Tagged: life
We, The “Idiot Savants”
One delightful aspect that accompanies the hobby of reading that I did not expect when I began to read could best be called “following my whims”. In my case, I wanted to be a bit methodical, so I began with a couple sets of liberal education type books (AKA classical education), filled with essays by great and influential writers. (Keep in mind, this “began with” is after master’s level coursework, age 35ish). The editors of these sets would have pleasant introductions which included “for more on this topic” recommendations. And ebay supplied the steady-stream of follow-on books at minimal cost.
Math History is my main “whim” of late. This is because I have a belief that “there is no math in the Bible” and want to be able to explain the importance of my claim eloquently.
After you read Math History for long enough, to the point of being half-way through the first of four volumes of The World of Mathematics, you find essays on “Idiot Savants”.
Here I want to say I have provided enough information to not need to explain what “Idiot Savants” are, but to be clear, we are talking about people—a very, very few in number—who can perform, say, 10 digit by 10 digit multiplication problems in their head. The interesting part is that this ability has no apparent correlation to life skills or general wisdom or even other talents, professional or otherwise. IE, most jarring, even these “Idiot Savants” can be not good at math in the complete sense. In a word, to modern man, they are perplexing. Just what exactly is their “skill” or “talent”?
The above picture of the plate is something I took in a downtown toy store, one of the last holdouts of its kind, in my city. There are a couple of problems with it; can you spot them?
- If a kid can’t eat, a kid can’t read.
- If a kid can’t put food in his mouth, a kid isn’t hungry.
- Eating does not require plates.
- If a kid can’t distinguish plate from table (as manifested by their inability to keep the food on the plate and off the table), then they certainly aren’t able to distinguish individual sections within one (1) plate.
- Some forks, especially kid-sized, have three prongs.
- Lastly, and this may be picky, but if you’re going to put dinosaurs on a baby plate, I think the least you could do is label them with their names, followed by phonetic spelling. How else will the child learn?!
Faithful Readers, there is a big world out there. If your world is small, in other words, if you feel like you’re really close to finally being fully tooled and comfortable at, this, our problem-riddled life, then I challenge you to consider if you are, in fact, an idiot.
The Natural Response to Seeing Clearly: Thankfulness
Sight has aways been important in my life. For whatever reason, from the youngest age, whenever I took a vision test and had 20/20, people told me I could be a pilot.
These days, as a pilot who often flys with night vision goggles, I can’t help but wonder how different life would be if the ancients had NVGs available as they searched the sky.
Of course, the fact that they didn’t is because of their own ridiculous beliefs about motion and rest and circles and spheres.
I remember a childhood friend who had recently got a better prescription telling us how different the world looked. She said something like, “It’s like the trees now have individual leaves.”
How did she react? Obviously she was thankful and happy about her new glasses.
Why, then, is this not the case when we use telescopes and microscopes to see more than before?
Why would seeing more somehow make us angry?
Why would seeing more somehow make us give up beliefs, like Christianity? It’s not like Christianity said, “There are three hundred stars, and the smallest unit of material is a grain of sand.”
If we can see more, I think the appropriate response should always be the same—and limited. We should be happy and thankful.
It says more about your heart, or more broadly “you”, than it does about the “data” (what is now seen) when you react otherwise.
Does Finishing A Book Ever Make You Sad?
I have been reading the two volume set of Reporting Vietnam since March 19 of this year. That’s 8 months. Today I will finish the set.
I am sad.
I already have Reporting World War II waiting in the wings, another two volume set. And I am very excited about that one, given how profoundly this one affected me. But that excitement does not override the sadness.
It feels weird to be sad about finishing a book. I think this is because there are obviously so many others. Maybe it is sad because it’s not the book that is concluded, but the conversation. Yeah. I like that.
What is better, after all, than a good conversation?
We All Know “You can take the lady out the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the lady”, But We Think The CIA Is Involved?
How stupid are you?
This isn’t an invitation to prove yourself. I am just making the point that there is a perfectly reasonable answer to the interweb’s (darkweb’s) latest accusation. The answer being: the dude had a terrible childhood, without love, light, or education of any kind. We (USA) used him as the forever-pawn that he only could be, when we needed forever-pawns, and he couldn’t handle the transition to civilization and peace when we were done with him.
They all still need to leave America.
Or they can assimilate. There are many options for “first step” of assimilation. A renewed effort in nationally saying Pledge of Allegiance to start the day is one.
But at this point, I say, “Please leave”.
Just Feel Like Doting On My Son and His Father
He’s down in the family room, riding a wooden rocking horse around the room. In his hand is a stuffed “stick” which is part of a marshmallow roasting stuffed toy. He doesn’t think it’s a stick, though. It is a rifle.
