The Corrigan Encore

A little weekend nostalgia

September 15, 2023 John Corrigan

The year was 1986, I was 9 years old I was a third grader in Cleveland Ohio and it was Friday. The bus drive home was the longest one of the week. At the the end of the bus stop was the walk home but, it was also freedom! We were free from school for the weekend!

The weekends were special. Friday afternoon would start with phone calls to friends about where everyone would spend the night at. If you were lucky you were hosting friends or staying at a friends house. Friday night would be a movie marathon of scary movies hosted by a wacky video host and Saturday morning would be cartoons on the tv. Saturday afternoon we rode our bikes and visited the local candy store and any open parking lots. There we did “tricks” on our bikes. Sunday was dominated by football or baseball. If you were really lucky you had tickets to the game. There was also the trip to the public library.

As I got older weekends got better. As an adult I spent weekends golfing, fishing, watching sports, drinking, visiting backyard barbeques. In 2006 I was given a Blackberry Pearl and the weekends turned to not so great after that.

The always on generation did a lot to destroy the work life balance and one of the first victims of the work life balance was the epic 80’s and 90’s weekend. It is very important to maintain a work life balance. Without a work life balance you can expect health problems, burnout and depression (I know depression is a health problem).

Let’s all do our part this weekend (that’s right starting this evening when we leave work) and shut off our phones and take back the weekend. Let’s make this weekend an epic 80’s /90’s weekend!!

Nothing is that way

September 14, 2023 John Corrigan

There are videos every where you go, if you travel in public spaces. Most communities use surveillance videos to deter public crime however, the video itself does not deter crime it is the potential criminal knowing they are being recorded that deters the crime.

But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Luke 12:2

When someone is recorded while in the action of a crime or violation they know the likelihood of being caught is much higher when they are recorded in the action and therefore chances are high that they will not commit the crime.

A camera with AI technology can spot people of interest or situations that look out of the normal but because real time surveillance is basically a myth stopping crime while it is happening without a security guard present is a tough ask. There is live surveillance or as close to live as you can get but even with live surveillance the action of stopping the criminal in the act requires boots on the ground at the right time.

Technically the speed of light is 300 000 kilometers per second so no one is really seeing something as it happens. We are all processing things after the fact. Time is funny. Time is almost impossible to define and yet we all use it everyday. The best definition I have seen for time was: Time is the observation of the degradation of matter.

The past, present and future are only illusions, even if stubborn ones
Albert Einstein

I could go on and on about how time is a kind of silly human construct however today I am more interested in how the subjective nature of time. I see some people live full robust lives that affect everyone and their lives are short. I think about Jesus of Nazareth being under 40 and making such huge waves with a message of love and compassion, then there is Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Martin Luther King Jr., Keats, Mellvill and Orwell. This list is long of folks that lived short lives but made huge contributions to society. The “time” they had was used well. Time is at best a persistent illusion that when not considered or used correctly doesn’t really matter. We should all be less concerned with when and more concerned with what.

Well the thing is…

September 13, 2023 John Corrigan

I like to watch and read the news. Here in the United States the Supreme court has made some news with many of its decisions. On June 24, 2022 the supreme court overturned a woman’s right to have an abortion and left woman’s rights up to each state to decide.

Today is September 9 2023 so why am I right now speaking about this court decision made in 2022? I am speaking about the Dobbs decision today because many state laws are just being imposed on women all over the country. Right now 13 states have abortion bans in place and there is so much confusion over state laws that health providers in states that do not necessarily have a ban in place are just shutting down. So I am witting now because this issue matters now and did when it was first over turned and will for decades later.

A big part of the push behind abortion bans was a coordinated effort of the evangelical Christians in the United States of America. The Moral Majority is a group founded by Jerry Falwell and a major point of the religious organization was stopping abortion, through influencing legislation and it seems to have worked.

