Explore vs. search

I like to use the app "Libby".  It is on my smartphone but it seems easier, more inclusive and faster on my iPad.  I am more interested in non-fiction most of the time and I just found a setting in "Libby" to show only currently available books without getting any audio mixed in.  While looking at ebooks available for free exploration this morning, I found "Being Aware of Being Aware" by Rupert Spira.  I had never heard of Spira but Dr. Dan Siegel has titled a book entitled "Aware" and several sorts of self-awareness seem valuable.  The Libby app makes it quick and easy to have a book that is available for 14 days.  I borrowed it and looked up Spira to get an idea of who and what he is.  

I have been conscious of internet search and internet browsing for a while.  When I want a specific item, I am searching.  A widespread icon to mean Search is a magnifying glass:

I saw a comment by Spira that he could give advice to make "the search over."  He meant advice to stop the nagging questions about life. I had just been spending quite a bit of time, more or less alternating between searching and exploring.  I use Google enough to be aware that sometimes I am exploring or browsing or shopping or nosing around, and sometimes I am after a specific item or piece of information.  

Young people have plenty of decisions to make.  We all have explorations to see what might be possible: location, mate, job, etc.  Once we have a set of likely options, we may want to search for particulars.  Some people are aware of the importance of the right, insightful questions.  Once a good question is formulated, the search is on for good answers.

Longevity ideas

I enjoy articles suggested in the Pocket service on the New Page tab of the Firefox browser. There is a wide range of topics that strike me as intelligent and not mere baits.  I don't enjoy alarm just for the sake of attention or sales.  

With Firefox browser, it is easy to get Pocket:

Click on the Menu button (with three dashes) that's located on the right side of your Address Bar. Click More Tools. Select Customize Toolbar. Look for Save to Pocket and drag it upwards into your preferred place.

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The bigger the number in a list of recommendations, the more likely I am to skip the whole article.  "10,000 books I simply MUST read" and "100,000 MUST SEE movies" get a pass.  I did read through the 100 ideas in this article:

https://www.insidehook.com/article/health-and-fitness/live-100-definitive-guide-longevity-fitness, a list of 100 recommendations to follow to live to be 100 years old.

I just read yesterday that longevity is not very inheritable.  Just because my parents lived to be 969 years old, like Methuselah, doesn't mean that I will.  That report is a suspiciously big number but today, what with muggings, cancer, collapsing skyscrapers, tsunamis and what-not, something may get me before I finish writing this blog post.  On the other hand, I do wear my seat belt, avoid smoking and vaping, and drink moderately.   

Recently, we were discussing "random events".  It can be difficult to find an event that all observers and critics will accept as a random one.  One example I remember reading relates a man walking past a tall cathedral where the roof was being repaired.  A roofer dropped a wrench which slid along the roof and dropped on the walker's head, killing him.  That the heavy tool would be dropped, that it would slide along and fall just at the point where it would hit the man's head seems completely random.

I can't be sure that a meteorite won't crash into my bed

Meteorite' Crashed Through Roof, Landed on Sleeping ...

https://www.newsweek.com › World › Canada

Oct 12, 2021 — A Canadian woman was fast asleep when a "space rock" believed to be a meteorite crashed through her roof and landed on her pillow, 

but count on me to follow every one of the longevity suggestions ardently.  Most of the time.  If I feel like it.  

Thinking, composing and bothering

A friend came to a book discussion with some written comments to contribute.  He didn't say anything about them or use them.  At the end, he said,"Why did I bother?"  I believe that

• Deciding what matters about a book

• Forming words to express what matters and maybe why

• Writing the ideas out

• Bringing the ideas to the discussion

all matter and are all valuable.

Our brains, our speech and our writing, especially just "little" notes, can all seem elementary.  Sure, doing those kinds of things are often preliminary to making a presentation or presenting a paper or emailing a group.  But each of those construction steps is a use of our abilities and each is a good use of our time and effort, regardless of what or who gets involved afterwards.  

