Some light reading…

Posted on

Hello from the budding green yonder. How are things? I hope things are well. If twitter is any indication though…. well, thankfully twitter is not real life, right?

Actually, I did notice two good things on twitter recently. One is my happy place list. But also the Caped Persuader dropped word of his new post. I read it, and I enjoyed it. It comes with the fun superhero parallels one expects from CP, and it asks some good questions like:

Which [kind of conservative] is the true heir to the American spirit?

What does it even mean to be conservative or liberal?

Which am I?

I should add that I’m not endorsing everything there, especially one part at the end. (You’ll know it when you see it.) : ) Nevertheless, there is plenty to appreciate. Maybe check it out.

Incidentally, all that definition talk reminds me of my reading (that Terran book Human Freedom). I recently came across a section discussing the intended meaning behind a phrase in Aquinas that is translated free-will. Definitions are fascinating little buggers ain’t they? I’ve dropped some thoughts on them myself (here, here, here, here, here, and to a lesser extent but still worth mentioning: here).

Around my neck of realms, the work has really lightened up. The mad rush I mentioned before is now more of a light hustle. That change put the fun back in the work. For example, today, I did a bunch of cleaning up and also a few odd jobs for money. Oh! I am so close to getting my horse that I can smell it! (I mean. I can smell the getting of the horse, not the horse itself. Well, no I suppose I could smell that too if- never mind.)

Well, I better get back to them beautification efforts.

– Pen

Catching up

Posted on

Dear Terrans,

It’s been a while! I need to take the time to write more often! The micro-bloggings take less time, just a spare second now and then, and that is less than- whatever it takes to actually pen something like this. That sounds like an excuse, even to me, and it I probably is. I do hope you understand. Civilization-building takes its toll. I think we’ve grown too quick. Maybe we should slow down and let things grow at a more natural pace. I’d enjoy the extra time to write.

Fortunately for us here in Liberterra (that’s what we call it), the elvin connections across the realms help a great deal. And the dwarves help too! (One can’t forget the dwarves, or they’ll be sure to remind you…. and remind you, and remind you…). Even with the help though, there’s lots of work available! People set up shop, start other ventures. Also, they often look for help on heavy work-load days. One guy even tries to make it as a bard! I suppose we could stand for some cheering up after a hard day.

Most of the locals have been pretty hands off. It seems they just sold us the land, and they are done with us. Reading some of the Terran history of what happened to them natives, post-Plymouth, I don’t blame our natives one bit. But their knowledge of the local wildlife and land would help. The few who stayed with us know that and capitalize off it which is of course fair and admirable.

I confess I do allow one other thing to take my time away from you all. A book. Dr. Stratton’s Human Freedom. I once posted how I wanted to read it. I like how the book doesn’t ignore the more religious significance of the conversation but comes at it head on. Some of you Terrans may not appreciate that aspect as much, but I do, and so far the book does a good job at it.

Less new but just as distracting, there’s been some kind of unfortunate event in the woodlands. I guess a large sum of money was lost, stolen, or something; but apparently the critters collected it, and you can find the money on them! Ever go hunting and search your prey for spare change? It’s weird!

Anyway, I must be going. I do hope your horrible pandemic (of authoritarianism) gets better. This is why I don’t connect/marry realms. Bad stuff gets through too.

God bless.

Pen

Dear Neglected Reader,

Posted on

It has been too long. I hope to explain and to secure your understanding. At the risk of some crassly audacious honesty, I admit that I hope to maintain your readership as well.

I’ve been away. Yes, space may be relative for me but not demands. An opportunity arose suddenly, and for the sake of a friend, I was obligated to accept. It has to do with the realm that recently took to our way-faring company. After all, realms rarely work out. A people might attack just for our showing up! This time, they took to us but most especially to my good friend, my second. (Hey, I wonder if he mentioned that he runs the taverns! Anyway.)

This friend has followed me on so many adventures that it only seemed right to follow him on this one. So, he took the lead. And, I have to say, I wonder if he feels more at home here because of it. Either way, this is a debt of gratitude I owe him several times over. I hope you understand and can appreciate this much. There is more.

Upon due diligence, we obtained a large swath of land at the locals’ asking price and started our small settlement. It has been a wild ride ever since. Anselm had to go nuts (again) and get his athenaeum going large and “boss” from the start. It's amazing what you can do with elvin and dwarven resources in cooperation, but while the results are a blessing to the area, it is starting to look like he's showing off. We’ve taken to filling it with extra Terran resources just to keep up. (There are more books over there. Here, it is like- zero.)

