“On a personal level, we are all numb. Even younger people are behaving as though they have dementia. We forget the way to familiar destinations, we lose our keys, we mix up words,…

“Other acquaintances have cheated before my eyes to win a penny-ante pot, filled a purse lined with aluminum foil at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, and confessed to routinely shortchanging customers. I didn’t actually witness…

“Before humans devised atomic clocks, a network of Earth-orbit satellites, and the Global Positioning System, we suffered a directional disadvantage compared to our scaly, furry, and feathered kin. But even with the best…

“EKG done, the triage nurse takes over, checks your blood pressure (high), your oxygen intake (decent, but lower than usual), temperature (normal). She looks more closely at the computer, then at you, ‘Wow.…

“Myth and experience teach us that hubristic defiance of the cosmos inevitably leads to disaster.”—William A. Balk, Jr. Epicurus’ Porch By William A. Balk, Jr ELKO South Carolina—(Weekly Hubris)—7/6/2015—In the windbreak of pine…

“From the very beginning—my father, a lay analyst, went to Greece in 1961, to set up a graduate school of Social Work at Pierce College, and to write a book about college-age women…

Won Over By Reality By Tim Bayer BRIGHTON New York—(Weekly Hubris)—6/29/2015—The pinnacle of my origami expertise is the paper airplane, but I have a great appreciation for the skill of the masters of…

“My German-American parents were similarly afflicted with what the Germans call Zungensalat or ‘tongue salad.’ Mother was forever yelling at me to shut the scream door, and Father worried I wasn’t getting enough…

“So, exactly how do humans reproduce if we don’t bifurcate, pupate, or molt? I’m glad the answer to the overwhelming question of my adolescence was not left entirely to my parents.”—Skip Eisiminger Skip…

“Raven is the one chosen to do the honk, which he’s always trying to perfect; which he’s always trying out a one-more-time, brand-new version of that never quite works. Still, we stop and…