TED: Globalizing the Local, Localizing the Global

Yes, I'm a TED junkie.  I thought this video about progressive movements in the Middle East, Qatar in particular, was very eye opening.  I hope you will take the time to view it.  It emphasizes the role of culture and identity in an increasingly global world where we struggle against what at times is a flood of pressure to conform to other's expectations of who we are and what we should be.

John Haidt: Religion and Life

I've tagged this video because I think it emphasizes a point I've been trying to make. I am a nontheist (if you've read my blog at all you've figured this out).  However, I am not a evangelical nontheist.  Religion has been an important part of people's lives for over thousands of years.  I personally don't have any use for it, you know this.  However, I recognize that it does play a central role in the lives of others.  So long as that leads to, what one might call, a liberal Christian interpretation of the Bible and the rights that are due to others as members of the species homo sapiens, then I have no beef with religion.  It is when religion encroaches on democracy, when we can no longer talk to each other, do I get bothered.  I feel the same about militant atheism.  It is equally unproductive.  That being said, enjoy the video.  I feel we as atheists have a lot to learn from religion, and a duty to correct the mistakes made in the name of it.

The Happy Secret to Better Work

"The absence of disease is not health". This quote stuck with me from the video. It's a great presentation, for one, using humor to create a positive atmosphere to give a presentation on positive psychology. I would like to try some of his ideas at the end on how to rewire the brain to think more positively.

And get back to the gym. That would be helpful.