The Fulcrum
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Turn the Other... "Cheek"
I've been getting e-mails from the folks at Turn Your Back on Bush for quite a while and have supported their efforts. Seems that the AP Newswire picked up a recent story on them and I thought this was a good time to direct you to them. If you haven't heard of them go visit their site and help them out.On inauguration day, we will gather as citizens for the public events of the day and join the rest of the crowd. At a given signal, we will turn our backs. Until the moment we turn around, there will be nothing to distinguish us. By leaving our signs and buttons at home, we will avoid all of the obstacles that Bush and his supporters have used to keep anyone who disagrees with him out of sight.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
That Depends...
One of my favorite writers was Stephen J. Gould, essayist and popularizer of evolution and its attendant theories. A concept that he often wove into his essays was "contingency."
Basically what Gould meant by contingency was that the evolutionary paths of species were so dependent on conditions throughout its history that if you could rewind the "evolutionary tape" of any species and play it back, results would almost certainly never be the same. If you wound it back far enough, there's no certainty that intelligent life would evolve and if it did, there's no certainty it would turn out to be the same small branch of hominids we happen to occupy. Here's the man himself:
Basically what Gould meant by contingency was that the evolutionary paths of species were so dependent on conditions throughout its history that if you could rewind the "evolutionary tape" of any species and play it back, results would almost certainly never be the same. If you wound it back far enough, there's no certainty that intelligent life would evolve and if it did, there's no certainty it would turn out to be the same small branch of hominids we happen to occupy. Here's the man himself:
History includes too much chaos, or extremely sensitive dependence on minute and unmeasurable difference in initial conditions, leading to massively divergent outcomes based on tiny and unknowable disparities in starting points. And history includes too much contingency, or shaping of present results by long chains of unpredictable antecedent states, rather than immediate determination by timeless laws of nature. Homo sapiens did not appear on the earth, just a geologic second ago, because evolutionary theory predicts such an outcome based on themes of progress and increasing neural complexity. Humans arose, rather, as a fortuitous and contingent outcome of thousands of linked events, any one of which could have occurred differently and sent history on an alternative pathway that would not have led to consciousness.I've adopted the concept to how I think about lots of things in life. It certainly helps me to not regret the past. Like everyone, there are things I always thought I'd do differently if I could. But I also know that I'm very happy in my life now. Using contingency to frame my thoughts of the past, I know that if I changed one thing in my past, it's highly likely I would not wind up "here" again. I think that when you can accept the past, it makes it much easier to be happy in the present.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Snow Berries
The past couple of days we had about 10" of snow. It's the first real snow of the season and we're about 14" behind normal. I snapped this two mornings ago before heading off to work.
Screw Up and Move Up
Freedom Medals?
Please.
Besides sullying the reputation of a prestigious medal, I suppose The Freedom Medal now represents the epitome of advancing to the level of your incompetence.
Please.
Besides sullying the reputation of a prestigious medal, I suppose The Freedom Medal now represents the epitome of advancing to the level of your incompetence.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
What Life is Really All About
A long walk in the snow at night. Watching the flakes come down, swirling in the street lights and the headlights of passing cars.
The blush of warmth as you step inside.
A glass of very good chardonnay.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Sometimes it's the very small and simple things that mean so much; that make you so very glad to be here; to be alive.
The blush of warmth as you step inside.
A glass of very good chardonnay.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Sometimes it's the very small and simple things that mean so much; that make you so very glad to be here; to be alive.
