Month: April 2011
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The Parable of the Talents
There are a few errors commonly made when people speak about the Parable of the Talents. The Parable naturally lends itself to misinterpretation in terms of quantitative comparison. The first man is given 5 talents, the second man 2 talents, and the third man 1 talent. We are thus tempted to evaluate the talents according to…
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On the saying, “Don’t take any wooden nickels”
When we were about to leave my grandparents’ house, my Grandpa Dunkel used to say, “Don’t take any wooden nickels.” Even though there is no general consensus among linguists regarding the provenance of the expression, its connotation is clear enough: Beware of cheaters and con artists. Keep your eyes open because you’re about to step…
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Money Money Money!; or, That Great Unthinking Life of the Writer (Part 2)
Part 2 of the series at Big Other. Enjoy.
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On cellphone radiation, complexity, and humility
“The association [between radiation and brain cancer] does not stand out nor does it disappear into statistical white noise. Instead, it remains suspended, like some sort of peculiar optical illusion that is blurry to some and all too clear to others.” (Siddharta Mukherjee, “Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer?”) — How do we know what we…
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On money, the scene of transaction, and philosophical counseling
I’ve been trying to achieve a sense of integrity (integritas). This life project has taken me in many directions, one being my relationship with my philosophical counseling conversation partner. In an earlier blog, I wrote about the need to stop calling her a “client” and to start using the term “conversation partner.” Now I want to…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 