I have had occasions when a student brings up an earlier class's discussion, often beginning with a remark something like "if I could just return to a topic we discussed a few days ago…"  There is nothing wrong with failing to speak at a book discussion but then emailing the group with the list of comments.  Some people are worried about the acceptability of such an action.  Some people may keep their eye on responses and reactions to bringing up an earlier topic and decide that no contributions afterward or a frown or a joke means they made a mistake socially or politically.  But honest, thoughtful reactions to a book or to other comments in the group may fail to elicit further communication just because the late additions motivated valuable thinking and didn't feel peripheral or superfluous. 

Are you the same person as before?

When I can't decide on something to write, I sometimes re-run a previous post.  

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Please sign in

The online companies want to have a close relation with me.  They want to send me updates and information about their fabulous bargains and hot gossip about the escapades of their employees.  But first would I mind signing in?  Just type in my logon, user name, phone number and ZIP code.  Then, type in the password for the account.  

Everybody these days wants a logon name and a password from me.  In case someone steals or guesses my password, my communication will be better protected if I would use two-step verification.  That is the process where they send a random number to my phone and I read the number and type it in when I sign on.  

See the problem is that my phone is secure, which means that I have to enter my phone logon and password into it for security.  But to have better security, I need to get a random number (for extra security, they send a number with 25 digits) to my email and I have to enter that number into the phone to get the random number to enter into my two step email verification.  I hope you can securely and fully grasp the high level of security I have.

Sciencey hobby

My college training in my junior year irritated me.  I didn't feel it was "real" training to teach.  I turned 20 at the time and I realize a 20 year old probably isn't all that good a judge of much.  After teaching for 4 years, I found out that my state required a master's degree after 10 years of teaching so I had only 6 years!  I remembered my earlier irritation and thought a master's in educational research would be what I wanted.  I found that not many places offered degrees in educational research methods but the University of Maryland had just started a doctoral program.  The program offered financial support, thanks to Sputnik and worry and fear.  

Lately, I have settled on something of a roughly scientific stance or posture toward both positive adventures and negative mishaps and unpleasantries.  I am now more than 4 times the age I was when I got irritated at the teacher preparation curriculum and I am ever so much wiser.  What I have found is that many of the choices that life offers can be comfortably looked at as experiments. Of course, my whole life is an experiment and it is one that I don't expect to repeat, which gives me only a number of cases of 1, not enough to be impressive. But still, I find noting how it turns out if I try route A instead of my usual route, I am interested in the time it takes, the scenery to be seen, the dangers and risks of that route, all the while seeking the best route.  Similarly, with authors, channels, activities, etc: what seems most satisfactory, least costly, most inspiring, …

Two authors that gave me a lift during teen years and early adulthood were C.S. Lewis and Jacques Barzun.  When thinking about advocating a personal "scientific", "experimental" attitude, I remembered that Barzun wrote the book Science: The Glorious Entertainment.  I went to some effort to borrow a copy from the university library and have begun looking through it.  Barzun wrote as much or more about science as a cultural force and the basis of institutional operations so I may not find the book extending my thinking much.  

If I try one route and then another, I can note what my satisfaction level using each.  If I try one 6 times, and the other 6 times, I might count which route seemed to produce more satisfaction.  So, counting and averaging and seeking other ways to judge the routes than using my feelings, I could test the two (or more routes) for a very long time. 

Basic comfort and maturing

Lynn has been having trouble with her eye.  Things look cloudy.  She had an eye appointment and didn't feel like driving home.  I picked her up and retrieved her car later with the help of my excellent son-in-law.  After I got her car into the garage. I asked her how she was doing.  "I feel like I need some comforting."  I moved close to put my arm around her and she said,"With alcohol'"  She is doing well with a Manhattan.

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When people think of growing up, they often mention parents and school and church.  For sure, they are all important.  But underneath there is aging/maturing.  Just as David Eagleman in "Incognito" and Lisa Feldman Barrett in "7 ½ Lessons About Your Brain" both make clear, we have strong forces in our bodies, our genes, our heritage both biological and historical, that guide us.  We tend to think that we understand sexual coming of age.  We don't expect a 6 month old child to take hot interest in an attractive member of the opposite sex but we do expect a 20 year old to do that.  We are always unfolding.  Even our hero, Mr. Zits, knows that.  

https://comicskingdom.com/zits/

Movies

I installed the app "Just Watch" and it has been helpful in finding tv and movies we want.  We are more or less "Rotten Tomatoes" fans and that site has all sorts of lists of prize-winning movies.  We watched "Young Frankenstein", which Lynn felt was the dumbest movie she had ever seen.  Good dumb tickles my funny bone (lightly) so I didn't think it was poor.  On some lists, "Lady Bird" is labeled a good movie.  We watched it last night. 

