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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Never should've happened

People's life stories are inspiring.  Sometimes it's a little hard to see what is happening during the hardships life brings, but the bigger picture of a person's life is usually beautiful to see... and inspiring.

I'm thinking of a young mother who was a farmer's wife who got pregnant during a very bad time.  Her country was in civil war, so she lived in fear that one day she would have to choose sides.  But life turned worse than her fears.  After her first trimester of pregnancy, her husband died (but not from the war).  She was alone on the farm.  This stressed her, of course, and she delivered early.  Premature babies didn't normally make it at this time, so she was doubly stressed.

Fortunately, 3 years later, the civil war died down and she was able to find a husband, a rather well-to-do one at that.  But, she left her child with her mother to raise.  In any age, grandmothers raising grandchildren is a struggle at best.  Finally, 9 years later, his grandmother couldn't raise him any longer, so his mother came back into the picture.  She had had 3 children by her second husband by this time, so he joined a family of half brothers who weren't thrilled about his return to their mother.  She immediately enrolled him in school to occupy his time and relieve some of the stress caused in the family by his presence.  But, after a year, she withdrew him in order to make him a farmer and give him a trade.

As it turns out, he was not good at farming, so he failed miserably at this endeavor.  His mother was at wit's end.  Her brother suggested that her son might have a better chance in school, so she enrolled her son again in school.  He graduated and enrolled in Trinity College in Cambridge.  He was only able to this through a work-study program where he cleaned wealthy kids' rooms and waited tables in the cafeteria.  He managed to graduate, but with no distinctions whatever.

Then came the good news/bad news time of his life.  Because of some work he had done outside of the curriculum of school, he was awarded four years of future education.  Unfortuantely, disease on a pandemic scale ravaged his country and town, so the university was shut down.  Looking back, the university was only closed two years, but of course, no one knows that at the time it is happening.  So, he took the next 18 months to sequester himself and study harder than he had ever studied on only the subjects he enjoyed.

One day, while he was deep in thought, sitting outside under a grove of trees in the refreshing air, the wind blew an apple from a branch.  Usually, this is not an exciting, stimulating event.  But, this time...

The boy who was not supposed to survive, who was born in the midst of a civil war, who was taken from school to be a farmer, who graduated undistinguished from college had an epiphany that day the apple fell.  It started his observations about gravity, which turned into a book about infinitesimal calculus, which led to a theory on light and color, which, in turn prompted a book about planetary motion.

Isaac Newton is considered by many, many scientists to be the father of the Scientific Revolution.  I don't know if it was never meant to be, and Newton just had tremendous stamina, or if it was meant to be, and he was the chosen one.  Either way, his story inspires me.

What is around my next corner?  My history mirrors Newton's early life in many ways.  But, an apple hasn't blown off a branch of the tree I have been sitting next to yet.  I am, however, watching the wind dance in the branches and looking forward to whatever the wind blows in.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Ladder to the top

Scientists are getting closer to establishing the many, many facets of DNA and all that is passed on through its rung-like links on a ladder.  So, in another decade, I can write this blog again with much more precision.  But, I know that personality, physical features, sensual capabilities like sight, and latent talent possibilities  get passed on from parent to child.  And, I know one very amazing mom who has a son who will inherit much of what gives her the beauty and skill she possesses.

You're now 11, my handsome young man.  You are climbing a path and finding that it leads to the top of a wonderfully tall mountain.  Your genes have taken you farther than other young men your age.  Many of them will not make it to the top.  But you will; it's a matter of genetic fortune-telling.  Keep up your masterful journey.  You have it in you to conquer each obstacle that arises to impede your progress.

Happy Birthday!  And, congratulations for your great 11 year journey and for the outstanding years ahead containing your accomplishments.

Monday, January 20, 2014

More than a little intrigued

Watching the H2 channel, I came across the series called UFO files.  I watched some of the program before moving on to the NFL channel, but the part of the program I came across was the segment in which a man was interviewed about his experience with aliens.  When he mentioned that he knew how to speak to aliens, the interviewer asked him to speak in the language he communicated with them.  The man obliged, translated the words he spoke, then went on to say he knew 3 alien languages.

Hearing the language was fascinating.  I rewound the program to listen to the speech again.  Well, maybe it was.  I know that many scientists think the universal language is math or binary code.  NASA has sent several probes into space with messages using coded messages in math and computer programming.  NASA has never released a response to their messages if they have received any  The famous show Close Encounters of the Third Kind, depicted communication with aliens in music and color.  And at least one documentary has explored this possibility.

