Puzzling

We got a call this week from a friend who was planning her funeral. Again. The first time was maybe twenty years ago. Back then she asked me if I would play piano at her memorial service. I said yes, if she would sing at mine. Twenty years later, I don't play and she doesn't sing so we have to make other arrangments. 

That got me thinking of all the years we sang in choir and worshipped the God of love in a community of peace from which we could calmly contemplate an uncertain future and make a joke of planning for death. Thank God for such friends.

Last night we didn't watch the world News before bed. Sleep is more important than obsessing over tyrants using their version of God to justify murder.

This is me puzzling things out. Don't take it too seriously. I'm not pushing my beliefs. I might be suggesting that it's OK for ordinary folks to think about things rather than always trusting tradition, authorities and experts. While we are at it, we can be humble about our own thoughts. Various answers serve different people in different ways. I'm no philosopher. Puzzling is just how I pass the time these days since I don't play the piano.

'God' is a polyseme, a word with many meanings that continue to change in use. Those meanings are sometimes at odds with each other. There are two meanings that might make sense of the rest.

1. God is reality (existence, the way things are)
2. God is metaphysics (ideas about reality, worldview).

In ordinary speech, we assume that our metaphysics is an accurate account of reality, and we've got God figured out. God is likely something we hope for, such as love and providence, demanding only belief and obedience to secure the future. It's OK to think such thoughts. That's what a mind is for.

Nevertheless, reality is what it is, unintentional and careless except for what we sentient beings can manage. We are part of what's real. By this paradigm, we are part of God. Strange thought !

Such metaphysical puzzles put us in an uncomfortable state of cognitive dissonance, which you can read about in this Wikipedia article. It's complicated. Let's not get into that here.

Cognitive dissonance isn't all bad. It demands some effort to resolve, helping us learn better. Since we are all puzzled about such things, or should be, we might be less dogmatic, better friends with those who see things differently. We're in this mystery together.

So I won't dismiss a God who manages and loves everything if you will let me consider a God of evolving reality in which we participate as we learn to manage and love.

It is what it is until we mess with it.

Or that's what I'm thinking about the puzzle today.

Polysemy

Words gather here, but what about those words? Although the title of this note says it all, I should explain. If you are as mystified as I was before I looked it up, you have no idea what polysemy is about. I will explain.

Polysemy means a word has many meanings. 

Are you still there?
OK, there's more.

Most words have multiple meanings. Therefore, to be clear, we should explain what we mean. On the other hand, too many explanations can hamper communication. If it's too much, we just stop paying attention.

But 'polysemy' itself has only one meaning, which I have already told you. It is a technical word used only in lexical semantic analysis. You don't care about that, so I should shut up about polysemy and let you go empty the garbage or have a snack.

Sorry, I have more to say. Read or not; your choice. I'm going to ramble on.

Some words have only one dictionary meaning, monosemy. 

'Lucrative' is one such word with only one meaning "profitable", according to Vocabulary.com. But creative writers are never satisfied with using a word only one way. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, 'lucrative' can also mean "greedy of gain" describing a person running a business rather than the business itself. 

For example, if I insisted you pay to read this blog, and you actually paid, then the blog could be  lucrative (profitable), and I could also be described as lucrative (greedy). This is a transferred epithet, broadening the meaning of 'lucrative'. By the way, neither I nor the blog is lucrative. I'm writing this to distract myself while dinner is in the oven. This note is free.

Polysemy is the rule. Monosemy is the exception. Words accumulate meaning in use. That is the reason there are so few monosemic words. As a result, monosemic words are literally as scarce as hen's teeth. 

Aha !  The word 'literally' in the previous sentence is an example of the point I'm making. 'Literally' implies "actually, factually accurate". But a hen actually has no teeth. Therefore 'literally as scarce as hen's teeth' does not actually apply to monosemic words, of which there are a few more than hen's teeth. In this case, the word 'literally' is used figuratively to stretch a metaphor that doesn't quite fit. 

This is so much fun !
But I should quit tying words in knots.
You are busy.
Let me summarize.

Words in use accumulate meaning.
Dictionaries are always out of date.
We should explain what we mean.
Otherwise we keep each other guessing.
We should keep it simple.
Otherwise people stop paying attention.