You probably know I am not a girl and never have been.  "Lady Bird" is a teen girl growing up story and a moving and intelligent one.  We watched "It Happened One Night", which was at the tops of several lists and it is old (1934) but good and sensible.

We use Roku to watch tv and movies and just about never use broadcast tv.  We use Netflix, Amazon, Acorn and PBS.  The two of us have favorite movies.  Hers are "Strangers in Good Company" and "Enchanted April".  Mine are "The Russians Are Coming!" and "In the Spirit", which is somewhat difficult to find but worth it if you don't watch the cleaned up, sanitized version.  I know that The Big Sleep and Casablanca and Citizen Kane are considered wonderful.  Historically, they may have been pivotal but I recommend our favorites.  Much better!

Look at that!

I like Google News and CNN's Five Things.  "Five Things" mentions five areas of the day's news and is judiciously written.  Not too sensational and not too sleepy.  Lately, on Sundays, there is included a link to 30+ photos from around the world illustrating important events and human interest stories.  Yesterday, we looked at the Birds in Art display in the Wausau art museum.  Today, I looked at another set of CNN photos and for me, it was far more emotional seeing tragedies, achievements, real joys and real grief.  

Here's a look at 37 other moving, fascinating and thought-provoking images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos. 

In grade school and in college, I was into photography.  I think it is totally wonderful to capture a scene or a portrait with the press of a button.  I believe that if I worked at it, I could learn to draw passably well but I don't work at it. Today, with smartphone photography combining the immediate handiness of a camera in the pocket with a phone that transmits the picture or video all over instantly, things are very different from darkrooms and trays of liquid chemicals.

These days, a photographer can be on hand to instantly copy important moments.  See Pete Souza, White House photographer for two 8 year presidents.

What do I want?

It can be surprisingly difficult to think of heaven, perfect conditions, no problems.  I hear people say it would be nice to do whatever they want.  No restrictions sounds good but where do my wants come from? Not just from me but from others's ideas and examples.

I often get goals, plans, wants from others.  He tells me about a book that sounds good.  She orders an excellent choice off the menu.  The news tells me about someone doing something that sounds like it would be fun.  What I get to do is often the result of someone else's good idea.  It is not always that Mommy and Daddy prevent me from my heart's desire.  The sheriff or the pastor are not just barriers to my doing what I want.  All of them and others are sometimes the source of my wants.

My goals and desires can change.  Not just that "yes" can change to "no".  Goals can get tiresome.  I want chocolate but as soon as I taste it, I remember I have taken refuge in chocolate every day lately.  I am losing my enthusiasm for chocolate. In a way, my wants can age right down to nothing.  Politics and other goals can intertwine.  I like chocolate but I discover that chocolate harvesters and shippers don't get a fair wage.  My desire wanes. 

My body changes and chocolate doesn't taste so good then.  My doctor says that I am getting too much sugar and advises less chocolate.  Suddenly, chocolate isn't appealing.

I find that many goals and desires are related to my habits.  I have a habit of attending the Birds in Art show at the Lee Yawkey museum in Wausau.  We saw the current show today.  My main reaction to the excellent art is a sort of regret that I have never made paintings, carvings and sculptures like that and I never will.  I want to go and see the show, and I did, and I am glad, but the main result is a bit of sadness about my limitations.  We have the habit of going. Having a chance to exercise my usual routine is itself a goal and one that I reached. 

What does she know?

Lynn has been having some problems with a piece of software. She is a UW-Madison PhD and can take care of herself.  But I have found that discussing steps involved as well the meaning and result of actions taken with a computer or similar device can help.  Two brains, two sets of eyes, two sets of hands can all help uncover ideas and assumptions.  We got the software Appleworks in 1984.  I worked with it and Lynn did, too, plus she taught a course in using the package of word processor, spreadsheet and database.  There were many times when discussing what we did with the software and describing procedures we used helped one or both of us.  

