Science vs Scientism

 Pure Science is not an ideology; it is a method of examining claims through empirical investigation and then drawing a conclusion that has predictive value. It uses the framework of mathematics and statistics to analyze the evidence, thereby opening up further avenues of investigation to test deeper claims. In this regard, it has been very successful.

Having said that, the Philosopher Paul Feyerabend argues that when the practitioners of science become dogmatic and political in their outlook, they transform the practice of science into a milieu dominated by groupthink. The willful neglect of contrary evidence and the elevation of the power dynamic of credentialism then dominate.

This invariably results in stagnant thinking, the formation of a closed secular priesthood/authority, and the sacrifice of the rigorous scientific methodology to preordained conclusions.

Reflections LXI - Opening the Invisible

 It is is my experience as a teacher that many science educators revel in displaying Schrödinger’s equation on the board as it has an inherent wow factor. However it is also my observation that most have no clue whatsoever what it means. Fortunately for such teachers there are very few people who can call them out on this, as the equation together with Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle,  is one of the least understood phenomena in the mainstream milieu.

You would think that those given asylum as refugees would be grateful to their host country but as evidenced by the welfare fraud committed by Somalians in Minnesota these expectations of common decency at best fall far short of the mark. Sadly I think many will avoid prosecution as the rot of decline has infested the American Judiciary system. 

The avenue for disappointment and error of judgement is placing any individual, institution or ideology on a pedestal. Nothing is beyond criticism.

The logic of an ideologue is to rationalize oneself out of the reality check of evidence. This drive seems to know no restriction which is why the truth is the first facet to be damned.

The pieces of the puzzle fit in better when you activate the assumption that most people operate from an inflated estimation of their own abilities.

Reflections LX - Political Malfeasance

 It is through its blindness to dirty money and its flirtation with some of the worst players in global politics, that the Swiss have built a financial Empire on which they stand to at times lecture the world on moral clarity.

The worst aspect of the current world order in the west is that it has vaunted to the top of the political podium those who simultaneously demonstrate weakness and compliance to the most destructive policies. Europe’s demographic shift is the most obvious expression of such a deleterious fusion.

I have much admiration for Victor Davis Hanson, the classic historian and political commentator, who has that rare and extremely underrated habit of bringing fact based evidence to a debate of any kind. The fact that he has one-tenth the outreach of a blowhard such as Candace Owens exemplifies the sad zeitgeist of our time.

I find it hypocritical to call yourself a good Christian as many American Firsters claim to be and then subsequently turn your back on the suffering of Christians worldwide in places such as Nigeria and the Middle East. Looking back further It astounds me as well as to how these so-called Isolationists would have left the fate of European Christians in World War Two to the discretion of the Neo-Pagan Nazi Regime.

On Keir Starmer

 As an island nation the British have historically relied on trade to survive. This required an independence of action and a will to take advantage globally of opportunities. Subservience to the European mechanism curtailed Britain on the former. However it is an epidemic of a lack of belief in itself that have eroded its will to win abroad. Bad has fostered a malaise that appears to be terminal. Keir Starmer is more suited to the role of Grim Reaper at this point in time then he is to that of Prime Minister.

Reflections LIX - Sobering Thoughts

 A driver for civilization instability is the lag time when one aspect of the flow of information increases at a rate that far exceeds the ability of further steps along the processing line to understand and make sense of it.

Without brute force ideological policy making cannot withstand the empirical push back of the economic reality.

We will reach a breaking point when the false metrics of success run head first into the unyielding wall of  the physical universe.

Nature has an inherent bias in rendering the vast majority of predictions to the effuse of history.

The older I become the more apparent it is to me that many a belief system is based on lies, misconceptions and a dangerous disregard of skepticism.

How much time has been wasted by physicists on a theory of everything? So many hours lost as slaves to hubris. 

Listening to the rhetoric of politicians it is overwhelmingly obvious that the most common trait they share is narcissism.

Reflection LVIII- May's Murmours

A proportional Allied response in world war two would have likely ensured a thousand year Reich.

Systems fails as they have innate flaws in that those who design them rarely have to use them. How many of the framers of Obamacare for example use Obamacare themselves?  The same can be said for public education wonks who send their offspring to private schools while pontificating about the benefits of the state system.

The scarcity of evidence is not evidence in and of itself.

