What is falling, and why is it so important?

I used to have a real passion for philosophy. Then I put it aside for a while out of practical necessity when my first daughter came along. I always planned to return; but it has been probably eight years since I've read a serious philosophy book, and I wonder whether I'll be able to return--whether I could ever rekindle the flame it once sparked in me.

I came across some of my old school papers while cleaning out the attic last weekend. For kicks, I read through my final exam for my course on Heidegger's "Being and Time" (spring term, 1997). It was one of my favorite courses, not because of my attraction to Heidegger's thought (which was certainly there, though I hardly remember why), but because of the whole atmosphere of it. It was a real philosopher's philosophy class. It attracted only the most hard-core devotees, the people who could barely imagine living without philosophy. You could see it even in their outward appearance. I used to say that I was the only one in the class without a long beard or a goatee--including the women! Of course, that wasn't technically true, but the image it evokes was true enough. Even though I looked more like the economics students, I always felt more at home with the philosophers.

Any hope that I'll ever feel that way again was crushed when I tried to read my final exam answers. I have absolutely no clue what I was saying. You probably won't either. Then again, you don't care. For me it's a real loss, accompanied by real pain (though I know I've gained more than I lost).

Q. "What is falling, and why is it so important?"

Falling, for Heidegger, comes up in the context of an attempt to recapture the "sight of dasein's everydayness", which can seem to have been lost in the analysis of sofindingness, understanding and telling (the existential structures of disclosedness). We must remember that in its everyday being-in-the-world, dasein is "absorbed in the anyone". This implies that the anyone must have its own sofindingness, understanding and telling. Falling, then, is dasein's adoption of the existential structures of disclosedness of the anyone. It is a falling into the sofindingness of the anyone, as well as the understanding of the anyone. And since the understanding is a projection of possibilities, it is an adoption of the possibilities recognized by the anyone.

Continued in the "comments", should anyone care to read on.

Phi Beta Mama

A recent article in the NY Times (also available here with a fun new title) introduces several young women getting degrees at elite colleges, but with hopes to some day forego their careers to raise children. It has kicked off a real debate in the blogsphere. I can't add much (I'll leave that my college-educated, child-raising wife). But I would like to point out the most ridiculously ironic comment I've seen this week. It's from the Dean of Yale College, Peter Salovey:

"What does concern me is that so few students seem to be able to think outside the box; so few students seem to be able to imagine a life for themselves that isn't constructed along traditional gender roles."

His own thinking is so boxed in, he can't see that these intelligent, successful women have considered his ideal and found it lacking. He is condescending, insulting, and just plain wrong. Like the worst paternalists of the past, he thinks the women have a "place" and they should stay in it.

The director of undergrad admissions at Harvard, Marlyn McGrath Lewis, asks "when we work so hard to open academics and other opportunities for women, what kind of return do we expect to get for that?" To her, these aren't real women with their own ambitions, desires, and wills, worthy of a fine education in their own right. They are just resources. She doesn't provide all this opportunity for their sake, but for the economic or political "return" they must now provide. If she really thought about what she said, I hope she would cringe with shame. But there's no danger of that while she's stuck in the box with the dean of Yale.

All this from schools once steeped in the liberal arts. How sad.

The article also uses (repeatedly) my favorite American oxymoron: "stay-at-home mom". Whoever coined that phrase never met my wife (or any other vivacious, accomplished, warm-blooded full-time mom).

What if Abraham Lincoln used Powerpoint?

And another interesting tidbit. Type "miserable failure" into my my Google search box (on the right), select "Web" and then search. Take a look at the first search result. (The second one is appropriate, too). This Wikipedia article explains.

Growing up.

My daughters went back to school recently. On E's first day, her teacher had her fill in a fact-sheet about herself--favorite book, favorite food, etc. But one of the questions surprised me. "If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?"

That requires a bit more introspection. Many of the children still evinced a blissful innocence, responding with delighful, childish fantasies like "I wish I could become an animal", or "I wish I lived at the beach". But for a few of the kids, such innocence is beginning to wane. One boy wished he could change his ears, a sure sign of growing self-consciousness which made my heart ache. My own daughter wished she could change her speed. She's never the first horse out of the gate--but until recently, she didn't know it. Just last year she thought she was the fastest kid in the world.

It pains me to see her dwell upon her limitations--for her sake, and also my own. It's another sign that I'm slowly (or rather quickly come to think of it) losing my darling child. A mournful realization, though I know that I'll get a darling woman in exchange.

