This is an interesting theory I just bumped into wandering through the affiliated links of a Google Search. Since I am on this road I may as well see where it leads.
“A behavioral cusp is any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequences… A behavioral cusp is a special type of behavior change because it provides the learner with opportunities to access (1) new reinforcers, (2) new contingencies (3) new environments, (4) new related behaviors (generativeness …), (5) competition with archaic or problem behaviors, and it (6) impacts the people around the learner, and (7) these people agree to the behavior change and support its development after the intervention is removed. The concept has far reaching implication for every individual, and for the field of developmental psychology, because it provides a behavioral alternative to the concept of maturation and change due to the simple passage of time, such as developmental milestones. The cusp is a behavior change that presents special features when compared to other behavior changes.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_Cusp
This Wiki description sounds like a bit or at least several bytes of gobbledygook except the part explaining the behavioral cusp is somehow in and of itself a specific behavior change (a behavior out of the ordinary?) that introduces new contingencies that have subsequent far-reaching consequences on future behavior. I am less interested in what these cusps are than I am in the fact that they are Ah-Ha or DOH moments; some conscious, others unconscious. The entire balance of the definition seems rather obvious and even redundant in that we are dealing with a cusp (synonyms: acme, apogee, climax, crest, crown, culmination, cusp , greatest, height, max, maximum, meridian, most*, ne plus ultra, peak, pinnacle, point, roof, spire, sublimity, summit, tip, tops, up there, vertex or zenith - ( http://thesaurus.com/browse/cusp ) and not a nadir. I do not choose to deal with the specificity of the developmental psychology side of this phenomenon.
Bringing this back to earth: behavioral cusps occurred when I disobeyed my father and was caught rather than when I disobeyed him and did not get caught which was always quite an apogee in its own right. Getting away with something was exhilarating beyond belief and lead to repetition; hopefully, not to the extent that I was caught but enough to feel a smug satisfaction that it could be done. For long stretches of my adolescent life it simply was not possible to pull one over on the old man. He gave me the first real life description of been there, done that; or his sister Gladys did because it was her that set things straight.
I am guessing that neither Herm nor Gladys were the perfect children and frequently tried to get away with things. From what Gladys said they were not always successful. Since the apple does not fall far from the tree the Behavioral Cusp that I experienced was that eventually luck runs out.
In many ways this was life changing for me because I found the only successful Behavioral Cusp was to move out of the house. The thought was not entirely mine and dad changing the locks insured that the new reinforcers, enforcers, contingencies or environment would not be ones he provided. I was left to find my own way.
I am still looking.
© stevendphilbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/29/2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect?
.
How did we get here? The power to be unpredictable; “there is a strange and unexpected relationship between order and chaos…” a direct quote from a BBC series “The Secret Life of Chaos” begs the question is it mathematically plausible? Patterns that remain hidden from most of us are obvious to a select few is the premise of today’s blog.
I now have to add a new book to review and internalize: Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. Turing spent a great deal of time immersed in the enigma of Bletchley Park during WWII. Other scientists that followed had discoveries that complemented theories of Turing a genius who saw patterns when others saw none.
Morphogenesis – from the same to different; a self organization: how and why? It happens in life as it forms from a single cell and it is happening constantly all around us. A definition of morphogenesis gives us clues: n. Formation of the structure of an organism or part; differentiation and growth of tissues and organs during development. Is there really a simple mathematical basis for this living process? Is there some morphogenic rule that dominates and governs the formation of all organisms and systems? From the few, many.
Further investigation is required:
Alan Turing seems in many ways like Nikola Tesla; neither man completely understood all of what they proposed or investigated but each seemed to have an innate understanding that escapes detection or in fact is not understood. Great thinkers have the talent for discovery that goes beyond simple insight. They see the patterns or deeper relationships that govern things. These relationships are the why and the what of the way things are. To these savants what appears complicated is quite simple; they are hypersensitive to the complex interconnectivity of things.
Turing and Tesla experienced tragedy and disasters that ended their contributions to science. If circumstances had been different for both it is possible that our understanding might be closer to what we still seek. Structures, shapes and systems out of a morphogenic self organization of the seemingly unrelated are the basis of a predictability of science and creation we search for but still not have fully discovered. Although man has stumbled and been slowed down by setbacks like these and an over reliance on other specific theories as universal it will not stop the progress toward answers and resolutions.
