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Author: Charlie Deist

Fire Best Medicine Pandemic COVID Wildfires California
Essays Science & Tech 

Fire Is the Best Medicine

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 12 min read Charlie Deist Chaos, Environmentalism, Medicine, Nature, Pandemic

Just as apocalypse means revelation, so can fire be medicine and poison. “Fire medicine” confers benefits on individuals and communities.

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Rene Girard Victims
(Samantha Sophia)
Essays Philosophy 

René Girard’s Map to Meaning: We’re All Victim(izer)s

August 6, 2019June 1, 2020 15 min read Charlie Deist Christianity, Myth, Polarization, Postmodernism

As we try to align ourselves closely with the true victims, René Girard shows how the ancient scapegoat ruse leads us to meaningful compassion.

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Let A Thousand Green New Deals Bloom Erraticus Image by Climate Reality Project
(The Climate Reality Project)
Essays Science & Tech 

Let a Thousand Green New Deals Bloom

February 26, 2019June 1, 2020 12 min read Charlie Deist Climate Change, Environmentalism, Politics

We don’t need a Green New Deal so much as many green new deals.

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A Pragmatic Approach to Ideas

An online publication focused on human flourishing, taking a pragmatic approach to ideas. We care about ideas that help us to live well together, focusing on their practical consequences.

 

“Pragmatism, on the other hand, asks its usual question. ‘Grant an idea or belief to be true,’ it says, ‘what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone’s actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth’s cash-value in experiential terms?'” — William James

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