I'm done.
It is literally time for dinner.

Phronesis

Pardon my French, or Greek, or whatever. Phronesis is practical wisdom, good judgment, making decisions that get good results. I just baited the line with that strange word to reel you in. You can spit out the hook now. I won't be mentioning phronesis again.

Since you are here, you might as well stay for dinner. Let me mix some metaphors as an appetizer. The main course will be ethics. Dessert is a secret surprise.

This all came to mind while I was dreaming about being a teenage gangster, going along with the guys out under the summer sun, but uneasy about what we were up to. I don't recall what we were up to, so I have nothing to confess except the anxiety of not knowing whether we were doing the right thing. Older now, I'm still not sure we're doing the right thing. By the way, you and I are now in the same gang; don't deny it. OK, whatever. Anyway you can help out in the kitchen. I'm curious about the right thing, so I looked up the recipe for ethics in Wikipedia.

Ethics is a dish with three ingredients: virtue, deontology, consequences. 

Virtue is promoting altruism and suppressing selfishness. Self care isn't bad, but it isn't the whole story. Don't forget the others. No me without us.

Add a spoonful of deontology:
rules,
duties,
responsibilities.
The French call it maîtrise de soi.
Les anglais l'appellent self control.
Excusez-moi. Ici, nous sommes bilingues.

Next stir in some consequentialism: if...then. 
If we care for others and follow the rules,
then good things may happen.
Sinon, de mauvaises choses pourraient arriver.

Here's dessert, hiding under a shiny question.
Who should we care for?
En français: de qui devons-nous prendre soin ?
Or using proper Boomer grammar:
for whom should we care?

  self
  family
  tribe
  those who share our beliefs, customs, goals
  neighbours nearby
  friends far away
  allies
  adversaries
  homo sapiens everywhere
  useful living things
  all living things
  things not yet living but soon to come
  everything useful, living or not
  everything on Earth, useful or not
  planet Earth
  the sun
  the solar system
  the galaxy
  the universe

Things we like best (dessert) are at the top of this list and we like things less as we go down. At the bottom we just don't care. The universe is not on the menu. The galaxy is not something I think about much. The solar system is as appetizing as spinach.

But the sun is interesting (like crème brûlée). You need sunlight to make vitamin D. Years ago, the gang thought sunburn was healthy and peeling was next to godliness. We didn't get that right. Now the doctor says my skin should be a chapter in a medical textbook. She apologized for taking four biopsies. I said it was OK as long as she left me enough skin to collect the pension. 

Now I confess. I told a lie about not mentioning phronesis again. Here it is. Phronesis is part of the meal, even if we're too full of altruism, rules, consequences and dessert to take a bite. Bag it up and take it with you. It's great warmed over.

Let me explain the metaphor. However ethical our efforts, however much we like what we are doing, we don't know all about what things are or how they work. So when unintended consequences threaten, we learn from experience, adjust the rules, make a new plan, and keep trying to get it right. 

Let's stop repeating mistakes. You youngsters, limit your time in the sun and use a good sunscreen or you will end up like me. That's phronesis.

Où est mon chapeau? Je vais faire une promenade.

*************
A step further up the dessert list there's the Earth:
Earth as resource to be managed,
Earth as home in need of serious maintenance,
Earth as Mother of the whole gang.
What are the rules here on Earth
and what about the rest of the list?
I'm not sure we have it right.
Are there risks of using sunscreen?
Damage to coral reefs?
If we carry on with business as usual,
que va-t-il se passer ensuite ?

En anglais : what happens next ?
*************

Gemütlichkeit and Other Ways of Dying: Jessica Boehme, WildPhilosophy

Why Aren't All Deserts Covered With Solar Panels:
Just Have a Think, Jan 18, 2026

Grabopoly

The holiday game around here has been Guelphopoly, Monopoly using local landmarks. So far, I am a loser. However, since we have played this a few times, I am learning how to win. You grab the university properties, add some expensive housing, and charge exorbitant rent. Soon everybody else goes broke while the winner gets rich. 

