everything belongs to you be it… the world or life or death, or the present or the future, all belong to you and you to Christ and Christ to God. Each of us has a unique role to play in the cosmic dance. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ…whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him… Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. We belong to Christ, but not as material possessions. We belong to Christ as members of his body. Because we are members of Christ, the Spirit that dwells in Christ dwells in us. Paul’s theology is just as materialist as anything Karl Marx ever wrote. There is no wimpy bourgeois idealism here! In fact, Paul’s philosophy might best be described as Christian Materialism, an effort, in my view successful, to explain how the cosmos works at the most fundamental, and therefore most general, level. Because we are members of Christ, we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are an integral part of the cosmos (in Christ we inherit the cosmos), and we are part of something even greater than that. Everything belongs to us, but we in turn belong to the Lord of ‘everything’ (i.e., Christ). We are not alone, we are not our own! For us, there is one God, the father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist. Note the variation in voice here. We receive all things from the Father (active voice), we exist for the Father (passive voice), but it is through Christ (middle voice) that all things, including ourselves, come to be. From him, for him, through him – one reality perceived from 3 perspectives. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Christianity is a materialist theology, and nothing makes that point more clearly than the Eucharist. Eucharist is not Christ symbolically, or metaphorically, or even just spiritually; it is Christ materially, body as well as spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit… But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person... As a body is one, though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. For in the Spirit, we were all baptized into (his) one body. We belong to Christ; but we do not just belong to him (I-It), we are members of his body (I-Thou), and not members in the way that elements of a set are members of that set or in the way that friends become members of a club. We are members of Christ as parts of his glorified body! A body is unlike a mathematical set and unlike a social club. In a body, each member’s health reflects the health of the whole; and in turn, the health of the whole (body) reflects the health of each of its members. This is the language of mutuality and reciprocity, not dualism: subject/object, active/passive. A body has many parts, and each of those parts makes a unique contribution to the overall functioning of the body. So, too, each of us has a unique set of gifts and a unique role to play in the community that is Christ’s body. Now the body is not a single part but many… God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one (the same) part, where would the body be? Christianity is not only materialist; it is also pluralist. The many constitute one, and that one adds to the many. Buckminster Fuller was fond of saying, “Universe is plural and at minimum two.” Was he paraphrasing Paul? There are many parts, yet one body… But God has so constructed the body…that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. The body is one organism with many organs. These organs (parts) do not just relate to the body (whole); they also relate to (i.e., have the same concern for) each another. In this topology, each part relates, not just to the whole, but to every part of that whole. In fact, it is that network of relatedness, that mutual concern, agape (love), that constitutes the body as a body. The earliest Western philosopher, Anaximander, held a similar view. He believed that it was as a result of mutual concern (“reck”) among parts that the whole came to be. 20th century British philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, shared this view as well. In his ‘Philosophy of Organism’ every part (‘actual entity’) is related to every other part and to the whole as ‘whole.’ A relates to B. A relates to C. B relates to C. A relates to B in C and B relates to A in C. Confused? Try this: If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all parts share its joy. Now you are Christ’s body and individually parts of it. To use Whitehead’s language, God does not just ‘prehend’ us, we prehend each other, and we prehend God. This tight network of relatedness is, I think, what John meant by Logos . (According to Martin Heidegger, originally, logos originally meant ‘net’ or ‘weir.’) According to Anaximander (above), the whole exists because of the parts, but the parts in turn subsist in the whole. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. This is a remarkable verse. It rules out the possibility that Christ was raised, but we will not be. Paul argues that either there is resurrection or there is not. If there is, then Jesus was raised and will we be too; if there is not, then Jesus was not raised, nor will we be. Paul is an ontological democrat; he rejects the gnostic concept of an ontological hierarchy. Whitehead (above) agrees: God is not an exception to natural law, but its highest exemplar. Our fate is inextricably linked to Christ’s. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching and empty too your faith…if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain… Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If one rises, all rise, otherwise none rise. But since we are members of Christ’s body, if Christ rises, we must inevitably rise with him. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep… For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ all shall be brought to life, but each one in proper order; Christ the first fruits; then at this coming, those who belong to Christ… Christ has been resurrected and so as members of his body we can be assured that we too will be resurrected. Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father… When everything is subjected to him, then the Son will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. Alfred North Whitehead (above) thought that this was the pivotal verse in all scripture. But in another sense, it is merely a restatement of a much earlier idea: “Everything belongs to you and you to Christ and Christ to God.” But in this later version, Paul goes one step further and points out explicitly that God is ‘all in all.’ This is certainly the climax of Corinthians. But Paul goes on to give us a deeper understanding of resurrection: What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel…So, also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible… It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. Only by living (and dying) in the spatio-temporal world can we be resurrected in the eternal world: a seed must fall to the ground and ‘die.’ Mortality is the gateway to eternity. We understandably dread death, the suffering, the uncertainty, the utter loss of control. We pray to be delivered from danger and ill health so that me may live as long as possible. Fortunately, God does not grant all petitions! If he did, we might ask him for immortality, and he might grant it, and there is no greater punishment than immortality (think of the poor souls in Dante’s Inferno ). There is no greater punishment than immortality (think of the poor souls in Dante’s Inferno ). Unknowingly, we are praying for a fate far, far worse than death, but God will overlook our folly. Resurrection is physical and material, but it is not ‘natural.’ The resurrected body is different from the natural body. The natural body, for example, is ‘corruptible’ while the resurrected body is ‘incorruptible.’ The resurrected body is ‘spiritual’ but nonetheless physical. From here on, I will ‘shut up’ and let Paul speak for himself: Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not fall asleep, but we will all be changed, instantly, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality (sic). And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” … But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Image: Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?) (Dutch, 1606 - 1669 ), The Apostle Paul, c. 1657, oil on canvas, Widener Collection. David Cowles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aletheia Today Magazine. He lives with his family in Massachusetts where he studies and writes about philosophy, science, theology, and scripture. He can be reached at david@aletheiatoday.com. Previous Next

“So what is it that makes children so much better than us? First…a child is not a ‘mini-you’… Is an Octopus a mini-you? Then neither is a child.” < Back Christ and the Kids David Cowles Dec 1, 2023 “So what is it that makes children so much better than us? First…a child is not a ‘mini-you’… Is an Octopus a mini-you? Then neither is a child.” Jesus did not have a lot to say about childhood…but when he did speak, his words were blockbusters. In all three synoptic gospels, his rare, reported interactions with children all broadcast a single message: ‘ They are better than you !’ “Let the little children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14) As I said (paraphrasing Jesus), children are better than you; theirs is the Kingdom of God, and “…unless you turn and become like children, you shall not enter.” (Matthew 18:3) Israel at that time was a ‘caste-conscious’ society: ‘Pharisees talked only to Levites, and Levites talked only to God’. Among the lower castes were slaves, oxen, women, Samaritans, and children – a proper proletarian stew if ever there was one! Dry kindling, one spark short of a conflagration: “I have come to set the world on fire, and oh how I wish it were already ablaze.” (Luke 12:49) Today, if someone says you’re 'childlike', that might be meant as a compliment, but not in ancient Israel. There, to be compared to a child, would have been a great insult. And so, as always, Jesus’ message is revolutionary: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven…” (Matthew 18:4) and “…Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Mark 10:15) Karl Marx was ‘Jesus-light’. Marx advocated a specific revolution focused on access to the means of production. Jesus understood that no such ‘specific revolution’ could be successful. It’s pointless to put lipstick on a pig. And the proof is in the pudding. All of history’s specific revolutions have ended the same way: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” ( The Who ) Jesus, and the Christian movement around and after him, understood that only a ‘global’ revolution could succeed. Even before Jesus' birth, his mother is quoted as saying, “He (YHWH) has scattered the proud…put down the mighty…exalted the humble and meek. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:46–55) Society must be turned upside down. The stone which the builders rejected must become the cornerstone. To cement the point, Jesus, regarded by many, then and now, as the Messiah, the Lord of the Universe, self-identifies as a child: “…Whoever receives one child such as this receives me.” (Matthew 18:5) So what is it that makes children so much better than us? First, they are not proto-adults; a child is not a ‘mini-you’. They are an entirely different phenomenon. Is an Octopus a mini-you? Then neither is a child. Your brain is wired for action and production. You raise a family, earn a living, tend livestock, grow crops, build houses or work in a cube. Children can do none of these things. Their brains are wired for discovery and contemplation. They can rarely even impact the world, much less change it, but they can study it (and themselves in the process) and come to