Essays:
All Essays by Topic
Following is a list of my essays available on this site, grouped into primary topics.
Hopefully this will be helpful to interested readers, but I know I will find it so as I sometimes try to locate some particular piece I’ve written.
Some of my pieces clearly touch on more than one topic, but I’ve tried to determine one primary category for each piece, to avoid seeing the same piece appear in multiple places on this list.
Cultural Commentary
Observations and analysis of our modern culture. And when I say “our” I’m mostly talking about the US, although many of my comments might well be applicable more generally, or at least to some countries other than the US.
Cultural Evolution
I’ve written a number of pieces related to cultural evolution. These are listed below in a logical sequence for readers, with later pieces building on earlier ones.
Film
I’ve written a few pieces about films that have been particularly meaningful to me.
God and Religion
Human Nature
These are writings about what it means to be human.
These are presented in somewhat of a logical sequence, with more foundational pieces appearing before others.
- What Does It Mean to be Human?
- The Four Quadrants of Human Knowledge
- Developmental Levels
- DRAMMA List of Psychological needs
- Art and the Eye of the Beholder
- A Guide To Becoming
- Life is Complicated
- Managing Our Identity Stacks
- Motivational Factors for Complex Work
- My Advice to Young People of All Ages
- My Prayer for a More Integral New Year
- Reasons for Belief
- A Resumption of our Humanity
- Self-Determination Theory
- Social Distancing and our Essential Nature
- Social Support Survey
- Some Hard-Won Wisdom Concerning Cults
- Why Michigan’s 42–27 Victory over Ohio State Gives Me Hope for Humanity
Leadership
This section includes writings pertinent to organizational leadership.
Past Events
Some of my writings have been inspired by specific events and, while there is still good content here, the events that inspiried these writings are now in the past.
- 8 Big Lessons We Can Learn from the Pandemic
- Five Takeaways from the First 2024 Presidential Debate
- The Issues Swirling around Spotify and its Content Providers
- Lessons to be Learned from the Fall of Afghanistan
- Practopia
- Why I Call Myself a Practopian
- Democracy
- Evolution and Its Implications
- Humanism and the Practical Utopian
- Imperfection
- The Importance of Mission
- In Defense of Balance
- An Integral Approach
- More Love
- A Practopian Approach to Gun Issues in the US
- The Value of Individuals
- Science
Society
How can human societies best organize ourselves? This is one of the most interesting and pressing issues facing modern humans, as the necessary scale of our societies grows ever larger.
- Can the US Become a Truly Egalitarian Society?
- Cooperation, Competition and Coercion
- Core Design Principles for The Efficacy of Groups
- The Devastating Tragedy of our Vanishing Middle Class
- Developmental Levels as Evolving Social Structures
- Kindness by Design
- Our Societal Disconnect
- Rebuilding Trust in Our Large Institutions
- Reframing our Debates about Capitalism
- The Rotary Four-Way Test
- The Social Suite
- The System is Working Very Well, Thank You
- Talking Openly about Hierarchy
- Thinking about Abortion(s)
- Thinking Differently About Our Economy
- The Truth About Capitalism
- Ukrainian Lives Matter
- Undoing Trumpism
- Violence at the 94th Academy Awards
- We Are Multi-Tribal
- What To Do About Big Business?
- Why Do We Call It Capitalism?
- The Widening Spiral of Modern Society
Songs
These are writings about songs that I’ve found affecting and interesting. These are all additionally published at the Lexicon of Song site. See the List of Songs for a table that can be sorted by year written, and or by the names of the songwriters.
- How to Listen to Music
- All Along The Watchtower
- And When I Die
- Angel from Montgomery
- Box of Rain
- Come On In My Kitchen
- Come On Up to the House
- Education – Song by The Kinks
- For What It's Worth
- Fruitcakes
- Girl From The North Country
- Hallelujah
- I Don't Like Half The Folks I Love
- If I Had a Boat
- It's About Time
- King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
- The Last Trip to Tulsa
- Late For The Sky
- Like A Rolling Stone
- Pancho and Lefty
- Paul Thorn and his 800 Pound Jesus
- Quiet About It
- Rain
- Ring Them Bells
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
- School Day
- Settin‘ the Woods on Fire
- Shady Grove
- Step by Step
- Stringing Me Along
- Sympathy For The Devil
- They All Laughed
- Train to Birmingham
- Turn the Page
- The Village Green Preservation Society
- The Weight
- Whenever Kindness Fails
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- White Room
- Will the Circle be Unbroken
Songs about Christmas
The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year, and I’ve acquired a huge collection of holiday music over the years, so I thought I would share my thoughts about a few of my favorites with all of you. So here are 20 of my favorite holiday tracks. I’ve tried to select as wide a variety of songs as possible, mixing different artists and styles.
And all of these songs but one can be heard on Apple Music in the Christmas Favorites from The Practical Utopian playlist.
Enjoy!
- Auld Lang Syne
- Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
- Christmas Bells
- Christmas Must Be Tonight
- Christmas Night in Harlem
- The Christmas Song
- Christmas Song by Dave Matthews
- Christmas Time Back Home – Song by The Country Gentlemen
- Christmas Time's A-Coming
- Father Christmas – Song by The Kinks
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- Holiday in Harlem
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Long Black Veil
- Merry Christmas Baby – Song
- My Favorite Things
- Please Come Home for Christmas
- The Rebel Jesus – Song by Jackson Browne
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
- Star of Wonder
Sustainability
How do we find our way to a sustainable human presence on planet Earth? Nothing could be more important to our species.
Technology
- Dethroning the False God of User Experience Design
- Earned Value Management (EVM) for Mere Mortals
- Free Speech at the Crossroads
- Have We Passed The Point of Maximum Useful Tech?
- Help! Help! The Robots are Coming!
- How to Fix Big Tech
- Keeping to the Cackle with AI
- Popping the Hood with the Notenik App
- Thank God for Elon Musk!
- A Traditional Remedy for the Facebook Problem: Competition
- Why I Use Markdown (And Why You Should Too)
- The Written Word in the 21st Century
US Politics
These are writings about our political system in the United States.
- Are Political Parties Doing Us More Harm Than Good?
- The Big Truth
- The Challenge for Democrats: Playing the Long Game
- The Dangers of Political Nostalgia
- The Decline of the Republican Party – First Gradually and then Suddenly
- Does the US Need a New, More Centrist, Political Party?
- Have Our Political Parties Turned Into Cults?
- The Importance of Progressive Activism
- Is There Any Middle Left?
- The MAGA Bubble Finally Bursts
- The Progressive Path Forward – A 12-State Strategy
- The Shocking Truth About Us Liberals
- Welcome To The Autonomous States of America
- What Trump Gets Right
- Where, Exactly, Are the Republicans Headed?
- Why It's a Bad Time to be a Conservative