Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com Should Happiness Really Be Our Goal? Thomas Jefferson famously claimed in the Declaration of Independence that the goals for the people living in the American Colonies in 1776 should be “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The pursuit of happiness seems to be widely accepted as a
Uncommon Common Sense – March 2016 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com Was Plato Right? I was watching Donald Trump on television the other day and I thought of my philosophy class in college when we read Plato’s Republic. I remember being surprised and skeptical when Plato suggested that democracy was a governmental system that would never work. As I
Uncommon Common Sense – February 2016 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com The Politics of Fear Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quote, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” is as true today as it was in 1941, perhaps more so. In the wake of the recent ISIS terrorist attacks, we seem to be on the brink of making the same error
Uncommon Common Sense – January 2016 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayer billfrayer@gmail.com The Individuation of Poverty There is considerable talk these days about the growing income inequality in the world, particularly in the United States. The problem with this issue, for many people, especially those who are living in a comfortable retirement or who have decent jobs, is that
Uncommon Common Sense – December 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayer billfrayer@gmail.com Major Change Is Upon Us Just as the fish is unaware of the water she swims in, we may be unaware of the sea changes occurring around us. Change is often gradual and difficult to identify when we are in the midst of it. When did people
Uncommon Common Sense – November 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com Is That Immoral or Just Not Such a Good Idea? “Julie and Mark, who are sister and brother, are traveling together in France. They are both on summer vacation from college. One night they are staying alone in a cabin on the beach. They decide it would be
Uncommon Common Sense – October 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayer billfrayer@gmail.com The Elephants Are in Control My daughter recently loaned me a copy of Jonathan Haidt’s 2012 book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.It’s an interesting study about why intelligent people can view the world so differently. It’s an interesting subject he’s
Uncommon Common Sense – September 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayer billfrayer@gmail.com Politics of Hate “Hate” is a strong word. Many people would tend to shy away from revealing that they hate someone. Yet politics, notably in the United States, has become dominated by an emotional animosity, almost tribal in nature. We can easily sit back and scratch our
Uncommon Common Sense – August 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com Complexity and Ambiguity I am the kind of guy who likes to keep up to date on research about health and nutrition. Years ago, I avoided eggs and limited red meat. I try to eat my share of fruits and vegetables. Several years ago I started reading studies
Uncommon Common Sense – July 2015 Read More »
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayerbillfrayer@gmail.com Intellectual Humility “The trouble with the world,” Bertrand Russell once quipped, “is that the stupid are cock sure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” We live in a world where almost everyone is connected to the Internet, people have a choice of so many television outlets and
Uncommon Common Sense – June 2015 Read More »
