Jason A. Merchey's Blog, page 4

The Absurd Race to Get Accepted at the Ivy League

This blog about the absurd race for high school graduates to gain acceptance at one of the top 50 colleges and universities in America – especially at the Ivy League institutions - is a continuation of the blog entitled "Is Education 2nd or 3rd Place at Elite Institutions?" In that piece, I look at education through a critical lens based on some very interesting stuff in a book entitled Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite. The book is an alarming indictment of the state of U.S. higher education, stretched and bent out of shape by money, the quest to "get ahead" (and avoid sinking), and the desire to separate one's family from the great, unwashed masses, if you will. In this continuation, I go a bit more into a truer and more authentic purpose of education, and share many education quotes, and I ask what the purposes of gaining more money and getting ahead are anyway.

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Truth and Beauty, According to Poet John Keats

I don’t believe that that Romantic poet extraordinaire John Keats' final lines to "Ode on a Grecian Urn"—where the brilliant and unfortunate English poet briefly, cryptically mentions the values truth and beauty—can pass muster in one sense (the cognitive/rational/philosophical one). But, considering Keats’ concept of negative capability, we might still be able to glean insight, find inspiration, and fire our imaginations. Before getting to my thoughts about how to interpret his claims about truth and beauty (and then sharing well over a hundred quotations about values), I will briefly summarize the poem.

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The Challenge of Living Life on Life’s Terms

I was either born or molded into a perfectionist. I just wanted to put that out there. I also am, how should I say, not given to optimism. I do realize the power of an optimistic outlook. In fact, my stepfather is in his 80s and is known among friends and family as being able to ignore inconvenient truths and view the world through rose-colored glasses. Usually, I would look upon that with a certain disdain, as I studied psychological science and clinical practice, and took a number of classes at "the school of hard knocks," if you will. This blog is about the challenge of optimism (for me at least).

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Where Can a Seeker Find Their Truth?

Psychology has met with great success
Analyzing and systematizing…
But can theories and statistics reveal
What really lies deep in the heart of man?

In this blog, I use the poetic form Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare and John Milton favored as a vehicle to explore the themes that so interested them: blank verse. In this poem, I try to think through how one can confidently find what it is they seek: one's truth, meaning, fulfillment, and other values.

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Free Speech in Modern America

Freedom of speech is a liberty that is woven into the very fabric of the United States. We have a long history here of continuing the tradition and system set up by the founders of America, such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Except for certain periods of a marked diminution of free speech and dissent (such as the Alien and Sedition Acts, McCarthyism, and the juggernaut of the post-9/11 Middle East wars), one could rest assured that if they wished to stand on a soapbox and absolutely trash the POTUS, one would not be prevented from doing so. Of course, there are libel and slander laws, which make it illegal to lie about someone in public (i.e., to besmirch their good reputation). And yes, in the age of social media free speech, freedom of expression, and the liberty to be who one chooses to be are greatly stressed.

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A Nightmare About America

While jogging at sundown one day in April 2003, I had a very moving experience, one that may indeed have bridged my conception of the spiritual and the worldly. My wandering mind juxtaposed my impression of American Indian culture, spirituality, worldview, and morality with the current state of affairs and mentality in European-American culture. I experienced a combination of seemingly coincidental events that struck me as conveying great meaning: that we may come to face a startling reckoning for our legacy and lifestyle.

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Skepticism, Belief, Doubt, & Evidence

We all believe some things without sufficient (or, perhaps "good") evidence to support the belief. It is often innocuous—"My son is going to win his game this Saturday!", or "Our financial problems will get better, don't worry, honey", or "Go Pats!" However, belief without evidence is highly questionable. This blog gets into religion, politics, and such from the perspective that belief in something should, by and large, be apportioned based on what the balance of solid, dispassionately-perceived evidence indicates.

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I Tremble For My Country, Too

Long ago, Jefferson trembled for his country;

His country is my country. And my father’s.

My grandparents fled oppression and anti-Semitism,

They figured America was the place of their dreams.

And, it seems, tomorrow, America will fall...

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Quotations on Beauty

Beauty is one of the age-old values--up there with Truth, Justice, Goodness, Kindness, Wisdom, Modesty, etc. The fact that it tends to be capitalized is a tip-off that it's a big deal! Persons from Aristotle to modern poets, philosophers, and people of all kinds think about and experience Beauty. But what does it really mean? Is it prettiness, like a flower? Is it coherence and unity? Is it elegance and profundity? This blog features three dozen of the best quotations on beauty from different types of persons, from different cultures, genders, and religious orientations.

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Self-Interest and Self-Righteousness

I aim to convince the reader that two things which work against social progress, social justice, the ability to survive global warming, and so on are two age-old human habits: self-interest and self-righteousness. I suppose these are aptly termed vices, since that conjures up the Christian sense of virtues vs. vices (vices such as pride, greed, etc.). Indeed, the reason humanity sucks so badly—and why it has almost destroyed its only home, and why so many have suffered (even died!) over the millennia—is that we have these traits and tendencies within us that stymie and counteract and subvert our other, higher notions such as goodwill toward man, love of one's neighbor, caring, compassion, a reasonable type of equality and equal opportunity, etc. As of this writing, it is the holiday period, and I suggest you go watch a rendition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol if you are not on board with this idea (that short story punches waaaay above its weight class in regard to the work it does in capturing the omnipresent and recalcitrant needs within each of us for self-interest and self-righteousness!).

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