The language the man spoke was similar to Morris Code.  He spoke with short clucking sounds punctuated with voiced d taps.  So I compared the human languages of the Earth to this alien language.  At first blush, I was reminded of the sounds of the South African Bantu languages that have clicks in their speaking.  I also thought of the sounds of Arabic to someone who doesn't speak Arabic. He can  hear the k sound easily in all the words and the dominance of the umlaut u sound.  And although the man in the program didn't use k and u,  he did repeat a luh sound frequently.  In the case of Morris code, it uses long and short sounds or lights to spell letters , but it really doesn't have a grammar all its own.  Many wouldn't call it a language.

The translation of what the man spoke, "Hi, how are you. How have you been doing this afternoon?" has an easy grammar to it.  There is a greeting word, two interrogatives, two forms of BE, a present participle, a determiner and a time of day.  So did the ds and luhs match the forms of words in the translation?  It was certainly possible.  There was a lengthening of the sound at the end for the time of day.  There were extra luhs for the change in the form of BE representing the difference between the present and present perfect ideas. There was a slightly different vocalization before the first luh as if a greeting had a different tonal quality, and a different pattern in the ds and luhs that occurred in the same position as the present participle.

I would love to hear more than the small segment given on the program, and I would love to hear the other languages this man knew for comparison's sake.  Of course, it is always wise to entertain the idea that alien languages won't have developed the same way as human languages.  So, we should compare the language to animal languages and compare it to nothing but its own sounds and syntax.  Chimp and Gorilla language have different tones for the grunts and aspirations, but it has never been determined that there is an order to language, and only in one case has there been an attempt to show tense.  Dolphin and whale language have been scrutinized as well without too much success.  Most accounts of their languages relate to momentary information or emotions.

I don't know what exactly the government has in the way of analysis of alien languages, but I know that they have authorized a protocol for contact with alien species.  It's all very fascinating. It's the stuff of legends and myths, but it's still intriguing to think that others have developed a method to communicate differently, probably, from us.


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Charting patterns


Stock and currency market charts have much to teach about life, not just about money.  There is a big picture, and there are trends and anomalies, all three of which can help us as individuals.

Sometimes, I get caught up in the moment and make decisions that are only good for now.  Sometimes the decisions are bad, sometimes good.  Sometimes though, I don't get to make a decision about matters at all.  The forces in the bigger picture make those decisions, and I have to react to them.  I am not always in the right position to react positively to those forces, and I fail miserably.  However, most of the time I am and benefits result.

The beauty of charting is to see what was true a day ago, a month ago, a year, five years, or a decade ago. I can draw some conclusions about the way I trade.  I can change that pattern or pat myself on the back.  I can learn from those charted periods, or I can ignore them, knowing that each trade is unique to current conditions.  Maybe the period I am trading in is like the period in a previous trading period, but then again, it is mostly not.

Stocks and exchanges teach me that I can miss opportunities, that life moves on regardless of my response to it, that I can benefit if I am a good student of it, and that whether the movement is up or down, there is an opportunity to have good things happen.

I have known this from what wise people along the way have told me. But, charts display it so well that it is hard to forget their lessons.  Their images are in my mind's eye for just the right times.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Pockets


Pants pockets hold all kinds of objects.  We put everything from coins to socks, gum to gloves, sun glasses to cell phones in our pockets.  They hold the things that mean a lot to us and things that are trash.  We trust them to hold those things until we're ready to use or discard  the items.

As we go through the days of our lives, we accumulate all sorts of experiences.  Our memories hold our response to those experiences in much the same way as our pockets hold the things we stuff in them.  And we can pull out the memories when we need them.  I can pull out some of my crowning experiences and those that I wish I could really forget.  I can pull out the moments I have learned great lessons and the minutes that brought particular joys.  I can revel in the scenes that helped me achieve and relive pictures of paralysis.

But there is one pocket I go to often because it brings to mind the days from a year of complete, unadulterated, pure, pleasurable, utterly enjoyable happiness, full of vibrant life and laughter, replete with smiles, brimming with the essence of life. It is a very worn pocket, even though only five years old, and I am thankful to have it so stuffed.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Fostering distrust

People have fetishes without a doubt and that usually comes up in a conversation when a conversation lasts more than the obligatory 5 minutes.  For some it is like or dislike for a particular food; for others it is bare feet or big noses.  People will certainly tell you what they think of others.

In fact, the urge to say something about others is so common that if you are with someone and he or she doesn't loosen his or her tongue with a fetish, then we begin to distrust the genuineness of that person.  And people will try to probe you for your fetish if you speak for very long to them.

This is hilarious behavior to me.  Some even consider it destructive, but I simply take note and go on with the conversation.  A lot of people distrust me because I don't give up my fetishes.  I have only told one person on Earth what my fetishes are.  They're safe secrets with that person.  I could spend an eternity with that person and be transparent because everything is safe.

