When I was a child, my father worked in the foreign service (U.S. State Department), which meant we travelled the world, and lived in
different countries as a family. I like to think that my exposure to other societies and cultures helped me to develop into a tolerant
and open-minded individual. As Mark Twain said, "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." I highly recommend to
everyone that they get out and see the world!
We eventually returned to the United States, and moved to Virginia, where I attended South Lakes High School in Reston. Then
I pursued a Bachelor of Science at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. I lingered in that town for quite a few years after graduating. No doubt
my best memories of good times come from that era of my life. But I had to move on, to make something of myself, and that's how I ended
up where I am today.
Since sometime in the '90s I have been very interested in the generational theory of William Strauss and Neil Howe. Their
book 13th Gen really struck a chord with me.
Then I read Generations,
and before long I was an active participant on the
T4T discussion forum. For several years I had a generations blog where
I posted news stories relevant to the theory. There was even a time when I maintained the news links on the
LifeCourse Associates web site. I stopped updating the blog, but I'm keeping a site up
with my latest ruminations on generations.
Generation Watch
My original generational theory blog.
Steve's Saecular Pages
My latest essays and expositions based on the Strauss and Howe
generational theory.
Another big influence on my thinking has been the work of Amit Goswami. That started when I read
The Self-Aware Universe at the
recommendation of an old friend. That book opened my eyes to a new way of understanding the spiritual dimension
of life. Now I own most of the books Goswami has written.
Goswami uses quantum physics as a starting point to explore a consciousness-based science of
reality. As such, he reintroduces spirituality into scientific thinking. He describes a model of the world we experience
which affirms the beliefs of the perennial philosophy. His ideas make
sense to me in light of some of the stranger things that have happened to me in my life.
topiramate diaries
In 2004 I had a seizure while driving,
so I wrote a sort of blog about it. In 2006 I had an even weirder experience...
I really think there is a synergy to be found between the consciousness-based ontology described by Amit Goswami and theories of
history, sociology, and other so-called "soft sciences". The idealist paradigm of the perennial philosophy recognizes that higher-order
things like ideas, beliefs, and choices are real, whereas the materialist paradigm brushes them off as mere epiphenomena.
I also believe that acknowledging that higher orders are not mere trappings, but rather are substantial realities, helps one
to see that there is a progressive evolution in the cosmos. Life is not a meaningless struggle for existence; we really are going
somewhere. To paraphrase Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, if we can't accept that there are further stages in the development of
consciousness, then all that we've come to so far has been pointless, and the universe is absurd. But if we can believe in higher
orders yet unattained, then we can have full faith that a brighter future awaits.
Here are more web sites I've put together over the years. Some of this stuff goes back more than a decade; I'm
amazed that so many of the original external reference links are still working.
Big Steve's Big Site
This is where I rant about life, the universe and everything. Also
features lots of interesting links.
Big Steve's Book and DVD Reviews
Reviews of books and DVDs, in the context of sociological theory. I was trying to use the Amazon
Associates program, but my account was closed thanks to NC tax law.
