This is Andrew Matheson again. I need to share a secret with you, but I think it's going to upset you greatly. So I'm trying to think of a way to gently ease you into what's really going on here. Because you need to know. Last November, my ninth-graders were studying Darwinian evolution in the biology classes I used to teach. One morning we were discussing how natural selection working across many generations will tend to result in optimized organisms that fit well within the

Readers, are you old enough to remember the classic Game of Life endorsed by Art Linkletter? In exchange for his endorsement ("I heartily endorse this game!"), the portrait of Arthur Linkletter, Esq. appeared on the $100,000 bill. The $50,000 bill featured Milton Bradley's portrait, and on the $20,000 bill was my favorite portrait of all, that of the fictional character G. I. Luvmoney. Art Linkletter and Milton Bradley were actual people, but G. I. Luvmoney was a made-up name

I went to my doctor's office the other day for a routine checkup. They're very modern there. They ask you to fill out your patient information using an electronic device with a stylus rather than old-fashioned paper forms. Nifty. Of course, there's that section where they ask you to report your patient history. "Please indicate whether you or an immediate family member has been treated for:" and then a long list of medical conditions, right? So I was completing that section:

Scientists and mathematicians propose so many interesting, exotic ideas to explain the truth about reality, don't you agree? Here's a nifty example from Stephen Hawking, the famous theoretical physicist who wrote A Brief History of Time, and made several TV guest appearances on shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory. (You know, I bought A Brief History of Time back in the early 1990s, when it was on all the bestseller lists. It's not a long book at

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." Stephen Covey I know logically there should only be one Main Thing, but in Stephen Covey's delightfully whimsical quote above, there are at least two, and maybe three main things. That's because really: Main Thing(s) = Thing(s) We Value Everybody has values. And for every individual, determining what values to incorporate into his or her value system is an act of absolute free will. We all get to choose what we value.

I was traveling recently in our nation's capital. During my visit, I had the opportunity to swing by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, located on the south side of the Tidal Basin. The Jefferson Memorial is one of several prominent landmarks that form a ring along the shoreline of the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Parenthetically, the statue of Jefferson, the archetypical Democratic-Republican, stares out from his Memorial across the Tidal Basin at the imposing Washington Monu

Friends, do you know about tropes? Tropes are commonly used literary devices that provide context and familiarity to readers. Used properly, they can help advance a story along and even add to the reader's fun! But sometimes a particular trope will be used so frequently it gets worn out and becomes a cliché. Although writers should avoid using a lot of clichés in their writing, most every good storyteller ends up using an occasional trope or two, now and then. Let me guess...

I confess I'm no athlete. I can't catch the ball, I can't throw the ball, I can't hit the ball with a 3-wood. I'm a bit overweight and rather slow. When I believe I'm "running," I appear to others to be "jogging"—or maybe even "lumbering," "shuffling," or "fast-walking." (Look, that morning the lady pushing her baby in a stroller passed me up, I hadn't eaten a good breakfast, okay?) So I surprised myself a few years ago when I decided to train for and complete a marathon. Hmm

Readers, do you know about the "invisible hand?" Sounds kind of creepy, doesn't it? But really, it's not creepy at all. Actually, I think the invisible hand is one of the best things we've got going for us! The invisible hand. We've developed this image using special techniques and advanced filters so you can actually observe how the invisible hand is gently holding the earth in its palm. Rest assured, the invisible hand is taking care of us every day, even if we don't notice

Today is the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down in the Sea of Tranquility in their spaceship Eagle, and became the first humans in history to travel to the surface of another world. The Moon. The little yellow dot shows the approximate location where the Eagle landed on July 20, 1969. (However, certain conspiracy theorists contend the moon landings were faked, and the Eagle actually "landed" at the si

Dinosaur fans, I think I made a math error in my last entry here on THE MAIN THING, in which I claimed Dragons > Dinosaurs. (Tapping the underlined link takes you back to that blog post.) When I went back to check my work—I know, something I should have done in the first place—I discovered the correct answer was actually Dragons = Dinosaurs. Look at these REAL fossils of dinosaurs, friends! These are REAL! You could literally go up and touch them—but don't do it because Museu

Look dinosaur fans, I don't want to start an unhealthy rivalry thing with you, but as the mathematicians might say, DRAGONS > dinosaurs. Consider: As treasure hoarders, dragons have more financial wherewithal than dinosaurs. Many dragons can communicate with us directly through human speech. Dragons are flyers, whereas most dinosaurs are not. And the real clincher: dragons breath FIRE! Observe this majestic dragon soaring through the ancient forest! So incredibly magnificent

Do you know about nanobots? Nanobots are tiny robots that are small enough to be injected directly into the blood stream through a syringe. Once they are circulating around our bodies suspended in our blood plasma, they can analyze the "what's what," as the youngsters say, with our cells and membranes and tissues and so forth. If they find a problem, they can self-replicate many copies of their teensy-weensy little selves to correct the problem. Look! Tiny little robots! They

This is the fourth and final blog post in the "Squint" series. It's been longer than intended since I, Will Malpass, have posted fresh, insightful, um...insights into the true nature of reality. However, readers, please don't be concerned. My extended absence from this blog, THE MAIN THING, isn't the result of something you did or didn't do. No, please permit me to reassure you—it's me, not you. You're fine. Seriously. Please don't look at me like that. It's not you. Well oka

Another blog post from THE MAIN THING, the third in the "Squint" series. I'm still feeling cranky about the scientists. (Last time I outlined my frustration in a blog post entitled Light from Darkness. You can click the underlined link to see that post.) As a group, scientists seem to feel they must remain stubbornly atheistic as they explore the natural world. No room for God in this vast, vast universe. But plenty of room for crackpot theories about abiogenesis, a fancy sci

Another blog post from THE MAIN THING, the second in the "Squint" series. I'm troubled, readers. Well, it's the scientists again. They won't seriously investigate the possibility of God because a Creator would not be bound within His creation, and thus wouldn't need to adhere to natural laws. And scientists like to think they are unearthing objective truths that always follow discoverable rules that always apply in every situation. No miracles allowed, that is. No exceptions.

Editor's note: Will begins a new series of posts today collectively called "Squint." The name refers to the technique sometimes used to observe that which cannot be clearly observed at first. For example, if one is sitting barefooted in a dimly lit room and can't determine what mysterious soft, dark object has attached itself to the bottom of one's foot, one will likely squint at the object closely to make sure it is in fact an innocuous raisin and not something much more sin

Can we talk for a moment about this predicament in which we find ourselves? I mean, come on guys, haven't you noticed? Do you ever consider how everybody ends up dying? Every day our last day here in this realm draws one day nearer. Look around carefully. Do you see anybody getting out of here a different way? Okay, sure, abducted by aliens. Given. And then there's uploading our total consciousnesses to the Internet, so we can download them periodically to ever-more-sophistic

I recently watched the Academy Award-winning animated movie Coco. Spoiler alert: It's good! (Editor's note: Will's a little confused on what actually constitutes a "spoiler." I think he just really wanted to use the phrase "spoiler alert.") So I don't want to ruin the movie for you too much, but some of the scenes take place in the Land of the Dead. (Parents, it's actually a very cute and cuddly Pixar/Disney-style Land of the Dead, so it's not really scary, even for youngster

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. I Corinthians 15:51-52 I'm psyched, folks! How about you? Are you ready? Well I hope so, because it's going to be an extremely memorable event for all participants! You: "Will, to what event are you referring?" Friends, I'm referring to the Day of t