My Thoughts – Research It!

Unfriend

Scrolling through my Facebook page, I see the pictures of two friends, both from our teaching days. One, a wonderful librarian. The other, an English teacher. Seeing their smiling faces recalls good times. Then, “Oh, but they are both dead, one from Covid, one from cancer.”

I move the cursor to delete the first picture and click. I am not asked, “Do you want to remove this picture from your list?” No, I am asked, “Do you want to unfriend this person?”

In all these years, the act of unfriending on Facebook never caused me to pause. Now I pause. Unfriend? I cannot unfriend friends. They belong here. Their smiles are kindle for my soul. I now imagine a day when half my Facebook friends are gone, except for their smiling faces here on my Facebook friends list. And what about my picture? It too, will be caught one day in this digital time warp, perhaps the beginning of neo-humanity. That’s a thought we can have fun with.

Fear and Awe

We bear witness to the birth of a brave, new world bearing long sought solutions. However, birthing requires fear and pain before experiencing joy and hope. I fear for my family’s future and weep for the rending of cultures and societies even as I embrace the awe-inspiring future

The progress in science and technology makes it possible to address some of the most pressing issues facing humanity. Here are some of those issues:

Climate research has led to the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. Additionally, the development of electric and hybrid vehicles is reducing the carbon footprint of the transportation sector.

Healthcare advancements in technology are improving patient outcomes and enhancing the quality of life for many people. Gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, have the potential to eradicate genetic diseases, while artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we diagnose and treat illnesses.

Space exploration is advancing at an unprecedented pace. With the launch of private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, the dream of colonizing other planets is moving closer to reality. The exploration of space has the potential to reveal new insights into our universe, as well as provide a solution to overpopulation on Earth.

Education is experiencing a major transformational shift. With the growth of online learning platforms, individuals can access educational resources from anywhere in the world. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies are providing new ways to learn and experience concepts across a range of fields such as the following:

History: AR and VR can be used to recreate historical events and landmarks, allowing users to experience history in an immersive way.
Science: AR and VR can simulate scientific experiments and concepts, providing a more engaging and interactive learning experience.
Art: AR and VR can be used to create interactive art installations, allowing users to explore and interact with art in new ways.
Language Learning: AR and VR can provide an immersive language learning experience, allowing users to practice their language skills in real-life situations.
Engineering: AR and VR can be used to simulate and test engineering designs, allowing users to experiment with different design options in a safe, virtual environment.
Medicine: AR and VR can provide a realistic simulation of medical procedures, allowing medical students to practice their skills in a safe, controlled environment.
Architecture: AR and VR can be used to visualize and explore architectural designs, allowing architects and designers to experiment with design options.
Sports: AR and VR can provide an immersive training experience for athletes, allowing them to practice and improve their skills in a simulated environment.

The journey towards this bright future is not without challenges. Progress leads inevitably to upheavals and dislocations. Societies and cultures will change; some will disappear altogether. As we adapt to new technologies, some jobs become obsolete, and people must retrain for new roles. Unfortunately, the rapid pace of technological change may create even greater inequality between those who have access to the latest technologies and those who do not.

Like Janus of Roman mythology who faced both the future and the past, I feel suspended between two realities. Viewing the future, I am thrilled about the possibilities and eagerly adopt new methods and discoveries. Observing the present, I cringe knowing the pain and tragedy that come with the birthing process of change.

As we embrace new technologies and ways of life, startling disruptions are inevitable, but history shows that humans are incredibly resilient and adaptable. On the personal level, we must stay informed and teach the children how to stay aware of evolving changes. They must know how to be proactive in preparing for changes in at least three fundamental areas: personal patience and persistence; education and skills training; and financial skills that include the discipline to conserve, save, and invest.

We live in the present for the future. While suffering is probable, humanity must of necessity move forward with hope, determination, and resilience.

This essay developed from author’s drafts and ChatGPT assistance 2023.04.15.

