tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post113523567705962421..comments2024-03-26T16:03:42.608-06:00Comments on Flares into Darkness: Are We No Longer Alone?ambisinistralhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836786826294202405noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135403759020271592005-12-23T22:55:00.000-07:002005-12-23T22:55:00.000-07:00Truepeers:"All of the other reindeerUsed to laugh ...Truepeers:<BR/><BR/>"<I>All of the other reindeer<BR/>Used to laugh and call him names<BR/>They never let poor Rudolph<BR/>Join in any reindeer games</I>."<BR/><BR/>Marks could have gotten away with <BR/>"Join in any of their games,"<BR/>though the prosody's a bit off.<BR/>But, intentional or not, "reindeer games" is a master stroke, hinting at a whole world of codes and rituals, like the Masons or, er, Elks. <BR/><BR/>As it happens, my neighbour keeps reindeer. It's the middle of the rutting season right now, and take it from me, the only reindeer games they're interested in playing you don't want to get caught in the middle of. <BR/><BR/>http://www.steynonline.com/index2.cfm?edit_id=29Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135403118350305912005-12-23T22:45:00.000-07:002005-12-23T22:45:00.000-07:00No, Buddy, read reviews (mixed If I remember corre...No, Buddy, read reviews (mixed If I remember correctly) but not the book. But I will now. Bookmarked at Amazon.<BR/><BR/>Same to you and all here, truepeers. Holdfast.Lutherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08901441364329385474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135401984390288772005-12-23T22:26:00.000-07:002005-12-23T22:26:00.000-07:00Luther, thanks for the note; let me say I think it...Luther, thanks for the note; let me say I think it's only astronomical odds if you want some kind of full and perfect answer, which we'll never have. The test of a new theory or hypothesis is only that it provide a new insight not available in the previous theories. I believe in progress; over time, while we take some steps backwards and into dead ends, there has been more generally a growth in human self-understanding and freedom. Best wishes to you and all for a Merry Christmas!truepeershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16401984575637492845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135400982655291262005-12-23T22:09:00.000-07:002005-12-23T22:09:00.000-07:00Peter:Cow Doug?Peter:<BR/>Cow Doug?Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135399756336818322005-12-23T21:49:00.000-07:002005-12-23T21:49:00.000-07:00luther...talking about bravery, did you ever read ...luther...talking about bravery, did you ever read your fellow Marine Eugene Sledge "With the Old Breed" ?buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135399614365156582005-12-23T21:46:00.000-07:002005-12-23T21:46:00.000-07:00har--break your hump teaching 'em how to talk, and...har--break your hump teaching 'em how to talk, and then they never shut up. Yep.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135396533219971732005-12-23T20:55:00.000-07:002005-12-23T20:55:00.000-07:00truepeers,Thanks for the reply. There is probably ...truepeers,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the reply. There is probably a name for the mental condition that causes us to look for answers when the odds of finding them are truly astronomical. Such is the case when attempting to ascertain the story of our beginnings.<BR/><BR/>I just now tried to respond to a few of your points, but find that a day in the malls does not help one's concentration. I will attempt in the morning when fresh (well, too old to ever be truly fresh.)<BR/><BR/>Buddy, great story. The bravery of those men. Airmen and Navy, I always give them extra credit. No firm dirt under their feet. Sounds as if your Dad was a solid and dependable thinker and doer. Much like yourself.<BR/><BR/>Doug, interesting thoughts on metaphor, will think on that overnight as well.<BR/><BR/>Just an aside, but I appreciate something other than all politics, all the time. Seems to me as if the blog world 'Hive' mind could have some impact on other conundrums of the world as well.Lutherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08901441364329385474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135394728858787262005-12-23T20:25:00.000-07:002005-12-23T20:25:00.000-07:00Gentlemen, you may each take a small valise. The a...Gentlemen, you may each take a small valise. The attendants will be by shortly.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135393674207995892005-12-23T20:07:00.000-07:002005-12-23T20:07:00.000-07:00Ring the Bells for Bananas,They're a Joy to Peel!Ring the Bells for Bananas,<BR/>They're a Joy to Peel!Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135392246907326852005-12-23T19:44:00.000-07:002005-12-23T19:44:00.000-07:00The evening has more appeal?The evening has more appeal?buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135387129070772432005-12-23T18:18:00.000-07:002005-12-23T18:18:00.000-07:00That's the last thing he ever said that didn't hav...That's the last thing he ever said that didn't have "DOWN WITH AMERIKKKA!!!" in it.