Progressives, Focus, and Perspective

1. “Progressive” doesn’t always lead to progress

I recently read the book Science Left Behind: Feel Good Fallacies and the Rise of the Anti-Scientific Left, by Alex Berezow and Hank Campbell. I’ve been dismayed by some in politics (New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg, for example) who feel comfortable dictating how we should live. The libertarian part of me just doesn’t like that. I’m a fan of the scientific method, preferring to let it tell us which theories have a sound basis instead of pushing theories that fit an agenda.

The definition of “progressive” the authors use is built on the Nolan Chart, created by David Nolan in 1971. Instead of the simpler “left” and “right” you hear about so much in politics, this approach creates 4 categories of a person's or group’s tendency toward social and economic freedom (or lack thereof).

According to this definition, the terms “liberal” and “progressive” aren’t interchangeable. It gets confusing, though, since the “progressives” of the early 1900s morphed into “liberals” in the ‘20s then back to “progressives” later in the century. What’s more important than the label is considering the economic and social control involved with a political viewpoint. This chapter helped me understand that it’s more complicated than just “left” vs. “right”, and that I’m becoming more libertarian in my views all the time.

The authors describe four mythologies progressives seem to embrace:    

1.      Everything natural is good
2.      Everything unnatural is bad
3.      Unchecked science and progress will destroy us
4.      Science is only relative, anyway

Berezow and Campbell challenge these assumptions through the rest of the book. Topics include food, conservation, clean energy, vaccines, animal testing, “progressive” Europe, gender differences, education, and journalism. They include many details, but in a style that’s easy to read.

I don’t necessarily agree with Alex & Hank on every point. They seem to have a disdain for anything outside mainstream medicine, for example; I’m in favor of whatever works, regardless of what the FDA says. I was looking for thought-provoking material, though, not just a book to agree with. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

2. How to look stupid while improving my vision

I’m a Krav Maga student, always on the lookout for something that will help me get thrashed less often by my instructors (Robert, Matt, Justin, and Frank are actually the nicest guys around. Just not when we’re sparring). While at Meijer recently I thumbed through a magazine called “Train Hard Fight Easy”. What caught my eye was a short article on how you can improve your visual focus and peripheral vision by practicing with a device called a Brock string.

It really is a string, with several adjustable beads. String lengths vary from 3 feet to 12 feet, with 3 to 5 beads. Should be easy enough to make, but I bought mine from Ronnie and Maggie Dail’s website for about $10 with shipping. This one is nearly 6 feet long and has 5 beads.

To use the string, attach one end to a door knob (I’d suggest two half-hitches). Arrange the beads at various locations along the length, with the nearest one close to your nose. The string should slope down away from you, but not so much that the beads slide out of place. Here’s my setup:

Now try to focus on each bead individually. The one closest to your nose should appear to have two strings heading away in a V-shape, if you’re focused properly. The other beads will seem to have strings in an X-shape converging on the bead when you’re in focus. Move your head slightly left, right, up, and down and try to keep focused on the bead. Also, keep the nearest bead as close to your nose as you can, as shown here:

(note that I look even more dorky now than I do, well, all other times)

It’s hard to describe exactly what this looks like; watch this YouTube video with helpful camera angles to get a better idea. I found I could see the V and X shapes without any trouble, but it did seem a good eye exercise to slowly change focus from one bead to the next. No silver bullet for Krav Maga sparring here, so I’ll need to keep looking. Or maybe just keep practicing and taking my lumps (and punches).

3. A new twist on an old genre makes fun reading

Who knows how many mystery novels have been written over the last century or two. My engineer brain likes crime fiction in particular, trying to figure out who did it while enjoying the character development. I look for stories written from a new angle. Part of it's just the fun of a new perspective, but since I'm also working on ideas for writing my own fiction, I'm curious to see how other writers do it successfully.

Becky and I were looking around in Target recently. While nosing around in the book section (where else?), I spotted Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn. The main characters are Bernie, a private investigator, and his dog, Chet. Bernie is hired to check out a missing persons case that's not at all what it initially seems to be.

What makes Quinn's story so interesting is that it's narrated by the dog. Chet leads us through the investigation while having multiple adventures of his own. His observations on human and dog behavior are clever. I laughed out loud at so many passages in the book, my sides still hurt (could be from my last Krav Maga class, though).

Quinn has written at least five other stories in this series, and I plan to read them all!