Alicia in McCormack’s Stella Maris

She should not speak of such things to a rationalistic psychiatrist….

Carl Jung had several colleagues who worked with him on alchemy, but one of the most notable was Marie-Louise von Franz, a Swiss Jungian psychologist and one of Jung’s closest collaborators. She was particularly interested in alchemy and wrote several books on the subject, including Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology.

I imagine Von Franz had an Alicia in mind when she said in Alchemy…, I often say to schizoid people that their madness does not consist in what they see and believe, but in telling it to the wrong people. If they kept it to themselves it would be all right. I have, for example, a borderline case of a woman who goes to every psychiatrist and accuses them all of being idiotic rationalists who do not believe in God, and she tells them her visions. I think her only mistake is in telling these people, for that is simply being unadapted. Her visions in themselves are quite all right, and also what she thinks about them, but her extraverted feeling is inferior, she is socially unadapted. She should not speak of such things to a rationalistic psychiatrist who only wonders whether he should intern her!”

What…? Who…? Why…?

RE: Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger and Stella Maris

Reality is not what it used to be. That is, a rational pattern to be discovered even though sometimes the pattern or some of its pieces are hidden. For eons we have spoken of the Gordian Knot, which is difficult to untie, but success through personal effort is achievable. We can figure out its pattern. Bildungsroman is an artificial construct to teach the trials, tribulations, and ultimate success in achieving personal maturity and societal inclusion. It may take awhile, but we can figure out its pattern.

The findings in science (in McCarthy’s The Passenger and Stella Maris, mathematics and physics) increasingly reveal that no patterns exist for us. All is electro-magnetic energy. For now, we cannot wrap our minds around a no-pattern existence, which includes no predetermined purpose, so we continue to search for the pattern as if it is within a puzzle, even after we know that most of the missing pieces of the puzzle never existed. We still agonize over discovering answers: What is real? Who am I? Why am I here?

The answers provided by Science are disconcerting at best:
What is reality? What I make of it.
Who am I? I am whatever I am for as long as I am.
Why am I here? Because I am here.
Nothing more. Maybe less.
Of course, those answers throw some of us into mental pandemonium followed by existential angst or even deeper, nihilism.

Two Main Characters
Two main characters in The Passenger and Stella Maris cannot find answers to their unanswerable questions. Both free-dive. Alicia, a nihilist, cannot pull herself out of the pit and commits suicide. Her brother, Bobby, more existential than nihilistic, withdraws, isolates on a Spanish island, and wallows in his angst pit. Near the end of The Passenger, presumably in a dream, Bobby meets with his dead friend, John Sheddan, in a vacant theatre. His friend advises him thus:

To prepare for any struggle is largely a work of unburdening oneself. If you carry your past into battle you are riding to your death. Austerity lifts the heart and focuses the vision. Travel light. A few ideas are enough. Every remedy for loneliness only postpones it. And that day is coming in which there will be no remedy at all. I wish you calm waters…. We will not meet again.

Not long afterward, Bobby’s wallowing in the dark pit ignites flickering glimmers of hope. Although he thinks to himself, “I will see her (Alicia’s) face again when I die,” there is no sense of hurry on his part. He begins again to read scientific papers; he begins again to work on mathematical equations.

Third Main Character
The Kid is a third major character. In Chapter 1, The Passenger, Alicia asks The Kid, “Who are you and why are you here?” Those two questions (and their corollaries: Who am I and Why am I here?) are attributable to nearly every major-minor character, as well as Alicia and her brother, Bobby.
The Kid, in apposition to the negative charge of Alicia, replies in his convoluted style that he and his entourage are there and have been there from the beginning, to save her. He offers his advise: You ask me, ‘…what is it that’s in the in-between that you’d like to mess with but cant see…’ Dunno. ‘How come this and how come that?’ I don’t know. You send stuff out but you don’t know where it’s been when you get it back…No need to get your knickers in a twist.”