But, normally, people have fetishes without a doubt.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Directionality

When I was young, I remember hearing advice given to me to ground myself in order to have a compass for life built into my head so that I wouldn't lose my direction.  Now, I realize that life doesn't have four main directions.  It has about a million directions (6 billion, really, since the Earth's population is that number).  To make a reference to a compass  in order not to lose my direction in life is such a gross simplification of life that I laugh at the thought today.

And as far as losing direction goes - well, what direction is a person headed at the beginning of his or her life?  There is no way to ever know since there are so many directions to go in the first place.  And even if one could identify the directions, life contains so many changes in it, who's to say that a change of direction is ever considered getting lost, especially since challenging times (even as a result of a bad decision) build character and lead to opportunities that might not otherwise be achieved.

Yeah, a compass for life is the poorest metaphor around as advice for a young person.

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Easy turned hard


Sometimes people focus on word connections between two languages that aren't really there.  It's part of the learning curve when one begins learning a language.  For example, realize in English is used most of the time to mean to become aware of something. But occasionally the word means to complete something.  So, when Spanish speakers begin learning English, they use the word realize in sentences when the best word in English is really do, accomplish, or perform. That is because realizar in Spanish means to accomplish something or as a synonym of hacer, meaning to do.

This is a phenomenon so common it has a linguistic name - cognate/false cognate.  It's quite common in related languages, but not common at all in languages that have no common parent language (Chinese and German, for example).  It's an easy fix when it happens.  One just reinforces the new context of the word through practice and a certain number of repetitions in various contexts.  Voila! Easy fix.

But when it happens in religion, matters are complicated because in religion, one adds to his doctrinal or value basis for one's behavior.  Recently, I was privy to a social media entry by someone who was reading Revelation and came across the two instances of the word translated in many versions of the New Testament as sorcery.  The person had done a dictionary study of the word used in Greek and seen the word pharmakeia in an interlinear version of Revelation.

Of course, a person who studies languages knows about cognates and false cognates.  So, when the person made the statement that it was no mistake that the word used in Revelation for sorcery is the root word for pharmacy, the linguist smiles.  But, the problem is also compounded because Roman and Greek culture of the time of the New Testament intertwined the idea of sorcery with people who used various natural drugs, usually in the form of a vapor from gases like sulfur or fumes from plant leaves and vines.  It was also used metaphorically by writers to show how people are taken from cultural traditions (like the children in the story of the Pied Piper). 

Modern Americans live after the scientific revolution in the world that took place between the 1100s and 1700s.  So the idea of sorcery is an idea of mystical arts, black magic, or voodoo.  Certainly the thinking is that sorcery is a black art that has no basis in truth or reality.  There is not really a modern English word in common use for the idea of pharmakeia because American culture is so different from the one of the Roman Greco world.  Scientific thinking has completely replaced the idea of seeking words of wisdom from an oracle, a priestess who gave advice under the influence of vapors or of wanting, or of trying to induce a state of awareness so that one can speak to dead spirits and gods, or of taking a hallucinatory journey to see the future or past. Although drug user, junkie, and terms like that do exist, the cultural connotation is not even close to the idea used in Revelation.  The idea of pharmakeia is not so much, then, related to the semantic domain of drug use as it is for seeking or following a priestess' advice (who is speaking for Apollo or Athena) under the influence of drugs.  It is the semantic domain of following the advice of a god besides the Christian god that is condemned in Revelation, not the drug use.  And the sorcery idea is akin to the trickery (the metaphorical use of pharmakeia) than the black arts idea (which doesn't exist in the minds of most modern Americans).

Pharmacy is the legitimate derivative of pharmakeia.  Sorcery is more related to magic and its word derivatives.  So, now the person who reads sorcery in Revelation is victim to developing a line of thought based on false cognates at best, and at worst is victim to developing a doctrinal or value based idea based on great cultural difference.  I blame the blind loyalty of scholars on translation committees to their religious doctrines for misleading people with their translations.  But I also blame the naivety that exists among zealous religious people.  I trust they will study enough to grow out of this beginning stage of comparing two languages.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

A rose by any other name...

The word logic usually doesn't suggest diversity when it is explained or defined.  In fact, logic is usually the antithesis of diversity.  When a person is said to have acted or spoken logically, it is implied that the person acted like most people would in a situation.

One of the questions a person must answer in order to explain logic is why something behaves the way it does.  So, there is a scientific logic, a mathematical logic, a language logic, etc., to explain why certain things happen the way they do.  Of course, there are always anomalies, and it is the anomaly that makes for the interest in trying to explain logic because a good accounting for certain behaviors can account for the anomalies.

