As a kid, I had this reading interest. Already by age ten...I had an interest in history, geography, cultures, etc. I was lucky, this rural school I attended....had a decent library. It might have been on a twenty foot by forty foot room....but they had an ample amount of books. Added onto this, my mom would take me by the county library, which had a larger selection.
I never thought much about this interest or curiosity of mine...even after I left home and went off to the Air Force. They offered various training segments, instruction in odd things (assembling and disassembling rifles for example), bigger libraries, and I simply broadened out my prospective.
I had what you'd call autodidacticism. Autodidacticism is typically a behavior where you are self-educating yourself, proceeding through life with some instructors, or an entire lack of instructors. Autodidact people tend to pick and chose their interest. They are typically terrible students for the system used in most schools today.
An Autodidact kid might come up and shock you because he's actually interested in ancient Rome. He wants to know about the construction of the Colosseum.....it's intended purpose....how they operated....who came out for the events.....and how the Colosseum fits into the spiral of the Roman Empire. Naturally, 99-percent of high school teachers can't answer these questions. In fact....probably over 50-percent of college history professors....can't answer his request. This is the kid who reads forty books over the period in question....memorizes the names that matter....and has some poster over his bed of the Colosseum. At some point, the kid will grow up....travel to Rome, and stand in awe of the Colosseum for several hours.
Autodidacts tend to skip regular college because they really can't provide an adequate education. If they do attend college, you tend to notice that they may pick and choose various classes which don't fit to any major. For example, you might have some kid who picks two or three economic classes just to understand capitalism, it's history, and the logical anti-capitalist motivation. Beyond that, he has no other interest.
This is also the kid who might take a community college class on how to build a log cabin, but never actually go beyond that point or ever build a log cabin.
Education went through some odd periods. The Catholic Church picked up education and operated a number of instructional programs, and ended up starting the college system as we know of it today. Up until the mid-1800s....if you went to any US or European college program....what you found was a simplistic program built upon five central themes....debate, ancient history, Latin, philosophy, and theology). Engineering and science got added in the mid-to-late 1800s.
What you found a huge growth pattern upon in the 1800s were Autodidact people developing their interest....going out to study things on their own, and building a reputation as an expert.
You can find cases where people would travel for miles to hear so-and-so speak to some topic, or some expedition to Africa, or some new medical idea.
Oddly enough, if you peel away a lot of the Batman character displayed over the past twenty years....he's a Autodidact. He is self-taught to some degree, and using masters to provide an education in other areas.
The world ahead for the Autodidacts? That's an interesting topic. The internet basically offers this vast landscape to go and learn odd knowledge that was difficult in the past to gain. You can sit now via a YouTube lecture and get a two-hour lecture by some noted British professor from Cambridge on Roman war techniques. Or you could sit and hear a sixty-minute talk by some Japanese professor on herbal remedies that were commonly practiced in Japan's 1600s. Or you could hear some gifted guy talk about horse-shoe procedures and how they differ from one culture to another.
In some ways, we are opening up a vast door now for Autodidacts. They could go way beyond anything that we'd ever dreamed of.
Thursday, 12 October 2017
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
The Worry Story
The WattsUpWithThat crowd wrote up an interesting piece today....over a university study piece (by Chapman University)....studying 'fears' of people.
The study crowd says that climate change/global cooling.....really isn't high up on the list of fears by Americans. Shocker, eh?
In fact, more Americans believed and feared paranormal things (like ghosts)....more than climate change. I think if you did the same survey on Germans....it'd be the exact opposite.
On the top fears or worries for Americans? Number one: corruption of government bureaucrats. Amusingly enough....fear of Trumps reform of the Healthcare Act came up as number two on the fear list.
Fear of North Korean nukes? Way down as number nine. In fact, folks worried more about not having enough money (ranked five on the list).
I sat and pondered over the listing.
From the list of the top ten fears that most Americans showed fear over? I kinda have to admit that I don't sit around and worry much about any of these.
