Word Prisms

I have a theory about Justin Trudeau and his beard. Now, I know that there may be thousands of articles out there touting similar theories but I can’t say I’ve read one. So, good on you if you’re reading this one. I appreciate it. Now, I’m going to give some background on my theory before I divulge it in the hopes that it will make it more believable. My experience with a public audience such as Mr. Trudeau has had to endure was largely limited. I acted in some plays. I did some stand-up comedy. And, I taught school. In none of those situations, was I being what you call myself, partly because in my initial experiences as a teacher, I got weird reactions from my audience. In a social curriculum course at university, we were asked to teach a lesson in front of my classmates. Mine was on the weather. Amongst my audience was the professor and a grad student acting as his teaching assistant. She laughed during my entire presentation. And here's the thing, I wa...

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been convinced that my reality may not necessarily be the same as others. For that reason, I’ve thought of reality as consisting of two parts. There’s the reality out there outside of me of which I can have only an approximate understanding and then there’s the reality created by me and those with whom I share a language and understanding of existence. Therefore, the words and mathematical models we use to explain reality can only approximate it. They can never be the same. Science reflects a similar understanding of the world. We can never be sure of anything, only to an extent. Zen Buddhism proposes a similar but different understanding of the world and our relationship with it. That is, words interfere with the understanding of meaning and so, life is best experienced by clearing the mind of them. Easier said than done. Humans have constantly been confronted with their ideas of reality conflicting with its actuality throughout his...