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Welcome to Erratic Attempts, a blog addressing questions of culture and politics. Nothing here is supposed to be perfect, nothing final, everything up for eventual rethinking.

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Photos: Finley Wildlife Reserve, OR

by Phil Kneis October 17, 2021

#116: Religion is Trust in the Universe

by Phil Kneis October 7, 2021

#115: Are We Anthropomorphizing Human Beings?

by Phil Kneis October 4, 2021

#114: Be Quiet Sometimes

by Phil Kneis September 27, 2021

#113: The Protagonist Trap: Why Bond Cannot be “Woke”

by Phil Kneis September 26, 2021

#112: The Normality of Not Knowing

by Phil Kneis September 15, 2021

µ05: Symphony 4 is finished

by Phil Kneis September 6, 2021

#111: Faith, the Pandemic, and the Drowning Man

by Phil Kneis August 29, 2021

#110: Poem: To Understand the World

by Phil Kneis August 20, 2021

#109: We Cannot Lose Hope

by Phil Kneis August 20, 2021

#108: Carefulness Is Not Fear

by Phil Kneis August 15, 2021

#107: How (Not) to Be Unhappy

by Phil Kneis August 14, 2021

#106: How to Be Happy

by Phil Kneis August 13, 2021

#105: We May Think We’re Done with the Virus, but the Virus is not Done with Us

by Phil Kneis August 12, 2021

#104: Psychological Long Covid

by Phil Kneis August 12, 2021

µ#4: We Need Animals

by Phil Kneis August 12, 2021

#103: The Story About the Lone Renegate Scientist Showing That Everyone Else Is Wrong

by Phil Kneis August 6, 2021

µ#3: Tired

by Phil Kneis August 3, 2021

#102: Brexit Means Brexit

by Phil Kneis July 22, 2021

µ#2: Why the Posturing as if Pandemic was Over?

by Phil Kneis July 16, 2021

µ#1: Fleeting Micro-Thoughts

by Phil Kneis July 16, 2021

#101: The Mask Does not just Protect You but Others as Well

by Phil Kneis June 9, 2021

#100: Poem: One Moment in Time

by Phil Kneis May 30, 2021

#99: Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism

by Phil Kneis May 29, 2021

#98: The Populist Attack on Democracy During the Pandemic

by Phil Kneis May 22, 2021

#97: Are We Prepared for Extraterrestrial Life?

by Phil Kneis May 22, 2021

#96: We Need Neutral News Media

by Phil Kneis May 21, 2021

#95: For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace

by Phil Kneis May 21, 2021

#94: What Is Political Extremism Today?

by Phil Kneis May 13, 2021

#93: Don’t Picture This: The Trouble With Selfies

by Phil Kneis May 6, 2021

#92: The Impact of Brexit on Trade

by Phil Kneis April 28, 2021

#91: The Transatlantic Perspective Needs to be Global

by Phil Kneis April 25, 2021

#90: In Defense of “Wokeness”

by Phil Kneis April 22, 2021

#89: Tragedy is the Nature of Life, and That is OK

by Phil Kneis April 13, 2021

#88: Nature is the Best Meditation

by Phil Kneis April 13, 2021

#87: Stargate as Classical Science Fiction

by Phil Kneis April 13, 2021

#86: Nature Is Stronger than Us: The Pandemic, not the Lockdown, Is the Problem

by Phil Kneis April 5, 2021

#85: Anti-Asian Hate and the Human Capacity for Divisiveness

by Phil Kneis March 31, 2021

Photos: Year of Pain, 2020-21

by Phil Kneis March 30, 2021

#84: Panicking Is Not a Good Strategy

by Phil Kneis March 30, 2021

#83: The Purpose of History, or, We Need to Explain Democracy Better

by Phil Kneis March 28, 2021

Photos: The Many Seasons of Oregon, March 2021

by Phil Kneis March 26, 2021

#82: Only Logic Will Help Us Out of the Pandemic

by Phil Kneis March 25, 2021

#81: Do Not Expect Normality in Non-Normal Times

by Phil Kneis March 12, 2021

#80: There is No Alternative to Dialog and Debate

by Phil Kneis February 23, 2021

#79: The Need for the Public Understanding of Humanities and Social Science Theory

by Phil Kneis February 22, 2021

#78: What Is Social Justice – and What Isn’t

by Phil Kneis February 18, 2021

#77: Animal Personalities

by Phil Kneis February 14, 2021

#76: We Need No Saviors

by Phil Kneis February 11, 2021

#75: There are no “Internal Matters”

by Phil Kneis February 9, 2021

#74: On the Difference Between Scientific and Mythological Thinking

by Phil Kneis February 8, 2021

#72: Can We Trust The Media?

