Category Archives: random musings

Painful Truths

Posted on October 15, 2021 by midiguru

Recently a friend posted a story about how, in an English class somewhere, the teacher was reading aloud from To Kill a Mockingbird, and how the use of the word “nigger” in a passage in the novel was painful for … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings, society & culture | 1 Comment

Dreams of Destiny

Posted on October 3, 2021 by midiguru

The trouble with religion is that it’s backwards. If you’re religiously inclined, you start with a pre-ordained set of answers and then try earnestly to distort whatever you’re seeing so that it will lead you to the answers you’ve already … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, random musings, religion | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Delusions Great & Small

Posted on October 2, 2021 by midiguru

Richard Dawkins is a magnet to whom polarized opinions are irresistibly drawn. For those who are spiritually inclined (whatever that means), Dawkins’s unstinting attacks on religion can be deeply disturbing. Such people seem, in many cases, to feel a need … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, random musings | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Happily Ever After

Posted on September 15, 2021 by midiguru

Truth-telling time: I’m kind of burnt out on fiction. Both reading it and writing it. The thrill is gone. As a reader, I’m too much a writer. When I read, I notice the holes in the plot, the atmospheric digressions … Continue reading →

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Hubble Trouble

Posted on September 12, 2021 by midiguru

For some years now I’ve been poking at some basic questions. There might seem to be little connection between the theory of evolution and the twin disciplines of physics and cosmology, but I’m fascinated by both. The physiology of the … Continue reading →

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Nice While It Lasted

Posted on August 3, 2021 by midiguru

My Facebook account appears to have been hacked. Either that, or there’s some gigantic fuck-up in their software. Part of the problem is that I have two accounts — Jim Aikin and Jim Aikin Author. The Author account is still … Continue reading →

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Wrangling over Rights

Posted on July 9, 2021 by midiguru

Yesterday one of my Facebook friends got into an online discussion with one of his friends about abortion rights. It seemed to me that his friend was being dangerously silly. His friend posted a link to an essay that he … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Rationalism (sort of)

Posted on June 1, 2021 by midiguru

When society is in turmoil (as it generally is), sorting out what’s really going on can be quite difficult. Various people may and probably will have very different views of an incident, a trend, or a belief system. Their ideas … Continue reading →

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Theo-What?

Posted on April 30, 2021 by midiguru

Four or five years ago I decided I needed to do something to broaden what we might call my social circle — my contacts with other humans. I had had some losses during the five years before that (Owen, Kelly, … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings, religion, society & culture | Tagged , | 13 Comments

The Text

Posted on April 12, 2021 by midiguru

Interpreting words on a screen can be a fraught undertaking. I’ve found myself in a few interactions on Facebook where feelings were hurt and friendships damaged. In asking myself whether I might be to blame or need to do things … Continue reading →

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