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135385420971135622005-12-23T17:50:00.000-07:002005-12-23T17:50:00.000-07:00Day O Day ODaylight come and me wanna go Day me ...Day O Day O<BR/>Daylight come and me wanna go <BR/>Day me say day me say day Me say day me say day o<BR/>Daylight come and me wanna gohome<BR/>work all night and a drink a rum<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Stack banana till the mornin come<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Come mister tally man tally me bananas<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>come mister tally man tally me bananas<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>lift six foot seven foot eight foot bunch!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>six foot seven foot eight foot bunch!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>day me say day o<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Day me say day me say day me say day o(daylight come and me<BR/>wanna go home)<BR/>A beauitful bunch of ripe banana!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>hide the deadly black tarantula!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>lift six foot seven foot eight foot bunch!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>six foot seven foot eight foot bunch!<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Day me say day o<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Day me say day me say day me say day o(daylight come and me<BR/>wanna go home)<BR/>come mister tally man tally me banana<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>come mister tally man tally me banana<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>Day O Day O(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/>day me say day me say day me say day o<BR/>(daylight come and me wanna go home)<BR/><BR/>Ok, Harry, have at it!Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135385370502433232005-12-23T17:49:00.000-07:002005-12-23T17:49:00.000-07:00Trivia call: where does the expression "gone banan...Trivia call: where does the expression "gone bananas" originate?truepeershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16401984575637492845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135383042457569852005-12-23T17:10:00.000-07:002005-12-23T17:10:00.000-07:00band B *should* steal n. Bannana patch is n excess...band B *should* steal n. Bannana patch is n excess.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135380800847535582005-12-23T16:33:00.000-07:002005-12-23T16:33:00.000-07:00For now, please tear apart this simple minded view...For now, please tear apart this simple minded view:<BR/>Band A Gaurds Bannana Patch <BR/>From Band B.<BR/>(to make it easier on yourself, imagine you are explaining it to a less mentally developed ancestor)Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135380546022357102005-12-23T16:29:00.000-07:002005-12-23T16:29:00.000-07:00Great Post, 'Peers,I will have to give it a lot mo...Great Post, 'Peers,<BR/>I will have to give it a lot more thought than I have time for right now.<BR/>So, Proto Man did not think like Galileo?<BR/>Hmm!<BR/>That does add a bit of complexity to the picture.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135379197130138812005-12-23T16:06:00.000-07:002005-12-23T16:06:00.000-07:00I don't get that:Seems like the obvious first step...<I>I don't get that:<BR/>Seems like the obvious first step would be to protect something already there, "make it yours," husband it etc.</I><BR/><BR/>-maybe, but this just begs the question of what husbanding entails. Keep in mind, first of all, that ownership would have only been a concept that applied to the band or tribe as a whole (in competition with its neighbors), not to any one individual, since no such thing as private property yet existed. So, it has to be a group decision to move beyond mere gathering to active farming, and hence a decision made in the language known to the group as a whole.<BR/><BR/>But how can such a decision be made out of a simple rational projection since we can be sure that no group yet is bound by rational discourse as we know it, but rather by some form of primitive religion. So no one has the knowledge or language to rationally explain the processes of degeneration and rebirth. But everyone is somehow aware of the significance of processes of degeneration, disorder, and regeneration of order because that is what language is all about for the community it binds and saves from periodic fits of its own internal disorder.<BR/><BR/>As we celebrate holidays now at the winter solstice, it's time to remember how seasonal changes were frought with religious significance for our distant forebears, and always subject to rituals. Did they have seasonal rituals as a way of confirming the knowledge they had already established, through independent discovery, or did their knowledge, e.g. of farming, somehow grow out of the ritual process (make a sacrifice to the gods, throw some seeds about, and after a while you learn how to do this in a certain way...) I think the latter.<BR/><BR/>Keep in mind that language and consciousness can only evolve on the shared and paradoxical human scene as a group activity. Independent, inquiring, minds are yet a far way off in time. If someone observes something in nature, say a place where seeds have given way in spring to new plants, the rational connection, as we understand it, would not have been made. It is a chance observation full of mystery; but to be fully an observation - i.e. memorable - some kind of mystic agency must be assumed, some myth written, some aspect of the spirit world must be at play here.