mistakes | The Short Version

Your Brain Is Like Your Liver: No Conscious Control

March 5, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

Originally posted on 07-10-07: I've been busy—doing what is a long story—and the reason I haven't been posting is that, once again, it had become a process that took at least two hours out of the day—hardly the short … [Read more...]

There Are No Mistakes, Unless You’re Omniscient

March 5, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

Originally posted on 06-09-07: There is a saying in AA: "There are no accidents," which sounds like magical thinking, or belief in some kind of Divine Plan in which all accidents are arranged for some ultimate good—something … [Read more...]

When I realized that the idea of god was a joke, I thought that was the end of the story. Later I found that Christianity had shaped my values, and while some were worth keeping, many had lost their foundation—the meaning of life, for example. Something similar happened when I realized that the idea of free will was a joke, and I’ve spent the decades since both those realizations discovering and editing what Julia Galef calls the “orphan beliefs” they left behind. It’s a tricky business, and this blog has been a chronicle of my efforts to puzzle it all out, including reviews of related books. I hope you find it helpful.