That’s what it’s like, trying to get anyone to do anything in this place. Oftentimes, people are so concerned with a Now-now-now attitude, they can’t look past the present. One of the saddest, most common stories I’ve seen in prison over 19 years is this: Inmates abuse a […]
I wish it existed. Ever so often, something happens to remind me, in a major way, the divide between rational thought and typical prison thought. The fact that some correctional staff are jerks is obvious, just as there are jerks in every walk of life. People in a […]
Every weekend morning when I do my studying in the common room, I bring down a book about atheism, rational thought, a critique of the Bible, something similar, to try to provoke discussion. And I’m consistently amazed by how many guys have just never been exposed to this […]
Religion is usually the end of rational thought. Take, for example, how people choose their religion. A rational approach would be to examine the world’s many religions, look for evidence, and settle on the one that provided that evidence. But how many people do this? How many even […]
It’s part and parcel. Yesterday I was sitting at a table where two guys were talking about ancient alien astronauts or whatever the latest show on the History channel is touting. I tried to bring in some actual history and anthropology, but it wasn’t wanted. The same day, […]
It’s common in the outside world (e.g., teh hysteria over ebola, evolution denial, and the resistance to vaccination), so it’s definitely also a problem in prison. Guys in here ought to be learning about rational thought, reason, science, doubt, and so on, but the problem, they fill their […]
In prison the negativity and is pretty much impossible to avoid. Whether it’s just a person being spiteful or ignorant or cruel, it’s a constant part of the landscape. And sometimes it’s difficult to avoid thinking that way yourself. At least it has been for me at times. […]
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