Sunday, March 25, 2018

Evolution and the Fall


     I've been working my way through this book for the better part of a year, and finally wrapped it up a few weeks ago while sitting around the campfire at Kevin Lloyd's bachelor party. Similar to The Believing Primate, which I read a few years ago, this book is a high-level discussion of the philosophical, theological, and cultural implications of the debate around evolution and the historicity of a Biblical fall of man. It offered me some great food for thought over the past year, though I can't say that it radically reoriented my thinking in this area like I thought it might.



      A dense book like this is super hard to summarize in less than 20 pages, and there is no way that is happening on this blog right now. My big takeaway is that the fall of man as it relates to human evolution is a very active area of thought in schools of theology and philosophy, but that no one has been able to fully harmonize the historically dominant Christian theology of the fall of man with modern evolutionary science. And I don't think anyone ever will. Fortunately, this is no cause for despair. The question of the what it means to be human does not lead to testable hypotheses, and thus will always be beyond the purview of empirical science. Everyone's ideas on this are strongly influenced by their own experiences, religion, and cultural context. Now, this doesn't mean that historical science can't help us sort out the details of the origins of our species, or that Christianity doesn't offer us a source of meaning for our lives, namely, that Jesus Christ is the embodied realization of life's possibility as a way to love. But human scientific, theological, and philosophical understanding, just like our biology, will continue to evolve, with no end in sight.


     This dialectic can be anxiety-provoking, de-anchoring, and disorienting for the majority of people who aren't scholars or contemplatives. In fact, it is this discomfort with this uncertainty, ambiguity, and unknowing that has led to the rise of fundamentalist religion. Yet the amazing thing is that theoretical physicists have come to the same conclusion about the universe that mystics of all stripes have had all along-- that uncertainty and complementarity are fundamental aspects of our world. Key concepts you'll find at the link above are wave-particle complementarity, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (aka position and momentum complementarity), and quantum entanglement. Though this may seem off the topic of evolution and the fall, it has been the key that has opened the way forward toward true freedom in Christ over the past year. Rather than avoiding or, alternatively, trying to resolve the areas of ambiguity in life, I am learning to rest in those places and focus the truths that are useful for where I am in life right now, just as scientists may use quantum physics or classical Newtonian physics with equal validity depending on what kind of problem they are trying to solve.


     Digging down into these high-level ideas, I would like to mention the most key concepts I gleaned from the book. In Chapter 8, Norman Wirzba gives an explanation of the practical effects of a Christian vs a Darwinian worldview in terms that I've recently learned in another book I'm reading The Mountain of Silence. Our theoria (way of seeing the world, our worldview or hermeneutic) must be informed by askesis (ascetic practices and personal discipline that aligns the life of the wisdom seeker with the truth of the world) for a proper ethos (our way of being in the world) to develop, which leads to theosis (divinization, which is the ultimate goal of Eastern Orthodox and, in a sense, all Christians and even all religions), reconciliation, flourishing, and alignment of the creaturely logos  (the dynamic principle of order and coherence that enables a thing to be and become the unique thing that it is) with the divine Logos. As our theoria develops into one more like God’s, seeing his work of creation as an ongoing process that we are a part of in Christ rather than a one-time event (see John 1:3-4, Col 1:15-17, Heb 1:2, I Cor 8:6), we become more attuned to the needs of others and less focused on our own desires, and no longer see others as things that matter only as they can benefit us. This allows us to perform the essential Christian task of learning how to love properly. And this leads to less exploitation and more flourishing in the world. This is in contrast to a Darwinian theoria, which, though extremely useful, is rooted in a scarcity mindset (obtained from Thomas Malthus) where there is almost always fierce competition and where only the fittest survive. This worldview does not leave room for charity, flourishing, or abundance, but rather exploitation which has brought on genocide, imperialism, authoritarianism, and the environmental degradation that threatens the very life of the planet. 


