science | The Short Version

Science, Anger, and Forgiveness

March 5, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

Originally posted on 07-19-07: About 6 years into my AA experience, I got very angry at my parents. I had read a couple of books by John Bradshaw, popular in certain segments of AA at the time, and I got so angry I called my … [Read more...]

Love, Love, Love: The Need and Evolution

March 4, 2008 by Norm Bearrentine Leave a Comment

Originally posted on 05-16-07: At some point I'll talk about the importance of daily routines, but for now I'll just note that I read something every morning to remind me of the nature of reality as I understand it. These … [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.