The evangelical Christians believe that abortion is a sin. The reason for this belief stems from something called the “univocality of the bible”. This univocality means that the bible speaks with one voice and I just don’t think this is true. There is a pretty amazing video in which a scholar I follow mentions how univocality cannot be true

Clearly though this idea for univocality is pretty hard to come up with for any work of art. The bible is an amazing work of art written by many through the years from originally the spoken word.

First it must be known that only a spoken word or a conventional sign is an equivocal or univocal term; therefore a mental contentor concept is, strictly speaking, neither equivocal nor univocal.
William of Ockham

Ockham really helps define what faith is and faith is not fact. Theology is not a sciences and I never want to live in a society where faith or theology make laws. With state laws and no protection for women the United States seem to be on the precipice of a theocracy.

If you disagree with your government, that’s political. If you disagree with your government that is approaching theocracy, then you’re evil.
Margaret Atwood

A government that is a democracy will have disagreements and those should be settle d with logic and ethics and votes however governments that are theocracies are not ran this way. In a theocracy an enemy of the state is also an enemy of god and a theocracy requires a single faith and that is problematic as well because faith is not fact, faith is subjective and different for everyone.

It should go without saying however it seems it must be said. All countries should do their best to avoid a theocracy.

Intelligent ???

September 12, 2023 John Corrigan

Humans, by humans have been widely accepted as the most intelligent beings on the planet. The ability to develop culture and transmit information rapidly are part of the reason our own species views our own species as the most intelligent animal. Arguably there are other cultured animals, dolphins, meerkats, chimpanzees and guppies display a social fabric and culture that is pretty impressive. With more research into other animals humanities spot at the top of the intelligence ladder might be under challenge. Honestly being the smartest animal will not matter if that animal knowingly destroys its own home.

With capitalism the human has created a system that is destroying their own home to generate more capital. In order to make more money humans have caused climate change and the results are now and have been disaster after disaster.

Even when faced with this truth there are many human animals that still seek profit over planet. Something to think about is this, money is imaginary and made up but the environment is not. Humans are destroying a real thing in order to get a made up imaginary thing. I am honestly to the point where I do not think humans are the most intelligent animal on the planet.

We can have a world of peace. We can move toward a world where we live in harmony with nature. Where we live in harmony with each other. No matter what nation we come from. No matter what our religion. No matter what our culture. This is where we’re moving towards.
Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall was a human who devoted her life to chimpanzees. Goodall’s research is amazing and her insight is well insightful. Her time with our closet relative taught her how to be a better human being. My Life with Chimpanzees is loaded to my Kindle and next in line with this years reading list for me. Goodall has always spoke in a way that was hopeful for the future, however she seems to be a fan of humans understanding their place in the world

Farm animals are far more aware and intelligent than we ever imagined and, despite having been bred as domestic slaves, they are individual beings in their own right.
Jane Goodall

Humans have and continue to hunt trap and kill all species of animals to include humans. Until humans stop hunting trapping killing and knowingly destroying the world they live in. I do not think it is intelligent to consider the species intelligent.

We’ll go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost effective
Kurt Vonnegut.

So if there is intelligent life on earth I do not think current humans are it. What do you think?

Not the whole sky

September 8, 2023 John Corrigan

“Is the network down?” I get this question more than I believe I should at work. Users will call me and meet me in the halls and ask if the computer network is down because they cannot reach their favorite website, or watch an online video, or open an email. True story. The network is usually never down, it is often the use of the network that is causing the issue. When I get questions like is the network down I cannot help but think of the tale of Chicken Little.

Chicken Little is a film from 1943 in which the protagonist Chicken is told by another bird that the sky is falling. The film was written during the war to warn people about the hazards of mass hysteria. Chicken Little spread the word that the sky was falling to all the other animals he meet and there were consequences.

Mass hysteria happens and is usually triggered by stress. The workplace can be pretty stressful and it is a nice coping mechanism to be able to blame un connected issues on a boogey man however it is not always a productive or healthy way to behave.