So, this morning I felt I was continuing along a path we had used profitably before when I asked if she wanted me to work on the software problem.  She said,"I don't want to be rescued."  I was quite surprised.  I thought a major dream of every woman was to have a shiny knight ride up on a beautiful white horse and rescue her.  Later, somewhat recovered from my shock, I asked about the comment.  You never know.  People change over time and I thought maybe she felt I come to the end of my shelf life.

You know what she said??  "I need to solve my own problems.  You aren't going to be around forever, you know."  Can you believe it?  I do believe in women's rights and all.  I think both women and men should live up to their potential, even though nobody really knows what their potential is.  I did read in "The Better Half" by Moalem that women tend to live longer.  Lynn did make a list of a dozen men, close to us and good friends, who died while their wives live on.  I do understand that the problem of mortal life is just that: mortality.  Still, I have no plans to "leave" soon.  Of course, neither did our 12 friends.

Investigating a book

I have a habit that I think has served me well.  If someone I know mentions a book they like, I try to remember the title, the author and what the book is about.  If that person liked it so much, I might, too.  These days, it can be a bit complicated to get a copy, even one just to look at.

If I want to "look at" a book, I like to be able to see the paper cover.  I realize that book jackets are a big deal, that a well-designed cover communicates the spirit of a book quite quickly, often better than some words.  In Google: "do book jacket designers read the book first?"  There are various answers but in general, no.  They read a synopsis, talk with the author.

But in many cases, the jacket is long gone.  I look at the title page and the table of contents.  I don't do that with fiction.  Then, I just start reading.  I am not against opening the book somewhere in the middle and reading a few lines, just to get a sample of the writing. 

I was a "page" in the main branch of the Baltimore public library in high school.  Patrons could locate books on their own and the pages returned the books to the proper place on the shelf. 

Things are different now, seven and more decades later.  When I hear of a book, I just ignore it if it doesn't sound like it might be of interest.  If it sounds interesting, I look it up in Amazon.  I often find that a book of interest costs $25 or more in paper for a new copy, $14 in e-format but maybe $2 for a used paperback copy.  I look it up in Libby, an app that can send borrowed ebooks to my Kindle or my iPad and or my phone.  Popular non-fiction that is available in Kindle eformat often has 1 to 6 months worth of borrowers waiting.  I haven't developed the patience needed to put the 617th hold on a book to get it next year.  

By this point, I look at the online catalog of the local university library and of the local public library.  Despite Covid, I may zip over and borrow the old-fashioned physical book. 

Very simple

My son-in-law can do everything and does. One of my friends said he thought I wrote too often and too much about women and girls.  Please note that this post is about the magical brain, the magical hands and the magical skills of my son-in-law.  Just for convenience, I will call him "A".

A is an accomplished carpenter and construction guy, including having built several houses.  As I wrote yesterday, the Blinds and Designs woman removes and replaces the Hunter-Douglas blinds with a simple movement.  I tried several different simple movements, I managed to get the blind up on one end, I managed to have it "firmly" up only to have it fall into my hands at a touch.  Lynn just reminded me that I did watch two YouTube videos trying to learn the skill of the simple movement.

Finally, I called A and asked him to come over since he manages to immediately accomplish everything with this building that needs doing.  He enjoys having his grandchildren (HIS grandchildren - get how old that makes ME?) over so he said he would come over this morning when he was free.)  Yep, came over.  Yep, lifted the blind into the brackets (BOTH ends AND the middle one (without standing on the little stepladder I use).  Yep, deft twist of the wrist and the durned thing is up perfectly.  

So where does that leave me?  In awe, again.  Ready to avoid a job as blinds installer.  Grateful to him, again.  Thankful for my intelligent daughter for connecting him into our family.  I am practicing deft wrist twists. 

Busy day

This has been a busy day.  We were promised that retirement would be a piece of cake.  We didn't ask for details so we are surprised at the number of offers, attractive activities and duties we want to fulfill that spring up.  

