David > Recent Status Updates

Just read his retelling of Xmas Carol and scrooge in light of living with purpose. this all had me thinking about groundhogs day movie when it got into happiness & fulfillment.

i think it would be hard to overstate how many horrible things have happened to Candide at this point - his teacher (who taught that this is the best of all possible worlds) killed, had to flee his home, thought his love and her brother were dead, found the brother alive but then set him off and killed him in reaction, etc.

'non-self'? a mind bender

So hard to imagine - being given to the church at age 8, then to be walled in, in a tiny space that you can't leave, and then to be there for 30 years before even a chance of getting out (well, except for the one chance she didn't take out of compassion for other young girls who were added to her space). When her magistra died, she manages to get out of the closed room and now is developing, still part of the church.

So many interesting examples of intelligent behavior from animals - are they understanding, comprehending, imagining things like we humans do? It sure seems at least possible, to a large extent, but the author knows we can't say for sure so is pretty clear to try to point out what we have figured out (the behavior) and what we haven't (the process that led to the behavior). I guess that's why the book has its title.

The last chapter (like much of the book) was interesting, trying to look at things on earth in a way an extraterrestrial might see them from afar (e.g. geologic features, radio wave activity, etc.), and then turn those things around to consider how we (well, scientists) on earth are trying to notice those features on distant planets orbiting other stars.

Interesting anecdotes about monkey and chimp behavior, including deception (ignoring buried fruit until able to go back alone to eat them) and solving problems not seen before with an apparent flash of insight (pointing out it was not learned, as from observation, but reasoned, e.g. realizing boxes could be stacked to reach a banana suspended up high).

always good reminders but a number of these we've done for years, like reading food labels.