Mass hysteria can create psychological distress and it seems to be contagious. So taking a deep breath and investigating issues or problems can go along way for ones own and their communities health. I grew up a nervous child, and sometimes I found many stresses in the world but my mom would remind me to breath and count to ten when presented with a nervous situation.

So lets all take a breath count to ten and then dive in.

Does family Matter

September 7, 2023 John Corrigan

The United Nations has 193 countries in it and among the countries 7 of them do not mandate paid maternity leave for parents. The United States of America finds itself among the 7 countries. Child care in the United States for working parents costs the parents more than 20 % of their income again among developed nations the United States is last, most nations offer heavily subsidized or free child care. In June of 2022 the United States quit protecting women’s right to health care for abortions. Health care costs for families in the United States are almost twice as much as all other United Nation countries.

The election season will start soon and the politicians will lean heavy on the family and the importance of the family. However if that politician is not addressing the families needs through policies their words are nothing more than lip service and the family doesn’t matter enough for the them to do work.

When something matters and is a priority we will find ways to make that something work.

This is what happens

September 6, 2023 John Corrigan

I was at a work site earlier today and I heard a leader have a discussion with the technician at the site concerning some type of hardware. The leader was a new leader and did not understand why the hardware was set up the way it was and had called technician to change the hardware. A veteran employee noticed the technician working on the hardware and mentioned to the technician and the leader as to why the hardware was set up that way. The change was canceled by the leader and then the leader made a comment about the importance of communication.

Educators teach our children to look, listen and learn. There are 4 types of listening and they are 1. Deep listening 2. Full Listening 3. Critical Listening 4.therapeutic listening. Different situations require different types of listening.

At work I often find that I need to engage in deep listening occurs when the listener is trying to gain insight from the speakers perspective and involves paying close attention to the users verbal and nonverbal clues. Thinking about work more deeply, I would say that I use deep and full listening. Full listening Full listening involves paying careful attention to what the speaker is saying. When I am learning a new skill at work full listening is a very important tool.

Whether I need to use full, deep, critical or therapeutic the fact remains that listening is critical to success.

“The art of conversation lies in listening.”
Malcolm Forbes

So lets make a conscious effort to all become better listeners today, tomorrow and everyday forward

The ethics of it

September 5, 2023 John Corrigan

My mom took me and my three sisters to church at young ages. In church we went to service Sunday school and bible study. Our church like many churches in the United States taught me and my sister dogma using the scriptures. As I grew up I mistook dogma for data and faith for fact. Later in life with other perspectives I was able to tease out some of the data and definitely understood that all of my Christian belief is faith not fact.

I have been down somewhat of a rabbit hole with consideration in Christian data versus dogma and wondered how did the dogma for the Christian religion become part of the Christian religion.

The rabbit hole lead me to a profession I never knew existed and that is a Christian ethicist. I stole this exert from the Wikipedia page concerning Christian Ethicists “Christian ethicists use reason, philosophy, natural law, the social sciences, and the Bible to formulate modern interpretations of those principles; Christian ethics applies to all areas of personal and societal ethics.”

So for me the takeaway is that religious doctrine is being evaluated all the time and modified with data and knowledge. It is this growth that keeps religion relevant and usable in our lives and society. One major shift I see in religious doctrine is a shift away from homosexuality as a sin. Many denominations do not consider homosexuality as a sin and welcome the LGBTQ community into the fold as believers.

So at the churches build a doctrine for their believers to live by and to a certain extent each induvial builds a doctrine to live by. We build our doctrine by learning, listening and should include loving family, friends and living sentient beings.

If you find yourself at a crossroads where your church’s doctrine demands you do something that is not loving (like condemn someone who is homosexual) perhaps it is time to rethink that doctrine.

