The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis

Lewis, C.S. The Abolition of Man: Or Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of School. 1944. New York: HarperOne, 2000.

I didn’t expect of find apologist C. S. Lewis discussing the Tao. He used it as a term to describe natural law or traditional values, which he defended in the three lectures collected in The Abolition of Man.

This is a hard book for me to write about, though it is short. Lewis wrote as a thoughtful and educated man to an audience he assumed could follow him. I don’t find it easy to summarize his arguments and do them justice, though I will try.

Lewis began by criticizing a trend in education that debunks emotion and sentiment in favor of reason. The particular English composition he used as an example rightly showed students how to see through the shallow sentimentality and factual falseness of bad writing, but failed to show the merits of good writing, worthy sentiments, or deeper truth.

The product of such an education is people without hearts. Instead of mastering reason, students were equipped with shallow reasonableness. By inoculating students against one kind of propaganda, the authors of the text made them more vulnerable to other propaganda.

For fruitful education, Lewis offers the Tao, teaching people to recognize and esteem the inherent value of things. As he puts it, “The right defence against false sentiments is just sentiments.”

Those who reject traditional values, even if not entirely conscious of it as may be the case of the textbook authors, are proposing new values. However, the tools they use to cut down the old work just as well on the new. They must either stick to the idea that values are cultural vestiges or conventions that have roots in unwanted sentiment instead of desirable reason, and lay the groundwork for future reasoners and reformers to overthrow the new values, or appeal to inherent, self-evident values. On this latter basis, the Tao has much history and endurance.


These ideas have real social consequence. This book was first published in 1944, so the Nazi regime in Germany was very much on Lewis’ mind, as well as then-rising Communism. Though the pseudoscience that the Nazis used to justify their racist policies has been debunked, and even the Soviet Union has crumbled, the idea that a more scientific and rational governance and policy will perfect, or at least greatly improve, human society is alive an well.

As we master nature, even human nature, we also give people who acquire and control that knowledge and technology mastery over other people. Successive generations of such people will grow in mastery over others and, raised with no heart or inherently true values, they will have nothing by which to govern themselves except their own appetites and desires. George Orwell’s vision would cease to be merely an imaginative projection of the excesses of socialism and become something close to prophecy.

Lewis doesn’t see reason and sentiment as being natural enemies, only that some have tried to position one against the other. His vision would be people educated to have within them both powerful reason and powerful sentiments, especially ethical sentiments.

My own experience makes this an attractive vision to me. As a child, I had experienced strong emotions, especially anger, that threatened to overwhelm me because I lacked maturity and self-control. As I got a little older, though still a child, I clamped down on my emotions and tried to comport myself according to reason a much as possible; Mr. Spock from Star Trek was my model. This became a problem, too, in that my life and relationships lacked fullness as I deprived myself and others of something important in my connections. Now that I am a man, and I am coming to see what the fullness of that can be, I long to have both a powerful mind and strong heart. To have one without the other sets one up for many falls, but to have them together is a synergistic combination that empowers one to have greater appreciation for and effectiveness in life.

C.S. Lewis also wrote:
The Great Divorce

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in:
The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
War Against the Weak by Edwin Black

The Introvert's Way by Sophia Dembling

Introverts are coming out of their shells, but in their own way. This isn’t to say they are becoming more introverted. Instead they are demand that the traits they bring are valued. We are not simply “not extroverted.”

Blogger Sophia Dembling is part of this wave of outspoken introverts. She writes about living as an introvert in a culture that values extroversion, and how to become more comfortable with it, in The Introvert’s Way.

Personality is a complex subject. Introversion is one of five personality traits that seem to remain consistent over a person’s lifetime.

Actually, extroversion is the trait that is measured. A typical test defines introversion as a lack of extroversion. Dembling calls this into question. She sees introversion as a way of interacting with external and internal stimulus that is different from extroversion. It is not better or worse and it certainly is not an absence of a personality trait.

