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Internet Detox

I went on an internet detox this weekend. That is to say, I went camping. It was a much needed one too. We went to a place that has no signal on my carrier. This meant that I could not even really try to use the internet. Chris' iPad uses a network that got decent signal which I did use to communicate with my parents so that they could come out to our campsite for a visit. Other than that five minute use though, I was free of the internet for about 60 hours. I must say it was peaceful. I was with my children and my partner, so the only notifications I received were the important ones in realtime and face to face. It meant that I had to find other things to do and talk to people without being able to look up the validity of claims. I would not want to do that all the time, but it kept conversation light and agenda free. Our world grows evermore connected as we humans progress. From paintings on cave walls to the printing press to the ultra connected state the internet

Past Me

I got an email from my past self today. It is from a version of me six years ago and is about how I was frustrated with the job I was at an hoped that I would be doing something I liked better in the future. Every time that I get an email from futureme.org it completely catches me off guard. I always forget about the service a few days after I send a set of them out. However, I think it is an excellent way to communicate something to me in the distant future. I tend to write about what is currently going on with me and where I hope to be by the time I get it. A few years ago I got one that told me I was completely stoned and just chilling out in Columbus, Nebraska. It was received during a time that was just chilling out in St. Louis, Missouri (but not stoned, maybe drinking a beer). I thought that was interesting. It always forces me to reflect and appreciate all the changes in my life since the time I wrote it. I am always glad to have received it. I am doing something I

Secular Parenting in a Religious World - A Book Review

There are far too few parenting books that address parenting from a secular point of view. So when I was asked to take a look at McKerracher's recent offering into the parenting book realm, I was immediately intrigued. There is a strong argument to be made that the secular values of knowledge, reason, logic, kindness, honesty, and love make for a great guide in raising tomorrow's youth. Compared with many religiously motivated guides of mostly authoritarianism and fear based parenting, McKerracher shows exactly why both religious and nonreligious parents can benefit by only presenting religion to children in an objective and unbiased manner leaving them to make their own decision about what they believe once they reach a developmental age at which they are capable of separating what is real and what is not. In one chapter, she tackles the myth that I often hear regurgitated by religious apologists that children are innately believers in a god. By pointing out the logical