While we might enjoy an early morning shell hunt on the beach, boogie boarding in the salty surf, even snorkeling off the coast for a glimpse at a school of fish below the surface, few of us will ever get far beyond the ocean’s shore. Our understanding of the ocean is mostly limited to beach vacations and biology classes. (more…)
You slam down the Pepsi you’ve been slurping, spilling some in the chips and dip and splattering some on your Vikings jersey. Who did they get to referee this game anyway? A couple of school kids?
Your friend and fellow Vikings-fan Jeff pipes up, noting that the refs called the same play our way last time-but nobody is in the mood to be rational. You chuck a pillow at him, making him spill his Pepsi, while the rest of your friends mercilessly heckle him until he takes back the ridiculous comment. (more…)
Check out any news feed, blog, or late night TV show, and you’ll probably hear something about President Obama’s Supreme Court selection Sonia Sotomayor. While in the past, the justices-mostly white males-have been chosen for their judicial record, Obama added a new criterion: empathy.
Empathy? Isn’t that just another word for touchy-feely?
At first glance, empathy in a Supreme Court Justice seems to favor someone irrational, emotional, even activist. But maybe we should dig into this term-empathy-before we make those assumptions. (more…)