       Wirzba goes on to detail Maximus the Confessor's (a 7th Century Eastern Orthodox monk) Christocentric worldview that should serve as a model for us. Just as Jesus became a creature, we do not have to shun creatureliness to fully express divine life and love. And the logical outcome of this radical view of the incarnation is that creation cannot ever be denigrated or despised, since it is the home of God. God creates the space and all the sources of nurture for creatures to come into his life and be strengthened to live the life they are uniquely prepared to enact. Rather than being in conflict with science, this view of creation radically enriches the materialist, mechanistic theoria of science. If you don't meditate on anything else today, reread the last couple paragraphs a few times and really let it sink in. 


     Now you can see why it took me almost a year to read this book. It's heavy! 


     As I wrote above, I can't do justice to this book. But ultimately, it has helped me understand the Genesis account of human origins as a powerful myth which, when connected with the incarnation of Jesus Christ, continues to have great relevance and meaning, especially in our secular age.


     Just don't try to tell me humans didn't come from monkeys.



Summary: Grit by Angela Duckworth


     Grit is a book and a concept I've heard a lot about over the last few years, and has been on my to-read list for a while. Fortunately, my mom bought me this book by "In a Nutshell Publications" that summarizes each chapter in a couple pages and gives bullet points at the end of each chapter summary. So rather than taking the better part of a day to read, I breezed through this little thing in an hour! I even went back a couple times to review the bullet points, which I never have the time or energy to do with a full length book. It was the kind of direct download of information to my brain I've been looking for, and I plan to read much more of these type of summary books in the future.

     The downsides of these types of summaries are minimal, and the upsides are huge. Most self-help, self-improvement, business, parenting, and other pop sociology books readily distill down to several main ideas, and the stories and other fluff that makes up the rest of the book are there simply to make up enough pages for a book the publishing industry and author can make money on. Of course, this does not apply to fiction or other narrative works such as biographies, but it's true for every self-improvement book I've ever come across.

    Without further ado, here are my top 16 points from the "Key Takeaways" list at the end of each chapter:


  • Talent alone cannot accurately predict success in any field
  • Grit is the combination of passion and perseverance
  • Truly successful outliers possess three traits: outstanding ability, exceptional zeal, and a capacity for hard labor
  • Humans innately believe more in natural talent than hard work
  • Talent x Effort = Skill, then Skill x Effort = Achievement. Effort counts twice.
  • Enthusiasm is common, perseverance is rare. 
  • Grit is dependent on having a coherent and cohesive goals hierarchy, and being willing to commit to the low- and middle- tier goals in order to achieve the top-tier goals.
  • Interest, practice, purpose, and hope are key assets that help form grit
  • Interests and passions are not "love at first sight." They are kindled by repeated interaction with an activity, object, or idea.
  • Daily, deliberate practice is necessary for developing grit
  • The three stages of grit are self-oriented interest, self-disciplined practice, and other-centered passion
  • An optimistic, growth mindset (rather than a limiting, fixed mindset) is also essential for developing grit, and having mentors with this mindset is very important
  • Both kindness (respect and support) and sternness (high demands) are key to developing grit in a child
  • Extracurriculars provide the key combination of fun and challenge, and develop the key trait of follow-through
  • Everyone in the family should follow the "Hard Thing Rule," which requires everyone to pick one thing they will practice daily for an entire season or year
  • Viewing yourself as a gritty person will actually make you grittier


      Many of these concepts were already sitting somewhere in my brain, but they are so important that I was grateful for the opportunity to dust them off and add to them a bit. I consider myself a gritty person in many areas of my life, and always hearken back to high school track and cross-country as the grittiest episode of my life that continues to pay gritty dividends even now. But I can also identify areas of my life that could stand a little more grit and discipline. I plan to cultivate a passionate, growth, gritty mindset in those areas-- what about you?


Saturday, March 24, 2018

All Joy And No Fun by Jennifer Senior

     This is the first parenting book I have ever read-- though I'm not sure it should be called a parenting book. In fact, All Joy And No Fun appealed to me precisely because it was not about the effect of parenting on the kids, but on the parents. And in that regard, Jennifer Senior does a nice job of describing some of the different ways modern-day adults' lives are affected by the addition of little tykes to the home.