Lynn is engaged in an online tour of a foriegn country that runs three hours a day for three days running.  Our learning in retirement group has presentations we don't want to miss.  I stayed with an elderly man so his wife could get some shopping in.  We buy a certain kind of bread that is now only sold in one local store.  We are both in book clubs and that means reading the books as well as deciding on next reads, keeping a record of next to be reads and attending discussions.  It is unhealthy to sit all day so we both get 45 minutes walks in as well as some biking.  We take yoga once a week. Some piece of cake!

We have blinds on our windows that are accordion-like and in one, the mechanism that lifts and holds the blind up, failed.  I picked up the repaired blind this morning.  The woman who runs the blinds shop can remove and re-install the blinds in a flash.  I took the repaired blind home and worked a half hour trying to get it up.  I finally called my son-in-law and got him to agree to help me.

Distance learning

I attended a talk today given by the local campus manager of online learning.  He said the term "distance learning" is becoming less used and "online learning" gaining popularity.  In a couple of blinks, someone asks if online learning is as good as going into a classroom with other students, sometimes called "face-to-face" and sometimes called "hands-on learning".  In general, it is frowned upon for the teacher to put hands on the students.  

I did quite a bit of teaching on closed television setups. When I was told that graduate students who were teachers could have a set-up where they could see and hear me in their school ninety miles away, I jumped at the chance to use such an arrangement.  Losing students to death in a car/deer crash is not a good way to educate.  People teaching all day are not going to enjoy driving 90 miles, sitting in a discussion or lecture for 2 ½ hours and then driving 90 miles home.  Sure, participating in the Wisconsin supper club tradition, enjoying venison, steak or fish and a cold beer is fun but the drive and the weather and the wildlife can be dangerous or worse. 

Many people today, including me, have little idea of how well minds work at age 30 if they have not been to 12 or more years of school.  Public schools in America started in 1635 but 

While some Northeastern communities had already established publicly funded or free schools by the late 1780s, the concept of free public education did not begin to take hold on a wider scale until the 1830s. The new federal government provided encouragement and support for establishing public schools.

History and Evolution of Public Education in the US - ERIC

https://files.eric.ed.gov 

 

Most of us were not alive before public schools in this country so it can be a surprise to find out that some people are good thinkers and talkers without attending school or after attending a poor one. And, of course, some do get 12 or 16 years of schooling and still struggle with life.

Rear view cameras

Both of us have rear view cameras in our cars.  In many parking situations, they are quite helpful.  Downtown and at the store, we often park in diagonally arranged parking spaces.  The rearview camera is located on the back license plate holder, quite at the end of the vehicle.  When I am slowly backing out into a traffic stream, the camera can show me something coming before I can spot it.  My car especially is low and short.  So the camera can tell me before I can see that it isn't a good time to back out.

Of course, the accelerator and the brake, headlights and heater are used often.  But of the newer additions, I am confident that the rearview camera is the most used and most valuable addition to what I am used to.  

I am constantly using Google search and Duckduckgo search to learn things, explain things and get additional ideas.  I didn't have much to say about rearview cameras so I just looked the subject up in Google search.  (There are about 40 different apps offered by Google so I like to write "search", just to note I am not discussing Translate or Voice or Contacts or something else.)  So, I just learned that I am writing about a "backup" camera in my car.  I don't have a rearview camera, which evidently is a camera that will show me what is behind my vehicle anytime I want.  My rear view camera only shows me what's behind when I put the vehicle in reverse so it is a backup camera.  Sorry!

Fem vibes

Even when I was in kindergarten, I had a girl friend.  There are always girls and women that seem pleasant, pretty and fun to be around.  As I age, there are boys and men that are fun too, but the vibes are different.  The books Incognito and 7 ½ Lessons about Your Brain both help me understand that there are plenty of things going on in me that I don't recognize or detect.  If I put my hand on my wrist, I can feel my pulse.  But my breathing and my heartbeat and digestion occur without my conscious prompting.  That's good.  I don't want to forget to breathe or have a heartbeat.  

I learned how babies get made, and I am myself such a product of sexual congress.  However, I can see that there is a great deal to the sexual/gender differences beyond basic attraction and baby-making.  If I sit and talk with an elderly person, I get different results depending on the sex of the person.  Women over 70 rarely talk about their affection and enthusiasm for the Milwaukee Bucks.  Men over 70 don't usually start a conversation with a statement of concern over the future of a grandchild.  For just about any male-female difference, there can be many counterexamples.  Besides there not being a very firm difference, it could be that my self, my posture, my voice, my build, etc. elicit different reactions from men and from women.  