by Phil Kneis January 28, 2021

#71: The Improvement of Society Never Ends

by Phil Kneis January 18, 2021

#70: Poem: WAKE FOR A WORLD OUT OF BALANCE

by Phil Kneis January 11, 2021

#69: No, American Democracy is Not Dead

by Phil Kneis January 8, 2021

#68: We Do Not Need Enemies

by Phil Kneis January 3, 2021

#67: This Perfect Virus Exploits Our Weaknesses

by Phil Kneis December 29, 2020

#66: Democracy Needs Well-Educated Citizens

by Phil Kneis December 26, 2020

#65: Sine Ira et Studio: The Strength of Dispassionate Criticism

by Phil Kneis December 14, 2020

#64: The Illusion of Brexit

by Phil Kneis December 10, 2020

#63: Doubt and Faith in Religion

by Phil Kneis November 11, 2020

#62: Democracy is a Consensus-Creation Machine

by Phil Kneis November 6, 2020

#61: We All Need to Appreciate Each Other

by Phil Kneis October 28, 2020

#60: How We Know that the New Coronavirus Is a Real Threat

by Phil Kneis October 26, 2020

#59: Why Really Big Conspiracies Cannot Exist

by Phil Kneis October 21, 2020

#58: Question Everything; But Also Yourself

by Phil Kneis October 21, 2020

#57: What Is Science?

by Phil Kneis October 20, 2020

#56: Disentangling Race and Ethnicity

by Phil Kneis October 17, 2020

#55: It’s The Uncertainty That Makes Us Worry

by Phil Kneis October 6, 2020

#54: The Dictator as False Messiah: A Belated Review of Game Of Thrones Season 8

by Phil Kneis September 30, 2020

#53: What Is “Left”? A Very Erratic Attempt

by Phil Kneis September 30, 2020

#52: Crisis Fatigue

by Phil Kneis September 30, 2020

#51: The Politics of Division Cannot Work

by Phil Kneis September 24, 2020

#50: The Value of the Musical Long Form

by Phil Kneis September 11, 2020

#49: Nature Demands Humility

by Phil Kneis September 11, 2020

#48: Moderation is Strength; Radicality is Weakness

by Phil Kneis September 11, 2020

#47: And Soon, For Something Completely Different…

by Phil Kneis September 1, 2020

#46: We Need to Move Beyond the Left/Right Paradigm

by Phil Kneis August 31, 2020

#45: Benefit of the Doubt

by Phil Kneis August 26, 2020

#44: There is Too Much “Now” Today

by Phil Kneis August 26, 2020

#43: “Worst Persons” in the World: Hate is the New Normal

by Phil Kneis August 18, 2020

#42: Be the World You Want It to Be

by Phil Kneis July 30, 2020

#41: Corona Funk

by Phil Kneis July 29, 2020

#40: Enabling Free Speech, or, the Problem of the Public Sphere

by Phil Kneis July 10, 2020

#39: Free Speech is Absolute

by Phil Kneis July 9, 2020

#38: Radical Empathy

by Phil Kneis June 24, 2020

#37: Coronavirus, the Amfortas Wound?

by Phil Kneis June 23, 2020

#36: Diversity Is Democracy, and It Is Not a Zero-Sum Game

by Phil Kneis June 20, 2020

#34: What is White Privilege?

by Phil Kneis June 20, 2020

#33: Race Does Not Exist. But Racism Does

by Phil Kneis June 20, 2020

#32: Guilt vs. (Historical) Responsibility

by Phil Kneis June 20, 2020

#31: What Is Systemic Racism?

by Phil Kneis June 9, 2020

#30: What Is Racism?

by Phil Kneis June 9, 2020

#29: Black Lives Do Matter

by Phil Kneis June 8, 2020

#28: Violent Protest Does Not Work

by Phil Kneis June 6, 2020

#27: What is Peace?

by Phil Kneis June 5, 2020

#26: Coronavirus is a Thief

by Phil Kneis May 25, 2020

#25: Legitimate and Illegitimate Arguments Regarding the Coronavirus Shutdown

by Phil Kneis May 18, 2020

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