understand it, at least provisionally. Prior to about the age of 12, children’s brains are still ‘plastic’; they are in the process of wiring themselves based on the child’s experiences. During this developmental phase, children can juggle multiple, conflicting maps of the world at the same time; they are oblivious to the apparent inconsistencies. If some kind adult points one out, that adult is likely to be met with a shrug of the shoulder, meaning, “So what! Who cares?” (The child is being honest, not rude). Many years ago, I was playing with Play-Doh with a three-year-old grandchild; we made a car. But he startled me when he asked in all sincerity, “Why doesn’t it start?” At that moment, I realized for the first time the magnitude of the cognitive gulf that exists between adults and children. No wonder we can’t communicate; we don’t even share a common universe of discourse. Reading this, you might be tempted to say, “You just needed to teach him the principles of auto mechanics.” Sorry, but that is precisely the wrong response. Instead, you need to savor this rare window onto a radically different conceptual landscape. Soak it in; don’t stifle it! Children’s minds are more magical than they are scientific. Initially, children take events at face value. Very gradually, they come to realize that events can form patterns that allow us to make predictions and divert the flow of Heraclitus’ famous river. By the time we reach adulthood, we no longer see ‘one-off’ events at all; we see only patterns. We cannot see the elephant in a room if it is not part of our logos , our pattern of expectations. But put any child in a room with an elephant and I guarantee you, it will be seen, smelled, felt, and, God forbid, licked. Are you with me so far? Great, but that may soon change! Consider yourself warned. Events occur, patterns emerge, and we exploit those patterns to manipulate our world and optimize our experience in that world. What could possibly be wrong with that? Nothing…except those patterns are not of your own making. Once you realize that experience discloses order, you’re ready for what society calls ‘education’. Just as the invention of the calculator made arithmetic easier for generations of hapless youngsters, so ‘education’ in general has made it easier for adults to live productive lives. The message: “You don’t need to find patterns on your own. You stand on the shoulders of giants, and they have already found all the patterns you need to live a successful life. So, just learn them.” And so you do. You listen to the adults around you. You imitate what they do. Eventually, you go to school and learn to read, so you can inhale the welter of patterns others purport to have discovered. As you do, you lose even the ability to form patterns on your own. Use it or lose it; your native intelligence atrophies. Ultimately, you find that you have voluntarily exchanged your individual consciousness for a spot in the collective consciousness of the Borg. ( Star Trek – The Next Generation ) We are the Borg! (Sorry, Captain Picard.) How do we know? 97% of the things we think are actually the thoughts of others. We imagine that we are swapping information back and forth with our fellow adults, but in reality, we are just reading from a dogeared script. Unlike children, who see the world naked and as it is, we see the world masked by language. If you can’t say it, it doesn’t exist. We only see what our language allows us to see, and unfortunately, that is a highly distorted version of reality. Modern Indo-European allows us to see the world only in terms of subjects and objects, mediated by active or passive verbs. Worse, the ‘language mask’ creates ‘blind spots’, massive holes in the panorama of the world that our brains do not see. We think we’re looking at the whole picture when, in fact, we are only seeing a culturally curated version of the world. Children, of course, experience the world unfiltered. They recognize ‘truth’ that we don’t even notice. “When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things he (Jesus) was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, they were indignant and said to him, ‘Do you hear what they are saying?’ Jesus replied, ‘Yes, and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings, you have brought forth praise’?” (Matthew 21:15–16) So where does that leave us? First, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless we ‘convert’ and become childlike again. That’s bad enough, but it gets way worse. When we interact with children (not babies), we are almost always wearing the uniform of a drill sergeant. Well-meaning, we do precisely the wrong thing: we teach our children to ‘grow up’. Why? For what? So can they be as miserable and closed-off as we are? Apparently, misery does love company. “A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys. Painted wings and giant’s rings make way for other toys.” ( Peter, Paul, and Mary ) Adult toys! (I’ll spare you the enumeration; you’ve already been through enough.) So where does this leave us? Hint: it’s not good! “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42) We spare no effort encouraging our children to shed their ‘childish fantasies’, to stop ‘believing fairy tales’ and to begin living in ‘the real world’. When they do, inevitably but unwittingly, they ‘sin’. But they sin our sins – the sins we taught them – not their own sins; for their part, ‘ they know not what they do’. The sins of the parents are visited on them. David Cowles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aletheia Today Magazine. He lives with his family in Massachusetts where he studies and writes about philosophy, science, theology, and scripture. He can be reached at david@aletheiatoday.com . Return to Yuletide 2023 Share Previous Next Click here. Do you like what you just read? Subscribe today and receive sneak previews of Aletheia Today Magazine articles before they're published. Plus, you'll receive our quick-read, biweekly blog, Thoughts While Shaving. Subscribe Thanks for subscribing! Return to Table of Contents, Winter 2023 Issue Return to Table of Contents, Holiday Issue Return to Table of Contents, Halloween Issue Return to Table of Contents, Fall Issue Return to Table of Contents, Beach Issue Return to Table of Contents, June Issue

