Category: philosophy

kids OVERPROTECTED in 2007

On By Rick McIn bad news, health & fitness, philosophy, sport - amateurLeave a comment

I posed this question on my gymnastics blog. And got a big reaction from a number of coaches.

Everyone (so far) agrees that our kids are suffering long-term from not being more challenged.

I’m not looking for SPARTA, but it is time for a backlash. The benefits gymnastics coaches and parents see in competitive gymnasts are exactly those needed by all children.

Wordsmith from Nantucket wrote:

I think the fear of lawsuits has dictated much of what I consider to be “bad” changes in our society. It’s insulated us from “hurting ourselves”, but in so doing, has disarmed us of the tools we would otherwise develop as part of the maturation process in dealing with life…with learning to cope with adversity and conflict.

It’s similar to how we developed all these anti-bacterial products, from soap to baby toys – all in the hopes that it would protect us from getting sick. But exposure to some sicknesses, early on in life, is what makes our immune system stronger. ….

Here are some articles and studies that might be of interest:

Yep, life’ll burst that self-esteem bubble”

Enough already with kid-gloves

The Power and Perils of Praising your kids

I really do think that there is something about our society (at least what I see with kids here in Los Angeles) that is developing soft, mushy kids. Emotionally and physically. ….

Read the post and the rest of the comments.

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source – New York Magazine

quotations to live by

On By Rick McIn philosophy, travelLeave a comment

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important”
–Bertrand Russel

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
–Oscar Wilde

n120600846_3287.jpgThese were posted by Carmen Mathes on her Facebook page. She’s one of 3 Canadian coaches now who, over the past several years, packed up and went to New Zealand to work for my old club, the Christchurch School of Gymnastics.

The Most Hated Family in America

On By Rick McIn bad news, government, philosophyLeave a comment

Not Muslims. Not even close.

That would be the homophobic, anti-semitic religious lunatics of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. (Independent Baptist church not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations.) They are mostly one family.

These adults are as foul as any lunatic fanatics anywhere.

Sick, sick, sick.

I wonder how they celebrate Easter Sunday.

You need a strong stomach to watch this BBC documentary on YouTube called The Most Hated Family in America.

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Seven Blunders of the World

On By Rick McIn philosophyLeave a comment

The Seven Blunders of the World is a list that Mahatma Gandhi gave to his grandson Arun Gandhi during his last days.

* Wealth without work
* Pleasure without conscience
* Knowledge without character
* Commerce without morality
* Science without humanity
* Worship without sacrifice
* Politics without principle

Seven Blunders of the World – Wikipedia

“you don’t need it” – graffiti

On By Rick McIn humour, philosophy, product complaintsLeave a comment

The Anti-Advertising Agency will mail you free “You Don’t Need It” stickers.

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I don’t need them.

Defacing property is too high a price to pay to spread the gospel of “voluntary simplicity“.

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“13 Photographs That Changed the World”

On By Rick McIn philosophy, photosLeave a comment

The Mahatma made this list.

The bravest man I know.

“Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel,” the defining portrait of one of the 20th century’s most influential figures, almost didn’t happen, thanks to the Mahatma’s strict demands. Granted a rare opportunity to photograph India’s leader; Life staffer Margaret Bourke-White was all set to shoot when Gandhi’s secretaries stopped her cold: If she was going to photograph Gandhi at the spinning wheel (a symbol for India’s struggle for independence), she first had to learn to use one herself.

But that wasn’t all. The ascetic Mahatma wasn’t to be spoken to (it being his day of silence.) And because he detested bright light, Bourke-White was only allowed to use three flashbulbs. Having cleared all these hurdles, however, there was still one more – the humid Indian weather, which wreaked havoc on her camera equipment. When time finally came to shoot, Bourke-White’s first flashbulb failed. And while the second one worked, she forgot to pull the slide, rendering it blank.

She thought it was all over, but luckily, the third attempt was successful. In the end, she came away with an image that became Gandhi’s most enduring representation. it was also among the last portraits of his life; he was assassinated less than two years later.

Neatorama » Blog Archive » 13 Photographs That Changed the World.

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has your country abolished the death penalty?

On By Rick McIn government, philosophyLeave a comment

A map of the world showing countries that use the death penalty and those that have abolished it.

(via A Welsh View)

Of course I am for the abolishment of the death penalty everywhere. Except in very unique situations. Saddam Hussein’s trial was bungled, I understand, but I have no quarrel with him being put to death.

advice from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

On By Rick McIn blogs, philosophyLeave a comment

200px-MarkTwain.LOC.jpg


“Whenever you find you’re on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.”

“The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.”

“Great people make us feel we can become great.”

“The difference between the right word and almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

“When in doubt, tell the truth.”

The Mark Twain Guide to Better Blogging | Copyblogger

Mark Twain – Wikipedia

holiday words of reflection

On By Rick McIn blogs, hiking, philosophyLeave a comment

Tom-mug.jpgA new friend, Tom Mangan from California, I met through the network of outdoor bloggers. I check his websites every day.

This holiday post got me assessing my place in this biosphere:

Christmas reminds me that I could be a more giving person, that I could spend more time with the aged, the young, the hungry, the suffering. Not in my nature to be that kind of person.

Yet if you were to ask me “So Tom, how do I start me a blog,” I could give till you’re blue in the face. If you were to ask how to hike off a few extra pounds, how to pick the best of 100 shots from your vacation, how to get a newspaper section to the press on time, you might find me generous to a fault.

I take a lot from the world … I use more fossil fuels than I have any hope of replacing. I eat food irrigated from precious natural water sources; I use products manufactured in distant nations where forests and rivers are being fouled so somebody can turn a buck selling me this stuff at “affordable” prices (which are merely a discount against the cost of repairing the damage down the road).

None of us give back as much as we could, or even what we should. But we should be giving back something. And just as the weight of everything you put in a backpack adds up, the weight of everything we do adds up too.

I don’t think I’m entirely self-deluded to believe that I’ve been doing at least a little bit of good in the world by posting pictures from the outdoors and writing about walking in the woods. At the very least I’m distracting people from further degrading the earth, and at best I’m encouraging them to get out in their own woods and maybe come to realize why we need these wild places.

Want to give something worth having? How about a down payment on giving your great-great-great-great granddaughter a planet as good as the one we’ve got now? You don’t need to be a tree-spiking enviro-terrorist to believe future generations have as much right to a livable planet as we do.

Call that my Christmas wish: that folks wake up and realize we’re not merely taking what’s here today for ourselves, we’re stealing it from those who come after us.

Busy being born: December 2006 Archives