There is no debating someone that states life is too short for difficult books, because the statement is not an honest invitation to an engaged discussion. It's an excuse spat out by someone that realises that they are incapable of enjoying the sort of books that they think they should be able to, given their intelligence. So rather than lower their estimation of their intelligence, or admit their laziness, they throw out some half-baked statement about what a waste of time difficult books are. It's like being dumped by your bestest school friend and then shouting over the play ground 'well I never liked being your friend any ways!'.
I get being too lazy to read difficult books. I belong to book club of quite intelligent people, but we all have jobs and small children and homes and elderly parents to take care of, and we've all realised that we neither have the uninterrupted time available to read longer books nor the energy to engage with really difficult ones. Both long and difficult? Just. not. going. to. happen. So most of our books are of the 'enjoyable read with some stimulation to the brain' variety and we know that one day we'll return to the Umberto Ecos. But we're honest about it.
As for the big love of sentimentality... I get it. There is so much ugly in the world into which the 24/7 news cycle and social media relentlessly bombardes us without possibility of escape, that we just crave these little moments of positivity and prettiness, even at risk of diabetes.
Yesterday I was standing in a parking lot to pay my R10 parking fee. I only had coins and R100 notes, but the station would only accept notes in R10, R20 and R50 denominations. Still frustratedly fiddling around thinking where I was going to walk to to get change, the stranger next to me sticks a R10 note in the machine and hands me my payed-for parking ticket. I insisted on repaying him with my coins, but he had no such expectation. I mean, this is only R10, can't even buy a chocolate bar with it, but living in a world where small-minded confrontation and the inability to compromise just the smallest little bit seems to have become the norm, it was just such a beautiful little gesture - it's been feeding my heart like water poured on a neglected, dry pot plant. I'll be savouring that incident the entire week.
Speaking to family that had emigrated to Australia ten years ago, they were complaining bitterly about the useless politicians they are stuck with, politicians that spend their time nitpicking about nonsense issues.
I was rather amused with the scenario of an ex-South African in Australian complaining to those back home about the ineptitude of Australian politicians - especially given the political drama that South Africa has been through in the last 12 months (I wouldn't expect Americans be aware of our dramas, but I do expect ex-South Africans to have a least a clue).
So in answer I commented that politicians that nitpick about inanities is a sign of a country well-run; all the important issues are sorted, so they have to distinguish themselves by making a fuss of little things in order to gain attention.
I did not say that none of these people ingested carcinogens. I said, or meant to say but perhaps it didn't come across clearly, that many/most of these people made quite respectable life style choices and still got cancer.
Certainly I agree that our environment is more carcinogenic than what it used to be. But we don't have much control over much of that environment. I'm talking about people feeling that wise life style choices will keep them from getting cancer. There is no such guarantee because most cancer (I agree, not all) is caused by environmental, genetic and random mutational factors that you have no control over.
As an aside, part of the reason why we see higher levels of cancer today compared with before is that you have to die of something and we've sorted out many of the other reasons people used to die of before - pneumonia, for instance. But I accept fully that this is only part of the story
Years ago I worked at a large Danish IT company, where the HR manager was sacked because she tried to enforce these sort of caste markers.
The company owner's office was distinguishable only by the fact that he had an office of his own (most of us shared an office between two or perhaps three people), it was larger since it had a table and a few chairs for private discussions, and a photo on his desk of him having a chat with Bill Gates.
That was my introduction to the Scandinavian distaste for in-your-face status displays.
I find few things as uplifiting as baroque music. Once got caught in creeping traffic on the highway in a tremendous thunderstorm - with the Brandenburg Concertos playing on the radio. Rain lashing down and thunder. Absolutely envigorating.
In this subthread, some posts refer to 'twins', others to 'identical twins'. Is this perhaps the reason for your misunderstanding each other?
From a quick google it seems like the cases where identical twins have different eye colour is very very rare, not close to 25%, and this could easily be because of de novo somatic mutations. Which still makes it 100% genetic, no?
