Philosophy and ethics

This is Derek Sivers' version of a quote based on the opening of a David Foster Wallace address* to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College:

"Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve."

(Unknown)

Recent events and commentary have led me to revisit and reprocess my personal experience of being the target of sexual harassment, something I have not spoken of for a quarter century.

I sigh every time I see the common but sadly truncated quote from Rilke “And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” It leaves so much unsaid.

The magic of poetry is that it simultaneously helps us remember what we experience and experience what we remember.

This past year I became a certified Green Dot instructor. Let me tell you why it is important to me - and should be important to you.

Since I retired, I have repeatedly been asked two questions. “How do you like retirement?” and “Don’t you miss practicing medicine?”

This week, waiting at a local hairdresser for my appointment, I had an unnerving experience.

Two women came in together and sat down. They were talking enthusiastically about the previous night’s State of the State address by Governor Lepage, pleased with how well he spoke and looking forward to some of his promises. At one point, one of the women said: “It’s too bad they won’t let him do what he wants. If they did, he’d get rid of all those Somalis.”