physician, heal thyself

     According to modern psychology, everyone is mentally ill. That is, there is probably no one who whose behavior or emotions wouldn't match something in the diagnostic manual of mental illness. The belief that everyone is crazy, is, of course, a symptom of mental illness.

the answer hasn't changed

Remember this one?

"Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of nails?"

see America first

     An old commercial asked us to "see America first" when on vacation. I would still like to do that. I'd like to drive from the Atlantic ( not far from where I live ) to the Pacific. I wouldn't travel in a hurry--as in On the Road. I'd just take my time and stop to look at anything interesting. I don't know if I'd take a detour to "important" spots, or just stop when I wanted to eat or rest, and ask about any local places of interest--best diner, giant shoe, whatever.

a cyber memorial

     I would like to see a website with photographs of all of the monuments and grave markers of all of those killed in wars. That would make a real cyber-memorial.

whose job is it?

     The first time I opened a checking account, in the late 1970's, I was given a 45 minute lecture on how to use it. The lecture was not optional. Banks don't seem to feel responsible for educating their customers in the 21st century. Many of the young people don't even know what a check is, what interest is, or what might be considered fraud. Shame on the banks, and on all of the other businesses that no longer believe it's part of their job to tell consumers how to use their product.

freedom

     One of the broadcast TV stations is showing reruns of old police dramas from the 1960's and 1970's. One of the interesting things about the shows is the philosophy the criminals expound in some of the episodes. It's the old hippie "freedom" idea, and sometimes they get into an argument with the police over it. They are sure that everyone ought to be able to do anything, with no limits or restrictions. In the name of "enlightenment", they propound a philosophy that wouldn't seem sensible to a pre-schooler. What happens to everyone doing whatever they want when you don't want them to do it? Where does your freedom go then?
    Take a simple case for an example--your neighbors are blasting the stereo all night. You want to sleep. Your neighbor's insistence on the right to blast the stereo at top volume is interfering with your right to sleep. Then what happens?

a different drama

     Since it's election year, instead of serial killing, could we have an election drama? Each week we could see a different set of people. We could watch as their ideas, experiences and the events that shape their lives are eventually reflected in their votes, which could be shown at the end of the show. It could be made just as compelling as any crime drama, if the scripts were written with some insight and imagination.

message in a bottle

     Several years ago I had a notion to send a " message in a bottle"--the kind a person might throw overboard, to wonder if anyone would pick it up and read it. I remembered a story I heard as a teenager, about one of our neighbors, who became bored at sea and threw a message in a bottle overboard. He eventually received a reply from the president of the United States. So he certainly knew that someone found his message.
    I searched "message in a bottle", but it was in use only as the name of a business. Twitter seemed something like a "message in a bottle". So is a blog, especially when you consider how many blogs there are-- anyone actually reading any individual blog is very unlikely. It may just float about in the cyber sea, and never wash up on a beach or be found by a ship.
     My neighbor probably never expected a real reply--and neither do I. Throwing the message overboard is enough.

health beer

     The micro brewery trend has introduced some unusual beers--chocolate, raspberry. What about spinach, squash, or turnip beer?  Any of these would add healthy vegetables to our diets. And they might solve the turnip problem.

how to share

    If you want to share something between two people without any complaining, let person one divide the goods, but let person two choose first which half he or she would like.

a reality check, sort of

     More on the subject of how to tell if what you see in a movie is real or pretend--visit a museum. If you can't go in person, visit online, where you can look at things in  museums all over the country and the world. All of the things in the museum are real. Most of them are old. Here in Philadelphia, there is a "Hall of Weapons" in the art museum, with swords, halberds, and armor, among other things. There is an authentic Tudor period room, and a medieval cloister--straight out of Doctor Who, but real. The science museum has a train in the basement that will be 200 years old soon, but it still takes visitors for ( short ) rides. If you don't live near a museum, try typing "museum" in your search box and see what you get.

we'd all like to know

   Here's a suggestion on the subject of construction projects. Can we have a sign that tells us why someone is digging up the street? I actually don't know, and an informative sign might make yet another street dig ( they dig up our neighborhood regularly ) easier to bear. Thanks for listening.