The curse of the podcaster is that in order to stay relevant they inevitably platform garbage,

Ireland has a victim mentality which makes it a perfect  breeding ground for post-Catholic Wokeism. They lost a lot of their best to the United States (through emigration) and in a post-Catholic era are looking for a new religion which requires a devil.  Israel fits that bill for many in the population. The irony is that immigration into Ireland  is eating the out the framework of its society providing a backdoor for an Islamist surge on the Emerald Isle. 

Green parties in the west are far more red than they are green. The environmentalism is the hook for the Marxism.

Once you realize that true happiness comes from cultivating a restful soul based on a transcendence then material wants recede into the background.

A great part of wisdom is honing one’s mind filter to contextualize the information deluge. 

Reflections LVII - Pesky Pontifications

Western Progressives often excuse the worst behavior exhibited in the Arab world by evoking a context of culturally different but ultimately lowered  standards. The Arab Street with remarkably few exceptions have done their best to live up to this appraisal.

The hatred of the Jew and Israel by various Christian nationalists is so diabolical that many seem to show little concern for the possibility that the Holy Land could indeed fall into Islamist hands. Hatred does indeed blind one to rational decision making. 

Ultimately every framework of knowledge acquisition is guided by a leap of faith in a system of understanding. The more robust of these systems minimize such a leap.

The problem with change is not that it is intrinsically bad (it can often be positive) but that much of it is initiated by partisans who have devoted too little time to the mechanism of its initiation and workable contingencies that can re-correct should the change fail.

It is the politics of envy that guides most leftist policy.

Nobody can truly believe in G-d and still be a self centered narcissist for it is the transcendent being that reaffirms our limitation.

It is a poverty of historical knowledge that drives extremism. 

Reflections LVI - April Aspirations

 The enemies of Canada could not have envisioned a greater gift than the term of office of Justin Trudeau. In what seemed like an eternity of time he eviscerated what was left of Canadian Identity. The country at present doesn’t stand for much.

One should resist the temptation to platform bad ideas lest they take over. This is the story of the modern drift leftward of the Democrat Party in the US and its Liberal counterparts here in Canada.

No nation is great enough that it can’t be reduced to its knees by a series of bad administrations. This is modern Britain in a nutshell.

We are living in a time when both major political parties in the USA are being dined on by their extremes. If the center fails to hold the American decline will become much more than a myth.

Those counted as the sane may become the most threatened minority.

The artificial have been trying to sound intelligent for some time. Software has finally allowed them to succeed. 

In electing Zohran Mamdani as mayor, New York has shown that it can match and exceed London in every aspect, including the potential to self destruct.

The West is undergoing a great experiment , the subject of which is to test the robustness of our institutions against a powerful cocktail of incompetence and malevolence. As of this point in time the institutions are failing.

I never despair it is more fun after all in laughing oneself through the apocalypse.

Once you remove envy of the other your happiness factor has no place to go but upwards.

Regret nothing, for the arrow of time does not permit any do-overs in events past. It does however at times allow us to chart with leaned understanding of error,  a possible new future.

The tragedy of the great men is that the national essence that they build will eventually be whittled away by the mediocrities who are destined to succeed them.

Reflections LV - Sustainable Thoughts

If politicians in a democracy don’t see themselves as servants to the people as opposed to masters then its very notion is an illusion.

Cursed be the peacemakers if the peace is not rooted in reality.

It astounds me (or maybe it shouldn’t) as to how many Western Europeans are willing to lend a sympathetic ear to the Islamist take when its that very ideology that is involved in the destruction of its own civilization.

The disturbing curiosity of the Internet is that it consistently magnifies and multiplies stupidity.

The best way to destroy creativity is to document it and formulate under the banner of a process.

One of America’s 21st century challenges center on its ability to integrate its Hispanic population at a rate faster than its demographic growth. Western Europe has failed the task so far with its Muslim minority.

A nauseating quality of the Canadian political character is its obsession with coming across as the level headed good guy in international politics. This often subjugates its moral clarity to the temporary domain of feel good politics.

Reflections LIV- The Morning Smorgasbord

 It was not that Wellington was a greater general than Napoleon (he certainly wasn’t) but that he knew his limitations all the better. This guaranteed him more success than he might otherwise have received.

It is no accident that both the French and Russian Revolutions ate their children and brought into power authoritarian dictatorships. Chaotic upheaval is the fertile ground for a strongman to emerge. People are more comfortable with one source of violent control than many.

For the leadership a controlled populace is more preferable than an educated one. This mentality unfortunately dominates public education.

