Category: current events

The Press is Failing to Deal with Trump’s Falsehoods

Today I’m seeing a lot of tweets like the following:

Ryan Lizza ratchets up the rhetoric:

I agree with Lizza, but I think we’re past the point of simply calling out Trump for his lies–including using the word “lies” to do so. There was and probably still is debate among the press to use that word, but more and more journalists and news outlets seem more willing to use it now. In my opinion, we’re way past that issue. What should the press do instead? I’m not entirely sure, but here’s one thing that comes to mind. Continue reading “The Press is Failing to Deal with Trump’s Falsehoods”

Climate Change Thread

I’m not sure there is any point to this thread, unless others need convincing this is a problem. I’m not in that camp. Still, even if this is the case, is there a good reason to keep informed about this? I guess the quick answer is that you can’t answer this because you can’t assess the value of information you don’t have. The only way to assess the value of being informed is to keep one’s self informed.

Anyway, I’m also hesitant to start this thread because the stream of news just seems grim. Take this bit of news that I just came across: Continue reading “Climate Change Thread”

If a Culture and Society Reflects Christianity Less and Less, How Should Christians Respond?

What does it mean for a society and culture to reflect Christianity? That’s a pretty big question to answer, and I prefer avoiding it. So let me start by an example. Let’s say that homosexuality becomes a social norm. Some Christians may not believe homosexuality is prohibited by Christianity, but for the sake of argument let’s assume that it is. How should Christians respond? Let’s rule out changing this via laws. Should Christians invest energy overturning this? There are many ways this could be done. Christians, particularly prominent Christians, could speak out about this. They could fight against the use of school curriculum that normalizes homosexuality. There are many ways of doing this, that don’t involve legislation or electoral politics. Let’s use another example. What about divorce, premarital sex, and objectification of women? In what ways should Christians act to make this less of a social and cultural norm?

Honestly, I don’t have a clear answer on any of this. A big part of my attitude assumes that secular–that is, worldly–society and culture will not reflect Christianity very well. Therefore, culture and society moves further away from Christianity, a part of me feels this is natural, and something I shouldn’t fight to stop.

Then again, shouldn’t Christians try strengthen certain norms and institutions. If Christians took steps to strengthen marriage, including the quality of the relationship, wouldn’t that be a good thing? If women were less objectified, less seen as sexual objects, I don’t see how that wouldn’t be a good thing, and something that would be a worthy goal for Christians.

Perhaps, the problem comes down to the means by which Christians achieve these objectives. And maybe the motivations and degree of effort Christians put forth. For example, Christians could be motivated because by a desire to preserve a culture and society they are most comfortable with, and maybe this becomes more important than their relationship with God and loving others.

Again, I don’t clear answers for this, which is why I started the thread. What do you guys think?

The Three Problems America Needs to Overcome in Order to Survive as a Nation

What are the biggest domestic problems the United States faces today? If you guys have any thoughts on this I’d be interesting in hearing your answers. I have three that come to mind, and all of them are significant enough that they pose an existential threat to the nation if we don’t solve them. Here they are: Continue reading “The Three Problems America Needs to Overcome in Order to Survive as a Nation”

Here’s a Way I Think AI Could Enhance Professional Sports

I can understand why some of you will think I’m stubborn traditionalist–a luddite when it comes to technology and the use of advanced statistics applied to sports. I think it’s more accurate to say that I’m a pragmatist–my position on both depends on whether I think either is effective or not. To give you an example, I want to talk about a scenario where I can see AI being an important and valuable tool. Continue reading “Here’s a Way I Think AI Could Enhance Professional Sports”

To What Extent Should a Manager’s Evaluation Be Based on the Performance of Their Subordinates?

From the start of having a “real” job, I quickly concluded that the quality of management was crucial. I went so far as believing that, as a society, we should focus on training and developing people to be better managers and leaders. Every work will require and benefit from individuals with good management and leadership skills. One of the many ways management is so critical is that it has a tremendous impact on the employee–both in terms of the latter’s productivity and job satisfaction. I suspect this is obvious and banal, and yet to what extent are managers evaluated based on their employees’ performance? Now, managers don’t have complete control over their employees–and in some situations their authority can be quite limited–so let me rephrase the question: To what extent are managers evaluated based on their actions relating to getting the best performance out of their subordinates? In my work experience, managers aren’t really evaluated on this. Now, I’ve always assumed two things: 1) That managers should be evaluated on how well they help their employees perform, and 2) this is common practice in other organizations and businesses. I’m wondering if these two assumptions are correct, and I’m interested in hearing from others, based on their experience and perceptions.