A frustrated mentor, The Kid advises Alicia to avoid demanding answers to unanswerable questions, to stay with what is workable, to accept not knowing it all and adjust. “My job is to save you.” He failed, obviously, but that, evidently, is the assigned responsibility of him and his entourage. Assigned by whom? I don’t know. He leaves reluctantly; both he and Alicia know that they will not meet again.

The only time Alicia speaks with gentle fondness of The Kid is at the end of her stay in Stella Maris. Yes, she misses The Kid. She is sorry she did not respond to his last “goodbye.” The Kid is Alicia’s guide, whose help she would not accept. Why? I don’t know. Neither would she accept the medication to prevent his appearance. Why? Presumably because she believes in his realness. What does “realness” mean here? I don’t know. “It’s complicated,” Alicia says.

Incidentally, readers chagrined by the failure to learn the answer to their question, Who is the missing passenger? should take consolation in knowing that the most common answer to the many questions in both books seems to be “I don’t know.” Reality is not what it used to be.

Perhaps, A Sequel To The Passenger
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
–Martin Luther, 16th century

Perhaps, Bobby, unlike Alicia, will accept a guide, claw his way out of his pit, and move on. He could conceivably formulate his thoughts thusly:
So, if there is no purpose, predetermined or othewise, then that means that I am my own savior. If I must start over from square one, then so be it, but I will incorporate everything that is available. My faith is in science and technology; my purpose is to make them work for the good of humanity; my reason is because I am here.
Such determinism by those who embrace science and technology leads humanity to the next evolutionary level.
–finis–

Next 1 I have decided not to pursue this one. The topic seems obvious.
Existentialism-Nihilism Continuum: Cormac McCarthy’s Latest Books

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.
–Shakespeare, MacBeth

This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
–T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

Next 2: This will take a while, if it happens at all. Much can be said. Perhaps another will pick it up and run with it.
The Metaphysical in Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger
Dreams and Spiritual Guides

All Things Wise and Wonderful

Henry David Thoreau’s 1850s experiment in living alone in the nearby Walden forest resulted in his collection of detailed essays on observing and relating with the natural world: the hyperactive growing plants, the whispering or howling trees, the skittish and playful birds and animals, the inscrutable movement of the sun and moon. His essay collection, Walden (1851), was required reading the junior year of high school. I was a city girl, born and reared; I preferred reading Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau’s enigmatic, philosophical, urbane, early mentor. I thought I understood what Thoreau was saying; I simply did not relate to his stance.

Brother Don and I and neighborhood friends often went to the creek off White Oak Bayou near our house. I loved beating our own paths and running across the open field under a near cloudless, robin-egg blue sky to the creek. An occasional rabbit jumped and scampered out of sight; grass snakes of all kinds slithered through the tall grasses; sometimes, a water moccasin slid off the creek bank and into the water; and most frightening, a rattler, coiled with reared head and hair-raising rattles, sent us running away, or if too late for running, freezing us in our tracks until it uncoiled and regally departed, dividing the grass as with a comb, as Emily Dickinson described it in A narrow Fellow in the Grass. Thoreau reported on his observations of Nature; I was one with Nature. I did not think about “the other” separately. Such is the beauty and the value of childhood.

Adulthood is all about observing, categorizing, rationalizing, and evaluating. So now, I relate better to Thoreau. I have had dogs with remarkable human attributes. Rascal listened attentively to whatever I had to say and responded with human empathy when appropriate. Bear was a knight in disguise, protecting his palace and all within it. He, too, cried when a loved one left with a muffled whiny-howl. The squirrels tap hyperactively on the window pane and squeak insistently when I over-sleep and fail to get the nuts and seeds out on time. I once had a serious conversation with a Monarch butterfly after it flew about and at me until I stopped my work to pay attention. A raccoon proved a worthy contestant in our months-long territorial battle over possession of the attic. I have watched one ant stop to help another ant carry its heavy load. The point being that I understand Thoreau now: I, too, observe, categorize, rationalize, and evaluate other beings in relationship to human feelings and activities.

