Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

Charles van Heck

  • Cave Dwellers

    The Chauvet cave paintings delineate the sensibilities and ethos of an un-fragmented culture, a community of people united in common survival of spirit and body. These naturalistic, animalistic cave images invoke a worldview that mirrors the evolution of the seasons,… Continue reading

  • 76 Minutes: The Aftermath and Trying to Find Some Good

    In 76 minutes, the world changed. There were more minutes to come. A reflection on September 11 (911) and its aftermath. Continue reading

  • In Praise of “an entrepreneur of social change”

    Gloria Steinem advocated for human rights. Her concerns extended to racism, violence against women, child abuse, non-violent alternatives to violence, equal rights, and earnings equity for women were a few of the issues she addressed with empathy and audacity. The… Continue reading

  • The Election of Our Discontent

    Revolutions have a peculiarity about them. Ideologues feed off people’s anger. The people are less concerned about the philosophical arguments than achieving political and social justice. The leadership has a foundational ideology, but what policies insurgents will implement remains speculation… Continue reading

  • The Earth Angel and the Servant-hearted Man: In Thanksgiving

    There are people more aware of the Divine breath of life than most. That spirit motivates them to perceive a higher purpose in their lives. They have their difficulties, pain, suffering, and awareness that their bodies are finite. But in… Continue reading

  • Concrete and Gold Bitcoin: The Don’s Canadian Shakedown

    Americans should be bewildered by the Trumpian policies towards Canada and other allies. This should be particularly true of his political base, who are comparable to the children following the Pied Piper of Hamelin to their doom. Unfortunately, so is… Continue reading

  • Ethan Tapper Revisited: How to Love a Forest???

    Nature is an incredibly complex interrelated living organism. Overall, we know very little about the relationships between flora and fauna and the workings of the fungal networks beneath our feet. It takes long-term fieldwork to uncover these relationships. Continue reading

  • Sundance: An Alternative Educational Model

    Our curriculum similar to all public schools, in that we taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as science, social studies, fine arts, physical education, and so on. The differences lay in how we taught the subjects by letting students… Continue reading

  • Promises and Perils

    We need to bear in mind that the human mind, not Artificial Intelligence, is the most powerful instrument in the classroom. While a young person’s mind holds the most promise, it faces the most peril in today’s educational environment. Continue reading

  • Our Carnival Night in Strawberry Fields

    AI is desensitizing us and trivializing our lives. We are hooked on undeletable apps from Google AI, Meta AI, among others. Our telephones, televisions, vehicles and computers connect to an empty void of addiction. We become lost in an endless… Continue reading