Just about every day, I see actions or hear statements from women about anxiety or guilt they feel that do not seem to be typical male statements.  Depending on the age, many men seem to never express anxiety or guilt.  Society, including the company of fathers, brothers and coaches, impress men with the value of at least appearing to be afraid of nothing at all.  When I am observing a young elementary school pre-teacher, I expect that person to be a female.  Google says that 89% of US elementary teachers are women so I am going with the odds.  Such a pre-teacher is often superior at emanating affection and respect toward students while being highly reluctant to impose punishment or restriction.  If I am dealing with a man, there may be no expression of strong admiration and a readiness to impose punishment.

I feel vibes with a woman regardless of her age and a different set of vibes with a man.  It would be somewhat difficult for me to test myself since generally, voice, posture, build, mannerisms all tend to emphasize whether I am in the presence of feminine vibes.

Good so far

This morning I had a fasting appointment with the hospital lab people.  With just a small amount of my blood, they can tell many important things about my health and likely future. I didn't have to wait long and the blood draw was quick and clean.  I was fully ready to break my fast by then and I did with a single shot of expresso and a Starbuck "Impossible" sandwich of a roll, egg and sausage patty.  The blood draw was scheduled for 10 AM and Lynn sympathized with me for having to starve and thirst all the way from awakening to after the appointment to be eating or drinking.  I was told more than once that I could have water but I didn't have any or anything else before the blood appointment.

Turns out my nurse practitioner is retiring.  I had an appointment with her after the blood draw.  She is older than she looks, I guess.  She told me she has grandchildren so I guess she qualifies.  As I age, I find more and more people look to be just out of teenhood to me.  

Seems like every day, I get reminders of how good my life is and of my mortal status.

Stories, accounts and credibility

My all-male book club discussed "The Story-telling Animal" by Jonathon Gottschalk.  Somewhat like "freedom" or "justice", there can be a big difference between what one person thinks "story" means and the idea someone else has. It is surprising to me how much of my so-called knowledge is what somebody told me by speech or writing.  Demonstrations are rather rare.  Much of my life, I accept accounts of this or that from older people, teachers, books, news reports.  

I think just about any account of what happened can be considered a story.  I sometimes taught a course on how to write a research dissertation or  thesis.  Basically, I urged students to aim for five chapters.

1. Introduction - what is the problem

2. Review - what have others researched, experimented, written, said about the problem

3. Methodology - what the author did to shed light on the problem

4. Results - What results the author got

5. Conclusions and implications - What does the author say the work done means, and what does the author say it all implies, especially for the future

We could say that a thesis or dissertation was the story told by a graduate student to show original thinking and proficiency in research.  One aspect of that proficiency is "defending" the work and the writing before a committee of professors or others as quality work that matters, at least a little.  Whether it is an explanation and defense of a paper, or a trial related to criminal charges, there are many situations where one listens to a presentation and decides whether to support or reject it.

In fact, many accounts of what happens in our heads, in both the short term and in longer terms, amounts to the presentation of a story that we then accept or reject.  When my wife came into the kitchen and found our sweet, loveable little daughter standing on a chair with her arm in the cookie jar, she said "What are you doing?"  The little girl was intelligent, brave and quick-witted and she might have said,"I'm getting a cookie to give to my mommy since I love her so."  Instead she tried a diversionary statement.  She said,"None of your business."  Her mother rejected her story but we still feel it was a memorable effort.

Our walk

Most weekdays we walk in the mornings.  We sleep better and feel better if we do.  Usually, the walks are about 45 minutes long.  Sometimes, our walking friends are away or busy.  Then, we often go out of the neighborhood.  Stevens Point has a Green Circle of trails that circles the town.  The whole trail is 27 miles long and it connects to 45 miles of other trails.  It is good for walking and for biking.  A section of the trail is fairly near one of our granddaughter's house.  We drove there, parked in the little parking lot and walked.  It is an overcast day and somewhat damp.  We saw plenty of mushrooms, moss and lichen. Lynn took these pictures.

