Tagged: philosophy

1990s Magazine Cover 10

A Funny Thing About Nostalgia

I heard an old 1990s song the other day. I think it was the New Radical’s “You Get What You Give.” As with most one-hit-wonders, it invokes an awful lot of nostalgia. Whenever I...

Comedy Logo 4

Anatomy of a Bad Joke

How does one acquire a sense of humor? A good sense of humor? I’d really like to know. Despite having worked as a stand-up comedian, I seem to tell some pretty bad jokes. Awful...

The Fool Tarot Card 4

Psychics and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

I’ve gone to a psychic before. A couple of times, in fact. Skeptics accuse psychics of doing “cold readings”, inferring things from a client’s appearance and mannerisms. That’s what I like about psychics. I...

Pill Bottle with Dice 6

Pascal’s Wager and Happiness

Are you familiar you Pascal’s Wager? French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal said that even if you doubt the existence of God, you should be religious just in case He exists. Why? Because if...

Plato and Aristotle 3

Atheism vs Secular Humanism

While researching my recent article on religion and morality, I started looking for atheist and non-religious people who have made a positive change in this world. There were plenty of people to choose from,...

Religion and Morality Matrix 5

Religion and Morality

The Dalai Lama recently said that religion isn’t enough. He says we need something else to boost moral and ethical thinking in the world. I agree with this statement. While we have traditionally connected...

Creativity flourishes in the worst environments, like a dandelion in poison 1

Affirmations and Evil Genies

Back in college, I read a lot of self-help books. Some were scientific in their psychology. Others were full of New Age crap. Here’s one concept that doesn’t work. Affirmations. Closely related to the...

The Secret to Slacking Off 4

The Law of Attraction

Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction? It’s a concept that’s popular with the metaphysics and self-help crowds. It’s a simple idea. Basically, if you really want something, you focus your mind...

Interrobang 3

A Secret Messiah

What if Jesus Christ came back to Earth and didn’t tell anyone? It sounds like the start of a joke, but I mean it quite seriously. Imagine a Second Coming of the Messiah, or...