The New "Independent Thinking"

I read an article praising Trevor Noah's recent performance on the Daily Show when he hosted Tomi Lahren. The article noted his ability to stay somewhat more neutral and measured than hosts of some other late-night show hosts when such shows are increasingly partisan. I wanted to watch the interview, so I searched YouTube for "trevor noah tomi lahren," and the results were both interesting and disappointing.

Two of the top three results are titled "Tomi Lahren Destroys Trevor Noah" and "Trevor Noah Destroys Tomi Lahren." This is only one small example of the larger trend towards shameless confirmation bias and echo chamber news. Facts and critical thinking no longer matter--if you supported Trump, he won all three debates. If you supported Clinton, she won all three debates. If you supported Trump, you probably didn't know that many Clinton supporters, and if you supported Clinton, you probably didn't know that many Trump supporters. (New York Times: Sixty percent of voters live in a county where the winner won by twenty or more points). Your Facebook news feed likely reflects that. It seems "independent thinking" has come to mean thinking you're right independent of the facts.

Political Parties

Sometimes it is easy to become disillusioned with political parties.  At least at present, they are very polarized.  It seems there is little push for compromise.  Often it seems that politicians are more concerned about winning and beating the other guys than about doing a good job of running the country, state, or whatever body they are elected to.  But this speech given by BYU political science professor David Magleby a few weeks ago talks about why parties are important in American politics.  Though I still get frustrated with the actions of some politicians, it is important to remember that we have a system that works.

Some Thoughts on Mothers

Here are some thoughts I wrote down during sacrament meeting today, partially inspired by one of the talks:

Heavenly Father may have warned, when He asked "Whom shall I send?" that it would not be easy, that it would require pain and sacrifice, but that it would save souls and bring true and everlasting joy to God's children.  Christ said "Here am I; send me."  But He was not alone.  What mother has not volunteered to do the same?  Though none can replace or replicate what the Savior did, few parallel His actions as closely as mothers do.  Being a mother is not easy.  Mothers sacrifice themselves physically--pregnancy and childbirth take a toll on the body.  Mothers put their lives on the line to bring God's children into mortality.  They sacrifice their time; they sacrifice pursuing their own interests and developing their own talents.  They are instrumental in teaching the gospel to their children in both word and deed.  A mother testifies of Christ simply by being a mother.  She performs, as Christ did, much of her service without notice or thanks.  In times of turmoil, she protects her children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.

The word "Christlike" can mean many things: loving, forgiving, selfless--but perhaps one of the words most nearly synonymous with it is "motherly."

Julie & Julia

Source: SonyPictures.com

On Saturday Julia and I checked out Julie & Julia from the Provo Library.  Julia's a big fan of Julia Child (the Julia in the title) and of good food.  She recommended the movie.

The movie has two parallel storylines.  The first is the life of chef Julia Child.  She and her husband live in Paris in the 50s, when Julia begins learning to cook.  She attends a French cooking class, teaches a cooking class, and, finally, she publishes a cookbook, which is apparently very well-known in the cooking world.

The second story is Julia Powell's.  She lives in New York with her husband in the early 2000s.  She is frustrated with her job and life in general.  Cooking is her release when she comes home from work.  So she decides to do a blog to give her life more purpose.  Her goal is to do all 524 recipes in Julia Child's famous cookbook in only 365 days.

The movie cuts back and forth between the two stories showing the parallels.  It's a good mix of drama, romance, and comedy.  I enjoyed watching it.  There's an f-word later in the movie, but there isn't too much objectionable material.  It inspired me to want to do something cool!  And to learn how to cook.

TED Talk: How to Succeed

When I'm doing work that permits it I like to listen to or watch interesting things: documentaries, TED Talks, General Conference talks, interesting podcasts (news, language, history, etc.), or online classes.  Today I watched a TED Talk that I really liked.

It's by a guy named Tai Lopez, and he talks about a lot of really great things.  He emphasizes the importance of mentors.  One thing I like is that he took initiative in finding his mentors.  He knew whom he wanted for a mentor, and he went and talked to him or her.  He didn't let fear stop him.  Also, he went out of his way to learn new things.  Instead of letting his lack of knowledge become an obstacle, he turned it into a strength and gained the knowledge through hard work.  And he talks a lot about how important reading is, and I'm always happy when people say good things about reading.  I really like how he hammers home the point that we need to work for the success we want.  A lot of people want the end result without the work, and that's not the way things work.  The video is just under twenty minutes long.  Watch and learn!

Celebrity Quotes

Do you ever wonder where all those quotes come from?  Where did Mark Twain go when he penned a particularly pithy phrase?  What about Benjamin Franklin?  Did he just print a section of his own quotes with his annual farmer's almanac?  Perhaps a modern example: Vince Lombardi.  He probably did interviews--that might account for some quotes.  But I've always wondered how these people get their quotes out there.

I've decided that I want to have some good quotes ready, and maybe someday I will be famous enough for them to mean something.  I don't know how others do it, but I'll just start out by sharing mine here.  The other day I was pondering what I want to do with my life, and this gem came to me:

"I may not know what I want, but that sure isn't going to stop me from getting it."

I think it explains quite well a part of my personality--I can be very determined and driven towards a goal--but so often I have a hard time deciding which goals I really want.  So there's my oh-so-clever celebrity-to-be quote of the day.

"The Weight of Glory"

"The Weight of Glory" was originally a sermon, but C.S. Lewis later published it.  I first heard of it a couple years ago when two people independently mentioned it to me within a week of each other.  I thought that was a good sign I ought to read it.  Since then I've looked for it in libraries and online a few times.  Each time I've been unable to find it, or it fades into the background of my never-ending to-do list.  But today I finally found a PDF copy online.  Here it is:

"The Weight of Glory"

It's an excellent essay on what "glory" really means to Christians.  His views are quite close to LDS views.  He talks about some of the different definitions of glory and what they mean for us now and in the afterlife.  The last section in particular is fraught with great material.  I just posted a quote on facebook from that section.  The whole thing is only nine pages, but read carefully.  It's good stuff.  Enjoy!