About Oug

Oug ?

I assume you are reading this note because you are curious about the word 'oug' in the title. As far as I can tell, 'oug' is not yet a word in the English language. I claim it as my own and will tell you what it means. It is the mid section of a word that begins with 'th' and ends in 'ht.

This bit of wordplay demonstrates that the heart of thought is something unknown that leaves you looking for an explanation. Conversely, when you are sure you know, thinking stops and you can get busy with important things. I presume you are no longer thinking about 'oug' because I told you what it means and you trust me to tell the truth. 

Now some theology. Don't stop reading. This is one of the important things. The linguists tell us that the word god (theos in Greek, other names elsewhere) has two aspects.

1. God is a name for a collection of attributes which we deem true without much thinking because somebody we trust already has it figured out and told us about it. Now that we don't have to think, we can get on with business and pleasure. Furthermore, if others in our group share the same beliefs, we spend less time discussing and more time taking care of business and having fun. That has a dark side: we believers  assure each other that we already know the truth and therefore never improve our understanding. Darker still, we may disrespect those who don't share our beliefs, stop listening to them, exclude them as adversaries, even go to war and sacrifice our children and theirs in battle just because we know the truth and the unbelievers don't. Confident that we are right, we get busy doing wrong. 

2. Alternatively, God is a Mystery. That gets us thinking and keeps us humble. Then our beliefs are up for discussion. As for our neighbours, whatever they believe, we are all wondering about the same mystery, wiser together, enriched by a variety of perspectives. On the negative side, we thoughtful people don't get much done unless we trust some of our thoughts enough to act on them. However, if we are wise, we do not defend the creed in the face of contrary evidence. We pay attention to consequences and adjust our thinking as we go.

So we have these two gods: (1) our trusted understanding and (2) the mystery forever beckoning beyond what we know.

Early on, a younger version of myself assumed that theology was somebody else's job. I was too busy to worry about it. If I were doing things over again, I would listen to the many voices speaking their version of truth from a thousand traditions. I would be curious about the Mystery at the heart of things, and probably get fired because I spent too much time thinking and didn't get the job done... or more likely I would do an internet search and have my opinions reinforced by the Google echo algorithm. 

How Curiosity Rewires Your Brain For Change: Big Think Business

Reading the Heretics: Martin Thielen, August 2025

Names of God: Wikipedia

ReligionsGeek: Brian Carwana
Safeguard Your Mind: Big Think,Yuval Noah Harari

Yes
there's the Internet,
its gods affirming what we think,
while clickbait deacons collect our offerings
before the sacrament of holy consumerism;
but
don't forget the Mystery
and thought.

A True Miracle

Remember Miracle Max reviving Westley, who was only mostly dead? Fun to watch that story again. It's been so long I almost forgot. The Princess Bride has to be the best movie ever made... except for Hook with Robin Williams as Peter Pan... and then there's Avatar. OK, I'm a sucker for a good fantasy. I also appreciate chemistry, particle physics, cosmology, neurology, and psychology, which are mostly true, but not mostly fun.

So how can you tell what's true and what's fun? If you are wondering, check it out with this quickie survey.

           ***True***
-1 [  ] good evidence
-2 [  ] consistency
-3 [  ] predictive power
-4 [  ] raises questions that can be tested
-5 [  ] experts agree
-6 [  ] inspires hope
-7 [  ] eases fear, anxiety, distress, grief
-8 [  ] feels great
-9 [  ] stuff I forgot
           ***Fun***

Miracle Max scores on 6 to 9. We might say miracles are mostly fun if not mostly true. If you skimp on 6 to 9, you don't finish the story with The World's Most Perfect Kiss. 

Anyway that wasn't mostly true about the kiss. Even when I am mostly stuck in boxes 1 to 5, there have been some kisses here that matched anything Westley and Buttercup could manage. My princess and I together tick boxes 1 to 9, starting with good evidence and including stuff I forgot. 

It's a true miracle.

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

Ten minutes of The Princess Bride: wait for the kiss.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

That quote is often attributed to Mark Twain (and others). Whoever said it, the intent is to call statistics into question when used to support an argument. Fair enough. Challenge the statistics, but do it with some idea of how statistics actually work. I couldn't do that myself. I got a C in the one statistics course I took. Most of you reading this won't have a clue either. Therefore we are maybe four or five steps removed from knowing how reliable the statistics might be. We have to decide how far to trust someone using statistics in support of an argument, how far to trust the critics of that argument, and how far to trust the source of the statistics, the peer review and the factcheckers. In any case, if we do the work, we are better off with statistics than with mere opinions and propaganda. With good evidence, we may improve the odds of a better future.

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

Trump's Economic Statistics: Politifact

The Planet Is Warming Faster Than We Thought: Just Have a Think, August 10, 2025

Fossil Fuels Exposed: David Suzuki Foundation
New Research Debunks Climate Disinformation: Just Have a Think, Aug 17, 2025

Learning To Love

What's that about? Just follow your heart, no learning required. 

Hold on a second. 

That's a musical joke. Get it? Segue into one of the best musicals ever produced, one that we watched again last night.

Even if mindless attraction is where love starts, you don't get far without thoughtful commitment, wisdom and generosity. That doesn't always come naturally. Remember Freddy Eynsford-Hill in raptures over Eliza Dolittle "on the street where you live?" Eliza would have liked fewer words and a bit more action, "Tell me no dreams filled with desire. If you're on fire, show me." You know the story. Poor Freddy didn't measure up. Neither did 'enry 'iggins, the self-important, arrogant, misogynist linguistics professor who set out to make a princess out of a gutter-snipe just to prove how clever he was. Assuming false humility, Professor Higgins fancied himself just an ordinary man who would never let a woman in his life. Eventually, surprise, he learned to let a woman in his life. When the story ends, Henry still has a lot to learn and Eliza is the teacher.

The film version of My Fair Lady came out in 1964, the year Dorothy and I were married. 
Brilliant songs by Lerner and Loewe.
Stelar performances by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
Some loose parallels with our own story.
I started off back then as a bit of Freddy with a dash of Henry, a dollop of Alfred (Eliza's reprobate father) and a whiff of Colonel Pickering.
Apparently my fair lady liked a challenge.
I'm still happily learning 61 years later.

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

My Fair Lady: the full movie on archive.org,
priceless yet free.