by Michael Platt, PhD “A TEENAGER--I’M SO SORRY!” “We have two teenagers,” I sometimes hear parents say. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I sometimes reply. Although I say it with a smile, the truth is sad. Teenagers are not inevitable, natural, or God-given. The Teenager was [...]
I’m on a hike. My pack is rubbing my shoulders sore. I’m hungry. The sun is beating down on my neck. I’ve been needing to duck behind a bush for almost 40 minutes. But I press on, enjoying the pure air, the light rush of [...]
What is FEC? In the past few years, we have witnessed a groundswell of people wishing to work on their fathering, mothering, manliness and femininity. The conveyor belt has stripped our society of clear understandings of our basic roles as men and women, and it [...]
It’s hard being little. I remember keenly wanting to fit in with all the older people around me. I was the youngest of six kids—and quite a bit younger, at that. The closest in age was four years older, and they went up from there [...]
There is a widespread myth that feminism came about in the 20th Century, that—along with Civil Rights and Environmentalism—feminism is one of our great modern advances. The truth is that feminism has a much earlier origin. In the Beginning... Adam and Eve left the Garden [...]
Body sculpting, surgical/chemical alterations, therapy . . . our culture is obsessed with hiding, cutting out or otherwise purging its flaws. We want to be persons with no weaknesses. Even our college entrance exams, job interviews, courtships and business dealings all seem to hinge on [...]
Some time ago I read an article in the NY Times about a man who defrauded investors of billions of dollars. Not really news these days, I guess. Seems like there's a lot of creative bookkeeping going on out there. It's an inventive way to [...]
On entropy, and allegiance… I have been thinking about the great forces of the universe. One is a creative force, and one, a destructive one. It seems that in the state of nature these forces almost balance. Sort of the “circle of life” scenario, where all [...]