Oh, I worry about snakes if I'm in a snaky area and there's high grass. I worry about food poisoning if I'm at a questionable one-star restaurant. I don't worry much about ghosts, cannibals, meteors, wild dogs, or angry elephants. I do worry about nutcases who talk to themselves, Brahma bulls, driving in snow-storms, real Nazis (not the fake Nazis), and people who appear to have leprosy. I don't worry about meth-heads unless they seem totally out of control.
The problem I see with this survey business is that they aren't really going out into country settings and asking regular people about this stuff.
Most folks from where I grew up would hype up their worry over tornadoes, their car transmission failing, the county voting to go dry, their wife finding out about their mistress, the water heater failing, meth-heads, corrupt cops, and some Alabama governor making a play on their wife or girlfriend. Folks worrying about climate change? I doubt if it'd even make the top forty worries.
This worry discussion? I guess someone worries about what makes you worry.
The study crowd says that climate change/global cooling.....really isn't high up on the list of fears by Americans. Shocker, eh?
In fact, more Americans believed and feared paranormal things (like ghosts)....more than climate change. I think if you did the same survey on Germans....it'd be the exact opposite.
On the top fears or worries for Americans? Number one: corruption of government bureaucrats. Amusingly enough....fear of Trumps reform of the Healthcare Act came up as number two on the fear list.
Fear of North Korean nukes? Way down as number nine. In fact, folks worried more about not having enough money (ranked five on the list).
I sat and pondered over the listing.
From the list of the top ten fears that most Americans showed fear over? I kinda have to admit that I don't sit around and worry much about any of these.
Oh, I worry about snakes if I'm in a snaky area and there's high grass. I worry about food poisoning if I'm at a questionable one-star restaurant. I don't worry much about ghosts, cannibals, meteors, wild dogs, or angry elephants. I do worry about nutcases who talk to themselves, Brahma bulls, driving in snow-storms, real Nazis (not the fake Nazis), and people who appear to have leprosy. I don't worry about meth-heads unless they seem totally out of control.
The problem I see with this survey business is that they aren't really going out into country settings and asking regular people about this stuff.
Most folks from where I grew up would hype up their worry over tornadoes, their car transmission failing, the county voting to go dry, their wife finding out about their mistress, the water heater failing, meth-heads, corrupt cops, and some Alabama governor making a play on their wife or girlfriend. Folks worrying about climate change? I doubt if it'd even make the top forty worries.
This worry discussion? I guess someone worries about what makes you worry.
My Idea for a TV Show
I have this idea for a television script.....with all the fake reality being played out in politics today in America.
So, various people have threatened to leave the US....to mostly Canada....because of the Trump win.
My script idea is to take some guy, and his family (of course) and go through the Trump exit.
The guy would discover about ten minutes into the show that Canada won't accept him (some marijuana charge from the 1980s). Eventually, he'd settle on Costa Rica. The family would haul all of their belongings onto a 1982 school bus and drive down through Mexico.
Eventually, they'd arrive at the designated immigration point for Costa Rica....to discover the town that they are encouraged to settle into....is El Trump. There's some unease with dad as he discovers this.
The rest of the plot would revolve around the family discovering that secretly....each of them had some attraction to Trump-like thinking. At the end of the first season, they'd all stand and admit....they were Trump enthusiasts but just never knew it. And now, will they leave Costa Rica to return? Or will they bring Trump-enthusiasm to Costa Ricans?
So, various people have threatened to leave the US....to mostly Canada....because of the Trump win.
My script idea is to take some guy, and his family (of course) and go through the Trump exit.
The guy would discover about ten minutes into the show that Canada won't accept him (some marijuana charge from the 1980s). Eventually, he'd settle on Costa Rica. The family would haul all of their belongings onto a 1982 school bus and drive down through Mexico.
Eventually, they'd arrive at the designated immigration point for Costa Rica....to discover the town that they are encouraged to settle into....is El Trump. There's some unease with dad as he discovers this.
The rest of the plot would revolve around the family discovering that secretly....each of them had some attraction to Trump-like thinking. At the end of the first season, they'd all stand and admit....they were Trump enthusiasts but just never knew it. And now, will they leave Costa Rica to return? Or will they bring Trump-enthusiasm to Costa Ricans?
