Being Human
The Spaces We Inhabit
Sat 09 Jan 2010 by Keely Latcham
In thinking about the importance of the spaces we inhabit, I recently read The Architecture of Happiness by Swiss philosopher and author Alain de Botton. An interesting read accompanied by many beautiful photographs, the book encouraged me to think further about the connection between space and identity—and virtue. We are not just spirits; we are more than our online presences. We have bodies and we live in spaces that help shape our experience of life.
One of de Botton’s central ideas is that of an alignment between the visual and ethical realms. That is to say, we find architecture beautiful because it corresponds to our ideas about “the good life.” Beautiful buildings, de Botton suggests, correspond to virtuous and happy people. Of course this is not always the case, nor is it a causal relationship; while architecture may suggest such ideals, it doesn’t necessarily bring them about. De Botton notes, “Not only do beautiful houses falter as guarantors of happiness, they can also [fail] to improve the characters of those who live in them.” While architecture undeniably possesses moral messages, he says, it “simply has no power to enforce them.”
However, de Botton insists that beautiful buildings convey a moral attitude, which recalls the claim of the great nineteenth-century critic John Ruskin that buildings speak to us “both of what we find important and what we need to be reminded of.” De Botton writes that architecture invites us to emulate its spirit, offering values it encourages us to adopt as our own. “It is architecture’s task,” de Botton says, “to render vivid to us who we might ideally be.”
The Gift and the Warning
Tue 24 Nov 2009 by Al Sikes
Lessons from the Bees
Trinity Forum Chairman Al Sikes reflects on his role as a beekeeper. True gratitude for God’s gift of nature includes learning to respect nature’s lessons.
The Importance of Gratitude
Wed 02 Sep 2009 • Responses: 1 • by Roger Scruton
Moving from charity to justice—from gift to rights—has social costs
Senior Fellow Roger Scruton reflects on the nature of gratitude and the cultural costs of ingratitude. When gifts are replaced by rights, so is gratitude replaced by claims.
The courage of faith
Fri 28 Aug 2009 • Responses: 2 • by Al Sikes
Reflections on the rise of Corazon Aquino
Trinity Forum Chairman Al Sikes remembers Corazon Aquino and the faith under fire that helped bring her to power.
Opening Doors
Sun 12 Jul 2009 • Responses: 2 • by Malcolm Briggs
Responding to a Cut-Flower Society
Trinity Forum Trustee Malcolm Briggs asks us to recalibrate who and what we admire.
Embracing Our Creative Limitations
Fri 19 Jun 2009 by Patrick Kavanaugh
The real obstacle may be too many possibilities
Composer and conductor Patrick Kavanaugh helps us see the way our limitations can drive creativity.
Gollum as Everyman
Fri 15 May 2009 • Responses: 1 • by David Naugle
This article is adapted from material in Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness (Eerdmans 2008).
“There is not any thing in this world, perhaps, that is more talked of, and less understood, than the business of a happy life.” Seneca said this centuries ago, and it is still true today.
Down the ages, the best human thinking has connected our happiness with what we love. What do you love? How do you love the things that you love? What do you expect from the things you love? There aren’t too many questions more important than these. The reason is that what we love makes us who we are. If we love something that cannot sustain the weight of our expectations, or if we love something in the wrong way, such disordered loves will destroy the very happiness we seek and will eventually disfigure us.
Travels with Charley—and God
Wed 06 May 2009 • Responses: 7 • by Kelly Soifer
Reflections on an unresolved life
Kelly Soifer reflects on the paradoxes of John Steinbeck after reading his cheerful 1960 travel book.
A useful exercise for leaders
Fri 20 Mar 2009 by Peter Edman
Alan Jacobs calls our attention to the blog of Douglas Bowman, a lead designer at Google who is leaving that company. Bowman explains his rationale for moving on in a provocative post:
Without a person at (or near) the helm who thoroughly understands the principles and elements of Design, a company eventually runs out of reasons for design decisions. With every new design decision, critics cry foul. Without conviction, doubt creeps in. Instincts fail. “Is this the right move?” When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the drawing board. And that data eventually becomes a crutch for every decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions.
It would be a useful exercise to extend this argument to other fields, notably ethics. Do you find parallel situations in the organizations you lead? How important is it for to leaders to understand the principles by which their organization is run?
Are there situations where you are tempted to rely too much on data—science, polls, market “demands,” what is technically possible—to take the “subjective” factors out of the decision and make sure no one is ultimately responsible for a decision. Is this what causes a “corporate mindset”?
By what standards do you evaluate criticism of yourself or your organization? How do you help other people in your organization understand core principles, whether ethical, operational, or aesthetic?
The Romance of Socialism
Thu 19 Mar 2009 by Micah Mattix
Lessons from Hawthorne’s ‘The Blithedale Romance’
Micah Mattix turns to Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel about a utopian farming experiment in the 1840s for insight into current social challenges.
