Friday, December 23, 2005
Friday Dec. 23, 2005 - Year 3, Day 277 – dumbness numbness
I rose early, worked a little, walked & returned before first light; +6C/43F, calm quiet followed our walk deep into the park where Gusta found undisturbed snow to revel in while morning traffic built to a dull hum in the distance; city lights lit a moonless overcast sky
days getting longer now, too soon to notice much difference, but mild weather sure makes the darkness easy to take
I wonder . . in the rise & fall of great civilizations, if there is a way to plot that on a graph – then try to define where on the curve WE ARE right now
are we rising or falling ?
are we blossoming into an age of enlightenment or, as some might speculate, on the cusp of going to a dark hot place in a hand basket ?
I would like to think we live in a fascinating time where ‘society’ on earth or portions of it has a lot of collective choices in front of us; like a pendulum we swing [pun not intended] widely at times, then swing back again
or is that an old model that no longer fits?
politicians on both sides of the 49th wag their fingers pointing to values, moralizing & demonizing – more as smokescreen than anything else I think – buying votes the old fashioned way, scaring people & pretending people are, collectively, as stupid as they used to be
I don’t know
are people as ignorant as they used to be ?
we are awash in information, ideas, knowledge & connectivity – none of which is a cure for blindness, none of which is a cure for ignorance, none of which is a cure for intolerance
information & media overload is numbing, perhaps dumbing leaving dumbness numbness; we assume collectively that the 5th estate & the internet will keep leaders accountable, disclose all information we should have - which should be virtually everything – all as some panacea for comfort & progress
dumbness numbness !
BH . . my comments were a collective ‘supreme court ruling, same gender unions & a movie about cowboy lovers’; my point being that courts striking down an archaic definition of decency/indecency together with the other items was – all on one day – a little overwhelming in terms of media play + the volume of media play was, in my view, overkill; why the hype recognizing realities of life today ? I am not advocating that your participate in swing clubs, attend a same gender union or buy a ticket to that movie . . it just seemed a little surreal to me; of the 3 I’d likely attend only 1 . . I’ll leave that one to your imagination
“Never let a sense of what is right blind you to what is true. ” – Scott Allen
“I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” – Ernest Hemingway
to LR . . happy 19th anniversary of your 29th birthday
to SA . . our toastmasters club welcomes singles only but, should someone get coupled up, we have no desire to expel them . . but we would probably want an invitation to the wedding! If you are interested, check us out http://singlesandfriendstoastmasters.blog-city.com/ or come to a meeting !
tonight will be the night before the night before Christmas . . time to finish my shopping & tidy up because our celebration will be here Christmas eve. . . tic toc . .
Mark
days getting longer now, too soon to notice much difference, but mild weather sure makes the darkness easy to take
I wonder . . in the rise & fall of great civilizations, if there is a way to plot that on a graph – then try to define where on the curve WE ARE right now
are we rising or falling ?
are we blossoming into an age of enlightenment or, as some might speculate, on the cusp of going to a dark hot place in a hand basket ?
I would like to think we live in a fascinating time where ‘society’ on earth or portions of it has a lot of collective choices in front of us; like a pendulum we swing [pun not intended] widely at times, then swing back again
or is that an old model that no longer fits?
politicians on both sides of the 49th wag their fingers pointing to values, moralizing & demonizing – more as smokescreen than anything else I think – buying votes the old fashioned way, scaring people & pretending people are, collectively, as stupid as they used to be
I don’t know
are people as ignorant as they used to be ?
we are awash in information, ideas, knowledge & connectivity – none of which is a cure for blindness, none of which is a cure for ignorance, none of which is a cure for intolerance
information & media overload is numbing, perhaps dumbing leaving dumbness numbness; we assume collectively that the 5th estate & the internet will keep leaders accountable, disclose all information we should have - which should be virtually everything – all as some panacea for comfort & progress
dumbness numbness !
BH . . my comments were a collective ‘supreme court ruling, same gender unions & a movie about cowboy lovers’; my point being that courts striking down an archaic definition of decency/indecency together with the other items was – all on one day – a little overwhelming in terms of media play + the volume of media play was, in my view, overkill; why the hype recognizing realities of life today ? I am not advocating that your participate in swing clubs, attend a same gender union or buy a ticket to that movie . . it just seemed a little surreal to me; of the 3 I’d likely attend only 1 . . I’ll leave that one to your imagination
“Never let a sense of what is right blind you to what is true. ” – Scott Allen
“I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” – Ernest Hemingway
to LR . . happy 19th anniversary of your 29th birthday
to SA . . our toastmasters club welcomes singles only but, should someone get coupled up, we have no desire to expel them . . but we would probably want an invitation to the wedding! If you are interested, check us out http://singlesandfriendstoastmasters.blog-city.com/ or come to a meeting !
tonight will be the night before the night before Christmas . . time to finish my shopping & tidy up because our celebration will be here Christmas eve. . . tic toc . .
Mark
342,024
