Cycho Librarian

This morning I had another of those "small world" moments that seem to come so frequently in our hyper-connected world. I'm involved in a public art project for Columbus's bicentennial next year to create original pieces for the carillon bells at my church, and one of the composers who I've shown around the tower friend requested me. Even though I had never met her before this project, I come to find out that she's already friends with two other friends of mine. This is the point where most people just laugh and make a joke about how Columbus is really a pretty small town. But I've thought about this before and I'm not sure that it's so much that Columbus is a small town, but that we are all connected a lot more than we think. Think about how many times this has happened to you: you're at a party, maybe not even in your hometown, and you fall into conversation with a stranger. That person happens to know someone where you're from or whe...

Apparently the truth has a liberal bias. Don't get me wrong. I spent far too long as a Philosopher not to realize that Truth is a sticky issue. In fact, it can be almost impossible to determine what the truth of any matter is. But at the very least, most people who are engaged in the collection and dissemination of information strive towards presenting that information in a manner which most closely reflects the way the universe actually is, whatever that may be. Despite all its problems, it seems that Wikipedia does a fairly decent job at this. While the information presented in Wikipedia may not be authoritative, there are enough people contributing who care about their subjects to ensure that the information, for the most part, correctly reflects the current scholarship in that field. However, this is not good enough for some of our conservative friends who have found that Wikipedia presents a liberal bias. Therefore, in reaction to this, they have created their own counter...

For those of you who are not familiar with the Catholic-based forms of Christianity, this past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the season of Lent. This is a penitential season, where people are called on to fast, pray, and generally be reflective about their lives and their relationship with God. It is also, oddly, one of my favorite seasons in the church. There is something refreshing about dedicating yourself for 40 days to exploring and understanding the non-physical side of yourself and the world around you. At the end I always feel more connected to myself and more grounded, ready for the new birth of the world. People who don't know me well are often surprised to find out that I am fairly religious person. Apparently, there is still a prevailing belief in our society that one cannot be both an intellectual and religious at the same time, C.S. Lewis's efforts notwithstanding. This is a relatively new phenomenon however. For millenia the on...