Dembling is not shy about taking on extroversion bias in psychology and research. For instance, she wrote about research that showed extroverts to be happier. Even introverts who acted extroverted seemed happier. She found that psychologists have a three pronged definition of happiness, but the researchers used only one. The signs of happiness in this prong are practically synonymous with traits of extroversion. No wonder extroverts seemed happier. Introverts are often happy in their own way.

Much of the book is a discussion of the introverted experience. It can be tough to be introverted in a culture that values extroversion (not all do). How do you deal with well-meaning friends who try to get you to have fun when you’re already perfectly contented? How do you manage your energy, especially when things that get others psyched leave you drained?

Dembling offers advice on these issues. Her core advice is to accept your introversion. You are different and that is fine. You can create a space for you to be you. You can teach you friends to respect who you are just as you have respected their extroversion.

Introverts who begin to embrace who they are can seem like angry turtles at first. However, we are not inclined to disturb our peace with resentment; we move on to living a life we like with a little gentle forcefulness.

I previously wrote about this book in another post.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron

The Irresistible Introvert by Michaela Chung

Quiet by Susan Cain

Dembling, Sophia. The Introvert’s Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World. New York: Perigee, 2012.

Gratitude may be defined simply as showing that one values the kindness of God

Gratitude may be defined simply as showing that one values the kindness of God.

-R. T. Kendall, Just Say Thanks!

The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley

In 1905, then Secretary of War William Taft and a host of other American dignitaries took a tour of Pacific islands and Asian nations. James Bradley tells the story of this trip, along with the wider contest of President Theodore Roosevelt’s policies toward Pacific expansion and Asia, in The Imperial Cruise.

Roosevelt, with Taft as his right hand, engaged in secret diplomacy with Japan. The Senate would not have approved a treaty with Japan with terms Roosevelt wanted, and his own State Department would have strongly advised against his course. So Roosevelt sent Taft to consummate a secret deal that he could never acknowledge.

By the time Taft set sail, Japan was already responding to interactions with the West. It was remaking itself into an industrialized, militarized country in the western mold. Roosevelt saw in them American-friendly, quasi-civilized people who could expand Anglo-Saxon virtues into Asia without slipping out from under Anglo-American influence. As with almost everything related to the Pacific and Asian peoples, Roosevelt was very shortsighted.

In reading about the early 20^th Century, I’ve been struck by the pervasiveness of racism. Bradley explains how Roosevelt viewed everything through a racial lens. These were racial lenses were proudly worn by white elites at the time. The key to history was racial history. They saw the birth of civilization in the Middle East with the Aryans, who began moving west. Around the Mediterranean, where the Aryans mixed with other races, civilizations degenerated. In Germany, pure Aryans gave rise to Teutons, who inherited Aryan civilizing with values of democracy and individualism. These Teutons moved west and were further perfected in the Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Saxon civilization leapt across the Atlantic and push aside the savages of North America. To Roosevelt, Manifest Destiny had not closed with the conquering of the continent; it was ready to spread into the Pacific. White men would continue to spread their civilizing influence, subjugating or exterminating lesser, browner races when necessary as white Americans had done to their Indian wards. White elites like Roosevelt saw their westward destiny in this racial history, and it was further confirm by science in Darwinian survival of the fittest.

History and science refute such notions now. Bradley (and I) certainly don’t try to justify the attitudes or actions of Roosevelt, Taft or others. Bradley is plainly critical of handling of Pacific islands and Asia. Roosevelt’s racial views blinded him to the abilities and patriotism of non-whites. He had the hubris to pursue diplomacy on his own, secretly, without advice from the State Department, Senate or anyone else who might raise the slightest objection or concern. He tutored Japan in the ways of western imperialism, but could not imagine how well they would learn the lessons. Bradley places at least some of the blame for World War II in the Pacific at the feet of Roosevelt, whose interventions created the powerful military empire we faced in those waters.

