7 Comments
Nov 25, 2022Liked by Christopher B. Barnett

Wow. Even baseball can’t escape a deep philosophical examination. This is a giant leap upwards from the typical “life-is-like-a-baseball-game “ discourse.

Expand full comment
author

Baseball is especially philosophical!

Expand full comment
Nov 25, 2022Liked by Christopher B. Barnett

I never thought about that, but I guess baseball would be more open to statistical analysis than other sports.

Expand full comment
author

I teach a course called “Baseball, Religion, and the Meaning of Life.” The science/religion question comes up frequently, as baseball tends to appeal to both ways of dealing with the world. I’m thinking you haven’t seen MONEYBALL? It’s a great movie. Well worth your time...

Expand full comment
Nov 26, 2022Liked by Christopher B. Barnett

I haven’t seen it, but I will watch it. Sounds like an interesting course you are teaching. That’s one I’d like to audit. You're a bit of a loose cannon, right? Science, religion, philosophy, movies, baseball, Dylan, Kierkegaard. A true Renaissance man.

Expand full comment
author

My grad teaching is pretty focused, but, yeah, with undergrads, I try to cast a wider net!

Expand full comment

I grieve the loss of the importance of the humanities both at the secondary level and the university level. Worthwhile courses have been replaced by trash courses which avoid the great books and stories of the past. Science has become the hope of our salvation. I’m not sure where I saw this, but it’s so true-“science can tell us how to build an atomic bomb, but it can’t tell us whether or not we should use it.” That’s the job of the humanities.

Expand full comment