COMMENTARY

Clapham Institute Blog

Welcome to the Clapham Institute Blog. You may have followed us previously at doggieheadtilt.com or come across us through a corporate event, church gathering, or online outreach. However you arrived here, we're glad to have you. If you have any questions about the content we're presenting, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Down the Rabbit-Hole

“You must be feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole?” “You could say that,” Neo replied. Then came Morpheus’ offer: “You take the blue pill and the story ends. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” The offer still stands….

More Lyrics

Last week we played a tune that goes something like this: The Enlightenment is exhausted – and exhausting us. Many recognize it but want more lyrics – songs, books, and films that decry Descartes. Here are the first few in a long list.

Same Tune, Different Lyrics

You take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Fans of “The Matrix” remember Morpheus’ unnerving invitation. Now the film’s scriptwriters go deeper down the rabbit-hole. “Cloud Atlas” opens in theaters October 26. Same tune, different lyrics. But who is most likely to recognize the tune? And who knows the…

The Harder They Fall

When you Google “biggest college football upsets,” Appalachian State upending Michigan is at or near the top of the list. It’s the old adage – the bigger they are, the harder they fall. This axiom also explains the two things that fell hard in the fall – and why recovering them will require a right-brain…

Half-Court Games

Serious players don’t enjoy playing half-court games. Basketball is designed to be played full-court. The NBA couldn’t sell tickets to half-court games. Yet this is how many businesspeople do business. They play a half-court game. Neuroimaging reveals they’re not serious about doing good business.

Hall of Mirrors

In The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, the Joker lures Batman into a hall of mirrors. His plan is cunning – disorient and destroy. Last week, we looked at how the West has become a culture that leads-with-the-left-hemisphere. It’s lost in a hall of mirrors according to Iain McGilchrist. It’s not a good situation, but…

Puppy Love

Last week I promised to pose a question. Here it is. In Genesis 2:19-20, we read that Adam named the animals. How do you imagine he did this? What image comes to mind? Your answer indicates which hemisphere in your brain is presently winning.

The Wrong Winner

The wrong winner has won. Iain McGilchrist says the human brain’s two hemispheres are waging a winner-take-all contest. But only one hemisphere – if it wins – includes the other in the triumph. The other hemisphere doesn’t. Unfortunately, over the last 500 years, the wrong hemisphere has won the contest.

Languid Day

Labor Day is a languid sort of affair. It’s a melancholy weekend – the last summer cookout… pulling in the dock… putting away the boat. Labor Day was originally a tribute to industriousness. What happened to that?

First Things First

by John Seel If you make secondary things primary, you lose both. C.S. Lewis put it this way: “You can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first.” Such has been our failure in the marriage debate. By debating the definition of marriage, we have…