An Existential Bear

What is a facebook like? A button you click to indicate your approval of a link, some words or a picture? Yes, it is that. A symbol we give to others and they give to us often taken to indicate social status? That too. How about a signal of membership in social spheres aligned around interests? Yes. Whatever a "like"means to you individually and us collectively, one meaning we often disregard is that an action is an intention towards the predicted consequences of that action. This interpretation will be taken by those who think of their actions instrumentally, who act pursuant to their goals and values. A facebook like isn't just a symbol with shared meaning. It has real life consequence. I don't know the specifics of how facebook's algorithms decide how posts get placed on people's newsfeeds, but it's  obvious that one of the positive variables is how many likes it has. A post that has 3 likes will get more weight in that algorithm than one with 2. a...

I spent one summer a few years ago river guiding on the Provo River above Vivian Park. The river was mild, but the scenery is beautiful. There's a little porch a ways down the run where, when I first started, another guide told me that President Monson grew up and still spends as much time as possible. I've floated that section of river upwards of 50 times and every time, despite never actually seeing him there, I am reminded of him.  When I read President Monson's biography, "To the Rescue" my knowledge of the area added a new dimension to his numerous stories that take place there. When he told about the time he accidentally started a forest fire I was able to visualize little Tommy running up the cliff sides I know, panicking at the fast burning brown underbrush that's always there in the summer of a drought year. It makes the story feel more real to me, it adds to the immersion and that, in turn helps me internalize the lessons his stories teach.  ...

This post is a response to the article,  How Idealizing Motherhood Hurts Mormon Women  by Julie Hanks. Reading it probably isn't necessary to get the gist from context although it would certainly help. I know a name a glorious name, greater than any other Listen I'll whisper that name to you, It is the name of MOOTHEERR! I think the LDS church gets mothers exactly right. First off, the article misrepresents what LDS women are taught about motherhood with phrases like "When we talk about motherhood as the defining aspect of a woman, the core of her identity, or the only valuable contribution," I have never heard an LDS speaker much less a church leader say any of these things. In fact, all of the problems she has with things the church says aren't things the church actually says. They're a misinterpretation of them. She says that we overemphasize motherhood and thereby under emphasize fatherhood but I just don't see it. Probably because I go to ...