Let me explain that I am right

I have found that I can find fairly good reasons for just about anything.  I think of lawyers hired to defend a hopelessly guilty client.  

Can a lawyer defend a client?

Defense lawyers are ethically bound to zealously represent all clients, including those they believe will justly be found guilty, as well as those they believe are factually innocent. ... Truthfully, a defense lawyer almost never really knows whether the defendant is guilty or not of the charged crime.

Can a Lawyer Defend Someone They Know is Guilty?

I have had experience with the sort of exercise described in "Fighting for Life" by Walter Ong.  Ong says that prior to the introduction of women students in early American universities, a common educational procedure was for the professor to write a proposition on the board and set half of the class to thinking, speaking and writing in support of the idea and half against it.  

There have been many articles written about polarization in the US.  For instance:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/29/feature/the-key-to-understanding-americas-red-blue-split-isnt-ideology-or-culture-its-economics/

I live in Wisconsin, a state that has a well-known professional football team.  Men have devoted much of their lives and bodies to opposition to similar teams from other locations.  What explains this long-lasting opposition?  To paraphrase Rodney King (look him up), why can't they just get along?

In some cases, they can.  Professional players for team A can move to team B, a longtime opponent, and play for B from now on.  

When Uncle Harry is strongly in favor of the Purple party while Uncle Jim is just as strongly in favor of the Maroon party, they may be in the habit of opposing each other.  That habit may well have started years ago, when Harry and Jim each wanted to use the little green shovel in the sand box.  

Parents and teachers like to think that they can explain whether an idea is true and well-supported by evidence.  Yet, they find that over time, the durned kids develop the "wrong" ideas!  Whether it is divorce or vaccination or political affiliation or religion, there are many areas where what is good evidence is debated.  There are many issues which aren't persuasive to those others who just don't get it.

The stories in us

Working with the local learning in retirement organization has opened my eyes to the presence of stories in our lives.  I meet many people who say they have no stories.  Once they find out I am thinking of stories that could be used to talk to a group of older, retired citizens, they amend their position to stating they have no INTERESTING stories in their lives or backgrounds.  This almost always turns out to be only partly true.

It can help to picture what an expert marketer or advertiser or lawyer can do with a story from our lives.  Did you ever have a pet?  How did you get that animal?  Given to you by someone who loved you?  Taken by you or your family to save it from death or abandonment? Did you have a bike or a skateboard or a car that lifted you to a new sort of person?  Have you ever been on a date?  Was it wonderful?  Maybe it was very unpleasant.  

Especially if you are 50 or older, you have lived enough hours, been with enough people, tried enough roles and duties that a bit of research will reveal or remind you of that time that _______________  That time can be looked at in so many ways.  It really taught you a lesson.  It makes such a horrible/lovely memory that you got valuable knowledge.  

A book group is meeting this week to discuss "The Storytelling Animal" by Jonathan Gottschall.  It is true that most experiences make some sort of a story.  Our editing abilities can lengthen and shorten, enliven or gloss over, emphasize or hide aspects of a story that make it more memorable, more valuable.  Just today, the article "Homo Narrativus" by Peter Sheridan Dodds found its way into the Pocket service of the Firefox browser.  Sheridan works in the University of Vermont's Computational Story Lab where they try to "quantify stories of all kinds."

Again

When Linda Ronstadt is played on our CD, she says "You're no good" and she repeatedly says "I'm gonna say it agin" and she does, several times over.  When Prof. Elizabeth Helmuth Margulis does her investigations into repetition in music, she deals with a type of repeated sequence, the same notes again.  Her book is called "On Repeat".  Many machines that can play music have the ability to play the same thing over and over.  I got such a lift from the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony that I have been listening to that symphony repeatedly for about two years.  When I drive, I usually listen to that but sometimes I switch to songs by MaMuse, a pair of women singers who are excellent at harmonizing and singing together.  I have many alternative possibilities.  I used to listen to Audible.com audiobooks, especially lectures from Great Courses and that company has wondered what happened to a former good customer.