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
Murders and Numbers
2016 number of homicides (with any type of weapon, to include knives, hammers and axes) in the state of Alabama: 407
2016 number of homicides within the city of Birmingham and the county of Jefferson, Alabama: 151
2016 number of homicides within the city of Mobile, Alabama: 43
2016 number of homicides within Tuscaloosa, Alabama: 20
Yeah, More than half of the state's murders....came from one single county, and two urbanized cities.
2016 homicides in Utah? A total of 90 for the entire state. Of that, nine involved people shot by cops.
One of the 90 Utah homicides, actually was a woman who ran off a road....killed by a tree impact....with a vehicle repossession guy attempting to retake her vehicle.
So, when you see some journalist or intellectual try to talk about guns, and banning of guns....then you need to ask more questions...dig deeper into the whole story.
Have murders in Alabama really increased? You can go back to 1960, and find that 406 people murdered. In 1964, we actually got down to 316 for the state. Over the past seven years in Alabama? We actually averaged around 300 per year.
So, you get to the point of trying to write some script or law to remove automatic weapons. If you go down the list....from the 4,000-odd people on the Alabama homicide list....you might have saved five or six. If you'd banned knives? It'd be way over one-hundred....maybe going to two-hundred. Seems like you go for knives first, if you were logical about this.
2016 number of homicides within the city of Birmingham and the county of Jefferson, Alabama: 151
2016 number of homicides within the city of Mobile, Alabama: 43
2016 number of homicides within Tuscaloosa, Alabama: 20
Yeah, More than half of the state's murders....came from one single county, and two urbanized cities.
2016 homicides in Utah? A total of 90 for the entire state. Of that, nine involved people shot by cops.
One of the 90 Utah homicides, actually was a woman who ran off a road....killed by a tree impact....with a vehicle repossession guy attempting to retake her vehicle.
So, when you see some journalist or intellectual try to talk about guns, and banning of guns....then you need to ask more questions...dig deeper into the whole story.
Have murders in Alabama really increased? You can go back to 1960, and find that 406 people murdered. In 1964, we actually got down to 316 for the state. Over the past seven years in Alabama? We actually averaged around 300 per year.
So, you get to the point of trying to write some script or law to remove automatic weapons. If you go down the list....from the 4,000-odd people on the Alabama homicide list....you might have saved five or six. If you'd banned knives? It'd be way over one-hundred....maybe going to two-hundred. Seems like you go for knives first, if you were logical about this.
Sunday, 8 October 2017
Epic of Gilgamesh: Poem Three
If you follow my essays, this is a series of twelve pieces over the epic poem series of Gilgamesh...written over 4,000 years ago on some clay tablets and were stories told around the campfire there in Sumeria. I'd suggest that you go back two days ago and catch poem one before reading this one.
Today, we follow our two heroes, Gilgamesh (king of Uruk), and the rural backwoods guy Enkidu....who got civilized by a local harlot gal, and then took up a fight with Gilgamesh over some young brides.
In poem three, we find our two guys standing there in the rural court area of Uruk, with the senators or elders wanting to give Gilgamesh advice prior to this big journey. Not a lot is written over the advice....it's probably mostly words about not sipping booze or wine with folks you don't know....don't pick fights with bad-ass folks....and watch out for harlot-women along the trail.
At some point after this meeting....Gilgamesh decides to visit his momma....noted as Ninsun (sounds like Nissan but different). She was a Goddess, in absolute form.
Most folks tend to go back and look up the literal translation of Ninsun, and it tends to be the lady-in-charge-of-wild-cows.
Most guys sitting at the fire and listening to this....particularly from rural areas, would have this image burned into their mind over some sturdy and big-boned gal who tended the nut-case cows of some valley who'd go and chase guys down.
Anyway....Ninsun gave some advice as well to Gilgamesh. At this point, Ninsun think so highly of this friend of Gilgamesh....she makes him a son. There's not much written down over how Enkidu felt about accepted in the family...one has to assume it was accepted without much talk. That's how stoic guys are.
Then Gilgamesh hands out some words to the elders about how to run Uruk while he's gone. This is sparse in terms of what was said. One might suspect that he made sure they didn't do nothing stupid. Then, the boys leave for the big adventure.
End of poem three.