Also, the performance troupes have mostly stayed behind in Chora. They prefer to hone their craft than build settlements. It’s fewer hands, but of course I understand. A few did come, and they are a relief, even when too tired to perform anything but a familiar face.

It is a full day building here, but we also have to keep the woodland critters from getting too close to the settlement. They are easy pickings, but we’ve yet to survey the outermost regions of this realm. I worry about dragons. Every realm seems to have them except yours, and we haven’t seen them yet. Yet.

Fortunately though, we’ve made great progress. Anselm’s is established enough to grow. The tavern is operational and busy from the natives alone. (And not like that. It is a great place to find local work.) Recently, I’ve even met some distant locals that may be from another tribe, and I am eager to see what else is out there. This place is my friend’s baby. It must go well.

So I hope you understand. I do tweet on Terra runs, but that is hardly the time to write a real post. Even this letter I write from the settlement hoping to have it posted for me.

Thank you for your kind understanding. I hope to reward your patience with more frequency soon.

Yours,

Penjammin de Chora

A World of Difference

Posted on

Hey terrans, I've got something on my mind, so pardon the abruptness. I'm going to get right into that “Human Freedom” book I've been reading.

Something about it bothers me. The guy starts his historical survey with that Augustine guy, and actually, I get it. Really I do. It makes sense. Da big Au-G. He seems like something of a bridge in your world, right? a human segue from classic thought to that of his ages and then to thought of ages to come. Maybe landmark is better analogy? referring back to all the antecedent thought he drew upon? something of a culmination? Eh. Maybe that's too far. Either way, I get it, but I'm disappointed (to no fault of the author!). I'll explain.

The debate on human freedom is very different on my world. (My original world, I should say. There have been a few.) There, this freedom talk or free-will talk was all about our paths, our yet-to-be histories. It was about whether a person was free or bound to their path. 

Here, on Terra/Earth/whatever, freedom is more thought of in terms of the ability to will (whether to operate apart from external determination or just without interference or something like that). That simply IS freedom. There, people did make similar points, say, about prior material conditions determining their every step, but that wasn't the bondage, itself. It was an excuse, a way of claiming they were bound to their bad path.

So, in my world, human freedom talk is more course than causation. The point is, I was hoping maybe your ancients had contributions to that conversation as well. I guess I’ll have to wait and see, Right now, it's time to cram. and get some things done before it's time for that Monday Masto-Mac-n-Cheese.

– Pen

Free Willie

Posted on

Hey terrans. I have a problem. I picked me up a book there recently, and now it won’t go away. The little stow-away is Human Freedom: [insert the rest of an impressively long title that thinks it’s published in 1821] by Dr. Timothy A. Stratton.* I think it's mad that I haven’t gotten to it, so it's waiting patiently, asserting itself by taking up space among my effects. (Pushy little bugger, ain't it?) I do have other things to do, but for some reason, I can’t shelve this book until I finish it. So, I'm thinking… some variety, something besides the conservative thought, ya know it could be nice. And this book seems to be the book on its subject right now. Lucky me, it's also interesting, so yep, I’m a few chapters deep.

It’s organized fairly well. After the prolegomena, it starts with relevant bible passages, acknowledging their diverse interpretations as understandable if not always accurate. Then, it goes onto the phase of gleaning from the greats of yore, and Stratton makes an efficient move here. Rather than comb for the insights directly, he goes for the gold via big-name free-will thinkers. IT makes sense. To sift and sort out the best insights directly, that might be closer to a life-long project. I bet almost every thinker of every kind has thought about freewill. So, Stratton starts with the proximity of fellows like Augustine, Pelagius, Aquinas, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Calvin, Arminius, and Edwards. I’m on Augustine right now, and it is pretty interesting.

After his big historical phase, Stratton waxes philosophical and theological, perhaps processing his thoughts along with theirs and coming up with… well I guess we’ll see. Next comes the secret sauce. He seems to build upon his results by repeating the process on a smaller level (with just Luis de Molina) and then processing the insights gleaned there. Finally, he closes with a note on the significance of his conclusion.

The book seems worth the read for the historical survey alone. (Readers will know I'm trying to learn more Terran lore.) But, there’s also the molinism thing. That is a huge plus. I am continually surprised when people with strong opinions on matters of free-will have never (or barely) heard of it. So, in short, I recommend the book (so far).

That's all for now. All the best.

– Pen

P.S. *Frankly, if it weren't a Terran book, I'd likely fault it for excluding elves and dwarves and all, but one has to be understanding about these things. Perhaps we could posit a hypothetical person of non-specific species, one yet of the general sentience supposed as being a subject of free-will in any of them. We could call him Willie. 🙂