Roosevelt was an astute manager of his image and he understood public relations. Because of this, he sent his oldest (and nearly estranged) daughter Alice on the trip. She was a celebrity, and her presence assured a lot of press coverage. Her presence was also a distraction from Taft’s secret mission.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Dreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury

The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

First Samuel

Life is So Good by George Dawson & Richard Glaubman

Planck by Brandon R. Brown

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose

Water by Steven Solomon

Bradley, James. The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009.

On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis

I wrote this for a class in public administration back in 1997. You can tell it’s for a class because it’s longer than the reviews I’d normally write for this blog. I have the sense from reading it that the assignment must have involve answering particular questions about the book. I got an A-. The hyperlinks are added, but I haven’t changed it otherwise from what I wrote the first time.
Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1994.

Bennis’ premise is that leadership comes out of the state of being of the leader. Leadership starts with a leader’s capacity for self-invention, to shape himself with learning and reflection as opposed to being shaped by circumstances. In Bennis’ words, “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders.”

Bennis’ process of self-invention begins with self-knowledge. He proposes four lessons to gaining self-knowledge. First, “you are your own best teacher”; learning is essential. Second is to accept responsibility for your own education. Third, “you can learn anything you want to learn.” Finally, reflection is necessary to develop understanding and a leader must question his experience to learn. Leaders innovate and learn from experience without fear of mistakes. According to Bennis’ definition, a leader is someone in the front, doing things others have not done.

A leader must add knowledge of the world to self-knowledge. Bennis says that a leader should learn about the world through participation rather than reaction. One learns by trying to change something as well as experiencing it as it is. The conscious learner seeks broad experience, learns from others and from mistakes.

A leader must trust his instincts. Bennis uses Emerson’s term “blessed impulse.” Blessed impulse is a tool for making decisions in a world to complex to be completely understood.

Leaders must deploy themselves. By this Bennis means a leader must practice self-expression. Deploying oneself is offset against being deployed by others or the voices of others on one’s head.

Leaders must “get people on their side.” Bennis prescribes constancy, congruity of words and action, reliability and integrity.

Bennis also speaks more generally about the characteristics and roles of leaders. These are similar to what might be found in other books on leadership.


Bennis calls the organization the primary form in American society. He challenges leaders to shape their organizations, and shape society, to make them work in a rapidly changing world. He encourages executives to empower junior leaders in their organizations to teach them leadership through experience.

Throughout, Bennis uses the experience of twelve leaders gleaned from interviews. Bennis includes a brief biography of each leader at the end.

At first, it seems that Bennis says that one becomes a leader by being a leader. This is what he says, but he does not leave the reader hanging. Bennis’ perspective is what is unique about the book. Leadership is the expression of the character, qualities, values and personality of a leader. His is not a direct call for us to become leaders, but for us to become ourselves. Leadership will follow.

This may be a difficult lesson. Buyers of books on leadership are probably more interested in learning the skills of leadership and management to help them in their current situations. Bennis says express yourself. If you are doing what you think you ought to do, if others deploy you, you will not be a leader. Self-expression may take you to something different.

The first step to leadership is self-knowledge. A useful tool is self-evaluation, what Bennis calls “tests and measures.” Bennis offers a set of four tests—really four statements. One could apply the tests with pencil and paper, making lists in response to each statement. Of all the tools and suggestions in the book, this set of tests is the most clear and immediately applicable. A reader wanting to apply Bennis’ lessons would do well to start here.

Little else can be used immediately. Changes in point of view and lifestyle take time. One might argue that only a few Bennis’ suggested activities are specific to developing leadership. To me, much of it sounds fun and interesting. That is the point Bennis is trying to make: leadership comes out of broad experience, education, perspective, desire, mastery of one’s discipline and synthesis of ideas.

My own experience validates this. I am as proud of my single published poem as I am of my accomplishments as an engineer or public servant. The skills and abilities exercised by writing are different from those exercised by engineering. I am persuaded that, though seemingly unrelated, one improves the other in me.

