Becoming Human

The Surprising Advantage of New Year's Day: A Synchronizing RitualOver the course of a year, a lot of change happens. From work and relationships to internal growth and mourning loss, the world is constantly changing.How do we deal with change healthily? How do we vulnerably confront the changes of life, its loss, and its possibilities?Synchronization is a process of being in tune with change so that we intentionally adapt to the emerging world around us. Having a ritual on New Year's Day gives a collective means to mark the events of our lives and ritually sync with where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. We also explore the word "rachaf" which is about having moments of profound intimacy where we are interacting with the full presence of life and its changes in a transformative movement that makes us in tune with what will never be the same again.https://ko-fi.com/becominghuman

Re-telling the Story of Christmas:What is a different way to think about Christmas? This episodes is taken from a project at The Farmhouse in rural NW Ohio that goes through:A meditation on how the context of the nativity connects with our world today.A synopsis of Christmas with different angles and emphases.The Story of the KingThe Story of the ShepherdBoth of these are unique tellings of the point of incarnation and the nativity emphasizing how this concept called Christmas can impact how we live as human beings. For a video version of this content:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNVuwjjddsk

Putting St. Nicholas Back in Christmas: How did the modern version of the Christmas season come to be? From Santa Claus and the reindeer at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade to the classic songs, these traditions are not only new, they were created by department stores and other industries. This doesn't make it bad, but we should be honest about it.There are also other versions that might be better. What are other versions of a generous gift giver? Is Saint Nicholas a viable candidate? Ultimately, this episode tries to make a case for having an honest understanding of Christmas traditions and an encouragement to know the history of Saint Nicholas and how his story might be useful in our contemporary culture.

Christmas History, Saint Nicholas, and Putting Santa in His Proper PlaceWhat is the Santa Claus thing? How did it come about? How has it changed? And, of course, should we tell our children about this?This episode explores the progression that led to the cultural phenomenon of Santa Claus and asks how we should handle this season with our children based on its history. It's not what you think. This is a deep dive. Ultimately, we see that the Santa Claus concept is quite new within the history of winter festivals and has a lot more depth than we usually discuss.

Two Views of Time, the Problem of Fads, & Constructive ChangeThe final episode in the series exploring the ideas of roots, growth, tradition, progress, conservativism, & liberalism. Extrinsic motivation and ulterior motives are not constructive means of change. The danger of progress occurs when it is purely based on the elusive hope of the future that the unknown possibility will be better than the known; especially if it is explicitly trying to avoid what is known even though the unknown has no data. This leads to a sociological view of time called a diminishing view of time. Instead, we should consider a progressive view of time that uses the patience of the long game and memory that reflects the reality of human perception to use the past to build the future.

Gardeners, Docents, and the Present-Progressive Tense of Living TraditionDocents see things as in need of protection and enshrinement. Gardeners see things as in need of guidance and growth. Which is a metaphor for how not to use tradition and a case for how to nurture progress. Romanticizing the past leads to stalling the present. However, we can still use the past to help grow the world that is yet to be.

Rethinking tradition through the constraints of time and perspective.Human beings have temporal constraints. We die. Within our finitude, mortality, aging, and the vast population of history, we should have a proper sense of proportion.Human beings also have mental constraints. We only have our perspective. We only know the world through what it is like to us (qualia). As a part of society and history, we have to decide how we will use the vastness of the world within our limitations. Taking a cue from "The Fiddler on the Roof," we should see that tradition is alive and the past can help us transcend these limitations.Use tradition by replicating the process we've inherited not just replicating the content of the past.

Atonality, Theseus' Boat, & a Proper Sense of Historic ProportionHow much does something need to change before it is deemed new? This episode explores the philosophical nature of change and newness. Short version, new is not random because everything is a continuation of what came before it - from the atomic structure of humans, the nature of compost, and Arnold Schoenberg's compositions of atonality. This means we should have a proper sense of proportion to the totality of history and recognize our human agency is how the universe will continue.