Admittedly, not all common “other beings” have my attention: cats most notably. Until recently, I would say turtles or tortoises. I like them well enough, but relating them to human feelings and activities has never occurred to me. They plod slowly; they withdraw quickly; cars crush them. John Steinbeck’s Turtle Chapter 3 in The Grapes of Wrath is memorable, but his is a realistic, naturalistic description of a turtle’s surviving, not one describing a turtle’s anthropomorphism.

Today, I experienced a Thoreauesque relationship to a tortoise as I watched a video of Palawaan seeking escape from the driveway of his/her owner’s home. Palawaan is in intense problem-solving mode by human standards. He/She attempts a solution, backs off and looks at the problem, tries again, then turns away and paces around, then stops, looks at a different area of the obstacle, and Eureka! Problem solved.
Here is Palawaan’s video. Observe.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=278586290337232

See Sybil having fun on a sliding board here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOVkD5Q5jp4

Generic War Chant

Generic War Chant
        *Fill the blank with name of appropriate country.

The economy is low;
Unemployment is high;
Off to ___________* we go!

The people are restless;
They gripe and complain;
The promises we made prove futile again.

Tap the drums softly.
What do they say?
Then louder and louder!
Do they obey?

By God, we have a good foe!
Business will boom. 
People will work.
Off to ___________* we go!
 
--by P.R. Thompson

Recorded Music in Public Domain

Beginning January 1, 2022, recorded music and other sound recordings in years 1923 and before entered the public domain. The collection is now available free of charge through the National Jukebox of the Library of Congress.

Any sound recording in the public domain, as with print public domain, can be used as your own. The National Jukebox is a 410,000 collection of some of the earliest sound recordings from opera, classical music, early blues, jazz, vaudeville, ragtime, popular songs, and spoken comedy. It is an incredible resource for lovers of music of all stripes, historians, and writers.

As you peruse the recordings, you may save selections into the web site’s “My Playlist.” I find no way to download a selection; so have your audio recorder ready if you want a personal copy. I use Applian Technologies’ Replay Media Catcher 4, a video and audio downloader. Recordings of the earliest years are “scratchy.” Some background scratchy sounds can be cleaned up with Audacity, a free, open source software for working with audio recordings.

If you are unfamiliar with the Library of Congress, you will be amazed at what it offers–free of charge. Take time to look it over. I suggest starting with the Digital Collection. Also, notice on the home page that you may “Ask a Librarian,” which proves quite helpful at times.

The Plague Doctor

In searching for some medieval pictures for a slide show presentation on constructing a gambeson, I stumbled upon this descriptive photograph of a plague doctor of the 17th century. Immediately, a quote attributed to Mark Twain popped into my head: History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.

Last year, the schools closed down for the Covid 19 Pandemic, and people sobbed about the tragedy of it all, crying out The sky is falling! The sky is falling! In searching for photos of early 20th century Houston school buildings for a project, I stumbled upon this historical rhyme:

1937 School children learning with the home radio during the polio epidemic

I often discover historical rhymes. Yes, perhaps I unconsciously search for them because they give me a calming perspective. After the devastating Harvey storm in 2017, I watched again an original video made by Thomas Edison of a historical rhyme, the 1900 Galveston Great Storm, a hurricane that killed upwards of 6,000 people. Current reports of devastating results of climate change historically rhyme with the devastation of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Historical rhymes of war related tragedies stretch across the ages: War is Hell in any place, time, or language.

