Ffolkes,
Perhaps my favorite way to start the day is like today…..oblivious. Waking up all the way doesn’t seem to be in the cards this morning; I’m well into the second cuppa, and my eyes still feel grainy & heavy, and my brain is threatening severe consequences if I continue to flog it in this fashion. But it will just have to learn how to deal, because it’s too late now; I’m on a roll. Fingers flying, thoughts racing, passion unleashed, check, check, check. Let’s boogie!….

Oh, by the way….the doctors were finally able to pinpoint what was wrong with me. I have been diagnosed with  “witzelsucht” (vit’sel-zoocht) [Ger.] “A mental condition characteristic of frontal lobe lesions and marked by the making of poor jokes and puns and the telling of pointless stories, at which the patient himself is intensely amused.” That explains it……
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“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Lazarus Long

T’is sad, is it not, that this natural law has been rescinded in our case? Modern technology and medicine have made it possible for those born stupid to have the protection and nurturing of society, allowing them to live long enough to breed, thus ensuring that mankind will never run out of them. (More’s the pity….) Society has taken this so far as to print warning labels on the most innocuous of presumably dangerous items, like, for example, a warning on shampoo to not drink it. Seems a bit over the top to me, but for some reason, society seems to feel that people shouldn’t have to experience the results of their own stupidity; instead they attempt to legislate certain types of stupidity out of existence, and assume that will solve the problem.

But this is the type of problem that builds up over time; as more and more really dumb folks continue to live and breed more of their ilk, society is slowly “dumbed down”. Soon, the number of people who have difficulty remembering how to tie their shoes on Thursdays will have  increased to the point where they become a majority group, and stupidity will become even more fashionable, and more difficult to keep from preventing all progress. In fact, in looking over the latest news out there, it may already be too late……
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“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

I find it to be a saddening thought that, as mildly and innocuously as this statement is constructed, it would nonetheless serve no purpose as an introduction to the subject for anyone who actually needed to make the described changes. (See above)  In other words, this is preaching to the choir, and nobody who is not in the choir is going to pay any attention to it, regardless of the truth it speaks, just because it isn’t written passionately, or in a way that will appeal to their self-interest (it’s too complex; most folks won’t follow it easily, and will give up after a few words).

Personally,  I think it is a perfect statement of what is necessary if humanity is to survive the next hundred years, or less; though scientifically certain, it depends on several factors, any of which could have an effect on the time we have left, plus or minus. Kind of like stopping smoking will affect one’s chances of cancer or other cardio-pulmonary disease, and just as final, only species-wide. Unfortunately, as soon as one of the misguided reads the words “spiritual crisis”, they will turn their attention off, for sure and certain. Their personality’s primary concern is meeting their own wants, which they regard as needs, and that process doesn’t include the consideration of changing anything but their underwear…..and they would just scratch their heads and shuffle off in confusion at how Chief Seattle, quoted below, states the underlying reason they will never comprehend…..

“[T]he earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.  This we know.  All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.  All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.  Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” — Chief Seattle, 1854 (c.1786-1866)
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Yar: “Captain Jean-Luc Picard, I wish I could say you’ve been like a father to me, but I’ve never had one so I don’t know what it feels like.  But if there
was one person in this universe who I would choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it’s you.  You who have the heart of an
explorer and the soul of a poet.  So you’ll understand when I say, ‘Death is  that state in which one exists only in the memory of others’, which is why it
is not an end.  No goodbyes, just good memories.  Hailing frequencies closed, sir.” — “Skin Of Evil”, Stardate 41601.3.

I’m not sure why, though I have my guesses, but, when I first read this, it brought tears to my eyes; and as I sit here writing this, they continue to flow….. I didn’t see this episode, as I’d already given up on TV, for the most part, by the time it aired. But, I understand the relationship between Yar and Picard, having seen a few of the previous shows, which gave some of the back story. But that’s not why I cried; I’m pretty sure it was the phrase “if there was one person in this universe who I would choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it’s you.”