Let them go home.

This independant spirit is the best chance to save New Orleans. Some say that the cleanup and reconstruction effort is so vast that it can't be done without the massive resources of the federal government.

I say it's much too vast for the feds. Nothing will rebuild the city short of the love and dedication of the people who, despite everything, continue to call it home.

Daddy's Best™ Oatmeal Flaxseed Very-Berry Pancakes

My daughter, M, has identified a primary culinary talent for each member of our family: "Mommy's the best dinner maker. Daddy's the best breakfast maker. E's the best chocolate milk maker. And I'm the best cake decorator". She reminds us of these assignments several times a week.

I can do more than just breakfast; but I have to admit that it's a special talent of mine. This is one of my signature recipes, which I've proudly branded as "Daddy's Best".

These pancakes are rather dense and textured compared to the typical American buttermilk pancake or European crèpe. I use whole-wheat flour and oatmeal to add the texture and bump up the fiber (reducing the starch content somewhat). And I use Splenda® to reduce the carbs further. You can substitute sugar if you are afraid of man-made substances (but make sure you understand sugar's role in obesity and insulin resistance--nature is not always benign). Finally, the flaxseeds. I add them for a little more texture, and for the omega-3 fatty acids. They contribute only minimally to the flavor, so you can skip them if you want. Much of the flavor comes from the berry compote, which also adds a significant amount of vitamins, minerals, and other good stuff.

Be warned: these delicious pancakes, while full of nutrition, are not a "health-food". They still have plenty of carbs, and quite a bit of fat. I serve them up as the main course for my wife and kids, who aren't on restricted diets; but I limit myself to one or two, and have eggs on the side.

Pancake Ingredients (click any item for a metric conversion, courtesy of the Google Calculator)
Dry:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups oatmeal
4 tsp baking powder
3 packs of Splenda (or 6 tsp sugar)
a few dashes of salt
a handful of flaxseeds

Wet:
½ cup of half and half
1 cup milk
4 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp olive oil

Pancake Instructions:
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Add the wet ingredients, and mix thoroughly with a firm whisk or a fork. Let the batter sit for about 10 minutes to soften the oatmeal. Meanwhile, you can pre-heat the griddle to 325ºF, and prepare the berry compote (see below). When it's all set, butter the griddle and scoop the batter onto it with a medium-sized serving spoon (mine holds about two tablespoons, which makes pancakes about 3 inches in diameter). They are ready to flip when the outside edges appear dry and solid. Cook for another three minutes or so, then serve, with a nice scoop of compote on top.

Berry Compote Instructions:
Mix 3 cups of your favorite berries (I like a blend of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) in a microwave-safe bowl. You can use fresh or frozen. (If you use strawberries, slice them before putting them in the bowl.) Nuke'em until they are nice and hot--anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes depending on a large number of factors. Just mix check them (and stir them) every two or three minutes until they are hot and rather soft. When they are done, sweeten them to taste (I use four packets of Splenda), then mash them up real good and set them aside while you cook the pancakes.

Enjoy!

(A note about griddles. You need one if you aspire to greatness as a breakfast chef. The best way to eat pancakes or fried eggs is piping hot, fresh from the pan. That's tough to do for the whole family if you can only cook one or two at a time in a frying pan. You don't need anything fancy. The one I use was cheap, but does the job just fine.)

Wealth and poverty.

Our priest told a wonderful story today, about a father who took his young son to stay for a week with some relatives who lived a meager existence in the countryside. His plan was to teach the boy to appreciate their relative wealth.

At the end of the week, while driving home, the father asked "son, how did you find the trip?"

"It was great, dad."

"Did you notice how they lived?" the father asked, probing a little further.

"Yes."

The father waited a few moments, hoping his son would elaborate, but after a minute's silence he continued. "Well, what lesson did you learn?"

"I learned that they have three dogs, and we only have one. We have a fountain in the yard with some goldfish. But they have a whole stream, with trout and turtles and stepping stones and a bridge made from a fallen tree. We have some fancy lights in our garden. Theirs is lit by a million stars. Our yard goes back pretty far, but it stops at the neighbors fence. Theirs is as big as the sky."

The father sat, speechless, pondering this unexpected turn. His son looked at him gratefully. "Thanks, dad, for showing me how poor we really are."

