"... and no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame; But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star, shall draw the thing as he sees it, for the god of things as they are"
-Kipling
-Kipling
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Just added a new item to the Links page.
Recent events have set many people to wondering if our society is following an Orwellian path. In other words, a hyper-strict society with continual surveilance, extensive government propaganda and mind control. Well such a society may well be happening, but perhaps not in the way you think. Stuart McMillen has taken the thoughts of Neil Postman in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business and created a strikingly effective 12 panel graphic comic strip which makes the case that it is not George Orwells vision we should worry about but Aldous Huxleys. Scary stuff and it’s message really does ring true.
Posted on | January 17, 2012 | No CommentsCategory: Uncategorized
Slow Worms
Sometimes it pays to walk. One day last autumn I decided to walk to work. It was a crisp morning and the distance was not far. Of course, when walking one often has the option of taking a much different path. So it proved in my case.
As I was walking along a footpath near a railway line I noticed a snake lying in the middle of the path sunning itself. It was about 1 foot (20 cm) long and was of a golden yellow colour. It had no markings and its skin seemed exceptionally smooth. How very odd, think I, “it doesn’t look like an adder” (the only poisonous snake around here). “What kind of snake can this be?”
Of course one cannot just walk by such a curiousity – and so it got gently poked with a stick as my monkey hind brain took over while the rest of it (my brain) was trying to figure out something more intelligent to do. Turns out there wasn’t a lot else it could come up with besides resolving to look it up when I next got to an Internet enabled computer. In the end I used the stick to carefully move the snake onto the grass at the side of the path (I was worried that a cyclist would squish it) and went on my way.
I did look it up – turns out it is not a snake but the male of a legless lizard called a Slow Worm aka Anguis fragilis. I never knew such things existed! Apparently it has eyelids (snakes don’t) and also the ability to shed its tail like some lizards.
The above image is from the Wikipedia article. Unfortunately I did not get a good picture of the one I saw but there are some good ones at: http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk/animals/slow_worm.htm and, of course, a search will turn up many more.
Posted on | December 3, 2011 | No CommentsCategory: Notes
older posts »Faustus and the Monkey Trap
Just added a new item to the Links page.
According to Einstein you cannot solve a problem by the same sort of thinking that generated the problem in the first place. John Michael Greer takes this theme and, in this thoughtful article, demonstrates that this is exactly what we are doing in regards to the ever declining rate of global crude oil extraction. Our current approach to the problem of peak oil, according to Greer, is simply to find a new sources of energy to preserve the status quo – anything else is unthinkable. Well Greer thinks for himself and the analogies he uses make a pretty lucid and persuasive case. This, to my mind, is some of Greers best work, and the insights it provides are well worth the read and further contemplation.
Posted on | November 10, 2011 | No CommentsCategory: WorthThinkingAbout
