Appreciating people implies valuing, honoring, and admiring them. Beyond understanding is appreciation. When we appreciate people, we value and honor them, in addition to understanding them. This ... Read More about Appreciating People
Tuesday
Being Intellectually Excellent
Each of us is challenged to make the most of our natural intellectual potential. The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still ... Read More about Being Intellectually Excellent
Honoring Uniqueness
You may think that someone does not have anything to offer. If you look closely, you will see that virtually everyone does. The simplest person can make a contribution though an observation or a ... Read More about Honoring Uniqueness
Society – Companionship – Togetherness
Humans thrive best in the society and companionship of others. This represents a step beyond mere reciprocity, which is essentially impersonal. The solution to alone-ness is not more solitude, but ... Read More about Society – Companionship – Togetherness
Beliefs and Convictions
Gustave Dore, The Second Crusaders Encounter the Remains of the First Crusaders (1877)People have believed things with utter conviction - a combination of thought and action - and been consummately ... Read More about Beliefs and Convictions
Making Distinctions
A six-month-old child is in the process of mastering certain distinctions. He picks up a cloth toy and strikes it against his head; then he does the same thing with a wooden block. The child has ... Read More about Making Distinctions
Respecting People
There is no concept of justice in Cree culture. The nearest word is kintohpatatin, which loosely translates to "you've been listened to." But kintohpatatin is richer than justice - really it means ... Read More about Respecting People
Reasoning
Reason is a level beyond rationality. To understand the world is never a matter of simply recording our immediate perceptions. Understanding inescapably involves reasoning. [Amartya Sen, The Idea ... Read More about Reasoning
Being Intellectually Honest
In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest. [William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude in Reflections & Maxims (1682), “Rules of Conversation,” Part I.] The trouble ... Read More about Being Intellectually Honest