Observation — InCharacter.org

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Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:57:02 -0400

We're migrating to Big Questions Online. Please join us there for lively articles on--well--the big questions in science, religion, economics, and ethics.

Awe and the Machine

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:01:28 -0400

By the twentieth century, new machines ceased to fill us with wonder.

The Office: How to Succeed in Business without Really Trampling....

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:43:45 -0400

"Servant leadership" is a philosophy based on empathy rather than power plays. Guess what? It can be good for the bottom line.

The Nitty Gritty: Self-Esteem vs. Self-Control

Fri, 28 May 2010 10:41:55 -0400

Angela Duckworth has done more than anyone else to popularize the term grit. An assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth once taught low-income children. She wondered:Is IQ the key factor in predicting success?

Judy Bachrach's Mutability Canto

Mon, 24 May 2010 07:21:59 -0400

Do our ideals about virtue change from time to time? A tongue-in-cheek look at the evolution of morals.

Fat People: Are They Bad?

Mon, 10 May 2010 14:20:59 -0400

Plainly it's untenable to claim that one's obesity does not affect others negatively.

Humility: Vice or Virtue

Tue, 04 May 2010 07:35:01 -0400

The mighty god of "self-esteem" sometimes seems to have replaced humility.

A Gentleman First

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:51:49 -0400

"You may not all be scholars, but you can all be gentlemen." Can you imagine what would happen if a modern teacher said that to ambitious students?

Not Really Simple

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:31:54 -0400

Marie Antoinette liked to dress up as a shepherdess and hold court in her "rustic" cottage at the Petit Trianon. So humble.

The Promethean and Copernican Traditions in Science

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:09:00 -0400

The apotheosis of Promethean tradition in science was the atomic bomb, which once again stole the gods' fire for mortal use.

The Humblest People in Washington

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:46:54 -0400

What can cloistered Poor Clares who pray all day (and have never heard of Oprah) teach the rest of us?

Snobs in the Groves of Academe

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:51:35 -0400

Where did academics get the idea that their profession is nobler than others?

Learning from Anthony

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:13:29 -0400

Anthony was in his late-thirties, had some degree of brain damage from a childhood injury, worked custodial jobs most of his life. He signed up for job training. Why?

Boxing with Humility

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:14:21 -0400

The author felt like an Ivy League Smokin’ Joe Frazier before he received that edifying punch to the snout.

King Minos's Modest Scribe

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:14:06 -0500

Humility helped Michael Ventris conquer the Everest of classical enigmas.

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:55:45 -0500

A family and community learn that Ruthie has been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. How do they cope?

Really Not Simple

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:49:36 -0500

Marie Antoinette liked to dress up as a shepherdess and hold court in her “rustic” cottage at the Petit Trianon. So humble.

Gentlemen First

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:48:17 -0500

What I wanted was to see that Saturday in Petersburg, Virginia was not the famous battlefield, though that is well worth a visit, too, but Sycamore Street, where my grandfather, a major influence in my life, lived as a boy. Walking along Sycamore, passing the park where the Petersburg Volunteers drilled in 1812, I spotted an oddity: a tombstone, of all things, in front of a private house.

The Gateway

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:38:19 -0500

We often think of humility as groveling or pretending to hide our gifts. Sir John Templeton had a much more bracing and productive idea of what this virtue really is. “Humility,” Sir John said, “is the gateway to greater understanding and opens the doors to progress.”

Best Seats in the House

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:10:39 -0500

Anonymous stagehands don’t need their names in lights to know they are making a contribution to the theater.

A Gift from Miss Carrie Lee

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:01:06 -0400

After paying a call on Miss Carrie Lee, who in her day had been what once was unself-consciously (and respectfully) known as an “old maid schoolteacher,” and who was, moreover, a dear old friend of my late grandmother’s (Nanny was partial to schoolteachers and clergymen), I received a gift in the mail from Miss Carrie Lee: Wee Wisdom, “a magazine for boys and girls.”

That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:58:29 -0400

If you seek a modern sage, order Chinese.

These Foolish Things

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:26:24 -0400

There are three kinds of fools: Real Fools, Professional Fools, and Unsuspecting Fools. The professional, a staple of Shakespeare’s plays, is, in reality, nobody’s fool.

The More, the Wiser?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:48:50 -0400

Is the crowd really smarter than the lonely genius? It depends ...

Athena's Surprising Portfolio

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:30:36 -0400

The Greek goddess of wisdom was Athena, famous in mythology for having sprung full-grown from the head of her father, Zeus, instead of making her earthly debut in the usual way, and for remaining a virgin. There were only three virgin goddesses in the entire Greek pantheon, and Athena (sometimes called Pallas Athena) was one of the three.

More Agony Than Ecstasy

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:42:20 -0400

Mother Teresa, the tiny woman in the white-and-blue sari, was — and remains — well known to the world not for her looks or her wealth, but for simply tending to the poorest of the poor.

True Grit

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:32:30 -0400

A hobo wearing a beaten-up farmer’s hat lounges uneasily on a dusty Old West main street outside the saloon. He’s out of place. Two hard-faced cowboys ride up to the saloon.

Smotherly Love

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:19:13 -0400

Sometimes compassion corrupts.

Love thy Neighbors

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:37:14 -0400

The worldwide web. Just don't forget what the word really means.

Living the Bad Life

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:11:46 -0400

Biography subjects behaving badly can drive biographers crazy.