Bennis’ somewhat artificial distinction between managers and leaders is a shortcoming. He makes a manager sound like something one would not want to be. He list skills and characteristics developed from the “education” of a leader and the “training” of a manager. All seemingly undesirable things are on the manager side. On might argue tat several management skills, like deduction and common sense, would be useful to a leader.

Most of the interviews are businessmen, but some come from public service agencies and professions. In may seem that businessmen are more susceptible to “surrendering to the context”—the bottom line, the corporate culture, the style of a boss to be pleased—but public service leaders must face their own context. A public servant may readily accept his organization’s view of the way things should be or done, what is important and who to involve without ever considering his own vision, ability and desire.

It may be more important for public section leadership to use self-expression. While a business leader may have the satisfaction of bringing a product to market, making a profit, even gaining notoriety, a public leader may never see his vision achieved. A public leaders’ satisfaction may have to come from living the life he wants to live.

A particular item addressed by Bennis that may be of use to one in public service is getting people on your side. A public leader may have little to rely on besides his integrity and “voice”—an ability to change the climate of his organization and shape it to work more effectively. As important as it is, Bennis can offer little on the subject except constancy, congruity, reliability and integrity. He says to be someone others might follow. He offers no lessons on persuasion, though if persuasion can be taught, it may be of little benefit to those who lake those characteristics.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Tested by Time by James L. Garlow
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell
The Difference Maker by John C. Maxwell
Winning with People by John C. Maxwell

His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis

Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Knopf, 2004.


Ellis organizes his biography of the first President of the United States along the lines of Henry Lee’s statement about the man, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” though he breaks Washington’s life into a few more categories than that. He begins with Washington’s youth on the frontier and follows it through his vigorous retirement.

Ellis presents a man who does not rehearse his past, but seeks lessons from his experience. I’ll take a similar attitude in this review.

One of the things that stands out about Washington is his understanding of models and how to use them. As a youth, he looked up to the landed aristocracy that ruled Virginia and proceeded to become a man in much the same mode. As head of the Continental Army, he looked to Roman general Fabius Cunctator who won through retreat, preserving his army from battles he couldn’t win, even though Washington warred against his on adventurous nature to fight such a war. As a retiring general who could have received great political power from a grateful nation, he looked to Cicero, who retired to his farm when his duty was completed.

Washington also knew how to break with models and go his own way. He twice came out of retirement to lend his reputation to efforts to build an American nation, first to preside over the Constitutional Convention, second to serve as president under the new constitution.

Another notable thing about Washington’s life is the balance he struck between ambition and virtue. Only an ambitious and opportunistic man could have accomplished what he did; he accumulated great wealth and power. However, he held on to power lightly and readily let it go, though he seemed a little more attached to wealth. His virtues restrained his ambitions.

Finally, Washington was a realist. He was certainly a man of high ideals, but he didn’t expect to see people and nations conform themselves to ideals. Just as he had to restrain himself from excesses, so did others. This is clearly where he differed from Thomas Jefferson and his Ant-Federalist faction; Washington didn’t believe in a naturally virtuous class of citizen who would naturally uphold republican values. People pursued their interests; that went double for nations.

Washington was the right man at the right time. His insight into models, ambition, virtue and realism were just what the nascent nation needed to rally it together and lead it through the rough patches that could have broken it to pieces.

The Most Effective Organization in the U.S. by Robert A. Watson & Ben Brown

Watson, Robert A., & Ben Brown.  The Most Effective Organization in the U.S.: Leadership Secrets of the Salvation Army.  New York: Crown Business, 2001.

What is The Salvation Army?  Is it a service organization or a church?  Yes.  That is, it is both.  In The Most Effective Organization in the United States, former National Commander Robert A. Watson, with Ben Brown, writes much about the organization’s dual mission of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and helping needy people.  The Salvation Army would say this is a single mission because they so closely relate saving people with serving them.

