RhapsodomancyPoking here, and peeking there, like some walk-about cyber-piepowder... hoping for a hint... a chance slice of interesting topical pie. The last couple month of weeks has proven profitable as a scheme for words. But now? now? ... not so much. Could be the lack of fearless leader; and in it's Ra-less state, the Cant stable drifts. Jump now, dear reader. There is no topic, and the train of thought is more like Yeaworth's Blob. I have no practical excuse like those of my peers. Vacations? Babies? pah. I make a mark, scratch it twice, and pour some lead into the cracks. I become the flibbertigibbet.I've noticed that, over time, I've got l33t web search skills. I've certainly met others who are better than I am, but I'm always a little surprised when I receive praise for my web search abilities. Can I make those skills pay? Rack up thick bucks for finding just the page with the funky reference or two? No. Would I? No. Not really that interesting, at length. Sometimes, I find the truly funky, the odd, the bone quivering in the bowl of Jello... but mostly it's tedious. If my searching have borne interesting fruits, well, they're my gift to you. I often wonder if we're severely overestimating the intelligence of our ancestors. Now I'm not just saying our parents and grandparents, but farther back up the heritage road (if you run into Mr. Cro-Magnon, stop, turn around, you've gone to far). I'm talking the people who came before us, who's shoulders we stand on. Hell, rather than a direct descendant, make it society as a whole, so there's no personal comparison. You feel haughty, don't you. So much more civilized and fat-brained compared to those of 1901, or 1801, or even 801. Personally, it gets worse for me every year... Each time I find out that all those "tree hugger fantasies" where we believe that the early cultures lived at one with the Earth are the purest balderdash... it's another spike in my hand carved superiority complex. Every once in a while I turn around and waggle the mocking finger at my "primitive" ancestors. Yet do I have the right? Sure we've got stuff... phat silicon goodness... blinking twitching techno righteousness. But is it a crutch? We certainly haven't learned how to "think" better than anyone else, have we? Have we mastered how to "remember" in better ways? Can we crank through any mental maze faster than our predecessors? Or are we just as stupid, just equipped with better toys? Maybe, but I find little bits and pieces from time to time, and I hold them up with pride. I wave them at the passing cars with my handy primate hands. For instance, look at the various remakes of classic science fiction. Take The Day of the Triffids or The Thing from another World. The first makes of these classic books were trash. Cranked out for flash and fear, because science fiction was scifi (pronounced skiffy), all the rage, and just primed for the AUDIENCE OF THE FUTURE that was the 1950s. Then, a mere 30 years later we get remakes of both books that embrace all the science (which is a full 50% of "science fiction") of the original stories. If we've come that far in just 30 years, how much more righteous are we than those of 300 years ago? i,jasona References I didn't use (I just can't kick the habit): 1, 2, 3, and 4. |