THE GEOGRAPHY OF TIME

Geography is a wonderful discipline.

One can study geography from a physical point of view, or from a cultural point of view, and the next two upcoming Valley Cafe Scientifique talks are going to look at time's geography in different senses!

The phrase adorning this post, by the way, is the memorable title of a book by CSU Fresno Professor Robert Levine, the same Dr. Robert Levine who will be giving the next talk, this coming Monday.

Levine's talk will be no doubt a distillation and (perhaps) some refinements of the views expressed in his award-winning book, which essentially involves many fascinating cross-cultural comparisons of the psychological experience of time.

Now I have to wonder.

If, by writing short, choppy sentences, will you read faster?

Or not? Will it be truly faster, or will it have the weird counter-intuitive effect of slowing things down----just as repeated stolen base attempts and the efforts to stop basepath larceny slow down the pace of baseball games. Does the sort of recreation chosen affect the way time passes in our minds?

Maybe Dr. Levine will have an answer to questions like that!

Anyway. . . (tick, tock). . .

The presentation will occur on Monday, March 3rd, at 6:30 PM. Valley Cafe Sci will again be hosted by the exotic new Fresno eatery Lucy's Lair, which has again agreed to put together a special buffet for the event.

For more information about the locale, here's the address/phone number for Lucy's Lair.

10063 N Maple Ave

Fresno, CA 93730

(559) 433-9775

DOES GOD EXIST?

Well, I'm sure regular readers of this blog can guess where I stand on that question, but let no one think that because the issue is raised in this blog that I somehow claim to have the final word, much less a proof of same. The reason I mention it is because I have been asked to moderate (whatever that entails, details are murky) the second phase of a symposium Apr. 19-20 sponsored by Fresno's New Covenant Church, the first phase of which is a free debate at CSU Fresno with the above as the resolution for discussion.

(Disclaimer: I am probably unworthy of this opportunity. The main reason I've been asked is that I happen to have some friends who are non-believers and active participants in this event, and who trust me to give them a fair shake. I'm going to try my best to give everyone a fair shake, and I hope that those who attend will comment on what transpires here. All comments and criticisms will be accepted and appreciated in the spirit given.)

Anyway, for more information on this event, which features the well-known Dinesh D'Sousa and Michael Schermer, please read my friend Mark's blog.

RUNNING RAGGED?

Well, kinda sorta. I haven't posted in a few days, which is not like me, so to those readers popping in to check (I know you're out there), I'm sorry I haven't had much new to report. Here's the quick skinny on Hatfield's crazed existence with new items, etc.:

• I've had four three-day weekends in the last six weeks due to the way the district wrote our schedule. It probably hasn't been in the best interests of my students, but I've had more free time than usual and as a consequence have been able to blog quite a bit. Well, those days are gone until Spring Break.

• I'm trying to get my choir ready for an Easter which comes (it seems) unseasonably early this year in the liturgical calendar.

• My son (sigh) got a better grade in a recent assessment in the course we're taking together, and I think he was just whistling in the dark when he did it. There may be hope for him yet.

• My parents are visiting SoCal (my brother's neck of the wood) from Texas this week, so I'm planning to make a trek.

• Unfortunately, while I enjoy a good relationship with the local Meetup group and with the local chapter of Reasons to Believe, I just don't have the time to interact with either group as I would like.

• My first meeting with a committee within IACC (the Interfaith Alliance of Central California) was positive, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.

• The house is on the market....again.

• I'm on a new diet routine. Now I need some exercise. But when will I find time with tutoring on Tuesdays, class on Wednesday, choir on Thursday and ancillary groups competing for my time? When will softball get started again?

Any way, stay tuned....!