On a Personal Note

I graduated as a public policy student from Georgia Tech recently, and a team of myself and three other students placed first in our field at the 2014 Capstone Design Expo. You can now request access for our research findings on urban agriculture through here if interested.

2012 TrinityFoundation Contest

Well, October has been as busy a blog month as I've had in a while. As its close brings another Reformation Day, that means another Trinity Foundation essay contest has been completed. This year, the book for review was John Robbins' Without a Prayer: Ayn Rand and the Close of Her System. As it was my last year for eligibility, I worked extra hard, rereading Robbins' book (some of you may recall I had done a series of posts on Robbins' earlier book Answer to Ayn Rand) as well as reading all of Rand's major philosophical publications, usually articles which were compiled into books. I can't deny that I am surprised and disappointed that my essay did not place, especially since it seems no essay was considered good enough for third, but I will try to swallow my bitterness. It may be a needed lesson in humility. Anyway, I've taken a lot away from these contests other than prize money and books. Apologetics is a responsibility, but it can be fun.

I wish congratulations to the winners and a thank you to The Trinity Foundation for providing incentives for young people to learn material which is honestly interesting in itself. You may read excerpts from the essays of the two winners here, and you may find my essay here.

Something of an update

Since the beginning of the semester I have tried to stay focused on schoolwork, which is why I haven't blogged very often in 2011. However, since I will seemingly be allowed to write a philosophy paper on the epistemological beliefs of Gordon Clark - yes, I note the irony - I have some justification for dedicating some time to reading about, writing about, and listening to subjects with which I am, shall we say, pleasantly acquainted, at least in contrast to Complex and Real Analysis.

I have also finally taken the time to listen to some of Clark's free online lectures (link). In part in preparation for my research paper and in part because I have enjoyed and believe others might enjoy reading rather than listening to Clark, I have transcribed some of these audio lectures and will be posting them in the coming weeks. The written recordings are by no means extensive, but it will be easier for me to access the parts of the audio I found interesting if I can simply read through 2 pages rather than trying to remember when Clark said them in the course of a 40 minute presentation. For the reader, however, this should be meant as an encouragement to download the lectures and listen to them in a car (or whatnot) rather than as an excuse to not listen; Clark makes worthy points which I have omitted.

In other news, my recent birthday allowed me to pick up some new books which I hope to be able to take a look at soon. I'm very blessed. I received Horton's The Christian Faith (systematic theology), Hamilton's God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment (biblical theology), and I was able to stretch a $20 gift card to purchase Clark's The Incarnation, Selections From Hellenistic Philosophy, and his Today's evangelism: Counterfeit or genuine?

Improper Romance

I cannot imagine a more difficult task than writing a satisfying piece of romantic fiction. I am too analytic for it. If I tried, I would be disappointed with the result. However, I can admire others’ works when befitting, and to that end, here are some observations:

Proper romance must subsist between two rational, passionate equals. If one is undeserving of another’s regard, I would rather the fact be acknowledged than ignored, as I am inclined to want to think poorly of as few characters as possible. Furthermore, romance without conflict cannot be compelling, yet I have found conflict is usually and ironically the result of a reason for which the loss of a reader’s respect for a given character is warranted. Questionable is the passion of he who believes external circumstances prevent association. Deference to third party opinion or inability to overlook social differences must disappoint a reader’s hopeful expectation for an ideal character: independent, clever, and sage. Worse still are cases in which there is no such obvious, trite impediment, as the character whose resolve would waver at the precipice of desires fulfilled rather bespeaks of irrationality or insanity.

It is perhaps not surprising, then, that I find myself preferring what might be called improper romance, by which I mean a subtly coy relationship between persons of the opposite sex, equal or unequal in terms of intelligence and passion, of which the author’s chief object is to instill in the reader’s mind a teleological end other than union. I have not read or seen many works of fiction of this type; in my experience, Kierkegaard’s The Seducer’s Diary is the best example of such a relationship between unequal persons, and the first half of Pride and Prejudice is the best example of such a relationship between equal persons. Both books requite interest by stimulating the mind rather than – or, if you please, unto – the emotions.