Deliberate political polarization is predicated on the strong assumption that most people abhor nuanced takes. It is this reality that has manufactured its growth.

I come by my cynicism naturally, as a workable coping mechanism to navigate the decay around me.

It could be argued that the impulse by those who should know better to turn the other cheek has been the greatest blessing to military aggressive regimes.

Sometimes our only hope is that various elected politician don’t live up to their promises.

While we are burdened to surrender part of our security to the government we should never surrender our sanity.

Reflections LIII - Pushing away Nihilism

 Without common values, a sense of right and wrong and a commitment to the truth a society will rot from the inside. No foreign invasion force can commit such damage on the people as it can do to itself.

I have no doubt that the stress I face in life at times would be lessened if I wasn’t so passionate about certain sports. Blessed are those that are oblivious to such a world.

With a falling industrial base and a lack of agricultural output, cities are reduced to service centers. This cannot be sustained for long as service in the time as such a narrow approach is self limiting, The end result is that the city will become the bedrock of the welfare system driving its inhabitants to embrace more collectivist economic ideologies that in turn will accelerate the downward spiral.

What is obvious since October 7th 2023 - Nothing brings the Far Right and Far Left together faster than a hatred of the Jews.

Falsehoods to power ought to be the real motto of radical extremist revolutionaries.

Air Resistance increases with speed so does system corruption especially as an Empire expands.

Napoleon’s Epic success in the Wars of the Second to Fifth coalitions literally doomed his hubris to the disastrous defeats he would suffer at Leipzig and Waterloo.

Navigatng the Chaos - Part 9 - When do People deny the Science?

 People deny science when they:

• Politicize the science

• Insist that the science in one area or another is settled (science is never settled)

• Argue that there is only one specific form of the scientific method

• Draw conclusions that extend beyond the specific area of investigation

• Prejudice Rationalism over Empiricism

• Insist that public opinion determines the result

• Deny whole bodies of research as the outcomes may be inconvenient to the status quo

• Fail to challenge the bias of authority (people in power)

• Fail to report on the limitations of a specific scientific model

• Use terms that have no meaning in a scientific sense

• Promote pseudo-scientific junk that has an emotional utility

• Selectively use statistics to distort the result

• Fail to insist that experiments ought to be replicated

• Fail to understand the limitations of science and employ its methodology in areas that extend beyond the material

• Insist that science 'proves' something when in reality, it provides more evidence in support of (or against) a certain model - science is inductive, not deductive.

Reflections LII - Dialing back Decadence

Western Europe is at a time in its history where it is paying Dangeld so that the barbarians from within delays its final meal.

An obvious failure that we made in the west was to assume that elitist intent was guided by integrity and a sound moral foundation. It never was.

Any fool can redistribute wealth but only talented people can create it. Socialism conflates this distinction.

A common feature of all radical collectivist ideologies is the negation of the individual human spirit. Human worth is recalibrated to fit the machine.

The more I study history the more I realize that this tremendous yet uncalled faith in big government drives us from one crisis to another.

No war is won with a proportionate response. The US repaid the Japanese almost a thousand times over for the deaths resulting from the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Hatred is one of the most powerful dynamics that define the human condition. People will literally destroy themselves and harm their own personal well being in order to satiate this demon. Islamism in particular is fueled by such caustic pathos.

The most dangerous common of human traits that one often encounters is the combination of self righteousness and stupidity. In the modern world this sits at the core of Wokeism.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 8 - Science and G-d

 It is amazing how many people on both sides of the political/worldview divide have the impression that if you believe in God, you cannot truly be a man of science. My students constantly bring this point up and are surprised when I tell them that the two are not mutually exclusive. While it is true that no likely definitive proof for God exists within the frame of logic that underpins science, this in no way invalidates God.

Let us not forget that science operates within limits - limits set by empirical evidence and the self-contained rationalism that allow us (as scientists) to infer from the evidence available. Like any system of knowledge, it also accepts certain constructs a priori, and as Kurt Gödel showed with his Incompleteness Theorem that even Mathematics (as a system of logic) could not be verifiable within itself. Nevertheless, science is the best system for elucidating the mysteries of the universe as it constantly requires more stringent levels of checking and retesting. Couple this with the strength of Karl Popper's falsification argument, and it is easy to see why science is successful as an epistemological tool.