How to be both a conservative and a liberalTradition and progress are a dance: we need to balance both roots and growth together. First, we need to confront the two main problems that separate these perspectives dealing with sociological superiority. You can project the complexity of incoherency on another because you stake your identity in your perspective or you can have a proper sense of proportion. Second, we explore the practical considerations of this topic as a whole. This deals with recognizing the value of each and participating in the common journey to continue the human narrative. Use the past and participate in the active unfolding of the future.

What should be our relationship to tradition and progress?Is the debate on conservatives and liberals haphazardly assumed in our culture? In this episode, we pull back the curtain on what has become a cultural and political institution through the lens of time and change. The past is the only known data but is constantly over. The future holds possibility, but it is unknown. Meanwhile, the world is constantly changing. Tradition and progress is a question of the past versus the future in the midst of an avoidably changing world. The conservative perspective uses the past to implicate the present, prioritizes known data, and is honest about human limitations, but is not honest about the changing nature of existence. It elevates tradition because the past is useful. The liberal perspective emphasizes the future because it prioritizes possibility. It is honest about change and is able to adapt to a constantly changing context, but it is working with unknown data. Can we use what is known while still adapting to context? Can we harness both data and imagination? The balance of tradition and progress is about having a proper relationship with both time and change. We need to hold both perspectives together.

The Life of a MusicianBeing a singer-songwriter and creating music, poetry, videos, and stories is a complicated role. Jon Torrence is a creator — but not just of art. He is a creator of meaningful experiences and seeks to put life into words and sounds.  This episode is a listening room for Jon Torrence of The Native Heart with live performances of four original songs and a host of conversations exploring the background of each song and ideas on creativity, the importance of music history, using stories to create art, and the balance of creating for popularity and creating for meaning.  Featured songs by Jon Torrence and The Native Heart: Pass the Time The Fallows Fingerprints David's Song

Questions to ask for ecological ethicsAchieving the ideal of ecological ethics is not realistic. The first suggestion is to accept the impossibility. Living ecologically is not a test to pass but a journey to improve. Our goal should not be to fix something but to live in the best way possible. Once we've accepted that our life and society are rife with compromises, we can begin asking questions to inform the daily decisions for how we will do everything.

Food & EcologyFood is the most practical dimension of ecological ethics. So, how should we eat? What are the effects of our food decisions? Should we take this more seriously? And, what should our relationship to food look like? This episode explores three general guidelines that might help capture the philosophy of ecological entanglement when it comes to food.

Practical Steps for Ecological ActionWhy don't movements work? History tends to repeat itself and we're still wrestling with the same issues that have been plaguing society for millennia. Ecological ethics, then, can't be a movement. But what other options are there? This episode takes the philosophy of ecological ethics and offers a practice called Place Economy; which is really about community and belonging within the finite limitations of human beings. In order to make good ecological sense for the planet, we must make good ecological sense where we are.

Is there a philosophical and practical premise for ecological ethics? Despite technological advancement, there is still a mystery to being alive and a mystery to the natural world we are a part of. Why should that matter and how should we live with the natural world? This episode explores four premises: Contingency - the nature of existence and the givenness of life. Inherent Value - the perception of existence and its potential goodness. Inherent Process - the mechanics of existence for how living things are in process. Teleology - the ethic of existence and how our actions can be determined by the goal of existence: Universal Flourishing

An exploration of ecological ethics: Are there moral principles and philosophical perspectives relating to the natural world? Should we care about the earth? Should it be confined to political or religious ideologies? This episode explores ecological entanglement, depoliticizing environmentalism, and the central principle for why human beings should prioritize their relationship to the earth; which has nothing to do with the environment.

What should a healthy community look like?We continue our conversation on community with Dr. Ashley Pryor-Geiger and Amie Brodie. How should community work? What is required for a community to function healthily, especially with relational conflict that is bound to happen? We explore the roadblocks to community and observational practices for how to approach the difficult yet necessary experience of relationships that hold a common life well.

