Book List
Number Of Books That You Own
Several dozen books and a couple thousand comics. The average comic collection numbers around five thousand and I think that I'm well below that. And yes, I think that comics count as a literary format and that a graphic novel counts as a book.
Last Book Bought
"Random Zits" comic strip treasury. (Official Site)
Foxtrot comic strip treasury. (Official Site)
Before that, I purchased the following books a month and a half ago:
Ig Noble Prizes (Link)
"My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy" by Nancy Cartwright, Voice of Bart Simpson (Link)
Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams (Link)
Last Book Read
There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale by Sean Astin (As I wrote about here.)
Books On Your To-Read List
Hitchhiker, as listed above. Code Complete, a programming manifesto of sorts that I have never read thoroughly despite it being a requirement during college. Mega Speed Reading, which was in an old box I was going through so I'll see if I can improve on the above-average speed that I now have. The Costly Anointing, which I also found in an old box and that was written by a worship leader regarding the cost of Gods anointing on our ministry.
Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me
The Bible (bible.gospelcom.net)
This is the only book that I read regularly. Heh. It keeps things interesting since it's made up from so many smaller books with different authors, writing styles, settings and purposes. The overall plot thread that winds through this book tiesa it all together: "God loves us."
The Foundation Series (Link)
Sci-fi fan that I am, this series is the primary reason that I'm such a fan of Asimov's writing. The series was gradually written over the span of four or five decades, eventually incorporating the Robot novels that Asimov originally wrote as a separate "universe." While Asimov rarely gets into romance or much into action, I love the way that his stories act like brain teasers. He'll take one situation, throw three different view points at you and you have to weigh it all out. I like the challenge he gives me in honing my own logical abilities, even if it just for fun.
The Life Story of the Flash (Link and Explanation)
I freaked out when I saw this comic sitting on the book shelf in my comic shop one day. It's the only hard cover comic that I own, though it's not actually a comic but more of a written biography with some comic stuff thrown in. This book was a key plot device in another trade paperback that I purchased several years before that involved one of the Flash's main nemesis and time travel. I was shocked to discover that this plot device from the story had made it's way into the real world, several years after it was 'predicted' in the original comics. So cool.
Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Link)
I read this during my mid-teen years and it was right up my alley. At the time, I was heavily into the scientific evidences for Christianity. I went so far as to photocopy pertinant articles from every archived magazine in our high school library and to write one of the required essays on the Big Bang theory for my physics class. I certainly thought that the topic was fascinating at the time and that this book was a notch above the rest. Since then my interest in these things has decreased as I began to realize how little it matters to most people (Christian or otherwise) and how pointless logical debates can become. Even so, some of the arguments in this book still ground my thinking today.
Marvels (Link)
This trade paperback collection marks the arrival of Alex Ross to comicdom. The photo-realistic, man-on-the-street, painted portrayals of Marvel superheroes at the beginning of the Marvel age blew the minds of many comic fans, including mine. It's one thing to see Giant-Man and the Human Torch in our regular comics, it's another to be on the street looking up at a man crossing over buildings or someone exploding into flame in front of you. Beautiful.
13 comments:
I began to realize how little it matters to most people (Christian or otherwise) and how pointless logical debates can become.
No offense, but I think this is evidence of irrational stubborness.
No offense taken. :)
Or it just shows how traditional apologetics tend to miss the mark...
I think the ideas formed by Douglas Adams for his radio series and then books and now movie are...good. Too bad his actual work...sucks.
Q
Actually, I want to talk about that some more. I have a few questions I'd like to ask.
What role do you think knowledge and beliefs play in our lives? Examples I can think of include the fulfillment of an emotional need, or the attempt to live in accordance with the truth of things. You say "logical debate" doesn't matter to anyone - what does, then?
Do you think people, in order to maintain their belief system, will often ignore facts and well-grounded ideas? Do you ignore facts and well-grounded ideas?
Do you think people are capable of changing their positions?
Mike, you and I used to visit chat rooms and message boards all the time just to stir up some debate for fun. At some point, I decided that it was no longer fun and that it didn't serve any purpose beyond my own entertainment. It's not like I ever convinced anybody about anything during those online debates, right?
There are, however, real topics that require logical discussion. As a software programmer, my code designs require debate almost every single day. In my opinion, it's less likely that both parties can discuss an issue and have a lot of give-and-take based on logical arguments. More often, one person will either submit politely to the other person's viewpoint, or one person will be a little more stubborn and won't let their idea go.
I love it when there is a lot of give and take and both parties listen to each other and modify their ideas as they go. I have several co-workers right now that I can do this with and it's quite satisfying and very productive.
That doesn't really address the more philosophical questions that you posed, but I felt like replying with something more practical regarding my own experience.
It's not like I ever convinced anybody about anything during those online debates, right?
But I am curious as to why you think this is.
Sorry, your question seems a little ambiguous. Do you want to know how I know that we never convinced anybody? Or do you agree that we never convinced anybody and you're asking why I think that's the case?
I'll rephrase. How do you think people form their ideas, and how do they change them?
Mike, I'm not suggesting that people do not use logical debates or logic in general to form/change their ideas. They do, along with other factors like experience, preference and emotions.
I'm saying that people often find logical debate in particular to be boring. Or unconvincing. Or annoying. Or confusing. Or insulting. Or repetitive.
And as time goes on, I find that I agree with some of those adjectives. (Feel free to continue this discussion.)
Basically I want to know what your (or anybody elses' that cares to answer) theory of knowledge is.
For example, what role does emotion play in gathering knowledge and forming beliefs?
*whistles dixie*
You want me to write a treatise on knowledge and how we form beliefs? Um, you first.
Isn't this the kind of stuff that people learn in sociology class or in an ECE program?
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