Sometimes people ask me for financial advice, knowing I have a master's in the field. But financial theory can't teach you how to appreciate the glory of creation. If I was to write a book on how to get rich, it would draw as much on my philosophy degree as on finance. Because if you can't see the world with the wonder and interest of this boy, you would live in poverty with all the money on earth.

Now pardon me as I sample with interest the wonder of hickory-smoked turkey, fresh from my grill.

C-O-F-F-E-E

There are two songs from gradeschool music class that have stuck with me lo these twenty-odd years. One of them is about my favorite drink:

C-O-F-F-E-E
Coffee is not for me.
It's a drink some people wake up with.
That it makes them nervous is no myth.
Slaves to the coffee cup--
they can't give coffee up!

Despite this subtle conditioning, I enslaved myself to the cup while tackling a full-time course load in college, and working anywhere from 32 - 60 hours a week as a night-shift security guard to pay the tuition. Coffee got me through many dry lectures on macroeconomics, statistics...even a whole course dedicated to Heidegger's Being and Time.

Lucky for me, turns out that coffee is actually good for my health. The antioxidants help protect me from cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, while the caffeine can boost mental focus, and even improve my workouts. This is a clear proof of the existence of God. (Of course, too much caffeine can be really bad for you! Proof of the devil!)

Now, if only they could find some health benefit from my other favorite drinks.

P.S. Even Prevention magazine is in favor of coffee, judging from their Coffee Quiz .

Looking Up?

Finally some hopeful news for the people stranded in New Orleans, as a first convoy of National Guard trucks shows up with relief supplies. I'm really curious why it took so long. The news organizations have video of the arrival, but no context to help us understand the delay. Where did the convoy come from? When did it set off towards New Orleans? What obstacles did they meet on their way?

But all that can come later. For now, we can be thankful that it's finally there; and we can pray that there are more on the way.

"Miracle" Mice

I have mixed feelings about a news report in "The Australian" about how scientists have created genetically-altered mice which are able to regenerate limbs, heal damaged organs, etc. It's the stuff of science fiction. The best part is that normal mice have developed the same regenerative potential after an injection of cells from the altered mice. If we could learn to apply this to humans, think of the possibilities!

I'm no animal-rights activist, but I'm deeply disturbed by the research procedures:

• "We have experimented with amputating or damaging several different organs, such as the heart, toes, tail and ears, and just watched them regrow," [Ellen Heber-Katz] said. "It is quite remarkable. The only organ that did not grow back was the brain."

Yikes. :-( I hope for their own sakes that the researches feel a pang of guilt or regret as they inflict these mutilations.

Even if you support creating genetically-altered humans to harvest their cells, how could you test whether it worked? Is there any way this research could be done without such cruelty? Is the cruelty justified when it's only a mouse? I could probably make an academic case for it, but I doubt I could convince my gut.

A bad week.

I live quite a happy life, really; and I was hoping to keep this upbeat and optimistic, as a reflection of my own outlook. But that's hard to do when I've spent the last several days following the plight along the Gulf Coast, and now the deadly stampede in Iraq. I'm always brought down by such tragedies - but this time more than usual because a slow period at work has left me with inordinate time to read the news reports, and reflect on the depth of the suffering.

I want to help, yet I feel helpless in the face of such immense troubles. It's a feeling that can't be erased by a donation to the Red Cross, though I've tried. I've often thought about getting a job at the Red Cross, or maybe Catholic Relief Services, but what do I have to offer? What relevant skills do I have? None. I know that the best things I can contribute right now are money and prayers, even if that leaves me aching to do more.

The situation in New Orleans is especially depressing, because it is morally disturbing as well. Typically after a major disaster we can at least feel some consolation at the way the people band together to help the afflicted. But the latest reports from the Big Easy are much less uplifting. Looting a grocery store is one thing. I can sympathize with someone taking food and drinks to save their families and themselves until help arrives. But how can anyone shoot at the rescuers? I don't even know how to respond to such news. What could be the cause of the disorder? Poverty? Hunger? Poverty doesn't create lawlessness or violence (rather the reverse). And surely the conditions after last year's Tsunami were equally desperate--and the people more desperately poor. Yet the news was full of stories of cooperation and heroism. I'm at a loss.

And on top of that, I've learned that my favorite journalist has passed away. Jude Wanniski was best known as the popular voice behind supply-side economics. That was before my time. The Jude I loved was the delightfully contrarian author of the "Memo on the Margin", the most insightful blog on a host of issues, but most especially the leadup to the war in Iraq. His site was one of just three or four that I made sure to read every day. I will miss his insights dreadfully.