The willingness to change one’s mind in the light of new evidence is a sign of rationality not weakness.
Stuart Sutherland

There is nothing wring with change. The big question for change, dogma. laws and actions, should be why.

Why do I believe this doctrine?

What good is this accomplishing?

Is it good?

One major ethical question is always how do I want to be in this world? That one is huge for me when it comes to religious doctrine. I never want to be someone who would hurt or harm or do anything but love others.

Most people, when directly confronted by evidence that they are wrong, do not change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously. Even irrefutable evidence is rarely enough to pierce the mental armor of self-justification.
Carol Tavris

So my hope and prayer is this. I pray that me and all of humanity would be considerate of all life when they make moral and ethical decisions and doctrine.

Its a little weird right?

August 31, 2023September 1, 2023 John Corrigan

I was 12 years old and sat in the bleachers at Cleveland municipal stadium. It was a precarious balancing act with hotdog, popcorn and soda in hands that was interrupted when my dad motioned that I should stand with all the other bleacher creatures. I looked at him like oh wow ok and why are we doing this. It was the playing of the Star Spangled banner by a local Cleveland celebrity. We all stood and the anthem was spit out then we all sat down, this was weird and I’ve always thought plating the national anthem at sporting events was odd.

I am a huge sports fan. If you can take a physical feat and put some teams and a point system to it I am in I will watch it. Being a sports fan in the United States gets you used to hearing and standing for the national anthem at every single game, but it is still really really weird.

In the United States the anthem has been played at sports games since World War I. Prior to world war 1. Patriotism was needed badly to build up the United States armed forces and fight a war. The draft was in full swing but not everyone was eager to fight and die overseas.

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.
Oscar Wilde

Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
Adlai Stevenson

In a pre season game on Sept 1, 2016 a nfl quarterback refused to stand for the national anthem played before the game. When asked why the quarterback let the press know that he was not satisfied with the United States government and the racism that was and still is rampant throughout the country. Instead of embracing the quarterback the league and fans turned on him and their patriotism was violent and career ending for the quarterback. I have to say I was ashamed to be a football fan and an American right about when the turn was happening on the quarterback.

I guess for me patriotism has nothing to do with a song and when it is sung. Patriotism is holding fast to the values that I beleive make the United States great like, Democracy, inclusion, exploration, respect, love, Liberty, equality, and compassion, are the values I can think of off the top of my head. These are values worth fighting for. I am passionate about sports and music but I will never let a my love for a song trump my love for these values.

Its weird to sing the national anthem at sporting events and it seems to invoke the wrong values so I for one would not loose any sleep if the song was dropped from sporting events.

This podcast is pretty cool

August 28, 2023 John Corrigan

Ok I am not sure if this is a first but I feel like it is. I have mentioned podcasts before but I do not think that I have endorsed one. So a first here on my blog is the endorsement of a podcast. I have to warn you that it is super boring and big on ancient history but I enjoy the hosts and think it is a refreshing take on something pretty heavy. The podcast is Data over Dogma. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/data-over-dogma/id1681418502

Why endorse this podcast? Well, data represents statistics and facts that we can analysis and create narratives from, dogma is “truth’, principles laws laid down by the bosses that are just “truth”. My religious upbringing has been full of dogma disguised as faith. Faith is a conviction concerning a truth, now is that truth in analysis of data or dogma?

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

Can data be used to put together a picture of ancient history and religious laws for faith or are believers engaging in apologetics for the dogma they have had passed down to them through their religious culture? Yeah I am not really sure but the podcast gives some data surrounding the ancient religious world and helps me make some sense of it.

I mention that the podcast is one of ancient history maybe I should rephrase that, the podcast deals with ancient history and data from the bible.

I love this podcast and think its pretty cool because data is knowledge and knowledge is power and if you want a powerful spiritual life data can do nothing but help.

One of the podcasts host Dan McClellan also has a tik tok channel that I enjoy as well but today on this post I am endorsing his podcast