I am most certainly not a biblical literalist in that I see what purports to be the bible as a mixture, albeit a valuable one, of oral history and ancient mythology. I have also dismissed the scientific validity of intelligent design. Darwin's descent with modification makes sense to me, but at the same time, I am skeptical of the random mutation arguments so favored by the various Neo-Darwinian schools. I am more inclined to see evolutionary changes being driven by systems of self-organization. A methodology that is likely to be explained by science, although not within the dominant paradigm from which it currently operates at present.

Physicist-theologian Ian Barbour writes extensively about the interaction of science and religion and posits a four-facet model dealing with the relationship between these two avenues of human thought to be very useful.

In summary, Barbour (a Templeton Award winner) sees the two mechanisms of science and religion through the eyes of four different models: 

Conflict: Where they butt heads viz. Scientific Materialism versus Biblical Literalism

Independence: Where they ignore one another - Separate Domains and Different Languages and Functions

Dialogue: Interaction in the area of Limit-Questions. Parallels and Common Methodologies

Integration: Incorporating the two dynamics together within the framework of Natural Theology, Theology of Nature, or Barbour's favorite Systematic Synthesis.

Barbour analyzes these models in the areas of Astronomy and Creation, Quantum Physics, Evolution, and Continuing Creation, Neuroscience and Human Nature, and finally, God and Nature.

From this work, I take much solace in an integrationist model that seeks to build connections instead of divide. For me, this makes the most sense, and it is from this platform that I see the world - open to reason but at the same time mindful of a greater presence that exists.

Reflections LI - Messages from the Beast

An obvious human weakness is how we openly relinquish our free will to the tyranny of accepted opinion.

Most educational curriculum is centered on conformity at the expense of critical thought.

While your body may pay a price for resisting the insanity your soul is by contrast rewarded.

The destruction of the economy by Marxist principles is only matched by the evisceration of reason by post-modernism.

Life courtesy of its very essence has meaning. 

The barbarian hordes are forever at the gates. They have patience as they know that bad governance is not far away.

The evolution of sporting strategy involves the ongoing effort to neutralize skill by deliberate mechanical counterbalance. For great periods of time tedium dominates over flair.

Reflections L - Causual Observations

What is most tragic about the fine arts is that it likely peaked in the 17th century with a slight boost given to it by the Impressionists two centuries later.  Since then the decline looks to be terminal. AI may be the final nail in a once ornate coffin.

Anything perceived as free to use, will be ultimately abused by the public. Many people simply can’t help themselves.

The tragedy of the modern is that we are drowning in a sea of unoriginal sludge.

In an insane world it is even more important that one’s thoughts be focused, rational and reliably conceived.

To an extremist the danger is not the directly opposing viewpoint but the very truth itself.

A sad observation is that most people fail to understand the limits of science including many scientists themselves.

Any religion that uses excommunication as a weapon to ensure conformity has no understanding of the God-Person relationship.

A declining society has no problem relegating the truth to a position behind popular sentiment. The eventual aim is to eventually replace the former fully with the latter.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 7 - What is Good Science?

 Good Science is the pursuit of knowledge derived from questioning. It is the science that looks at a phenomenon and attempts to elucidate its workings through rational thought and empirical investigation. It strives to be as objective as possible in its process. Conclusions are eventually drawn following the thorough analysis of evidence, but the conclusions must not extend beyond the assumptions that so define the research.

There is no single definitive scientific method, but there are broad procedures that extend from the initial observation through hypothesis to the investigation, analysis, and subsequent conclusion(s) for any inquiry.

Scientists are not guardians of truth but agents of clarification that peel away the fog of noise in an attempt to model more accurately the workings of the world. They are, of course, free to philosophize and speculate about the significance of their findings (something I personally call the extended objective), but these speculations should not overwrite or even overextend the mandate of their original research. 

The individual Scientist is bound to understand the limits of their findings which ultimately calls for an appreciation of the restrictions of their respective disciplines. Science is not a religion, nor should it be vaunted as one; however, it is the best tool that we humans have for understanding the material world. It is indeed very powerful, but it is ultimately confined to the milieu of matter/energy.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 6 - The Purpose of my book Navigating the Chaos

 It isn't easy to make sense of the chaos that is modern-day reality. Transformational change, information deluge, and a preponderance of bad ideas often leave us feeling isolated in a world that seems to be edging closer to an expedited collapse.

Post-truth has made itself heard across virtually every intellectual discipline, leaving one navigating a turbulent pathway to a workable clarity.

It is my experience that if you wish to live a life of meaning that you also have to adhere to beliefs that are well thought out, clear, and based on sound reasoning and logic.