A philosophical, sociological, and pragmatic survey of community. How has community been understood and how shouldn't community be understood in conversation with Dr. Ashley Pryor-Geiger of the University of Toledo and Amie Brodie of The Farmhouse. Community is something that we talk about a lot, but do we actually understand it? Community is the common life of a person's experience with other people together that transcends the individual. While there's no single definition, there are some ingredients necessary for community to occur.

What causes a person to sign up for an Ironman? For Morgan Hudik, it was a major surgery as a result of her family's genetics. Not having a BRCA gene forced Morgan to make a huge decision that came with major changes, major loss, and deep pain.  But Morgan's story is an example of taking deep pain and turning it into deep love. She's an extrovert, but she has created a wise, welcoming presence that holds the deepest wounds of the human condition. Her life has become a medium for creating belonging, healing, hope, connection, and beauty in the world around her.  She makes the world feel more at home — but first, she had to learn to be at home with herself.  How did Morgan come to embody such a presence? What does a real kind of life look like? And how can we — in a dark, difficult, and painful world — learn to do the same?

Existential Death Grief is not just for the loss of a person. Anything lost requires the grieving process. This episode explores why that is so necessary with an example of an existential death and how it was grieved. Music composed by Jon Torrence from The Native Heart. Reading from the memoir: "A Lost Home, A Lost Family, and a Tequila Bottle Full of Dirt."

Our culture doesn't handle death well. From funerals to the grieving process, we can move through death more healthily. This episode explores the grieving process including: Grief as any form of loss and an unending process Four grieving principles (Distress, Trauma, Affliction, & Meaning-Making) Instrumental versus instinctive grief. Reactive versus proactive responses to grief. Memorial services versus ancient death rituals. Finally, we explore how we might re-approach grieving with a reflection experience. Music includes: Valdeldur (Sigur Ros) Day is Gone (Noah Gundersen)

What is the role of memory?Your memory is a means of grieving your inevitable death. Which then offers an honest approach to the time that you have left. This episode explores mortality, phenomenology, and an exploration of Augustine's three tenses of time: Memory, Attention, and Expectation. May you grieve your own death with every passing moment; for then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world within the limited constraints of our bodies and minds.

Our memories are not realityWe tell stories, relay information, and discuss details, but they only capture the limited perspective that we've experienced. Our memories are malleable, splintered, and easily influenced selections and interpretations. Memory is not about history, memory is about meaning. Why is this the case? And how should it impact how we tell stories and memories? This episode is a conversation on epistemology. We need to stop pretending our memories are more than they really are. We need to let stories be stories. Only then will our stories be able to come together to bring all of us closer to reality than we are unable to discover on our own.

How do you improve your memory?A lot of people think they don't have a good memory. That's not true. Memory is not a personality trait. Often poor memory is a result of leaving the process to chance. If you don't know the seven methods of encoding or how sensory, short-term, and long-term memory works, you probably won't have a good memory. How, then, do we remember stuff? And why do we forget things? Do you want to learn more effectively? Do you want to get better at storing information and retaining details and remembering names? This episode explores the memory game: Memory, storytelling, and meaning-making Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory Explicit and implicit memory Encoding failure (storage decay and interference) Encoding methods

Why do we fail to enact the good ideas we have and the changes we desire? We have to confront our natural resistance to change and the complicated process of memory.

A different approach to changing and transforming your health - from diets, nutrition, exercise, and helpful processes for meaningful health and wellness development. Topics covered:How to approach holistic health transformation Exploring the fitness industry (especially this time of year) The goals of integrative health: Functionality, quality of life, life expectancy, and societal value Intrinsic mental vision Executing action Intuitive eating Intuitive exercise Why you should drink more water Challenging our culture's body image perspective The role of accountability For more on Vanessa's health and wellness coaching: vkhealthcoaching.live To support the show: Becoming Human Ko-Fi

What is justice? Guest contributor Bryce Webster explores a third form of justice: Eucharistic Justice. If you acknowledge justice, you have to consider the source of that justice. Justice, therefore, is a metaphysical question and Eucharistic Justice is a way to give a source for justice and a practice of justice deeply inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

What is justice? Guest contributor Bryce Webster explores justice and begins unpacking the first two options - retributive justice and restorative justice. Although retributive justice (revenge) is the most common form, there are other options.

