Good Questions

Mary linked to (and answered) these, so, in lieu of exercising my brain too much this evening …

1. Why do you blog? – To remember things that have happened. To share stuff I think is cool. To present a semblance of sociability.
2. What are your favorite blogs? – In terms of ones I make a point of going to regularly: Stupid Evil Bastard, Decrepit Old Fool, Think Progress, Right Wing Watch, Topless Robot.
3. Who are your intellectual heroes? – Hmmm. I don’t know I could identify any “heroes” in that fashion; that seems to associate a cult of personality with intellectualism, which would appear to contradict to me.  Mary mentions Darwin and Ingersoll, and they’re good candidates. Galileo. Asimov (for his determination that any intellectual study could be popularized and understood by the masses).   I’m sure I could find more with a bit of cogitation.
4. What are you reading at the moment? – The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters (the 14th Brother Cadfael mystery).
5. What is your favorite poem? – Not enough into poetry to have favorites, really.
6. What is your favorite movie? – One movie? One?  Give me a break.  Um … Judgment at Nuremburg.
7. What is your favorite song? – Depends on the mood, frankly.  Often anything I’ve listened to recently.
8. Who is your favorite composer? – Handel.  Bach and Vivaldi come in close, though.
9. Can you name a major moral, political or intellectual issue on which you’ve ever changed your mind? – I believe I have always been a theist, even at times when that was challenging.  And I’m pretty sure I’ve always been a believer in the Golden Rule. Aside from that, my politics and the specifics of my moral and religious beliefs have been subject to change on multiple occasions over the decades.
10. What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to disseminate? – If we all “loved our neighbors as ourselves,” and left the theological specifics to personal taste and weekend discussions over beers, the world would be a happer and more moral place.
11. What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to combat? – That the root of morality is through control of others.
12. Who are your political heroes? – James Madison. Abraham Lincoln. Teddy Roosevelt. I’ll also throw a bone to LBJ, who managed to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed; definitely a hero with feet of clay, but worthy of ongoing praise for all of that.
13. If you could effect one major policy change in the governing of your country, what would it be? – I’d have to go with a formal recognition of the separation of church and state (which, ironically, you’d think would be a major theme of the Tea Partiers with their “Don’t Tread on Me” flags).  If we spent more time trying to help our fellow citizens and less time arguing over whose version of what scripture ought to be graven in stone in front of the county courthouse, we’d probably be a lot better off.
14. Do you think the world (human civilization) has already passed its best point, or is that yet to come? – I think a long view of history would indicate that we’re continuing to improve, decade by decade, even with a wide range at any given time.  If we can avoid a crash of our modern industrial / economic / globalized economy due to resource exhaustion, climate change, nuclear war, or other major game-changers, we should continue to improve over time.  That’s not a trivial “if.”
15. What would be your most important piece of advice about life? – Hard to narrow it down in an unbounded context.  I’ll toss out Grantland Rice’s note “For when the one Great Scorer comes / To write against your name, / He marks — not that you won or lost — / But how you played the game.”
16. Do you think you could ever be married to, or in a long-term relationship with, someone with radically different political views from your own? No. Which isn’t to say that Margie and I agree on everything, but we are in general concurrence on most significant points, and within the bounds of tolerance on the others.
17. What do you consider the most important personal quality? – Compassion.
18. What personal fault do you most dislike? – Hypocrisy.
19. What is your favorite proverb? – Oh, crimminy, I have a website with 7700 quotations … you want me to come up with  one proverb?  Um … I think I actually used this one in my valedictorian speech: “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter).  Does that count?  If you want something more proverbial, how about “Bear patiently with the Defects of others, and labor to amend thy own.” (Thomas Fuller, Introductio ad Prudentiam).
20. If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything you’d do differently? – There’s a million things I regret — but to change most of them would be to change the very happy outcome I’ve reached to date, which I wouldn’t change for the world.
21. Who would play you in the movie about your life? – I can’t think of an actor I’d do that to.  Kevin Spacey?
22. Where would you most like to live (other than where you do)? – If required to move somewhere, I’d probably opt for Southern California, to be near family and old friends.  If that were not an option — Manhattan or London both come oddly to mind.
23. What would your ideal holiday be? – Lots of frenzied travel to many interesting and photoworthy places, ironically intermingled with quiet time for reading, good food and drink, and persistent broadband connections.  And, of course, being with Margie, and probably Katherine, and maybe some other friends and family.
24. What is your most treasured possession? – If my house burned to the ground, it’s the loss of photos that would haunt me most.
25. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? – I don’t know that I’d want to name myself — it sounds like a great opportunity for me to choose something realy stupid that I’d regret forever after.  I did once, as a child, want to be renamed George.
26. What would be your ideal choice of alternative profession or job? – As an ideal?  That’s hard, since whatever it is I’d want to be able to leave it at the office when I came home at night.  Assuming it has to be my primary income (thus leaving out “volunteering as an  X while living on my lottery winnings”), I think I’d like to work in public policy in some fashion.  As a practical matter, if I ever changed careers I’d likely end up in something like accounting.
27. Who is your favorite comedian or humorist? – Aw, jeez.  Um … Bob Newhart. Or, more contemporary, Jon Stewart.
28. Who are your sporting heroes? – I don’t believe I have any.
29. How, if at all, would you change your life were you suddenly to win or inherit an enormously large sum of money? – I’d quit my job.  I’d find something worthwhile to volunteer for about 15 hours a week.  I’d probably write more.  I’d certainly blog more.
30. What animal would you most like to be? – Human.  If that’s not available, house cat, otter, or dolphin all come to mind.

Hmmm. That took longer than I expected.