That says it all to me, perfectly.  It is how I have always looked at my father, and can only hope that my son feels the same of me, if he doesn’t already. That sentiment is why we live, it is our purpose, to instill in our children the desire to emulate what we acted out for them. No other purpose is needed to make a life worthwhile, to make it complete. There is no greater reward, either, than to watch your children face their lives with dignity and courage. To my mind, my father excelled at his purpose, and if I did half as well as him, then I will know I have done well, indeed…..
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“[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens…” — Albert Einstein

Funny, how a very fundamentally American sentiment should be so aptly put by a man who grew up speaking German. I suppose it is time for me to discontinue using so many of Albert’s documented pearls, until I go learn a few more details of his life. I just now realized, as I pondered this quote, that I have very little actual knowledge of the events that led him to be the man he was by the time of his death in the latter half of the twentieth century. Most of what I know consists of stories about his scientific activities, and his philosophical utterances. Oh Boy! Something new to look up & study! Frabjous joy! (and in the words of Nora Roberts, “yes, I capitalize the “N” in “Nerd”). I’ll be back after I’ve assuaged my curiosity and fed the elephant’s child a nourishing diet of information, and stimulated the fountain of unrepentant data mastication…. and, no, I have no more idea of what that means than you do. Hopefully, I’ll be all better when I return to this…..

Mmm….that was tasty. Wikipedia provided a nice little repast of Albert’s early years, which were surprising in certain respects. He was literally a man of the world, having traveled with his family at an early age, only living in Austria later in life, just prior to World War II. He was nationalized as an American citizen in 1940. In retrospect, I must say that we, as Americans, can only be glad that he came here and espoused our philosophy of government, which he evidently did much more thoroughly than most native born citizens.

Actually, I’ve found that to be true of most immigrants that I have known; those who become citizens have a deeper understanding, and appreciation, of the intentions of the founding fathers when they created this Union. We are also very fortunate that one of history’s true genius’s, on a par with Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates, has seen fit to grace us with his elegant thoughts, which are characterized by his compassion, his genius, and his clarity of vision. He makes a great ‘funny face’ too, when somebody asks him the meaning of life…….
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A doctor, an architect, and a computer scientist were arguing about whose profession was the oldest.  In the course of their  arguments, they got all the way back to the Garden of Eden, whereupon  the doctor said, “The medical profession is clearly the oldest, because Eve was made from Adam’s rib, as the story goes, and that was a simply incredible surgical feat.”
The architect did not agree.  He said, “But if you look at the  Garden itself, in the beginning there was chaos and void, and out of that, the Garden and the world were created.  So God must have been an architect.”
The computer scientist, who had listened to all of this said,  “Yes, but where do you think the chaos came from?”

I find that, in general, a lot of folks don’t think about how they perceive the universe. I don’t mean in a physical sense; anyone who’s had an earache or toothache knows exactly how those tools function, on a very basic level. No, I’m referring to the very essence of what we perceive, the nature of how our minds are constructed to function. Every one of our senses depends on the concept of duality in nature; life, and everything life perceives is dark or light, light or heavy, sweet or sour, savory or bland, hot or cold, air or vacuum, loud or soft, melodious or discordant, etc., ad infinitum. Even life itself mirrors this duality, for how would we know we were alive, if we had not once been dead?

Every one of our senses is based on the sense of touch, in one form or another. Eyes require light to strike the retina, as differentiated from lack of light. Ears require vibrations in the molecules of the air to differentiate noise from silence. Smell, taste, both require the presence or absence of certain molecules to comprehend the data they receive. And nerve endings in the skin require pressure or another form of energy such as kinetic, gravitational, or electromagnetic (heat from a fire, cold from the snow, UV rays from the Sun, sharp or dull objects, soft or hard, etc.)

And how do we think? We think the same way, understanding our perceptions according to value judgments we make, and labeling them for use in the future. Our sight is clear, or limited, what we hear is also clear, or limited, or blocked. And our thoughts themselves are judged, as logical or illogical, as valuable or ineffective, as profound or simple. It is our nature to perceive, and to imagine new patterns in what we perceive, subtle, and complex, or astutely simple. It may be the only ability we possess as humans that will eventually save us from our own folly…..
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It’s been an interesting morning so far….. tough going in spots, smooth in others. It all came together fairly well, though I had to rely just a bit on some work done prior to today; s’okay, though, the nice thing about today is that there is always another one tomorrow. So far, anyway….. y’all take care out there…..

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!