Oh. And don’t forget the Christmas tree and other seasonal decorations. And a giant grizzly bear, lovingly known as “Papa Bear”. And a toy helicopter that over 2 ft long!
Want to know how you too can reproduce this scene in 2025? It’s easy: no tv!
Happy Thanksgiving! And Merry Christmas!
It’s Not “Happy Veterans Day” Anymore
I say this because of two reasons. First, I saw a headline about a British, 100 yr old Vet who said plainly that his brother’s-in-arms sacrifices (WWII) were not worth it, looking back. I’m only 44 and I agree.
I didn’t see anything I would classify as true combat. I only knew about a few AF pilots and crew from my squadron that lost their lives or were injured while in OIF/OEF. But, if they ever were sound in theory, the whole “fight them now rather than later” or “fight them over there rather than back at home” concepts have been blown to shit now. I see now that the only defensible reason to fight and sacrifice has to be in the framework and timeline of “now”. “These people must be killed now.” “These buildings and capabilities must be destroyed now.” Put another way, the main feeling I had when I got back from Iraq remains: While I was over there trying to stop them, y’all let them in the back door here? WTF, Over?
Secondly, over the past couple of years, as covid restrictions and pandemic mentality lifted, my Ethiopian wife has seen more instances than she ever did between 2011 and now (met me in 2018) of me standing and receiving applause (and me applauding) upon being asked to stand at certain events which take a moment to honor Veterans or First Responders. As I learn more about my wife, which includes learning more and more about how little she knows or understands about America*, I can’t help but wonder (I will laugh in your face if you think there is value in me asking her directly) what goes on in her mind when she sees this exercise of up-and-down, wack-a-mole. If I was to give it my best shot, I’ll be damned if her thoughts go beyond, “Oh look! People are happy and clapping!” while her face uncontrollably forms a smile to match the group’s mood. I ask you to likewise look around America at the first-generation immigrants’ faces during these moments and see if they have a clue.
What to do? Who knows.
——
*Keep in mind, this is despite being married to yours truly. It is a significant feature of the uneducated to hold strongly to their uninformed beliefs through the barrage of all contrary experience.
On Being a “One Mistake” Man
It just occurred to me that I am a “one mistake” man. The way this came to mind just now was while driving. Picture me in the classic post-stoplight intersection need to merge right (to get to Freddy’s) and there are cars zipping into the new right lane with whom I need to merge. Rather, we all need to zipper merge.
If you drive a good car and can’t merge, I respect you—you’re probably just decompressing from a hard days work. If you drive a disproportionately small car for an adult man who can grow a decent beard and can’t merge, then that’s one mistake too many. And I do not respect you anymore.
One mistake at a time please.
Jack White said, “Drop the Screens” nervously
Metallica’s 2009 Rock’n’roll induction ceremony was epic, and I am sure I could nitpick it. Since then, I have always enjoyed giving some attention to the ceremony. Jack White and Co. were inducted the other day. In his speech, he played it safe. This struck me as odd.
He encouraged the young artists to “drop the screens”.
Wow. Edgy.
Or not.
This causes me to wonder just what it is about some tier one Artists that they cannot recall that they were not handled with kid gloves, by life or other musicians?
If I had written Seven Nation Army, I would look around the room and say, “Thank you for being here. The honor is yours.
“Since Metallica’s induction in the HoF, the quality of inductee and their actual qualifications as ‘Rock’n’roll’ has only deteriorated. Disagree if you like. But you know I am right. You feel it in your bones. Rather, you don’t feel it in your bones. The younger generations are completely devoid of soul, totally out of touch with truth, and utterly unremarkable. They are dishonest, superficial, and technically deficient.”
(I could go on. And if I had written Seven Nation Army, I would slowly and gradually build the tempo and rhythm of the words into singsong.)
The point is, if I was being inducted after having truly “done it my way”, I would give a “my way” speech that would be worthy of study by white nationalist kids at Hillsdale and might, just might, inspire some kid somewhere to make rock’n’roll again.
Everyone Who “Knew This Would Happen”…
…now owes the rest of people, those without the gift of foresight, what happens next.
Predicting moohammedans’ boom in America is now merely part of history. There is no rhetorical power in claiming, “I told you so.” The rhetorical power now in great demand is, “What happens next, Oh, Great, Divinely-Touched, and Accurate Doom-Foreteller?”
This isn’t a “you show me yours, I’ll show you mine” taunt.
My foresight says two, and only two, options remain available.
- Insufferable mediocrity until America is a caliphate.
- Actual religious war, which results in everyone losing, except “hope”.
How’s that for Negative Nancy, on this Happy Hump Day?
How Did the Left Miss the Movie ‘Animal House’?
All this new talk of theirs, “Trump is actually enacting more Democrat policies and positions than…” sounds to my ears the exact same as, “Thank you, sir! May I have another?”
Captain’s Log 