Philosophy, theology, and science merge in Aletheia Today, the magazine for people who believe in God and science. Process philosophy, scripture study, and critical essays bring science and faith together with western philosophers like Alfred North Whitehead and Jean-Paul Sartre. Deep dives into the meaning of the Old Testamant, the New Testament, and where the Bible fits into modern-day society. Is God real? Does Heaven exist? Find your answers to life's questions at Aletheia Today. Inside This Issue The Great Convergence Science & the Yellow Submarine – Part II In this issue of ATM, we will finish our journey. We will visit all the remaining “seas” (I promise), plus Pepperland itself. So, hang on tight! The Nature of Time Confining events within a single order of magnitude reinforces our tendency to categorize events as past, present, or future. After all, if a quantum of experience can be no more than one second long, almost everything must seem past or future from that perspective. Philosophy Imagine! Ridding the world of values comes at a very great price: “…they paved Paradise and put up a parking lot!” Parmenides I Who says there was no Facebook before Zuckerberg? It was just called ‘philosophy.’ Speaking Piraha The hidden grammar censor in our Euro-brains whispers inaudibly, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Why did the speaker place ‘tall’ and ‘basketball’ in the same sentence, unless they are somehow connected?” A major fallacy that comes with a huge price tag. Seen or Unseen, why the Background Matters If a tiny thread had the power to ruin a movie, what in my own life, deep in the background, bears such importance to my bigger picture? And if it’s so important, why isn’t it front and center? Theology Corinthians How is it that God can perform the miracle of Incarnation? Or to put it more accurately, how is it that God is the miracle of Incarnation. The Final Psalms Ultimately, the Kingdom of Heaven is the transfiguration of the historical realm into the eternal realm, according to God’s values. Culture & The Arts Learn to Swym “Language Endures. We Don’t” – now that is a bumper sticker! Social Dynamics Pulling that off was more artistic in his opinion than any of the “new age” stuff out there pushing the envelope. Tweens, Teens, & Young Adults Alice In Looking-glass world, there’s plenty of there and then, but not a whiff of here and now. Xiako Can't Count So, what’s up with the Piraha? How can they get by without numbers? Spirituality Judas Taught Me the Beatitudes This nasty turn unnerved me, so I gathered myself together and drew a table with my comfortable beatitudes on one side and my uncomfortable ones on the other... BeHukkotai: Why Land is Different Land is imbued with holiness, which means that, like God, it is beyond human measures of usefulness or control. The Serenity Prayer Is the Sermon ‘in the can’ after all? Prayer to Combat Disillusionment in Faith Readers React What's the buzz about? Our readers' reactions to Aletheia Today... Additional Reading Can't get enough of Aletheia Today's content? Check out the books that inspire our magazine.

< Back Kids and Curiosity David Cowles Jul 1, 2026 “No parent or grandparent fails to notice that their kids’ insatiable curiosity wanes with the onset of puberty.” 1500 words, 6 minute read In a short reflection in Scientific American (August 29, 2025) Andrea Tamayo accurately observed that children, as they age, seem ever less interested in exploring the world around them. She reasons that this might be due to linguistic cues coming from adults. For example, when talking to children, we might say “Let’s be scientists today” or “You’re such a good scientist!” This language focuses on science as an identity, a role, something you play at or perform, rather than something that is an integral part of daily living. Andrea is right, of course! No parent or grandparent fails to notice that their kids’ insatiable curiosity wanes with the onset of puberty. And yes, adults’ language can be spirit robbing and demotivating. But at most, the two phenomena are loosely connected and identifying one with the other denatures both. First, face facts: adults have a deeply felt need to infantilize the children in their orbit. In Andrea’s example, we make it abundantly clear to our charges that they are not doing real science (whatever that is), that they are not being real scientists…they are just playing . Adults are bigger and stronger and know more than most kids, so why do we feel a need to marginalize them and trivialize their contributions; why do we damn them with faint praise? My hypothesis : Consciously or not, adults realize that their rugrats are orders of magnitude smarter than they are and that makes us insecure and defensive. Wait, smarter than we are? My kid is smarter than me? You bet! Here’s how it works: A 10 year old’s brain processes information 4x more efficiently than a 40 year old’s. Raw mental acuity declines in what approximates a straight line (i.e. arithmetically) from birth to death. However, learning is predicated on what we already know (we stand on the shoulders of giants) and the average 40 year old knows 4² (16x) more than the average 10 year old. Knowledge increases geometrically: the magic of compound information . In one year, a 40 year old will learn 4x as much as a 10 year old, even though the 10 year old is learning 4x faster than we are: 1/4 x 16 = 4. That’s how it is that superannuated ‘know-it-alls’ can’t keep up with their size 10s. Memorize the periodic table? You