a very small town

     The smallest town I have ever visited had three businesses--a gas station ( with a refrigerator stocked with milk and a rack of bread ), a luncheonette ( with a refrigerator stocked with milk and a rack of bread ), and a tavern ( with a refrigerator stocked with milk and a rack of bread).  The nearest town with a supermarket was another 2 1/2 hours away. A city must look like wonderland to anyone raised in a place like this--it certainly did to me when we got back.

cogito, ergo sum

     "Cogito ergo sum" is Latin for " I think, therefore I am". The quotation was supposedly in response to the question: "How do you know that you exist?"  Descartes replied, in part, that he thought, so he knew that he existed. One of the things he thought, was to wonder if he actually existed.
      To prove one's own existence is something of a classical philosophical exercise. Can you do it? Prove, logically, that you exist?

what happened to the UN?

     If you meet someone who proclaims himself a "citizen of the world" , waiting for the "one world government" to "evolve", and ask him about the United Nations, the response may very well be "huh?"

the world court

     Perhaps the next time the United States catches an international criminal, we'll actually turn him over to the World Court for trial--the same way we expect everyone else to do.  The most famous recent trials in the World Court were those of the war criminals from Eastern Europe, but all kinds of international disputes are settled there. A court has the authority that people grant it, one way and another, and the United States has persistently refused to grant the World Court any jurisdiction over itself, although it has conceded that it might be useful to other people. We can and should do better.

a fruitless discussion

     I just watched a documentary in which a lot of otherwise rational people are drawn into a discussion about whether or not God exists. I find this discussion pointless, always, and I am surprised at some of the people who are witless enough to be dragged into it. If you continue such a discussion long enough, you will find that belief in God is not the philosophical dividing line that it is often assumed to be. Many people who claim to believe in God also claim that it doesn't matter what they do, either because they have no responsibility for their own behavior in the first place, or because God will fix it all up for them later. Other people who claim to believe in God also believe that they are responsible for what they do, and believe that they must behave accordingly.
     Many people who claim that they do not believe in God do believe that they are responsible for what they do. Others who claim that they do not believe in God believe that they have no responsibility for, or control over, their own behavior.
     The philosophical dividing line is responsibility, especially responsibility for our own behavior. Spend your time arguing about free will and responsibility, and leave God as a subject for theologians.

having advice taken

     Ever try to offer someone advice that they never take, even if they asked for advice in the first place? It's because they were taught never to take any free advice. Next time, charge them, and see what happens.

then it swallowed itself by the tail

     According to psychoanalysis, most human behavior can be classified as a mental disease--in other words, everyone is crazy. The belief that everyone is crazy is, according to psychoanalysis, considered a sign of serious psychological illness.

but how does it work when it rains?

    If I thought I could get along with a communications system that doesn't work when it rains, I would just draw in the dirt with a stick--that wouldn't work when it rains, and I'd save on internet charges. For long distance I could try smoke signals--those wouldn't work in the rain, either. Or maybe a flashing mirror to make a telegraph--that could send messages for a mile or so, and  would only work on sunny days.
    On rainy days we are all supposed to take the day off, I think.

an unanswered question

     Does the Earth have a top and a bottom? Is the United States naturally on the top half of a round globe, with Australia on the bottom, or is it only that way because the maps in current use were drawn by people from the "top half"?   Anyone standing on Earth would  be on the surface, meaning, of course, the "top". Each person standing on Earth would have an only slightly different view of  the universe spread in all directions from himself , infinitely. But would each person perceive himself to be on "top" of the world? Does a person at the North Pole feel that he is at the "top" of the world? Or should we save that expression as a synonym for euphoria?

the kids are all right

Want your kids to learn some geography? Tell them to check their clothes and other household items to find out where they were made. They will be looking up the names of countries in a matter of minutes. No, really.

May Day

    Today, the first of May, is a holiday for workers in many countries. It's like Labor Day in the United States. It's a good day to think about all of the work done by others that goes into making a modern life--yours and mine.