Monthly Archive for April, 2005

Fannie Lou Pt. 2

Published
by
aly hawkins
on 30 April 2005
in philosophy
. 0 Comments

So what do you have left, once you’ve recognized that behind every dearly-held, well-reasoned belief lurks an assumption that may or may not be as well-reasoned? To take my Fannie Lou analogy way too far: I know Gretchen. I don’t know everything about her, and I certainly don’t know her in the same way you do. (That would be weird and relationship-destroying for both of us.) Underneath all of my crazy assumptions about whether she will or will not allow your daughter to be named Fannie Lou is a friendship that has been built over a span of, um…a lot of years. (I knew Gretchen when she had bangs.) My beliefs about her taste in baby names are not based on logic (though they are not contrary to it), they are based on relationship.

My beliefs about the Father and Jesus and the Spirit are not based on logic (and some of them are not contrary to it), they are based on a relationship that’s been going on in fits and starts for as long as I’ve been alive. I know Them. I don’t know everything about Them, and I don’t know Them in the same way other people do. But there is a friendship.

We’ve spent a very long time trying to make the Christian experience the smartest game in town, the one that makes the most sense. And I really think there is an important place for reason and logic and stuff - we’re not golden retrievers, after all. But most things don’t make sense outside of relationship…and Jesus clearly understood that, since he was always saying things like “Follow me,” or “Remain in me,” or “Do you love me?” He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”…not “Beliefs about me are the way, the truth, and the life.”

This opens up a whole discussion about evangelism that I’d love to get into sometime…

-ah

Post-foundationalism and Fannie Lou

Published
by
aly hawkins
on 29 April 2005
in philosophy
. 3 Comments

I think the whole idea behind (ha) post-foundationalism - and we MUST get a shorter freakin’ name - is the awareness that beliefs are not created in a vacuum. Behind every new belief is another belief (dare I say assumption?) that makes the new belief possible. For example: I believe that Gretchen will not allow your daughter to be named Fannie Lou, even though this stellar explanation for post-foundationalism makes it my privilege, nay, my right, to name her as I deem best. Lurking underneath this belief is my assumption that Gretchen harbors neither malevolence nor sadistic intention toward the imminently arriving Fannie Lou. Underneath that belief is my assumption that Gretchen desires to spare your daughter as much pain as possible (G’s 50% of the genes also help in this arena) and that christening your daughter with a slang term for one’s bottom is probably not the way to do it. Underneath that belief is my assumption that Gretchen thinks that names really mean something, that they can and should point to who we are created to be, who we can become. Underneath that belief…

Okay, you get it. I think recognition that we do a heck-load of assuming is not only chic, it is what all the cool kids are doing. (That was the long answer to your a-or-b question. Short answer: b.) Can you ask Gretchen what she thinks about Hortense Louise?

-ah

OSX Tiger

Published
by
michael lee
on 29 April 2005
in technology
. 0 Comments

My goal is not to turn this into a technology blog, but hey, we’re each twisted and bent in certain ways. I’m a nerd. Deal with it!

Apple just released Tiger, their new operating system. IT OWNS ALL COMERS! I’m am updating this blog from within the operating system, through the new Dashboard applications. You can build a complete desktop with little apps that load instantly and functions quickly, one of which is an instant blogging tool. This means that the time between a fleeting thought in my head and the world-wide broadcast of it has been reduced to 3 seconds, which clearly leaves no time for editing it down into any useful or coherent sentences.

Welcome to the unwashed immediacy of the steerage that is my brain!

-ml

Post-foundationalism

Published
by
michael lee
on 28 April 2005
in philosophy
. 0 Comments

Can someone explain to me the essentials of post-foundationalism? Does it mean that there exist no central, knowable, basic foundational beliefs (like, for example, that the chair I’m sitting in really exists), or does it mean that the project of building up an entire worldview through rational constructs from those foundational beliefs is not valid?

I need some guidance on this one, because the stuff that’s being written about it seems to be unclear even in it’s own self-concept. First person to explain it well gets to name my daughter.

(all namings must be approved by Gretchen, and will likely be rejected outright, since she’s pretty much settled on the perfect name already)

Craigslist and Google Maps Mashup!

Published
by
michael lee
on 28 April 2005
in miscellany
. 2 Comments

So Craigslist, as all of you hip young cats know, is simply the greatest and most intuitive way to find things, including houses to rent or buy. You get a quick link with pictures, important details, price, and address.

And Google Maps, as all of you hip young cats know, is simple the greatest and most intuitive way to find places.

So of course, an exceedingly awesome young man by the name of Paul Rademacher sat down and thought to himself, “You know, it probably wouldn’t be that hard to bust open the code of each, and write myself a handy little page that takes the craigslist ads and puts them on the google maps. That way, people will increase in joy and fruitfulness, throughout the greater metropolitan areas of the United States.”

And so, he did.

This is awesome for two reasons - first, because it exemplifies the value of the open source mindset for technology. Even though neither of these websites exists as open source projects, Paul’s use of them is certainly in that tradition. He’s added value to both sites for a specific purpose without detracting value from either.

Second, I love it because Google saw his site, and rather than send out their legions of lawyers to shut it down, they said, “This is awesome! This is innovative, and useful, and we’re going to promote it.” This is the kind of company that will be around for a long time. They value innovation, they see the strength in nurturing technology that doesn’t yet have any market value, and they see themselves as part of a community of technology innovators, not just as a competitor against them.

May their tribe increase!