I would say that my eventual goal is making sense of the universe. A cynic would claim that such a task is futile, fraught with obstacles, and ultimately a bridge to eventual disappointment. Perhaps this is true, but I would not renege on the journey, its path may be convoluted, but the serendipity that it invites is overwhelmingly rewarding.

Navigating the chaos is a formed-in-the-fire product of me wrestling with a multiplicity of ideas that I have come across in my stay on the planet so far. It is a consequence of both my practical experience and independent inquiry that reflects issues as diverse as the nature of science, the ebbs and flow of history, and the trajectory of our future.

A great deal of what I write here is based on my judgment that I have endeavored to substantiate with evidence and reasonable speculation. I will admit when I am at a loss and most certainly welcome the reader to challenge my conclusions.

Over the years, I have learned that all issues are not as clear-cut as their champions make them out to be, and in virtually every case, one's personal position is a derivative of the net information available. While it is necessary to have principles, it is equally important to listen to contradictory standpoints, which is why the free flow of ideas is so critical to any debate.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 5 - Thoughts on Buddhism

 There is an essence to Buddhism that, at first glance, appears to be extremely soothing. As a philosophy, it puts on a kinder face that, to so many, appears to be more welcoming than the harshness of the Judeo-Christian belief system. One such facet that has engendered one to think of Buddhism in a more enlightened framework was the replacement of the all-powerful judging God viewing each and every one of our actions with the belief in karma that argues that every action has a consequence to it. In reality, both God and the karmic system function to guide our actions toward doing what is the 'good.' 

Bad acts in the Buddhist world invite bad karma, which leads to suffering. In Western theology, these acts are punished by the wrath of God that, too, leads to suffering. So what we have here are alternative explanations for the same outcome. But are they really alternatives, or is the one, karma, perhaps merely a description as to how God meets out justice? My problem with the karma view on its own is that it is too convenient and mechanistic. It provides for the predictability of outcomes that deduces B from A. In short, it is deterministic, like the theological version of classical physics. The complexity of human nature fits neatly into an equation of fortune that 'makes it all too easy.' 

I believe that consequences are murkier on the outcome of action because the ultimate decider of our fate is Ein Sof, and Ein Sof's logic is not so simplistic. We, for example, cannot explain why infants die at such a young age. Ein Sof must clearly know the reason. 

People once believed that the rules of mathematics and classical mechanics could be used to predict the future history of the universe with complete certainty. Quantum Mechanics (uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, etc.) threw this 'certainty' on its head. Now it appears that the universe is more intricate and unpredictable than we could ever imagine. There is a logic there, but it is hidden behind a complex veil that I am not convinced we will ever breach. The same is true of the exact repercussions of our actions.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 4 - Why Free Will Matters.

Free Will gives us a choice. We are no longer automatons. However, a consequence of Free Will is a bad choice that can lead to pain and suffering. Free Will can also lead to a life of greater harmony. Both consequences need to be present. Otherwise, our Free Will is meaningless. Existentialism also deals with this issue but has a different basis - it argues that in a world of no innate meaning, we are free to make a choice, but we have to live with the consequences of our choice.

New Lists #3 - What happens to us after we die?

 I have absolutely no idea. Although I figure it will be one of these ten situations.

1. We cease to exist completely in all dimensions.

2. We are recycled and reborn as humans somewhere else on Earth.

3. We join with a singularity so that our consciousness becomes one with the new medium.

4. We are reborn as a life form somewhere else in the universe.

5. We are reborn as a non-human life form on Earth.

6. We join with another consciousness and are reborn in some form or another.

7. We move into another dimension that our living conscious here on Earth cannot comprehend.

8. We ascend to the paradise described in traditional views of heaven. Never to be reborn again.

9. We are reborn in another world but keep our knowledge gained from the previous life.

10. We (or at least some of us) become 'angels' or messengers. Building new worlds across the universe that will themselves be populated by life

Scientific materialism would suggest 1. I am personally hoping for 3 or 6. They are way cooler.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 3 - Why do many People hate truth tellers?

 The problem, in the words of Jack Nicholson (taken from A Few Good Men), is that we 'cannot handle the truth.'

In order for us to function in the world, we have a tendency to create structures of coping that center around the way things ought to be, not how they are. We are all guilty of this and, in time, often turn the 'ought' into the 'is.'