I'm just so convinced that the childless/childfree people reading this are going WTFFF?? :-)
To get to what you asked; what you described was very much my experience when our two were that age. Our two boys are now 6 1/2 and 7, and it's so weird how by now you can just leave them with the other kids and ... it's ok. It's really ok. They sort it out themselves, for the most part. They've figured out amongst their peers what fair play is, they know how to be nice to smaller children, you can let them be. Sortof. I mean you keep an eye but it's not the constant monitoring that you describe.
And I tend to forget that just a few years ago, when they were 3 1/2 and 4, and even 4 1/2 and 5, I had to fret like this over every second of their play time. No; I fretted like this over every second of their day.
So just one thing to keep in mind when you talk to people about their opinions on this sort of thing; don't trust their memories; parents with teenage children, or adults remembering their own childhoods, will say in the days of yore kids weren't watched and coddled like this and this is just modern parents being moderns parents and all; but it's just a question of them forgetting. They simply forget how it was when their children were really small and a single shove from a swing could have caused permanent brain damage. They can't remember it.
Assumptions of racial superiority was of course inseperable from apartheid, and both Afrikaans and English South Africans were very aware of being European and thus part of a larger 'superiour' race. But a deep-seated fear of loosing land an life and limb was the fundamental emotional driving force behind the system. White South Africa was living in constant fear of the black masses, from the day Jan van Riebeeck set his foot at the Cape of Good Hope until the Codesa negotiations.
South African white-on-black relationships should not really be compared with white-on-black relationships in America. It is more appropriate to compare with white-on-Native American relationships, except that the cowboys lost.
Imagine 1950's America with a 70% Native American population, and a 10% ex-slave African American population. Combine such statistics with the ideas of racial superiority prevelant in the USA at the time, then add the fear of communism given the ideology's influence on anti-collonialist movements during those decades - and it would have been interesting to see what would have become of the Civil Rights movement.
Citizens may not vote on going to war, but they do have opinions on whether interventions are justified or not - which is the context in which this issue was raised.
In any case, I'm not happy giving the citizens in a democracy a total free pass regarding the actions of their governments.
I feel there's even a case to be made (perhaps not a very strong case, but a case nevertheless) that there is no such thing as an 'innocent citizen' in a democracy. Citizens can't declare themselves innocent of the military actions taken by the government they've voted into power.
If you were ever to plan a visit to South Africa, I'd be more than happy to help out where I can. Even if it's only a lift from the airport or some travel info, tips and contacts. Exchange rate is in your favour!
Is your friend from Cape Town? Cape Town does remind of San Francisco, which is the only bit of California I've seen. I'm from Pretoria and well, hm, it's... not Cape Town, sadly. But it is the access city to many nice game reserves, so may the invitation entice you to go from ambition to action :-)
I'm one of the 15. This is my second or perhaps third comment, and one of the others I deleted after posting. One does feel a bit like intruding on a conversation between close acquaintances :-)
I discovered OT via The Daily Dish - it's been just over a year since Andrew has disappeared, I'm still in mourning. This site is the only place I can find that creates sortof the same intellectual environment. I enjoy the political posts, as politics are never just about politics but also about morality, and society, and economics, and all kinds of other interesting subjects. But as a non-American I especially appreciate the non-political posts.
I even discovered a post about Afrikaners - and even one that didn't say anything bad about us!
The big issues surrounding the American education system seem to arise because no one can agree on what the point or purpose of receiving an education is
Perhaps the issue exists at a more fundamental level; no one can agree on what the point or purpose of an individual's existence is. Personal fulfillment? Economic success? Advancing in social class? Contribution to a growing economy? Establishment of deep and meaningful relationships? Extending the knowledge of mankind?
Now a society can't function if the average individual can't at least feed, clothe and house himself. So educating its citizens to the level where they can at least get minimum wage employment is a sensible minimum goal for goventment education that I guess everyone could agree on.
But I think the arguments for what the "point or purpose" of education should be beyond that level are motivated from very personal value systems.
In a science blog I frequent, one commentator recently expressed deep disappointment that his six year old daughter seems interested only in the sort of things normal six year old girls are interested in, and not in anything sciency. One gets the impression he wishes he and his wife could have another go at the genetic dice, as between them they really should be able to do better than producing just a normal child.
This man's ideas of what his child's education should provide will be informed by his basic belief of why he brought a child into the world in the first place.