<BR/><BR/>So I think we can say that knowledge leading to agriculture would have required observations that could only have been made, and then actively developed, in a certain cultural context, in a culture that had reached a certain level of development, of linguistic complexity. Or why else did our most primitive forebears take so long to get seriously creative in tool development, to move into agriculture, etc.? The record of stone tools shows they evolved very slowly at first.<BR/><BR/>But anyway, my real beef with Diamond is in how he encourages us to misinterpret or ignore the signficance of the last five hundred years of history. Much of what he says is true enough, but lacking a certain understanding of the mechanisms of change - ignoring the kidn of question I've just outlined - in his account of the rise of classical civilizations, he encourages a false or too limited understanding of the most radical historical changes that have occurred only in the last five centuries, changes in which cultural difference have come ever more to the fore, as we note, for example, in comparing Europe to Asia.truepeershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16401984575637492845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135376750398828692005-12-23T15:25:00.000-07:002005-12-23T15:25:00.000-07:00Metaphor and LearningMetaphor, analogy, imagery, a...Metaphor and Learning<BR/><BR/>Metaphor, analogy, imagery, and the like, not only make it easier to learn something - often they are what we know (shadows in the cave). The picture of that Neils Bohr atom comes to mind, like a mini solar system: that picture is a visual analogy, bearing no resemblance to a real atom. It is tough to integrate anything new without a metaphor to carry it into the brain. Jesus spoke in parables for the same reason. The below excerpt is from a piece by Hudson at The Ornery American:<BR/><BR/>"The very pervasiveness of this strange way humans have of explaining concepts to one another should lead us to question why metaphor is so prevalent in our communication. Why should the conflation, for example, of roses and cheeks in the same sentence conjure up images of cherubic children with the healthy pink pallor of youth? What do lemons have to do with defective cars? I believe that the answer to these questions may have its roots in the fundamental nature of human learning. <BR/><BR/>Nobel prize-winning neurobiologist Eric Kandel has shown that memory and learning are tied to structural changes in the connections between neurons that form the functional units of the brain. Essentially, whenever we learn something new there are new connections made in the brain, and those connections are what allow us to think about the new knowledge we have acquired. It is safe to say that any bit of knowledge that we have - whether it is knowledge about how lemons taste or what the color yellow looks like, or even how it feels to be in love- this knowledge must be reflected in the physical structure of the brain."<BR/><BR/>If you can concentrate at this hectic time of year, read <A HREF="http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/exit.php?url_id=23634&entry_id=2021" REL="nofollow">entire.</A>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135372432635419682005-12-23T14:13:00.000-07:002005-12-23T14:13:00.000-07:00Humvee Realities - The Ultimate Betrayal .FAST TU...<A HREF="http://www.nationalreview.com/smithw/smith200512210805.asp" REL="nofollow">Humvee Realities - The Ultimate Betrayal </A> .<BR/><BR/><STRONG>FAST TURNAROUND IN WWII</STRONG>?<BR/>My reporter friends who talked about "criminal negligence" and "betrayal," pointed to World War II and America's rapid aircraft industry as a basis for their argument. After all, we were thrust into the war in December 1941. We went on the offensive in 1942, and by late 1945 some 12,700 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses had been built. <BR/><BR/>Fine. But what they don't realize is the B-17 made its first flight as a prototype in the summer of 1935, six years before it was ready for deployment, which just happened to be the same time we entered the war. <BR/>Once deployed, losses were horrible. <BR/>Thousands of B-17's were shot down or crashed in training over the course of the war. <STRONG>In the summer of 1944 alone, nearly 1,000 B-17s were lost and nearly 10,000 B-17 airmen were killed over Europe</STRONG>.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135371643299928382005-12-23T14:00:00.000-07:002005-12-23T14:00:00.000-07:00What nefarious scheme is Mr. Ballard up to these d...What nefarious scheme is Mr. Ballard up to these days?<BR/>...noticeably absent.<BR/>Can we expect the WSJ to soon tremble at the new competition?Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135371542790873272005-12-23T13:59:00.000-07:002005-12-23T13:59:00.000-07:00Amazing story Bud.The number 10 thousand comes to ...Amazing story Bud.<BR/>The number 10 thousand comes to mind, don't remember if it was 10,000 killed, or 10,000 17's built.<BR/>Just read about it the other day, I'll see if I can find it.