I'm so proud of my daughter, Henrietta-- she is a very deep thinker with a rich inner world.

She is at the local college taking classes via PSEO, and her instructor asked the students what they thought was the nature of being human. Henrietta-- who is quite shy ordinarily-- raised her hand and explained in fairly great detail what she saw as a dual-nature: intellectual, and biological. She said the teacher was so excited by this response that she spent the next twenty minutes of her lecture addressing it.

I posited to Henrietta that she missed a third element: spiritual. Every human being who has walked the face of the Earth has at some point felt the need to address questions larger than themselves: "Why am I here?", or "What is the meaning of all of this?" All moral codes derive from a spiritual need to know what it is to be human.

In terms of taxonomy, I gave her a model of what I called "positive" and "negative" frameworks.

Negative frameworks would be those that do not obligate their adherents to any specific sort of action towards anyone else in order to live a moral life. An example would be Libertarianism: don't hurt anyone else, and you are ethical. Or Buddhism: meditate inwardly to achieve enlightenment.

Positive frameworks do obligate their adherents to positive action towards others. In Communism, one must turn over one's property to the group. In Christianity, one must actively perform works expressing love of God, and to try to get others to love God too, for the salvation of souls.

I also asked her to noodle on this question, and to get back to me: "Can one know every thing in reality via the five senses?"


Catholic Pokémon

I read "The Martyrdom of Polycarp". I sort of thought his name sounded like a Pokémon-- so on a whim I asked Copilot, "If Polycarp were a Pokémon, what would he be?" Click to view the full-sized image:



Loving what I saw, I then asked it to generate Pokémon for the three clerical orders of Diaconate, Presbyterate, and Episcopate. As before, click on these to view the full sizes:







I think it would be fun to generate a whole bunch of these-- maybe religious sisters and brothers next? Or Legendary Pokémon, along the lines of the Polycarp one? It's such a fun convergence of the Faith and video games.


St. John's

I'm running out of time for blog post writing for the evening, but I have probably ten posts worth of knowledge to share, just from my first week at St. John's! I also want to walk around the campus and take lots of pictures.

I did snap a couple of pictures of my room, viewed from either direction. Click for full-sized versions:





I'm not entirely sure, but these rooms may have been cells in which the Benedictine monks lived? My room is a bed, a desk, and a sink. I absolutely love it! Even the bedspread is this kind of coarse linen with a very unique texture. Even just that aspect of the experience has been incredible.

For those of my new friends who are reading this, you have been so incredibly kind to me-- I feel so blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you! One of my new friends is in fact a Benedictine himself: I asked him if I could visit the monastery one day, if I promise to try my best to not interfere.

I will write much more as the days and weeks progress!