This may serve us well until reality comes around to remind us of our short falling. When our deception is revealed, we are forced to re-evaluate our ingrained paradigm creating much anxiety and angst. The natural response is to prevent this re-evaluation from happening in the first place, which we implement by turning our anger.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 2 - A Quick thought on Prayer

Prayer must come from the heart. I prefer to produce my own prayer words that are of a personal nature. I realize others prefer pre-written templates or established prayer. It is their choice. The way I see it, prayer opens up a lane of necessary communication with a transcendence that enriches and makes more meaningful the notion of belief. On a communal level, it acts to provide solidarity between like believers in a specific system. Psychologically it may act as a mechanism to provide and enhance the clarity of thought.

 I think that not a day goes by without me contemplating my relationship with Ein Sof. This cuts to the very core of who I am as a being, and without such personal dialogue, I would certainly be much poorer. However, in a way, I am envious of the soul who has no doubt about their faith as they appear to have contentment that has escaped me so far. My faith comes not with ease; it is a tug-o-war complicated by the rivulets of thought that color my essence. I constantly joust with my belief and have, throughout my life, gravitated from one locale of inner comfort to another

Navigating the Chaos - Part 1 - My Personal Belief Structure

 I am by nature a scientific rationalist and consequently seek proof for my beliefs and avoid as much as possible any leaps of faith. However, I am also aware that science is bound to the material world and consequently has a limited realm through which it can access knowledge.

On a personal level, I have dedicated much of my life to science, but I am consciously aware of its zones of applicability. Having said this, I will exhaust all scientific explanations before deferring to an extra-material analysis in grasping the phenomenology of events. I owe this to myself. In a sense, I am a skeptic, not a logical positivist, but a realist armed with Occam's Razor but cognizant at the same time of the extra-material universe. 

I personally believe in an essence that extends beyond the physicality of the matter/energy universe. Perhaps this is a function of my individuality (so defined by my genetics and environmental history), but as much as I have tried to shrug off its presence and succumb to scientific materialism, I simply cannot. 

The Kabbalistic concept of Ein Sof, which translates (from the Hebrew) as 'without an end, appeals to me.' This makes the extended point that to truly define the essence is to actually limit it. All power, I believe, ultimately resides with the Ein Sof, which cannot be fully articulated, reduced, or even truly conceptualized. However, its presence is ubiquitous. 

I envision Ein Sof as multifaceted, and this is a consequence of omnipotence. It can be perceived on many levels. The Spirit God is 'the transcendence' from which our souls originate, and the personal God is the one that I communicate with. However, they are intrinsically linked as one.

The way I see it is that individual souls are derived from the Ein Sof. Our abstraction from the Ein Sof does not in any way reduce the Ein Sof as it supersedes the material. The laws of physics do not limit the Ein Sof as all its constraints and realities are ultimately a product of the Ein Sof. The Ein Sof is consequently the cause of why something, as opposed to nothing, exists

As Ein Sof Derived Souls, we can interact with the Ein Sof by following the path of goodness. This involves the extension of our sense of self and a concerted focus on the positive growth of our being and the assistance of others

In the Hindu Uppanbishad, it is written - That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. The infinite proceeds from infinite. If you subtract the infinite from the infinite, the infinite remains alone.

The Ein Sof is similar to the Uppanbishad definition of the Infinite Soul - Brahman. I am actually very much taken by the Hindu understanding of our individual soul - the Athman - being in its essence a derivative of the Brahman. As mentioned, we can approach the Ein Sof/Brahman by performing meaningful acts of goodness.

Others have addressed this dynamic but have unfortunately allowed themselves to lose focus in the vortex of cultural noise. Meaningful belief has to extend beyond this 'noise' to reclaim the connection with the Ein Sof. This brings us the greatest joy.

The direct approach toward goodness involves the elucidation of perspective. This substantiates itself in the prioritization of goals, daily events, and thoughts. Perspective is triage for the mind; it places our challenges in context so that we never lose sight of the goodness of the Ein Sof. 

Meaningful acts are tantamount to acts of kindness – an extension of one's sense of self to include the other. Martin Buber wrote about this in the 'I and Thou.' These bring one closer to Ein Sof and allow us to appreciate its magnificence. Life also has to be lived with purpose. In doing so, we discover the Ein Sof 'Spark.'

We must be thankful for what we have. I call this a consolidation of reality. Once such a step has been undertaken, the mind framework towards goodness is rooted. This catalyzes the drive.

I would argue that each morning until the end of the day, we awake with a new opportunity (for the most part) to prove and better ourselves. We should appreciate that we have life and act to help others.