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135371426284659052005-12-23T13:57:00.000-07:002005-12-23T13:57:00.000-07:00"But Diamond cannot explain - he does not try, avo..."<I>But Diamond cannot explain - he does not try, avoids the question - why people would first take up agriculture, with no knowledge of the future payoffs which would have required several years to fully materialize.</I>"<BR/>---<BR/>I don't get that:<BR/>Seems like the obvious first step would be to protect something already there, "make it yours," husband it etc. and things evolved from there.<BR/>What am I missing?<BR/>Meet you at the Paw Paw Patch!Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135368723017040972005-12-23T13:12:00.000-07:002005-12-23T13:12:00.000-07:00...and that, sonny boy, is how to stay on-thread....and that, sonny boy, is how to stay on-thread.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135367989708893132005-12-23T12:59:00.000-07:002005-12-23T12:59:00.000-07:00Luther, he lost an engine to flack, and then blew ...Luther, he lost an engine to flack, and then blew another one trying to keep up with formation, and had to drop back. the 110s were out there just for stragglers, they were 'zerstroyers' armed with multiple cannon. They made a few firing passes and dad found that if he jinked--evasive action--his own gunners couldn't shoot, and if he held steady so the gunners could shoot, the outranging 110s would hang back and shoot at leisure. When a third engine was hit & started giving up, and all four 110s were lining up wingtip-to-wingtip behind him, intent to stay outta his 50 cal. range but inside their 20mm, and do him in with a salvo, he did a head-check and still had not a man wounded. At that point he figured the war was over for his 10 guys, so he dropped gear, set the ship on auto, and gave the bail-out order. <BR/><BR/>Landed in a schoolyard in Memmigen, and was yakking with the boys--the girls were busy cutting up the parachute for silk--when the soldiers pulled, and hauled him off. <BR/><BR/>The B-17E, "Mr. Five-by-Five", crashed into a paper mill--one more blow for the Allies. Dad and his crew ended up in Barth, the Stalag Luft on the North Sea, and were liberated by the Red Army.<BR/><BR/>A few years later, contemplating his household full of terrorist tots, I imagine he sometimes wished he hadn't pulled that rip cord!buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1135366501363081132005-12-23T12:35:00.000-07:002005-12-23T12:35:00.000-07:00Luther:I am always leery of anthropological interp...Luther:<BR/><I>I am always leery of anthropological interpretation even when dealing with material artifacts, when such hypotheses enter the realm of the spirit my antenna's really start twitching.</I><BR/><BR/>-do you ever look at spiritual conversation as being itself anthropological? For example, the quote from St. John, above: "in the beginning was the word" is an anthropological hypothesis, just as it is also a spiritual one. In many respects, the Bible is good anthropology. Conversely, a true anthropology, however secular, cannot discount the importance of religion, but only refine our understanding of the mystery of human creation, a mystery that can never be fully explained.<BR/><BR/><I>if language is a precursor of consciousness or self awareness could it not have been motivated by purely survivalist reasons? More efficient hunting etc, less violent social bonding...etc.</I><BR/><BR/>-this is the right question, with of course no quick and easy answer. I do think language not only emerged but, more to the point, was continually reproduced, because it had survival value. But I see this in terms of social bonding, intragroup behaviour, more than in terms of the relationship of the first humans to the non-human environment (it may have had a lot to do with war). <BR/><BR/>If I get some time over the holidays I'm going to post some comments on Jarred Diamond's book and the recent tv show based on it. In wishing to discount the role of culture in human history (this is what bothers me), he describes, for example, the advent of agriculture in simply rational terms: the discovery that you can get a reasonably reliable and large food supply with less effort than hunting.<BR/><BR/>But Diamond cannot explain - he does not try, avoids the question - why people would first take up agriculture, with no knowledge of the future payoffs which would have required several years to fully materialize. This is a version of the same question you ask: why would the emergence of language first be related to hunting skills (as it later no doubt was), if at first you couldn't see or predict the payoff? When the food supply was low, would the first humans have experimented with better hunting techniques or started preying on/fearing their fellow protohumans? It is the threats we face from our fellows that I think our primary in creating the necessity for cultural evolution.<BR/><BR/>Just as I imagine there must have been a sacrificial basis to the first sowing of wheat, I imagine the origin of language must be connected first of all to a new religious necessity, to the need for a new form of group bonding or organization.truepeershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16401984575637492845noreply@blogger.com