To be honest, I kinda think poem three is weak, but there was probably more made up with Ninsun, and her Goddess business.
Today, we follow our two heroes, Gilgamesh (king of Uruk), and the rural backwoods guy Enkidu....who got civilized by a local harlot gal, and then took up a fight with Gilgamesh over some young brides.
In poem three, we find our two guys standing there in the rural court area of Uruk, with the senators or elders wanting to give Gilgamesh advice prior to this big journey. Not a lot is written over the advice....it's probably mostly words about not sipping booze or wine with folks you don't know....don't pick fights with bad-ass folks....and watch out for harlot-women along the trail.
At some point after this meeting....Gilgamesh decides to visit his momma....noted as Ninsun (sounds like Nissan but different). She was a Goddess, in absolute form.
Most folks tend to go back and look up the literal translation of Ninsun, and it tends to be the lady-in-charge-of-wild-cows.
Most guys sitting at the fire and listening to this....particularly from rural areas, would have this image burned into their mind over some sturdy and big-boned gal who tended the nut-case cows of some valley who'd go and chase guys down.
Anyway....Ninsun gave some advice as well to Gilgamesh. At this point, Ninsun think so highly of this friend of Gilgamesh....she makes him a son. There's not much written down over how Enkidu felt about accepted in the family...one has to assume it was accepted without much talk. That's how stoic guys are.
Then Gilgamesh hands out some words to the elders about how to run Uruk while he's gone. This is sparse in terms of what was said. One might suspect that he made sure they didn't do nothing stupid. Then, the boys leave for the big adventure.
End of poem three.
To be honest, I kinda think poem three is weak, but there was probably more made up with Ninsun, and her Goddess business.
Epic of Gilgamesh: Poem Two
Part of my series on the ages old story of Gilgamesh (you need to go back a day or two to review poem one)....this is my rendering of poem number two (without the poetry stuff).
As we last left our three characters (Enkidu the unsophisticated rural guy, Gilgamesh the thug king, and Shamhat the harlot gal with slutty behavior).....Shamhat had just brought Enkidu into a camp of shepherds.
Naturally, most audience members listening into the story are a bit thrilled, because this is probably their chief occupation, and it's a bit thrilling for their craft to be mentioned in a story.
There on the first day in the camp....the shepherd guys are introducing Enkidu to the local refined food. It's safe to say....it was a bit gourmet-like in nature, probably very fatty/greasy, and the spices and pepper-usage were a bit too much for Enkidu. But he was never a guy to turn down a free buffet-dinner.
After a while, the shepherds have a vote and appoint Enkidu to the head position of night watch. To be honest, this is the worst job of a shepherd and Enkidu probably didn't grasp that until the end of the first shift.
As days passed.....one evening....some guy with no name (there's always that type of character in a Steinbeck novel)....comes passing by. A bit of conversation starts up between Enkidu and the stranger. Guys in this case typically talk about weather, sheep, women, and 'stuff'.
The stranger brings up a new topic though....Gilgamesh (the king) and his treatment of new brides. The talk gets hyped up and Enkidu is all disturbed that such guy is taking advantage of these fine women.
In a flash, without much thinking....Enkidu decides to take off to Uruk.
To be honest, Enkidu wasn't much of a traveler....probably had no idea where Uruk was located....and didn't have a map or compass.
No one says much over days or weeks passing....that part of the poem that just leaves this out. We an assume that it took more than a day or two.
So our hero....Enkidu arrives at this capital city and plants himself at the entrance of a wedding chamber. As Gilgamesh prances up to the doorway.....he finds Enkidu blocking the door. It's a bit of a shocker. Typically....no one ever blocks doorways in the kingdom.
A fierce fight erupts. The poem doesn't really give this much coverage. It ought to have been a sixty-line moment, and a lot of fist-to-fist coverage spoken about.
What we can say is a pretty good fight occurs, and there's a pause....mostly because both are tired-out and not able to fight much more.
Enkidu notes that Gilgamesh was fairly strong. Both guys admire each other....a bit of sweat has fallen off each other. Gilgamesh says that he Enkidu ought to be friends. Note, he didn't say 'special friends'....just that they could hang out with each other.