What is capitalism all about? Why do we often hate our day jobs and work? We look at our economy and alienation; and why the alternative might not be as romantic as it seems. There are problems with every type of economy. Here's why we probably won't change our modern one and why we probably wouldn't want to even if we could.

What is work and why do we say no one wants to do it? Labor is an action or exertion to develop the world through the deployment of human abilities, time, and energy and there are multiple ways to approach it. This episode explores the history of hard work, extrinsic labor, intrinsic labor, and the two overarching types of economy that result: "Production for Use" and "Production for Exchange." We need to reconsider the essence of work, work-life balance, and what work means in light of human limitations.

A Spurious Guide to Changing Other People (Part II)Conflicts with others beckon us to want to change them. Can you change other people? If so, how do you change other people? This episode explores how to approach changing others. It starts with you, and then you pull them into the future with you. We cover interpersonal relationships, pre-cognition, and the Pygmalion Effect.

A Spurious Guide to Changing Other PeopleConflicts with others beckon us to want to change them. Can you change other people? If so, how do you change other people? This episode explores how not to change others including peace and conflict resolution, control, and violence.

Curiosity is not just a personality trait.Curiosity is a discipline that can be developed and practiced. Between David Hume and the Stoics, we can harness a more curious presence and live better with rich wisdom. Plus, a bunch of depth on the core emphases of Stoicism and why being curious is important for living well.

AmathiaPhysical exercise is a common idea. But what about cognitive exercise? Amathia, often translated as "Intelligent stupidity," is the outcome of having a static perspective. This episode explores how we avoid that through things like empathy and curiosity. Otherwise, you have the banal arguments and debates so rampant in our culture.

Four Reasons Why Should & 4 Ways How You CanCan you change your mind? Absolutely! And you really might want to consider it. This episode explores four reasons our perspectives need to be put in their proper place: They are incomplete They are constructed Entrenching them leads to competition If they are wrong (or just incomplete), they can result in poor decisions. We also bring up issues like confirmation bias and practical tips for growing and developing your perspective.

What is Truth?Exploring relative, subjective, and objective truth reveals that there is a progressive nature to truth. Truth is not a thing, but a process.  Overview:Questions of ontology (the nature of existence) — is anything true? 3 categories of truth — objective, subjective, and relative. Why objective truth is complicated. The progressive nature of truth and three ways we ought to approach it.

Elusive Certainty & Determining TruthCan we be certain about anything or is truth subjective? Ontology, epistemology, and the modes and tools of discerning truth(logos, ethos, pathos, epistemological assumptions, superstition, inductive and deductive reasoning).  How ought limited, finite, myopic human beings use their incomplete knowledge to approach a thing like truth? OverviewOntology and epistemology — are we capable of knowing truth? Can we be certain about anything?  How we pursue truth — including modes of reasoning/persuasion, epistemological assumptions, and superstition.

How Do We Know Stuff?Humans have always wondered about how we're able to know stuff. Though we have consciousness, can we have certainty? This episode explores the problem with perspective through rationalism and empiricism; reason and logic versus experience and sensory observation. Certainty is elusive and if we are gonna know anything, rationalism and empiricism might want to work together. Overview: The story of Hiroo Onoda. Plato's "Cave Analogy" and the Theory of Forms Rationalism - the mind can know things independently of physical reality. Empiricism - knowledge is gained from sensory experience. Various philosopher's takes on the debate (including pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Skepticism, Stoicism, Al Kindi, Al Ghazali, Montaigne, Descartes, Hume, Kant, & Thomas Aquinas). Why you need both and that certainty is elusive - because your perspective is limited, finite, and fragile.