Apologies. I lurk here and judged the original post a bit presumptuous. It was only up for a minute or two. Didn't think anyone even had even noticed ;-)
People complain because men don't take on more child care responsiblities for their *own* children. The entire point of this article is the concern people have when men show interest in children *not* their own (check the wording in the OP). Which I also find very sad and disturbing, but it's got nothing to do with men shirking their responsiblities for their own offspring. Totally different and unrelated issues.
Just to concur with the PTSD comment. My mother is a therapist with more than a decade's experience of working with PTSD clients. A few years ago, she adopted a resque cat that had an unknown, but obviously troubled, background. For one, it was obvious that the tail had been broken as a kitten.
My mom says the physical manefestations of PTSD were obvious - with no intent of hyperbole or anthropomorphism. For instance, he would get very nervous whenever he realised that he was in a closed room without a manner of escape. Even without any reason why he'd need to escape at that point. Or he'd switch in a moment between being happy and content to being totally freaked out, triggered by some innocuous movement or sound.
It was great to see him come around over the years. The only cat I've ever known to consistently come when his owner called him.
A fundamental ethical difference between equestrian sports (not just horse racing) and other sports, though, is that the participants are not in a position to choose for themselves whether they're willing to compromise their long term health for the benefits of sports success and fame.
On “Sunday Morning: Stardust”
There is no debating someone that states life is too short for difficult books, because the statement is not an honest invitation to an engaged discussion. It's an excuse spat out by someone that realises that they are incapable of enjoying the sort of books that they think they should be able to, given their intelligence. So rather than lower their estimation of their intelligence, or admit their laziness, they throw out some half-baked statement about what a waste of time difficult books are. It's like being dumped by your bestest school friend and then shouting over the play ground 'well I never liked being your friend any ways!'.
I get being too lazy to read difficult books. I belong to book club of quite intelligent people, but we all have jobs and small children and homes and elderly parents to take care of, and we've all realised that we neither have the uninterrupted time available to read longer books nor the energy to engage with really difficult ones. Both long and difficult? Just. not. going. to. happen. So most of our books are of the 'enjoyable read with some stimulation to the brain' variety and we know that one day we'll return to the Umberto Ecos. But we're honest about it.
As for the big love of sentimentality... I get it. There is so much ugly in the world into which the 24/7 news cycle and social media relentlessly bombardes us without possibility of escape, that we just crave these little moments of positivity and prettiness, even at risk of diabetes.
Yesterday I was standing in a parking lot to pay my R10 parking fee. I only had coins and R100 notes, but the station would only accept notes in R10, R20 and R50 denominations. Still frustratedly fiddling around thinking where I was going to walk to to get change, the stranger next to me sticks a R10 note in the machine and hands me my payed-for parking ticket. I insisted on repaying him with my coins, but he had no such expectation. I mean, this is only R10, can't even buy a chocolate bar with it, but living in a world where small-minded confrontation and the inability to compromise just the smallest little bit seems to have become the norm, it was just such a beautiful little gesture - it's been feeding my heart like water poured on a neglected, dry pot plant. I'll be savouring that incident the entire week.
On “Not Fit For Humans”
that was good, very good
On “The Revolving Door of Australian Prime Ministers”
This. Absolutely this.
Speaking to family that had emigrated to Australia ten years ago, they were complaining bitterly about the useless politicians they are stuck with, politicians that spend their time nitpicking about nonsense issues.
I was rather amused with the scenario of an ex-South African in Australian complaining to those back home about the ineptitude of Australian politicians - especially given the political drama that South Africa has been through in the last 12 months (I wouldn't expect Americans be aware of our dramas, but I do expect ex-South Africans to have a least a clue).
So in answer I commented that politicians that nitpick about inanities is a sign of a country well-run; all the important issues are sorted, so they have to distinguish themselves by making a fuss of little things in order to gain attention.
On “Social Science and Fiction Part 0: Invitation”
Wow Chip, those are absolutely gorgeous.
On “Morning Ed: Family {2018.06.01.F}”
Just to say this is a hard-hitting comment. And well-written. Thanks.
On “Policing the Predators”
For all its problems, South Africa doesn't have trial by jury. I have been happy about this many times for exactly this type of scenario.