The title of the book is taken for Peter Drucker’s praise for the Army.  The authors do not for a moment shy away from the Christian history, motivation and mission of the organization.  Even so, this book is aimed at business and organizational leaders who want their companies to be more effective.

It’s good to start with this focus on mission.  The Army is extremely mission focused.  Everything they do and the way they do it, including how they organize, manage and lead, is done to achieve the mission.  The first lesson in effectiveness is that an organization needs a transcendent mission, something greater than making money that can bring purpose to people’s lives.

Clear mission allows the Army to attract great people.  People need meaning and purpose in life, and finding people with personal missions that align with the organization’s leads to passionate employees.  They’re not just employees, they’re partners.  They also see their clients, often people in very bad situations, as potential partners.  People who have been transformed by Christ and who know the value of the help they received from the Army, when they are on their feet again, are potentially very committed and motivated volunteers, employees and officers.

As one would hope from a Christian organization, the Army places a high value on integrity.  Integrity is closely linked to accountability.  They are very careful to assure that all they do advances their mission.  Likewise, they want their people, especially officers, to live their values.  They also want their constituents to trust that they will deliver on their promises.  The Army careful about accountability.  Their local leaders have extraordinary latitude, but they also have great responsibility and are answerable for themselves and their programs.  They are open and transparent so clients and donors know that the resources entrusted to them are used well.

One of the things that impressed me about the Army is that their commitment to mission and accountability makes it easier for them to say no.  If it doesn’t fit, or if it isn’t sustainable, they let it go.  Even existing programs are not sacred.  If it’s not working, if it begins to distract from the mission, it is dropped even if a lot as already been invested in it.

I enjoyed this book much more that most business books.  I admit it appealed to my own sensibilities.  It’s also a glimpse inside an organization that most people know relatively little about.  The authors explain how the Army accomplishes so much with its resources with so little management structure.  They’re way is adaptable to business, but probably requires a lot more discipline than many top business managers may have.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Revved! by Harry Paul and Ross Reck

Titus

Vital Friends by Tom Rath

Google

Lost Connections by Hari Johnson

Depression and anxiety are growing problems in the West. The model of depression as a chemical imbalance in the brain is breaking down, and antidepressants are ineffective. (I’m not suggesting you should stop taking antidepressants. Even if they are not working out for you, discuss it with your physician first.) Where do we turn to find relief?

 Johann Hari considers this problem in his book Lost Connections. Hari was a long-time sufferer of depression and taker of ever-increasing doses of antidepressants. He was happy with the model that depression was a chemical imbalance that was beyond his control and a pill could fix it. The problem was that a pill didn’t fix it; he was still depressed.

 First, it isn’t all in your head—or even in your chemistry. Though there is a physiological, and even hereditary, aspect to depression that can make some more susceptible, depression is triggered by our experience and social environments. Depression is a symptom of problems in your life. To Hari, depression is essentially a social disease and it requires social treatments.

 Though Hari does not claim to have completely uncovered the causes of depression, he outlines several that are supported by research. He describes them all as types of disconnection.

 For example, many are disconnected from meaningful work. They have no sense of control over their work. There is no connection between effort and reward, and the work can be humiliating drudgery. In addition, work has become much less secure; many have no idea if they’ll have work next week or even tomorrow.

 Related to this is disconnection from status. Research of primates suggests that depression is an expression of low status intended to protect apes from the abuse of their neighbors. In highly stratified cultures, like the United States, stress is higher than in cultures with more status equality. Low status people are under constant stress, and high status people experience extreme stress when their status is challenged.

 Most of all, we are disconnected from other people. We are less likely than ever to belong to a church, club, civic group, professional organization, sports league or similar structure of getting together with other face-to-face, bonding over common interests and building relationships. Neighborhoods are no longer communities; they’re just clusters of homes.

 Though it is more challenging than taking a pill, the solution to depression is to reconnect in those areas where we have become disconnected. It is especially important to reconnect to other people. If you want to feel better, do something to make someone else’s life better.