Sound familiar? Four years at university? Student debt? Unemployment? Then back home living with the parents because the grabbers have control of everything else? In Guelphopoly, it all plays out like the story of your life (if you are Gen Z) with a dopamine rush every time it's your turn to roll the dice and you're sure you're gonna win. Guelphopoly exercises our default grabbing instinct while demonstrating that most of us are going to lose.

However, in real life there is another competing instinct. It includes empathy, respect, restraint, reciprocity, compassion, generosity, gratitude, honour, trust. Life is not a game. We do our best when we work together and and share the rewards even when times are tough.

There is tension between these two instincts:
(1) take care of yourself and grab all you can
(2) take care of each other and share the rewards

During an expansive epoch, when there is enough for everyone plus some extra left over, we are easily convinced that we ought to care for each other: minimum wage, labour unions, pensions, social security, employment insurance, universal medical care, progressive taxation, volunteering, foreign aid, easy immigration, defense and trade alliances, conservation, environmental regulations, pollution control, rewilding. All good. 

Now that we have surpassed limits to growth (you knew that we are in overshoot, didn't you?) and things have begun to collapse, now that we feel needy and threatened, now the emerging wisdom of the age is that altruism is a woke conspiracy. We see through the lovey dovey warm and fuzzy feelings to a crumbling reality, and grab all we can get.

Benjamin grabs Gaza.

Putin is takin Ukraine.

After grabbing immigrants to deport all over the DSA (Disunited States of America) Donald Art-of-the-grab Trump Makes America Grab Again in Venezuela. He's betting that grabbing the western hemisphere piece by piece will get him the Nobull Piece Prize. 

Xi grabs the advantage in electrification technology while Donald grabs tariffs to shut China out of the ev market in the DSA, so Elon can grab his price for a Tesla (If you're a celebrity, they let you grab anything you want.)

Elon dreams about grabbing Mars as a new home for the wealthy winners when Earth gets used up and the losers go extinct.

Being a loser (one of the majority), I prefer that we take care of each other without grabbing what's left of a wonderful world. 

It's not a game.

**************

Collapsing Now, Gone In 2030: Johnny Silverhands

Why Collapse is Inevitable, Part III: William Rees

Grid Scale Battery Cost Reductions: Just Have a Think, Jan 11, 2026

No Obvious Answers

There's a problem with Christmas.

I'm in the mall, killing time while Dorothy Christmas shops. I don't Christmas shop. I do the carrying. Just now I'm at the pharmacy where I buy a present for myself, the last package of Sensor Excel razor blades on the shelf so I don't have to throw away my favorite razor handle. Now I'm heading back to the shops to find Dorothy who is busy buying gifts for other people. 

A lady missing most of her front teeth spies me, comes over and asks if I can help her because it's the end of the month and she's out of groceries. I say, "Of course" and give her a twenty. 

A twenty. For groceries. Our last grocery bill was twenty times twenty! Not sure I gave her enough.

Continuing on my way to the shops, I am visited by three ghosts of beggars past. One of them got nothing from me. Another got a coffee. The third got enough to dunk a muffin in the coffee. 

I know what you're thinking. By Christmas morning I'm going to have an epiphany and write the toothless lady a cheque for dentures. You're wrong. Dorothy writes the cheques. She might even go for dentures. She's Mrs Claus. Not sure of my part in this drama, maybe Ebenezer or Shrek. 

I'm of two minds about giving because there isn't a law. Too much or too little won't put you in jail. However, there is a guideline: don't give away more than you've got. So far, so good.

Some music of the season comes to mind. 

Here's the whole song:

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man's hat
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

You know the song. You also know that in spite of the warm feelings the song evokes, the goose, the penny and the ha'penny are out of fashion. I don't think I have ever dined on goose, haven't found any pennies lately, and I've never seen a ha'penny.

Yet we cherish the antique songs. Even when we have forgotten their origin, we find lasting meaning in them. God bless you, indeed. 

God bless you. Really? Do we seriously imagine that those words, spoken or sung, however fervently, will alter anyone's situation for the better? 

Well, yes and no, but yes.

Yes. Singing a goodwill song among friends is itself a blessing.

And no. The belief that God will bless us doesn't hold up amidst the injustice, hunger, disease, disaster, grief, and missing teeth experienced by many here and around the world in spite of earnest prayers. 