But, as I observe people, I see that they act differently from the way I would act.  And, if asked why they did something, their logic behind the action is different from mine.  That leads me to think that logic is not uniform; it doesn't cause people to think the same way.  The theory of relativity, for example, is one way to account for some of the behaviors one sees in space, but string theory is another way of explaining some of the same phenomena.

Some of the greatest debates between parents is about how to raise children.  Many people merely use the method that was used in raising them when a better method works a lot better.  For example, when two parents talk about whether a child should be disciplined for not eating what is cooked for a meal, one parent says he/she will whip the child for not cleaning the plate and honoring the person who cooked the meal because his/her own mother or father whipped him when growing up.  The other parent is aghast at such a response saying that whipping is too harsh a punishment.  The other parent thinks the child should stay at the table as long as it takes to eat the food, even if it is an hour later because that's what his/her parent did.

Neither response is the one I would choose and my response is not the response of others who know what my response is.  What causes this diversity of thinking in response to a simple, predictable behavior by a child?  

At the root of behavior is something genetic.  It's called personality.  Personality causes people to think differently, to have different logics from each other... a beauty in the eyes of the beholder idea.  I always thought that geometry was a simple idea.  It was about shapes and points, angles and areas.  But, there's more than one way to view geometry, I have found out.  There's plane geometry, for sure, but there's also solid geometry, spherical geometry, analytical geometry, enumerative geometry, differential or discrete geometry, inversive or stochastic geometry, and on and on.

Personality needs to be studied by the experts in the field in the worst way. It would certainly explain people's behavior better than anything available now.  Cognitive scientists have helped a great deal already in finding the mechanics of how people think.  Studies in personality would go a long way in explaining why people think the way they do.  Surely  we will begin to see such studies soon.

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Enjoying the trail


This is the time of year for renewals, births of new ideas, deaths of old ideas, hopes for things to work out, realizations of new things on the horizon, and, at the very least, the next step in a journey of 1000 miles. And, that's because we can't see what is ahead on the trail.  On this journey, the trail winds in and out of forests, across desert plains, onto occasional mountaintops, and through the valleys below them.  Sometimes it requires all our strength and sometimes it gives us sheer joy and thrills.  Sometimes it seems blase, sometimes it yields excitement at every next step.


I've taken a great number of steps on this journey already and have seen the terrain above.  There is no telling what lies ahead.  But, enjoyment of the journey is the key.  Each moment has a different feel, and not all feels leave a smile on my face.  But, after  a while, the moments have similarities... uniqueness, yes, but similarities too.  Knowing how the path winds and knowing that steps have a finite number that can be taken, I want to enjoy the gifts they bring.  And I would like for the path to loop back around to those 4 most enjoyable moments in my life.  I know that most paths don't contain loops.  But, some do, and I would have unimaginable enjoyment if those 4 were to happen a second time.  And perhaps, the future would then need no more loops in the path.



Friday, January 03, 2014

Populated planets


The company that is planning to go to Mars in the year 2024 has begun its interview process.  They had about 4000 applicants, and they selected a little over a thousand to interview.  They began by choosing their first two, both of them soldiers in the army.  I can't wait.  I want to see who they choose, and I want to follow the story of the trip to Mars every day the journey continues.  It will be quite the adventure.

I am pretty sure I will miss out on an actual trip.  I was born out of sync with the time of traveling to Mars. But I will continue to dream of the Red Planet and what it offers to Earth's inhabitants.  I would love to see if it has been our once and future inhabited neighbor.  I would love to see the first colony, the growth of its population, the language they will eventually speak, and the appearance they will eventually develop.

Wouldn't it be a sight to see two planets in the solar system with life and societies and all the advancements they will bring to humanity.  I would love to see it.  It's pretty fantastic to imagine and anticipate it.

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Beautiful illumination

I saw the most beautiful calendar tonight.  It was called Moons.  Each month had a picture of one of Earth's most beautiful spots with the moon in 3D above the horizon.  The moon was not a bright speck in a dark sky, but a brightly lit sphere, the gray outline of the mountainous areas illuminated against the backdrop of its deserts.I was fascinated by the pictures selected for each of the months.  They were the clearest pictures of the moon from the Earth that I have ever seen.


Part of my fascination with the shots of the moon on this calendar was simply from my love for observing objects in space, but part of it was from  the crystal clear clarity of the moon as viewed from Earth.  And that is part of my wish for the year 2014.  That I can see with clarity some of the issues I am used to seeing in the usual, unilluminated ways.  Illumination and clarity would make my year if it were to happen.  Each day I will look for these two realizations in toto or in pieces.  It will be a fascinating year if this wish really happens.