On “Morning Ed: Health {2017.03.27.M}”
I did not say that none of these people ingested carcinogens. I said, or meant to say but perhaps it didn't come across clearly, that many/most of these people made quite respectable life style choices and still got cancer.
Certainly I agree that our environment is more carcinogenic than what it used to be. But we don't have much control over much of that environment. I'm talking about people feeling that wise life style choices will keep them from getting cancer. There is no such guarantee because most cancer (I agree, not all) is caused by environmental, genetic and random mutational factors that you have no control over.
As an aside, part of the reason why we see higher levels of cancer today compared with before is that you have to die of something and we've sorted out many of the other reasons people used to die of before - pneumonia, for instance. But I accept fully that this is only part of the story
On “Nameless”
Years ago I worked at a large Danish IT company, where the HR manager was sacked because she tried to enforce these sort of caste markers.
The company owner's office was distinguishable only by the fact that he had an office of his own (most of us shared an office between two or perhaps three people), it was larger since it had a table and a few chairs for private discussions, and a photo on his desk of him having a chat with Bill Gates.
That was my introduction to the Scandinavian distaste for in-your-face status displays.
On “Heavenly!”
Heavenly indeed.
I find few things as uplifiting as baroque music. Once got caught in creeping traffic on the highway in a tremendous thunderstorm - with the Brandenburg Concertos playing on the radio. Rain lashing down and thunder. Absolutely envigorating.
On “The New Atlantis’ Contentious Report on LGBT Issues”
In this subthread, some posts refer to 'twins', others to 'identical twins'. Is this perhaps the reason for your misunderstanding each other?
From a quick google it seems like the cases where identical twins have different eye colour is very very rare, not close to 25%, and this could easily be because of de novo somatic mutations. Which still makes it 100% genetic, no?
On “Old School at a New Park”
I'm just so convinced that the childless/childfree people reading this are going WTFFF?? :-)
To get to what you asked; what you described was very much my experience when our two were that age. Our two boys are now 6 1/2 and 7, and it's so weird how by now you can just leave them with the other kids and ... it's ok. It's really ok. They sort it out themselves, for the most part. They've figured out amongst their peers what fair play is, they know how to be nice to smaller children, you can let them be. Sortof. I mean you keep an eye but it's not the constant monitoring that you describe.
And I tend to forget that just a few years ago, when they were 3 1/2 and 4, and even 4 1/2 and 5, I had to fret like this over every second of their play time. No; I fretted like this over every second of their day.
So just one thing to keep in mind when you talk to people about their opinions on this sort of thing; don't trust their memories; parents with teenage children, or adults remembering their own childhoods, will say in the days of yore kids weren't watched and coddled like this and this is just modern parents being moderns parents and all; but it's just a question of them forgetting. They simply forget how it was when their children were really small and a single shove from a swing could have caused permanent brain damage. They can't remember it.
On “Gypsy Blancharde Is In Jail For Killing Her Mother”
Agreed
On “Is There an Alt Left?”
Assumptions of racial superiority was of course inseperable from apartheid, and both Afrikaans and English South Africans were very aware of being European and thus part of a larger 'superiour' race. But a deep-seated fear of loosing land an life and limb was the fundamental emotional driving force behind the system. White South Africa was living in constant fear of the black masses, from the day Jan van Riebeeck set his foot at the Cape of Good Hope until the Codesa negotiations.
South African white-on-black relationships should not really be compared with white-on-black relationships in America. It is more appropriate to compare with white-on-Native American relationships, except that the cowboys lost.
Imagine 1950's America with a 70% Native American population, and a 10% ex-slave African American population. Combine such statistics with the ideas of racial superiority prevelant in the USA at the time, then add the fear of communism given the ideology's influence on anti-collonialist movements during those decades - and it would have been interesting to see what would have become of the Civil Rights movement.
On “What Tech is Indispensable for You?”
If it weren't for the 'in your lifetime' provision, reliable birth control would have been right up there. I'd pick birth control before electricity.
It's scary to think I only made it by just more than a decade. 1960 is really not that long ago.
On “The Heaviness of Just War | USIH”
Citizens may not vote on going to war, but they do have opinions on whether interventions are justified or not - which is the context in which this issue was raised.