But yes. If our God-thoughts move us to care for each other, we are all blessed.

Sometimes we imagine that believing the unbelievable is what faith demands of us. Abraham, Moses, Jesus and many prophets since have shown us otherwise. They questioned beyond the beliefs of their day to better understand the way things are. As for me, I believe that God is not offended by our questions. 

Even our best understanding is not God.

God remains Mystery.

God as the Mystery-of-What-Is was new understanding attributed to Moses (according to legend). What-we-make-of-it is merely an imperfect representation of What-Is. If what-we-make-of-it distracts us from the Mystery-of-What-Is, that is idolatry, which is forbidden by the first commandment carved in stone (according to legend). 

Ah, commandments. In spite of his transcendent insight into the Mystery of What-Is, Moses did a very human thing; he imagined God as Law-Giver and Judge, roles with which he was familiar (according to legend) as an adopted member of Pharaoh's family. The God-as-Law-Giver-and-Judge metaphor became a new idol, replacing ritual obeisance to a golden calf with submission to authority reinforced by threats of punishment if you disobey. Pharaoh had been using that trick very effectively to manage his slaves. Religion would make the Law profitable by requiring sacrifice as atonement for sin (according to legend). The law is still mis-used even today as a tool of religious extortion. At the time, three thousand years ago or more, it wasn't obvious that there was something wrong with that. Looking to the Mystery beyond the law (as Jesus did centuries later), we see that there was something wrong.

Long after Moses, a baby was born who would mature to see through the abuse of law revealing the law's true principle and purpose, helping willful people live together with mutual benefit. So law is many things; but if we keep questioning we find that God is certainly more than what-we-have-made-of-the-law. 

There is a problem with Christmas.
There is no law for giving.

So what do you give to those who have
too much already
or everything they need
or not enough?

Will a ha'penny do?

No obvious answers here.
Look to the Mystery.

It's Not Easy Being Green

You probably heard of the recent passing of Sophie Kinsella, author of the Shopaholic novels. The central character in many of her stories is a woman addicted to shopping who would like to be frugal to please her husband and family, but just can't manage it. So her life is in constant chaos. 

That's us, all of us. We are so immersed in a culture of consumption and growth that even if we know better, we carry on with what we're doing.

It's not easy doing the right thing. This is about that, addiction to consumption and growth.  Others have said it better than I can. Click the links. Come back when you have time and click some more.

How To Change Your Life: Jessica Böhme, Wild Philosophy, Dec 15, 2025

If We Wait It Will Be Too Late: Liam Gilliver, MSN, Dec 1, 2025

Struggle of Activists in Politics: CBC News, Nov 29, 2025

Why Some People See Collapse Earlier Than Others: Adrian Lambert, A Grand Unified Theory of Doom

How to Think About The Coming Decade of Dramitic Disruption: Michael Haupt, Framer OS

Corporate Climate Responsibility: Just Have A Think. Dec 7, 2025 of Doom.

Home Batteries in Australia: Just Have a Think, Dec 14, 2025

Lost Species Day

Hallowe'en, a celebration of the dead, was over a month ago. Christmas is coming, a celebration of the aspirational best of what it means to be alive. 

Sandwiched between those special days, yesterday, November 30, was Lost Species Day. Why didn't I know that? I also didn't know that the third Friday in May is Endangered Species Day. 

It seems like people, dead or alive, are more important than bugs and birds, whales and walrus, or forests and fungi. Yes, our human-centrism is natural. We don't survive without caring for ourselves. But there are no humans without the more-than-human world to which we belong. Maybe we shouldn't mess it up.

My previous note has been opened 23 times so far. I suspect my friends were curious, noticed that I was obsessing about ecological disaster as usual, and moved on because disaster is depressing and you had more interesting things to do. 

We have a choice. We can do the more challenging things: confront the trouble we are in, as unpleasant as that may be, and join an emerging culture of active hope by living with respect and restraint in a beautiful, broken world. We are more than merely human. We belong to the Earth.

In case you missed it, in my opinion, the following essay is worth the effort:

Homo Sapiens: Inherently Unsustainable: William E Rees, Nov 24, 2025