Date: 2008-12-05 11:43 Subject: Well, you're damned if you do and... Security: Public

I was thinking today that it sucks to make a pandora's box-type of choice - one where the consequences of taking an action may end up far outweighing the good of taking that action.  When stuck in a situation where the consequences of taking the action or not might be close to the same, I'm left with the feeling of never knowing if it was better to take the action or not take the action because once the moment has passed I'm going to tend to regret not doing the other thing anyway.

But as I sat here and thought about it, it occurred to me that I run into a lot of these unwinnable situations.  Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe the problem is not at the moment of the decision, but rather that I didn't work more or think harder about the decision before I had to make it.  Maybe I'm letting myself fall into these traps, when an easier path was always available to me that I just couldn't see.

Despite the fact that I went ahead and acted today, and already regret making that decision, it was a good feeling to start working out how not to get myself in these predicaments in the first place.  There's plenty for me to ponder for today.

Date: 2008-12-05 16:29 Subject: It's good to have Roger back Security: Public

Apparently, Roger Ebert gave a review for a movie I didn't even know existed: eXpelled with Ben Stein.  eXpelled is a movie about Intelligent Design and how the scientific community is censoring them.  I'd recommend this as a must-read review regarding the topic, regardless of whether you believe in Intelligent Design as science or not.  http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/12/win_ben_steins_mind.html

As an aside, I'd really be interested in talking to someone that has an argument for how ID is science.  Too often I hear that ID is persecuted, and that we should teach controversy, but no one has ever been able to explain to me how the scientific method applies.  The door is open if someone would like to help enlighten me.

(A small thank you to Mr. Bergen's beloved for helping me stumble upon this.)