 The difficulty is that it is hard to get better on your own. Fortunately, if you’re willing to take a step, there are things you can do. On the bigger scale, we need cultural reform that supports personal relationships, meaningful values, meaningful work, empathy, hope and time in natural settings. There is no money to be made in prescribing a community garden, a book club or a job where one is treated with respect, so the money will probably continue to pour into drugs (whether they work or not), until we demand—and start to create for ourselves—something better.

 If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Beethoven Factor by Paul Pearsall

Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen

The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need by Paul Pearsall

The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper

Switch on Your Brain by Caroline Leaf

Suggestible You by Erik Vance

Timeless Healing by Herbert Benson with Marg Stark

Vital Friends by Tom Rath

 Hari, Johan. Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions. New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.

Into the Depths of God by Calvin Miller

Miller, Calvin. Into the Depths of God. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2000.

I’ve wanted to read this book again since the first time I read it. I’m not sure why I was drawn back to a book that challenged me to live a kind of life I wasn’t leading, nor is it easy. Even so, I hunger and thirst for God, like every other Christian, and find myself seeking more of the One for whom my heart most yearns.

Miller begins by challenging worldliness. He puts it more elegantly than that. We live in an age of that values pleasure, material wealth, and making the most of the moment. Even spirituality is focused on how it makes us feel good, though it is rarely so blunt. The alternative to these things is a deeper relationship with the One who satisfies because of who He is.

I’m particularly challenged by Millers take on self-denial. He is far from ascetic. If anything, he is an advocate of art, desire, engagement, and action. Self-denial for a Christian isn’t about the sins we give up (though we should eschew sin); it’s about the things we take up as part of the new life we have. We love God more than any other thing. We see to please Him and obey him rather than to please people. We seek His will instead of ours.



This kind of godliness, this ravenous hunt for more of God, does not make use remote from the world. It draws us into the work God is doing in the world. Christ took on humanity and entered our world to save people and part of what He want His saved people to do is continue the work of saving people until He comes again. I’m reminded of how Jesus said he saw the work His Father was doing and He did the same work. That is how Christians are supposed to be. Each of has a calling; we see some work our Father is doing and we are to do it to as imitators of our savior.

It’s not dogged work. It should be joyous living. Whatever we do, we should do with as much excellence, beauty and art as we can because we are in a relationship with the most beautiful One, the author of beauty in nature and the ultimate inspiration for beauty in art. A Christian’s calling is the most imaginative, creative and fulfilling thing he can do.

It is not an easy life to live. It goes against the grain of the world. It takes us out of the insular coziness churches. We must face truths than can make us uncomfortable. We must humbly acknowledge God and our need for Him in everything.

I fear I’ve made it sound esoteric. Focusing on intimacy with God who is infinite, but deigned to take on humanity and suffer the punishment for our sins so we could have an eternal relationship with Him, seems a world away from helping our neighbors in need, serving the sick, and standing up for the oppressed. Yet in deeper living, these seemingly disparate things are intimately linked. When we abide in Christ, He enables us to live this life of service, and in working close to Him this way, we deepen our relationship with him.

It’s rare for me to read a book twice. I think I could read Into the Depths of God a third time and get more out of it. It whets my appetite for God.

You can find my previous, brief review of this book here.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
The Joy of Supernatural Thinking by Bill Bright
Walking with God by John Eldredge

Public Utility Depreciation by NARUC

I don’t usually read reference books, or textbooks, all the way through like I did with Public Utility Depreciation Practices. Because of my new job as a “depreciation engineer,” I undertook reading this guide from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

The title describes the content of the book. It includes some historical and legal background, but the bulk of the book is aimed at the practicalities of determining depreciation expenses.

The main elements going into depreciation rate determination are depreciation base, service life, net salvage, and depreciation computation methods. Depreciation base is the starting point; it represents the initial investment of capital that is to be recovered as a cost through depreciation. Generally it is the book cost (original cost of the infrastructure including materials, equipment, labor and related costs).