Gilgamesh talks up this epic adventure idea....going off to the Cedar Forest. Enkidu asks what's big about this Cedar Forest, and Gilgamesh responds that there is this monster called Humbaba (some kind of monster demi-God). If they together were to defeat Humbaba....legends would be told over both.
Enkidu looks over this talk and the Humbaba creature, and he kinda thinks this ain't very smart. He's advising Gilgamesh against this idea. Some old guys in the Kingdom....mostly Senator-types (like Senator McCain) also note that they don't think this hunting down Humbaba idea is that smart.
Gilgamesh is not to be deterred and our dynamic duo run off in search of the Humbaba.
End of Poem Two.
It should be noted that there's almost no mention of the Shamhat gal (the slutty gal training Enkidu in poem two), and there's never a name given to the newly married gal that Enkidu saved from Gilgamesh. It should also be noted that no mention of the stranger's name who suggested this adventure to Enkidu was mentioned.....or if he had a limp or any warts. The party down at the Shepherd camp? The alcohol consumed at the camp? Well....it's best not to mention that part, I guess.
As we last left our three characters (Enkidu the unsophisticated rural guy, Gilgamesh the thug king, and Shamhat the harlot gal with slutty behavior).....Shamhat had just brought Enkidu into a camp of shepherds.
Naturally, most audience members listening into the story are a bit thrilled, because this is probably their chief occupation, and it's a bit thrilling for their craft to be mentioned in a story.
There on the first day in the camp....the shepherd guys are introducing Enkidu to the local refined food. It's safe to say....it was a bit gourmet-like in nature, probably very fatty/greasy, and the spices and pepper-usage were a bit too much for Enkidu. But he was never a guy to turn down a free buffet-dinner.
After a while, the shepherds have a vote and appoint Enkidu to the head position of night watch. To be honest, this is the worst job of a shepherd and Enkidu probably didn't grasp that until the end of the first shift.
As days passed.....one evening....some guy with no name (there's always that type of character in a Steinbeck novel)....comes passing by. A bit of conversation starts up between Enkidu and the stranger. Guys in this case typically talk about weather, sheep, women, and 'stuff'.
The stranger brings up a new topic though....Gilgamesh (the king) and his treatment of new brides. The talk gets hyped up and Enkidu is all disturbed that such guy is taking advantage of these fine women.
In a flash, without much thinking....Enkidu decides to take off to Uruk.
To be honest, Enkidu wasn't much of a traveler....probably had no idea where Uruk was located....and didn't have a map or compass.
No one says much over days or weeks passing....that part of the poem that just leaves this out. We an assume that it took more than a day or two.
So our hero....Enkidu arrives at this capital city and plants himself at the entrance of a wedding chamber. As Gilgamesh prances up to the doorway.....he finds Enkidu blocking the door. It's a bit of a shocker. Typically....no one ever blocks doorways in the kingdom.
A fierce fight erupts. The poem doesn't really give this much coverage. It ought to have been a sixty-line moment, and a lot of fist-to-fist coverage spoken about.
What we can say is a pretty good fight occurs, and there's a pause....mostly because both are tired-out and not able to fight much more.
Enkidu notes that Gilgamesh was fairly strong. Both guys admire each other....a bit of sweat has fallen off each other. Gilgamesh says that he Enkidu ought to be friends. Note, he didn't say 'special friends'....just that they could hang out with each other.
Gilgamesh talks up this epic adventure idea....going off to the Cedar Forest. Enkidu asks what's big about this Cedar Forest, and Gilgamesh responds that there is this monster called Humbaba (some kind of monster demi-God). If they together were to defeat Humbaba....legends would be told over both.
Enkidu looks over this talk and the Humbaba creature, and he kinda thinks this ain't very smart. He's advising Gilgamesh against this idea. Some old guys in the Kingdom....mostly Senator-types (like Senator McCain) also note that they don't think this hunting down Humbaba idea is that smart.
Gilgamesh is not to be deterred and our dynamic duo run off in search of the Humbaba.
End of Poem Two.