In any case, I'm not happy giving the citizens in a democracy a total free pass regarding the actions of their governments.
I feel there's even a case to be made (perhaps not a very strong case, but a case nevertheless) that there is no such thing as an 'innocent citizen' in a democracy. Citizens can't declare themselves innocent of the military actions taken by the government they've voted into power.
On “Ordinary Times Wants You!”
If you were ever to plan a visit to South Africa, I'd be more than happy to help out where I can. Even if it's only a lift from the airport or some travel info, tips and contacts. Exchange rate is in your favour!
Is your friend from Cape Town? Cape Town does remind of San Francisco, which is the only bit of California I've seen. I'm from Pretoria and well, hm, it's... not Cape Town, sadly. But it is the access city to many nice game reserves, so may the invitation entice you to go from ambition to action :-)
"
I'm one of the 15. This is my second or perhaps third comment, and one of the others I deleted after posting. One does feel a bit like intruding on a conversation between close acquaintances :-)
I discovered OT via The Daily Dish - it's been just over a year since Andrew has disappeared, I'm still in mourning. This site is the only place I can find that creates sortof the same intellectual environment. I enjoy the political posts, as politics are never just about politics but also about morality, and society, and economics, and all kinds of other interesting subjects. But as a non-American I especially appreciate the non-political posts.
I even discovered a post about Afrikaners - and even one that didn't say anything bad about us!
On “American Disparate Education”
Perhaps the issue exists at a more fundamental level; no one can agree on what the point or purpose of an individual's existence is. Personal fulfillment? Economic success? Advancing in social class? Contribution to a growing economy? Establishment of deep and meaningful relationships? Extending the knowledge of mankind?
Now a society can't function if the average individual can't at least feed, clothe and house himself. So educating its citizens to the level where they can at least get minimum wage employment is a sensible minimum goal for goventment education that I guess everyone could agree on.
But I think the arguments for what the "point or purpose" of education should be beyond that level are motivated from very personal value systems.
In a science blog I frequent, one commentator recently expressed deep disappointment that his six year old daughter seems interested only in the sort of things normal six year old girls are interested in, and not in anything sciency. One gets the impression he wishes he and his wife could have another go at the genetic dice, as between them they really should be able to do better than producing just a normal child.
This man's ideas of what his child's education should provide will be informed by his basic belief of why he brought a child into the world in the first place.
On “Return to Qatar: A Second Qatari Travelogue”
Apologies. I lurk here and judged the original post a bit presumptuous. It was only up for a minute or two. Didn't think anyone even had even noticed ;-)
"
Very apropos.
On “Sex, Computers, & Auxiliary Mothers”
People complain because men don't take on more child care responsiblities for their *own* children. The entire point of this article is the concern people have when men show interest in children *not* their own (check the wording in the OP). Which I also find very sad and disturbing, but it's got nothing to do with men shirking their responsiblities for their own offspring. Totally different and unrelated issues.
On “Prime Minister ’15: Phase One (Nominations)”
Elon Musk was born and raised in South Africa and is currently a Canadian citizen, according to Wikipedia.
On “Weekend!”
Just to concur with the PTSD comment. My mother is a therapist with more than a decade's experience of working with PTSD clients. A few years ago, she adopted a resque cat that had an unknown, but obviously troubled, background. For one, it was obvious that the tail had been broken as a kitten.
My mom says the physical manefestations of PTSD were obvious - with no intent of hyperbole or anthropomorphism. For instance, he would get very nervous whenever he realised that he was in a closed room without a manner of escape. Even without any reason why he'd need to escape at that point. Or he'd switch in a moment between being happy and content to being totally freaked out, triggered by some innocuous movement or sound.
It was great to see him come around over the years. The only cat I've ever known to consistently come when his owner called him.
On “American Pharoah and the Moral Dilemma of Horse Racing”
A fundamental ethical difference between equestrian sports (not just horse racing) and other sports, though, is that the participants are not in a position to choose for themselves whether they're willing to compromise their long term health for the benefits of sports success and fame.
On “Why “I believe vaccinations are good but shouldn’t be mandatory” isn’t as neutral as it sounds”
I'm a lurker at OG, but for once I feel the need to post something in support of a comment. This is a really sensible post.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.