Kyle Roth

I’m starting a course of foundational texts in philosophy with a friend of mine, and this is the first one we’ve read. Socrates is often considered a founder of Western philosophy, and it was easy for me to see in the text some common philosophical themes I’ve been exposed to growing up in the West. the fear of death is irrational permalink Socrates argues that the fear of death is irrational from two perspectives: one, that what happens after death cannot be bad; and two, that a righteous person needs to be more concerned with whether he is doing right or wrong than whether death occurs or not.

This book argues that language loss is always bad, but that we can do something to save it. While the stories in the book leave me feeling like every language lost is a terrible cost, I think it’s inevitable as our species merges into a global society due to technology. I think we ought to prioritize the proper treatment and respect of marginalized and alternative cultures, including their languages and how these cultures want to maintain them.

Better communication doesn’t really solve marriage problems. It has a low success rate, and that makes sense because there are plenty of marriages that yell and dispute. Disputation is not a sign of an unhealthy marriage. You’d have to be really magnanimous to take criticism about you, even if presented as softly as possible. Personality does not make a marriage incompatible. People can be friends but have very distinct personalities. Handle each other’s strange side with caring and respect, as you would a friend.

Spoiler warning: no plot held back in this review. science is at least as beautiful as magic permalink In chapter 7 Harry introduces Draco to the beauty of scientific advancement, and it actually moved me to tears. You should read the whole thing, but here are some of the best quotes: “Anyway,” Harry said, “I’m saying that you don’t seem to have been paying much attention to what goes on in the Muggle world.

(My own thoughts appear as sidenotes or in italics, to distinguish from the author’s thoughts.) Richard Bushman categorizes those who leave the church into two broad categories: those who feel “switched off”, and those who feel “squeezed out”. Mason summarizes the switched-off group as those who encounter troubling information about church history or doctrine, and as they discover more information they become jaded by it until they can no longer see the good the church does for them or for others.