The DIY City

Yesterday, while walking to Scrabble with D, D shared a really cool idea with me--she'd been thinking about two subjects I've written about, the DIY scene and life in the Greater Phoenix Suburb-o-politan Area (or GPSA for short).

She'd had a recent conversation with a friend who is trying to decide where to move next, and he'd expressed some dissatisfaction with the idea of moving somewhere like the GPSA because so much of it is so new. Instead, he figured he'd prefer somewhere with more established history like Seattle or Boston. Their conversation moved onward, but his opinion stuck with D and made her think about how she relates to life in this place.

The simple thing that got D really excited was the idea of extending the DIY concept to the GPSA in general. Sure, there isn't as much established history (in some respects; ancient history lingers but is subtle), but that means that we have to adopt a different sort of mentality, a freedom to explore and recognize imperfections and try to change them or learn to cope differently. With that kind of attitude, I can change from missing delicious Cupcake Royale cupcakes and instead celebrate and relish the fact that I've learned how to make my own, a satisfying process that might not have happened if I had remained spoon-fed in another place. There's so much to be gained from the struggle of learning to ride my bicycle around a town that is learning to become more bicycle-friendly.

I'm going to think about this idea some more as I continue to make meaning of my life and my presence here. But thank you, D, for making that simple yet exciting connection.

Dawkins and Tooth-Gnashing

It would be perhaps interesting to write a lengthy piece in response to Dawkins's talk, but I won't. Instead, here are two matters I take issue with:

1. The idea that science can be used to arrive at truth. Both Dawkins and Dennett quite simply state that that is the function of science. An oversimplification, gentlemen, or what? Spend some more time looking at your supposed truth, and discover where reductionism does and does not get us.

2. How to move the conversations forward. It's one thing to target something like Westernized, monotheistic religions. That's a reasonably straightforward target. But can we move past it, please? Dennett at least acknowledges that we don't exactly have a replacement for this thing we call religion (and should we?), but regardless, where does that leave those of us who are bumbling around in the midst of an ongoing existential crisis? I'd like more dialogue, less monologue.

My thoughts went to two people as I listened: to David Abrams (The Spell of the Sensuous) and Wendell Berry (The Gift of Good Land would be a reasonable start).

But I suppose if I was looking for something new and different, I wouldn't have attended the Dawkins-fest.