///////////////Xenophobia, For Men Only (February 5, 2009) -- We have an evolved mental readiness to be fearful of certain things in our world. It's known that people are more fearful of "out-groups" -- people who are different from them. A new study reveals that volunteers' most persistent fears were reserved for men -- that is, male members of the out-group. So white men and women feared black men, and black men and women feared white men; all the other lab-induced fears diminished. ... > full story
///////////////////Judy writes: "But seriousness of purpose may be just our hang-up. If the
universe serves a purpose, should it be serious? can it be (merely)
playful? What could it mean for the universe to have a serious purpose?"
Interesting questions, Judy. Since I don't believe the universe serves
any other purpose than Being, and that human's have to discover and
create their own sense of purpose, I would rephrase the question. Many
people do take a very serious attitude toward purpose and others have a
playful attitude (and I belong to the later group). It is possible that
the serious people do more good (whatever that means) than the playful,
but I think it is also certain that they cause more trouble. So I don't
think anyone who chooses a more playful purpose should feel ashamed of it.
I'm actually dealing with this at a personal level right now. My 20
year old daughter is so depressed about the world that she is shutting
down. She's just dropped out of college, because she can't see any
point to it or anything else. I want to tell her she has only one life
to live, that the world is always screwed up, and that this is one
reason to attend to some of the more enduring things like scientific and
spiritual truths, but I know right now she would just scoff at that.
But I hope someday she will see this. One needs to attend to the beauty
and joy of the world, just so one can balance it against the ugliness
and suffering.
T
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