have an edge. Find an imaginative solution to a unique problem? Don’t even bother! Let’s break this down. Studies show that the central nervous system ‘reorganizes’ according to a timeline that doesn’t map neatly onto the milestones we typically celebrate (6, 16, 21, etc.). For one study, scientists compared MRI diffusion scans of more than 3,800 people, ranging from newborns to 90-year-olds; they found that our brains ‘molt’ 4 times, once at around age 9, and then again around 32, 66, and 83. I am reminded of how caterpillars totally reassemble in the chrysalis as they become butterflies . Our brain’s connections wire themselves in a certain way from birth to nine years of age. Our neural architecture reorganizes as we prepare to enter adolescence and that pattern persists into our early 30’s, marking our transition to full onset adulthood . This is the point at which intelligence plateaus and personality crystalizes. Since Plato, Westerners have thought in terms of classes and their members. There is a class of objects known as ‘chairs’; they all serve a common function though no two of them are identical. Organizing experience into classes and members is a form of data compression; it is our way of adjusting to declining metal acuity. It works…but at a price: we are now one step removed from the material world as it actually happens. Children know no classes. They only learn how to ‘classify’ from adults. Initially, every object is its own class, a class of one. When I was a child, our house was filled with all sorts of interesting furniture. Each piece had its own unique name. I had no idea that what was called the Winged Chair was simply a chair that had wings . Children routinely nominalize adjectives. Ab initio , every noun is a proper noun. To the extent that we internalize Plato’s categorial scheme, tangible things become the intersections of abstract qualities; we lose contact with the concrete . Children have no role in society. They serve no function (unless ‘being cute’ qualifies). When children age from day care through kindergarten into first grade, they begin to understand their day to day experiences in the context of a ‘role’. How many parents have said, “Our job is to go to work and earn; your job is to go to school and learn?” And so learning becomes a scheduled task, not a spontaneous response to one’s environment. As we age further, we become immersed in our roles. We are players on a Little League team, members of a Cub Scout den, voices in a church choir. Later, we are in the cast of a high school musical, we play right guard on a football team, and we write for our school newspaper. We not only break down the external world into classes and their members, we define ourselves in the same way. Our roles abstract us from naked experience. We gain competence…but at the expense of the concrete contact that promotes curiosity. It doesn’t have to be this way! There’s nothing wrong with competence per se ; in fact, it’s a good thing and it is a prerequisite for survival in this world. The problem comes when we identify with the roles associated with those skills. We do not just ‘play’ football, we are football players; we do not just ‘write’, we are authors. And yes, Andrea, we do not just ‘do’ science, we are scientists. In fact of course, we are none of those things. We’re not anything in this world. We are, potentially at least, much, much more! We are the world transcending itself. We are not just conscious, we are consciousness . We are stereoscopically aware of our environment and of ourselves being aware of that environment. We are not just recursive, we are recursion . We are how the Universe looks at itself, judges itself…and adjusts itself. We are right to be terrified. The power is awesome…and we are totally alone with it. Unbearable! And so, like tweens on their first day of middle school, we sand-down our rough edges and cover-over our identifying marks. We yearn to be ‘just like everybody else’, someone who belongs, a member, one who plays role, an adult . As we get older, we ask, “Who am I?” and we expect an answer! Of course, Odysseus ( via Homer) gave us that answer 3000 years ago: we are Nemo , we are no one! More recently, we were reminded by Jean-Paul Sartre that we are Neant . We are the subjects of our lives, not artifacts of a civilization. We are like sleeper agents of a foreign power - not the USSR this time but God ( Kosmos or Gaia if you prefer). Our MO is to blend in, to attract no notice, to be as much like everyone else as possible. And just like sleeper agents during the Cold War, we are almost certain to go native . We forget all about our existential mission and we focus on lowering our handicap (golf talk). As we age, we become ever more identified with our roles. We become spouses, parents, employees, managers, entrepreneurs. Gradually, these are no longer things we do or even roles we assume; they become who (or what) we are. The pressure of living in our aspirational society is all consuming. We are 100% invested in making a living, raising a family, saving for retirement. Work/Life Balance is a meme without meaning. Or, if it means anything, it refers to balancing different roles , e.g. cutting back on the job so that we have time to coach our kids’ sports teams. There’s no question of making any room for us . So we gradually become what we are here to observe and correct; we become the problem we were meant to solve. And, of course, we eagerly perpetuate this cycle of doom with our own offspring; our fondest hope is for a mini-me. Once we’ve bought in, most of us will not have a realistic opportunity to pull back until we reach seniority (or senility, whichever comes first). Then we’ll yearn to reinvent ourselves, but by then we have no idea where to begin. Perhaps Social Security benefits should include a free class: Reawakening the Kid in you . Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.