Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Table of Contents:
Essays and Papers
Too Much Too Much-ness
My darling wife Allee was talking about a book she was reading about mothers and daughters, and commented that the author of one of the chapters overdid it on the use of the Jungian idea of the “Shadow.” I think this is a useful concept, so I asked her to explain. It turned out that […]
Two Aspects of Religion
Traditional religions combined law and spirituality, but in the modern age, law and civility in general has become separated from the more mythic elements of spirituality. Where there has evolved a rather vigorous sense of civility, secularism shows its more progressive side, and law and civility is a sort of secular religion—in the sense of […]
Ultimate Truth (Maybe)
We all have intrinsic quirkiness—and that 9.3% of us even allow it to be expressed interpersonally; only 2.1% know they do it on purpose—but they don’t know what they’re really doing. Only 0.0021% know what interpersonal quirkiness is about: We all live in separate realities that we co-construct both unconsciously and to a rare minor […]
Vicissitudes of Cultural History
Forty years later a culture blossoming may become re-interpreted popularly in ways that are very different from the currents involved at the time of that phenomenon. I was on the outskirts of the hippie revolution in San Francisco in the late 1960s, for example. The other night our group had a hippie-theme square dance, though […]
Vitality Enhancement
I am concerned with the gradual growth and seductiveness of an increasing number of media that make it easier to “veg out” as a “couch potato” spectator. To challenge that, I want to remind people of a category of “folk art” activities that can happen in neighborhoods and communities of all types. This may include […]
Welcome to my Blog!
Welcome to my blog—this is a new toy that my son set up for me. (He’s quite knowledgeable about computer stuff—you can google him (David Blatner) and come up with scores of thousands of hits!) When I was young, my cultural tradition was to have your kids in some ways make more progress that you […]
When Is It Too Much To Expect?
Listening to National Public Radio on 7/17/09, they talk about the initiative to promote junior colleges. While in many ways this is meritorious—we need more trade schools and less emphasis on university-level education for everyone—, nevertheless, I was struck by the theme of the commitment to remedial work, attending to emotional needs, and the like. […]
Why History is Interesting
…and fun! Two reasons: First, it is an aesthetic and meaning-making function. We are a part of this stream of events and feel “rooted” in being for this and against that, and there are many roots, some thick and strong, others thin, wispy. Second, there is an accelerating process off communication and innovation, each building […]
Why Is There Anything?
Book Review and Comments: Krauss, Lawrence M. (2012). A universe from nothing: why there is something rather than nothing. New York: Free Press. Professor Krauss, at Arizona State University, writes a book that I would have agreed with pretty much 45 years ago. But I’ve changed my mind. This book surprises me with my […]
Write It Up
As you might gather, I write easily and for fun, while many others find this daunting. I also advocate for the values offered by this medium—i.e., setting down in a stored form what you have learned. For some this is obvious, yet there are many who do, who act, who are involved in non-literate ways. […]