It should be noted that there's almost no mention of the Shamhat gal (the slutty gal training Enkidu in poem two), and there's never a name given to the newly married gal that Enkidu saved from Gilgamesh. It should also be noted that no mention of the stranger's name who suggested this adventure to Enkidu was mentioned.....or if he had a limp or any warts. The party down at the Shepherd camp? The alcohol consumed at the camp? Well....it's best not to mention that part, I guess.
The Campus Story
It's page three news and begs questions....but it came up in the past week with the University of Missouri putting out a list of instructions on how to run or host on-campus events for the general student population.
In the middle of the guidelines....they 'nudge' the students to some degree and suggest that you (the students) ought to ask yourself...."If my event is potentially triggering, have I consulted with someone from the counseling center?"
Then it asks students...is this event of such a harsh thing for your lifestyle or mental side.....should you go ahead and have a counselor present to help you make it?
Finally, the university asks in a simple way....do you know where your 'safe' space is located? It kinda reminded me of the Air Force days when you had to know your storm shelter, and that some Major might run up to you and try to test you on where the nearest tornado shelter was located.
In some ways, the university is admitting that the kids attending now (over the age of eighteen) are not mature enough or capable enough to make rational decisions, or interpret data that you hand out.
Then you look over at this counselor business. With a campus of 20,000 students....how many counselors would require? Three-hundred? Five-hundred? If Dalton-the-student did call you up and state some personal emergency over at the campus cafeteria....that they were out of vegan-food, how would you prioritize your arrival? Be there in six minutes? Expect me in sixteen minutes? Or would you just advise Dalton over the phone that jello is a good substitute?
If these kids are this immature....can you even allow them to buy a six-pack of beer? Or to purchase a pack of Marlboros? Could you even trust the kid to handle condoms or date some slutty gal from out-of-state?
It seems like to me the answer here is simple. You need to pause kids at 18, upon graduation from high school, and force them to get a job in the real world....waiting for a year before going off to college. Maybe even two years of waiting. Perhaps they ought to even consider developing an Army boot-camp system where you go through twelve weeks of intense training to bring your maturity level up two or three notches.
The atmosphere up at Missouri? It makes me curious if they have some kind of maturity problem across the state and got a bunch of kids pretending to be eighteen-years-old, when their behavior level appears to be 12-years-old.
It's a pretty bad situation when a campus leadership position is there to suggest you can't handle reality but we'll accept you on campus anyway.
In the middle of the guidelines....they 'nudge' the students to some degree and suggest that you (the students) ought to ask yourself...."If my event is potentially triggering, have I consulted with someone from the counseling center?"
Then it asks students...is this event of such a harsh thing for your lifestyle or mental side.....should you go ahead and have a counselor present to help you make it?
Finally, the university asks in a simple way....do you know where your 'safe' space is located? It kinda reminded me of the Air Force days when you had to know your storm shelter, and that some Major might run up to you and try to test you on where the nearest tornado shelter was located.
In some ways, the university is admitting that the kids attending now (over the age of eighteen) are not mature enough or capable enough to make rational decisions, or interpret data that you hand out.
Then you look over at this counselor business. With a campus of 20,000 students....how many counselors would require? Three-hundred? Five-hundred? If Dalton-the-student did call you up and state some personal emergency over at the campus cafeteria....that they were out of vegan-food, how would you prioritize your arrival? Be there in six minutes? Expect me in sixteen minutes? Or would you just advise Dalton over the phone that jello is a good substitute?
If these kids are this immature....can you even allow them to buy a six-pack of beer? Or to purchase a pack of Marlboros? Could you even trust the kid to handle condoms or date some slutty gal from out-of-state?
It seems like to me the answer here is simple. You need to pause kids at 18, upon graduation from high school, and force them to get a job in the real world....waiting for a year before going off to college. Maybe even two years of waiting. Perhaps they ought to even consider developing an Army boot-camp system where you go through twelve weeks of intense training to bring your maturity level up two or three notches.
The atmosphere up at Missouri? It makes me curious if they have some kind of maturity problem across the state and got a bunch of kids pretending to be eighteen-years-old, when their behavior level appears to be 12-years-old.
It's a pretty bad situation when a campus leadership position is there to suggest you can't handle reality but we'll accept you on campus anyway.
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