    The book is divided into six chapters that hone in on different themes, such as marriage, autonomy, toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence, and joy. Each chapter has plenty of takeaways; for example, the amount of "flow" that is experienced by parents dramatically decreases after the birth of a child, which is a big part of why parenting can be so negatively impactful. Another is that women in the 50's and 60's were called "housewives" because they spent so much time on housework; nowadays, they are called "stay-at-home moms," and research on their time use confirms that they spend about half as much time taking care of housework and dramatically more time with their children than their grandparents did. All good stuff, some of which you may already know but much of which may be new to you, as it was to me.

     Like most books in this vein, her chapters open with vignettes, in this case of particular parents she got to know in the course of her research for the book. Her vignettes and sociological analysis skews exclusively urban, which is in line with her focus on the unique challenges faced by modern parents in modern environments. Though she uses these stories as touchstones for the sociological research she presents, she does not tie together very many big themes until the final chapter, when she finally brings home her main theme, which I'll get to below. Which brings me to my main critique of the book, which is the same critique I have of most pop social science books: it is an inefficient means of communicating the information. Though the vignettes nicely round out the research, I'd much rather just have the research downloaded to my brain and skip the fluff. Perhaps you feel the same way.

    As for the main theme? I would state it thusly: The question of whether parenting is a worthwhile endeavor is a philosophical one: should you value moment-to-moment happiness more than retrospective evaluations of your life? If the "experiencing self" is where you place your greatest value, you may logically elect to avoid becoming a parent. But if, like most people, you prioritize your "remembering self" (which ironically is terrible at recalling things accurately), you'll try to fashion a life with a more interesting storyline, with unexpected twists and turns that only children can bring. Ultimately, parenting is a gamble that the hard road will be worth the satisfaction of a child well-reared.

    Have you rolled the dice? Whether you have or haven't, I'd be interested to hear if you're satisfied with your choice.

First Quarter Report

So many things have happened in the last 3 months that a simple list seems most appropriate. So here goes:

My first Missionary Medicine Intensive Obstetrics talk went very well. My main creative endeavor this quarter was putting this course together. It was also the reason I haven't posted anything for the last two months.

Mindy and I learned a lot at a marriage conference that we are trying to put into practice. This was the biggest moment in our push to create more relational connection.

I'm still getting better at swimming. My times in various workouts are about 10% faster than just a few months ago.

I also found a great workout partner, who is starting to come over at least once a week to train in the home gym. I'm also starting to train to do handstands.

I finished several books and am most of the way through several others. Summaries are forthcoming, I promise.

I found some new podcasts. Perhaps I'll post on some of them later this year.

Work is going well. I'm now the clerkship site director for the inpatient PA student rotation.

Pepper keeps running away so we are having a fence and electric gate built. Which is yet another unanticipated temporal and financial outlay precipitated by our ownership of canines. Thanks, Pepper.

Lula went through her first heat. She does not seem to be pregnant. Thanks, Lula.

Molive the cat is great, as always.

I am still off Facebook and have no intention of rejoining. I am also limiting my Amazon usage as much as possible.

We bought 1/4 of a local cow in January and have been trying to go keto for the last 7 weeks, with limited success. I tracked my macros for the first week I was on keto, was not getting enough fat, and unintentionally lost 5 pounds. I have since gained it back, but haven't bothered to track my macros since then. I think have been decent at maintaining a high fat, moderate protein, low carb intake. And I am feeling better and have less headaches than before, as is Mindy.

We tracked our expenses for the month of February. We have a few areas we can trim but overall seem to be progressing steadily down the path toward financial independence.

My next project is building the shelves that will go in the library. Photos will be forthcoming as this evolves.

We have scheduled some camping this spring and summer along with other microadventures like kayaking classes.

I have not had the time or energy to make any videos for my vlog. It looks like that will take the backseat until my life frees up a little more (if that ever happens).

We just got another 4 inches of snow today, but spring is just around the corner. I'm looking forward to getting the garden up and growing!