Most methods of computing depreciation are referred to as age-life methods. These methods spread the cost of the expected life of a piece of infrastructure. The preferred method is straight line depreciation. To apply these methods, one will need to know or estimate the life of the infrastructure under consideration and the net salvage value. The depreciation rate is the difference between the base and the net salvage, divided by the life of the infrastructure. With the exception of unique pieces, like types of infrastructure are lumped together because they are expected to have a similar life (wooden poles, steel poles, copper wire, conduit, etc.).

Life expectancy can be estimated by several methods. Survivor curves are developed from statistical studies of the life of particular types of infrastructure, though other methods may be used depending on the type and quality of data available.

Net salvage is estimated based on experience. The gross salvage is the price received for the equipment or materials retired. The cost of removal is subtracted from this to calculate the net salvage. Sometimes it can cost more to remove infrastructure than the value of the retired equipment and materials, so net salvage can be negative.

Calculating depreciation is more art than science. Projections of future values are inherently tricky. Growth can cause infrastructure to become inadequate before it is expected, or slower than expected growth can extend the life infrastructure. New regulations can make infrastructure obsolete in an instant, as can new technologies. In addition, utilities are constantly adding and retiring infrastructure. Amidst this uncertainty, regulators must balance the level of service needed by utility customers with the returns needed by utility investors in a complex environment.

Admittedly, a book from 1968 may seem dated. However, many of the practices described are still in use. Government regulation of monopoly utility rates in the United States has been occurring for more than a century, and the practices to not change rapidly. Even so, some of the practices described were considered obsolete, or near obsolescence, at the time of publication, and are not likely to be encountered now unless you’re a financial historian combing through moldy account books.

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Public Utility Depreciation Practices. 1968. Washington, DC: Author, 1974.

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky made a study of the things that contribute to happiness. Even if you haven’t read her book, The How of Happiness, some a particular facts she introduced have been shared by many authors since, and you may have heard them. Name, people have a natural happiness set point, which accounts for half of how happy they feel. One’s life circumstances account for one-tenth of the happiness one experiences. The remaining 40 percent is the result of a person’s actions and ways of thinking.

There are some important lessons to take from this discovery.

*Do not compare your happiness to others. Some people are naturally more or less happy than you. Give yourself a break if you cannot sustain the ecstasy someone else seems to have and be graceful to those who never seem to be as happy or upbeat as you are.

*You probably do not need to change your life circumstances to be much happier. Admittedly, someone facing severe poverty or routine physical danger has a lot of reason to be unhappy; better life circumstances will make a big difference for them. However, if you live in a safe place and have enough to meet your needs, getting more is not likely to make a significant improvement in your happiness.

*A large portion of your happiness is under your control, and you can choose to take actions and think in ways that make you happier.

That is, you can learn to be happier. Any learning requires effort and commitment, but it is within your reach

Much of the book is a discussion of strategies for becoming happier that are backed by research. You do not need to try them all. You can play to your strengths and use strategies that fit your values. The book contains a test to help you identify the strategies that may be most useful to you. You can skip straight to the relevant chapters to find things you can do and get started right away, though reading the other chapters will be useful because you may discover other things in them that are fitting for you.

Lyuobomirsky’s strategies suggest there is more than one kind of happiness and more than one way to be happy. Everyone is unique, so if something that works for someone else isn’t working for you, there is still a route to happiness for you, and you might find it in this book. For myself, I’ve noticed that my perspectives and priorities have changed over the course of my life, and the amount that various things contribute to or detract from my happiness have changed as well.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Beethoven Factor by Paul Pearsall

Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar

Happiness is a Choice by Barry Neil Kaufman

The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven

100 Ways to Happiness by Timothy Sharp

The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper

Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat

Thanks! by Robert A. Emmons

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin, 2007.