This is how the conflict resolution technique called mapmaking works.  If you want to stop arguing, you have to be honest about your finite, limited perspective. Since neither person in the conflict is working with all the information, constructive possibilities remain. Then, there are four concepts and two ground rules: Empathy, humanization, trust and vulnerability, and invitation. Collaboration through asking questions is the result. Here's a snippet:It is my belief that any addition that we can mutually disclose to each other's limited perspectives is not only worth the endeavor, it is more promising and constructive than us, at best, agreeing to disagree, and, at worst, wielding verbal swords in a battle that is destined for unnecessary animosity.

Stop arguing. Do this instead! If you don't know everything, maybe your conflicts and disagreements could be opportunities to see the world more than you currently do. Mapmaking is a conflict resolution technique based on the collaborative approach. In this episode, we explore how mapmaking works and what makes it different from arguing. Episode Overview: "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost Arguments in our culture What mapmaking isn't (competition) What mapmaking is (collaboration) Why we resort to competition Unity in diversity

Our perspectives are limited and finite; we can't know everything, we aren't working with all the information, and we desire certainty even though it is quite impossible. But why does this cause problems? When we are certain about our perspective, we act like our perceptions aren't perception; and when perception is reality, we can only argue and defend. What's a better solution to our lack of certainty?

What is a perspective and how does it work? This is a topic that deals with everyone and it's one of the biggest causes of conflict. You have a lens of the world that shapes your experience and understanding. We cover epistemology, the nature of perspective, and the phenomenology of egocentric perspectives. You know things with your mind (consciousness, logic, rationalism) and your experience (sense observation, empiricism). Both are finite and limited. You can't see and know everything, as a result.

We put a lot of focus on the content of our disagreements; we don't even seem to consider what causes us to have such different perspectives in the first place. This episode covers the methods we use to approach issues that act as our interpretive lens for our arguments: Rule Based Greatest Good Teleological Based on Lawerence Kohlberg's "Methods of Moral Reasoning" and the social ethics of Deontology, Consequentialism, Utilitarianism, and Teleology, we see what causes us to have such divergent thoughts and irreconcilable differences.

We have conflicts and disagreements, but do we know why we have them? Do we know why they often fail to be productive? This episode covers the categories that contain our disagreements through six argumentative approaches: Pseudo, Fact, Value, Ego, and Meta. If we are going to have better arguments, we need to know what kind of arguments we are having.

How do we actually pull off healthy conflict resolution? We cover some different models and then explore processes to avoid, tips to utilize, and skills to nurture for your next conflict resolution situation.

Conflict is gonna happen, so we might as well explore how to resolve it positively. On this episode, we look at why conflict arises in relationships of all kinds (Relational Dialectics Theory) and we explore the core components to a conflict mediation experience with the various strategies and styles we typically use.

Because conflict is inevitable and has no moral value in and of itself — our response to conflict is incredibly important. We discuss three potential responses and their effects for what kind of change they might bring in the hopes that we will be able to enter into our next conflict with a much richer understanding of what we are handling. Music by Jon Torrence & The Native Heart.Find more from Jon here.

What is conflict? How does conflict work? And why does conflict often lead to change? We look at some social psychology and change theory to see that conflict is inevitable and a natural part of being alive. We also explore how conflict has no moral value in and of itself, but how you respond to conflict does. Music by Jon Torrence & The Native Heart.Find more from Jon here.

To what can the long-game be compared? We talk about gardens, cheat codes, and what makes “the process” actually be a process.

A bit of a rant about how transformation ought to work versus how our culture typically approaches change. Change is a process. We cover the “Age of Marketing” and the “Age of Ease” as well as some other societal ills in the hopes of accepting that change is, in fact, a long game.

Finally, we can talk about how change practically works. We explore the various steps and look specifically at the Transtheoretical Stages of Change.