Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
The new industry known as "text analytics" has been making a lot of waves lately. It mostly involves the use of sophisticated algorithms to parse the actual construction of language in a collection of data. Investors, for example, can comb through dense public filings or press releases to find subtle changes in language that might give them a clue as to how a company's fortunes may be faring. If they spot unusually carefully crafted language in a statement about risk disclosures, for example, that could indicate that a company is concerned about an issue and trying to minimize it for the public. Similarly, some companies have used text analytics to scour electronic communication (email and messaging apps like Slack), where algorithms can evaluate based on the language patterns and even use of emojis how emotionally healthy its employees are.
I've long been a proponent of not putting anything on your work computer that you don't want the company to know. Keystroke loggers, remote viewing, and other capabilities allow companies to see an awful lot of what their employees put out into the electronic ecosystem. But this takes things to a whole new level that's kind of crazy when you think about it. My company uses Slack, for example, to communicate quickly with people in our rather large office. It's easy to send a direct message to someone to ask if they're in their office, or so assistants can coordinate meeting times, lunches, etc. It's also where a lot of employees, myself included, will vent when we're frustrated. We message coworkers and say things like, "Can you believe our boss just threw you under the bus in that meeting? What a jerk!" Or, "Did you see the new corporate policy from HR? Yeah, like that's actually going to fix the problem." Now imagine you get called into the CEO's office not because you called your boss a jerk or disagreed with the new HR policy... but because an algorithm determined that you're exhibiting a high amount of negativity and are therefore a negative influence on the morale of the company.
Ultimately, I'm not sure this will ever be a major privacy problem (any more than privacy is already a problem in the workplace)... like so many of the analytical tools available today, just because a company can dig into their employees' electronic communications doesn't necessarily mean they do or even have the time to monitor everything that happens without an actual issue to investigate. It would be an enormous use of resources to constantly be monitoring everything an employee emails, chats, etc. for any little thing... but it's also easy to see how this technology could be used in the context of layoffs or personnel issues to justify a whole range of actions. And that's the part of this that makes me nervous. We live in a world that's increasingly restrictive in terms of employee rights, where corporations are routinely consolidating power and pursuing wealth at all costs. Employees turnover is through the roof compared to previous generations, and I worry that technology like this could make it even easier for companies to jettison employees without fairly compensating them.
In the old days, layoffs often came with some sort of severance package and ample warning to make sure the employee had time to land on his or her feet. These days, it's not uncommon to find out you're out of a job only on the day they escort you from the building. And it's not uncommon for companies to look for ways to save money by terminating people for cause instead of laying them off. What if a disreputable company decided to save money on severance and unemployment claims by firing half its staff "for cause" rather than laying them off? They could just pull up your chat history, or run an algorithm on your emails and say, "Whoa, see right there? You're clearly disgruntled and exhibiting hostile tendencies toward that coworker of yours or the company in general. We have the right to fire you for cause with no severance or unemployment benefits."
Maybe all of this seems a little Orwellian, but with two layoffs under my belt and having worked for more than one company that has flat-out screwed its employees over in pursuit of profits, it's hard for me to imagine there won't be some enterprising company somewhere that takes all it can learn from analyzing patterns in your communication and applying it to some sort of assessment about what kind of employee you are. It's bad enough that a company can read your electronic correspondence; it's a little terrifying that there are tools out there that allow them to infer your state of mind or your level of loyalty to the company while you wrote them.
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