New & Interesting Stuff April 14, 2013

Christians developed science because they believed it could be done, and should be done

Comic Book Nation by Bradford W. Wright

God’s will alone matters

Gratitude may be defined simply as showing that one values the kindness of God

Human beings are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others

In Congress

It will be the duty of earthly power to do justice

Mojo by Marshall Goldsmith

More of our English is ultimately learned from Tyndale than from and other writer

The natural heart is at enmity with God

New & Interesting Stuff March 14, 2013

Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people

Reason is from God

The rise of science was achieved by deeply religious Christian scholars

Smoking, a "custome lothsome to the eye"

The system of morality to be gathered from the writings of ancient sages falls very short of that delivered in the gospel

That we think of progress at all shows the extent of the influence of Christianity upon us

We in America have everything we need except the most important thing of all

We work best when as much of what we are doing can be delegated to the unconscious mind as possible

You possess the ability to awaken and start anew

Defining Noah Webster by K. Alan Snyder

Snyder, K. Alan. Defining Noah Webster: A Spiritual Biography. Washington, DC: Allegiance Press, 2002.

Noah Webster was in interesting man in interesting times. A young man during the American Revolution, he became interested in politics and went on to know many of the statesmen of that era, especially amongst his fellow Federalists . He was published the first magazine of original material in America and edited a Federalist newspaper, sometimes drawing fire from his own party for his evenhanded reporting. He is best known for writing educational materials, readers, texts, and especially his dictionary.



K. Alan Snyder covers this biographical fare in Defining Noah Webster. He is more interested in the philosophical and religious arc of Webster’s life and how his views changed, especially after his conversion to Christianity.

Webster was raised in the Congregational church of his family in Connecticut and attended Yale, which was still ostensibly a religious college at the time. (Incidentally, later in life he would help to establish Amerherst because, among other things, he found Harvard, itself originally a seminary, to be too liberal.) As he reached adulthood and had to fend for himself, he turned away from the faith and sought guidance in literature and philosophy. He is hardly the only Enlightenment-era youth to seek to perfect himself through reason .

Snyder sees Webster falling under the influence of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. After reading his book, I can’t tell you much about Common Sense philosophy, though Snyder provides just enough to follow how it appears in Webster’s activities and writings in the early part of his career. The major themes are that reason must be guided by conscience, and that as a person matures and develops reason, reason should take the drivers seat and direct his other faculties. Thus, Webster’s educational views include inculcating moral values. Common Sense also viewed political philosophy as part of moral philosophy. Webster valued character in politicians and thought foolish put public trust in people whose private morals were questionable.

While Webster’s views were not opposed to Christianity, his real faith through much of his career as an educator, author, politician, and public figure was in reason, not in Christ. As he saw his country grow and become factious and reported the horrors that developed during the French Revolution, he became disillusioned with the idea that reason, even if guided by a trained conscience, could cure people of moral shortcomings.

Webster converted to Christianity at the age of about 50, to the delight of his wife and daughters. He did not make a disillusioned retreat to religion. He was born again and the experience changed his perspective on everything. The final chapters are the meat of the book. Snyder writes about how this conversion changed Webster’s views on politics and education and influenced his dictionary.

Webster remained a staunch Federalist. However, the reasoning behind his political views changed. He found the roots of republican government in the Bible-base wisdom of America’s Christian settlers. Solid character, especially Christ-like character, became an even more important requirement for elected officials.

Before his conversion, Webster steered clear of what he saw as the overuse of the Bible in readers. Afterward, he no longer trusted natural conscience and reason. People were too prone to error and selfishness. They needed revelation from God’s Word as a reliable to guide to what is right.

These Christian views are prominent in Webster’s dictionary, though largely removed from its successors. Webster traced etymologies with the notion of finding the true meaning of a word in its origins in an Adamic tongue. His illustrations of meanings frequently reflected his Christian views.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
The Invention of Air by Steven Johnson
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen
Triumvirate by Bruce Chadwick