Some repetition in my posts is probably inevitable.  There are some themes that fascinate me and I naturally tend to focus on them repeatedly.  I realize the physical truth: when I play my new favorite, the 3rd movement from the 9th symphony, the disk is a little more worn than the last time.  The ears that hear that movement are a little older than the last time they listened.  The moving car is in a slightly different place so the scenes I see and the vibrations I feel are a bit different.  For convenience, I say it was a repeat but truthfully, everything happens in its own instant and that instant never fully repeats.

However, I have been reading "The Scientist in the Crib" by Allison Gopnik, a professor focused on babies and their abilities.  One of those abilities is skill at determining what is important, what sounds, what experiences, and concentrating on them. Similarly, when I listen to the same music or speech or watch a movie again, I know what aspects are important to me and I focus on them.  I decide if the event is a "repetition" and it is if I so consider it.

Is this the last time?

Sometime back, I read an article about a British WWII officer who was surprised as he was freed from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Japan to find that as he was driven away, he felt a little sorrow that he almost certainly would not ever see the place again.  This last chance effect can be powerful.   Quite a few of my friends who are my age wake up dead these days.  So, one way of having the last chance is being dead the next time a chance might come up.

I don't make a big deal of it but when I have to sit for an especially long light to turn green, I try to remember that the moment might actually be my last chance to be there and see that scene.  When I get balled out for doing something thoughtless or stupid, I bring to mind that that dressing-down might be the last one I ever get.  Such a position puts the negative statements in something of a special light, like an old song with many important memories attached.  

A common Buddhist-new age aim is to be alert to one's day-to-day actual experience.  When I focus on the mailman's delivery, I see that it is a fine service with a long, noble history behind it.  When he pulls up to our mailbox, that might be the last time I get to see that performance.  Might as well appreciate it for the fine dance it is.  In a sense, having an important goal or purpose can interfere with seeing what is going on in front of me and appreciating it for its value, its significance, the effort and continuity, ingenuity and potential it represents.

Pictures do things

I think photography is wonderful.  When I was in 4th grade, I learned film developing and printing.  In college, I was in the photography club. Now with digital photographs with a phone or tablet, I don't use my perfectly fine digital camera.  I have it and I know where it is but the other tools are better, faster, more convenient and easier to send pictures to friends.

I find that a picture can capture things quickly and create thinking that words can't or don't.  Words can do better sometimes but pictures have their place, especially when they are sent to friends or displayed.  The Pig's Ear plant is part of the neighboring town of Wisconsin Rapids Cultural Center.  The center has a display related to a current Mexican artist and to Frida Kahlo.  

You may be able to tell that the face shown is not that of Frida.

Want to sleep together?

Our friends recommended the movie "Our Souls at Night", starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, on Netflix.  We watched it and we both felt it was touching, memorable and beautiful.  Addie is a longtime neighbor of Louis.  Both have been widowed for a while.  One evening, Addie comes over and confesses to Louis that she is lonely, especially at night.  What would he think of coming over and sleeping with her?  She would like to have someone in bed to talk to.  This is not about sex.  She lost interest in sex a long time ago.

The explanation and the situation seem pretty straight forward, sensible and understandable.  Louis responds to the idea calmly and says he wants to think about the proposed activity.  The actress was 79 years old when the movie was made and the actor was 81.  I read some web comments about the movie to Lynn that included the statement that both of them look at that age better than most of us ever have or ever will.  

I realize that a woman and a man mentioning the subject of bed is going to tip lots of minds toward sexual intercourse.  But that is not the idea.  The idea is companionship, understanding and the intimacy of two souls, two minds, two spirits.  We could put the idea in a different context for perspective.  Let's say you are a heterosexual but at an advanced age, after 5 or 10 years of living singly, your sibling of the same sex as you suggests sleeping in the same bed on a regular basis for company.  I think there are intelligent pairs of brothers and intelligent pairs of sisters who could agree to such an arrangement and reap real benefits from it.

Since our heroine and her guy are people of today, they fully realize that most people have strong interest in sex, sometimes to the point of being somewhat unable to think about anything else, once the topic somes up.  They are not surprised when friends and townspeople take note of the couple nor of the gossip that relates to their relationship.  Both deal with questions and curiosities fairly smoothly and realistically.  I imagine that many people, over the centuries, have dealt with loneliness and the riches available from each other in such ways.