By pointing out today’s Covid Pandemic with the medieval Plague Doctor as yet another historical rhyme, I do not imply that our tragedies are inconsequential. Of course not. But we can apply the lessons learned from the past. Mark Earnest, M.D., Ph.D., concluded his NEJM article entitled, On Becoming a Plague Doctor, with this history lesson learned:

… I imagined what it would have been like to care for patients during the Black Death. I realized I’d been far too hard on my predecessors from the Middle Ages. A 14th-century plague doctor faced risks far higher than mine. Of the 18 men registered as plague doctors in Venice in 1348, five died. Twelve fled.¹ I can scarcely imagine how terrifying it must have been to live in a city terrorized by bubonic plague. Perhaps my error was imagining that patients were more terrorized than comforted by the arrival of such a fearsome figure. Maybe that’s just wrong — maybe patients were comforted that someone had the commitment to set aside his own fear and come to them in their moment of need. Perhaps they were just grateful they were no longer suffering alone.

Yes, I like historical rhymes. They calm me. They remind me that we have been there, done that, and came through on the other side.

The Reivers

Finding historical information about the Transportation of Scottish POWS by the English after battles in the seventeenth century is proving to be an interesting challenge with unexpected discoveries and realizations, which we all know is pure joy in research.

A fitful search began early this year into the aftermath of the Battles of Culloden and Worchester, and I collected articles about the death marches followed by forced indentured servitude in Australia, the Colonies, and Barbados. But I needed something more. Unexpectedly, a novel by Ken Follette published in 1995 entitled A Journey to Freedom popped up as a side note on a search page. The story followed a labor activist convicted in 1760 England to be transported to the colonies and sold as an indentured servant. Surprisingly, not much seemed different between 1660 and 1760, so Follett’s story answered a number of my questions, which I will recount another time.

Soon after reading Follett’s novel, I stumbled upon an 1898 publication that recounts the history of the Borderland reivers, of whom I knew nothing. Reivers were, according to the Scottish Lowlander families, fierce defenders of their homes and country against constant attacks from the English. The English viewpoint describes the reivers as full-time Lowlander plunderers and destroyers (reivers and ruggers) living in the Southern Scotland Borderlands. Cruel, merciless border conflicts between the two lasted from approximately twelfth century through the seventeenth century.

King James I successfully began the end of the reivers through seriously enforced proclamations that executed them when captured, transported them to colonies, and/or dispersed their families from the Lowlands.

A focus emerges: the image of a reiver, both a fierce protector defending his home and a cruel, unmerciful brigand. How shall we judge him?
Perhaps by one of the following or by a synthesis of the three:

Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil)? Concepts of good and evil (“morality”) are culturally constructed rather than inherently “true”; different cultures develop different moral laws in order to maintain social order. >>>Applying the label varies by culture.

Carl Jung (Answer to Job)? God also has a fourth side—the evil face of God, as evidenced by his treatment of Job. Job is completely innocent. He is a scrupulously pious man who follows all the religious conventions, and for most of his life, he is blessed with good fortune. This is the expected outcome for a just man in a rationally ordered universe. But then God allows Satan to work on him, bringing misfortune and misery. Being overwhelmed with questions and images of divine majesty and power, Job is silenced, but he remains faithful.
>>>Job retains his personal integrity. He is more godly than God.

Pyrrhonism? The doctrines of a school of ancient extreme skeptics, 4^th c., who suspended judgment on every proposition.
>>>We cannot label an action good or evil.

In-Person Election Day

The 2020 U.S. Presidential election process is one step closer to being finished at the end of today–not finished, but one step closer, we are told by the media blitzes. They breathlessly and repeatedly announce that the actual final count may go on for days or weeks. Thinly veiled hints warn of a coup d’état. Be prepared! Be afraid!

Such emotionalism drives me to research. What goes round, comes round. All is a cycle. To gain some balance, I found this history.com article informative, “Eight Most Contentious U.S. Presidential Elections” compiled by Sarah Pruitt. She begins with the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and ends with the George Bush election in 2020. I have no objection to the message, “Be prepared,” but I am weary to the core of bubbleheads on major television cables telling me how “afraid” I am, how “deeply anxious” I am. I am neither afraid nor anxious. Unfortunately, I strongly suspect that this blanket of emotionalism is here to stay. The propaganda techniques are now well developed and well rewarded.

I go now to cast my vote.