With mathematics we expect and demand predictability. From 3 of 6 “The Secret Life of Chaos”: “a system that is completely described by mathematical equations is more than capable of being unpredictable without any outside interference whatsoever.” Although this might be thought to throw a monkey wrench into the works, if the theory is correct, it helps explain rogue waves and other anomalies that have no apparent rhyme or reason. It is possibly due to the fact that what we think was completely described by mathematical formulas had a few things missing from the calculations. Possibly “The Butterfly Effect” is a concrete fact that affects systems to give such ‘random’ unexpected results.
“The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely that small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position. The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect)
There is a hitch in the giddy up of the progression of this BBC presentation and to go further along it is necessary to switch over to the “3 of 7” progression (instead of the “3 of 6”) of the links at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyTs0yYKXZI&NR=1 (ad infinitum).
Order and chaos are so deeply intertwined that it is almost beyond our comprehension; to the point that chaos is the true natural relationship of things instead of ordered patterns. We need to stop trying to concentrate on the few patterns that we see reflected in our interpretation and measurement of things as the “be all end all”. Life is one huge feedback loop, a picture within a picture within a picture as small changes are radically amplified to demonstrate the ‘Butterfly Effect’ so the seeming chaos that emerges is not really chaos at all. It is the natural order of things. Because of morphology and self organization the chaos that emerges transmutes into the patterns we eventually observe. The patterns and the chaos are really the same thing differentiated only by where they lay on the continuum of the spectrum where they are. It is our understanding of the process of how this happens and why that it limited. Is it possible to give up the idea that opposites attract because they are different and instead adopt the possibility that opposites attract because they are on in the same?
We still try to oversimplify things into a two dimensional world or continuum when our existence and the world are multidimensional and far more complicated than only two, three or even four or more. Life is not a compilation of straight lines, circles or regular known shapes. There is a mathematical principle that underpins this (as much as we can identify it) - the simplicity of things: the Principle of Self Similarity. We have moved beyond the ancient Greeks and no longer believe the entire universe is composed of earth, air, fire or water. It took Aristotle, a philosopher to add a fifth element Aether. It took science to dispel these theories dating to the Babylonians only about 38 centuries to narrow it down to only one; we now believe that all things are composed of energy.
I am certain this is only a part of the puzzle as Newtonian Physics is only a small part of the whole. Like Newtonian Physics which was adequate as a part of the solution but not the complete one, what we know is only fractal. As a child I spent hours wondering if we (humans and our systems) were but electrons in some larger system, a small parasite on a larger animal. Infinity and our known world are all elements in a “Mandlebrot set”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set - “When computed and graphed on the complex plane the Mandelbrot set is seen to have an elaborate boundary which, being a fractal, does not simplify at any given magnification.”
From the simple to the complicated without any conscious thought; morphogenic self organization of the seemingly unrelated pieces parts smaller than atoms to conscious thought - this is quite an achievement. It is an evolution just because that it is what happens regardless, at least in our universe as we know it.
It amazes me how much a Mendlebrot Set fractal graphic representation looks like anything from a DNA molecule to a black hole.
© 09.27.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
How did we get here? The power to be unpredictable; “there is a strange and unexpected relationship between order and chaos…” a direct quote from a BBC series “The Secret Life of Chaos” begs the question is it mathematically plausible? Patterns that remain hidden from most of us are obvious to a select few is the premise of today’s blog.
I now have to add a new book to review and internalize: Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. Turing spent a great deal of time immersed in the enigma of Bletchley Park during WWII. Other scientists that followed had discoveries that complemented theories of Turing a genius who saw patterns when others saw none.
Morphogenesis – from the same to different; a self organization: how and why? It happens in life as it forms from a single cell and it is happening constantly all around us. A definition of morphogenesis gives us clues: n. Formation of the structure of an organism or part; differentiation and growth of tissues and organs during development. Is there really a simple mathematical basis for this living process? Is there some morphogenic rule that dominates and governs the formation of all organisms and systems? From the few, many.
Further investigation is required:
The Secret Life of Chaos (Part 2/6) –
Alan Turing seems in many ways like Nikola Tesla; neither man completely understood all of what they proposed or investigated but each seemed to have an innate understanding that escapes detection or in fact is not understood. Great thinkers have the talent for discovery that goes beyond simple insight. They see the patterns or deeper relationships that govern things. These relationships are the why and the what of the way things are. To these savants what appears complicated is quite simple; they are hypersensitive to the complex interconnectivity of things.
Turing and Tesla experienced tragedy and disasters that ended their contributions to science. If circumstances had been different for both it is possible that our understanding might be closer to what we still seek. Structures, shapes and systems out of a morphogenic self organization of the seemingly unrelated are the basis of a predictability of science and creation we search for but still not have fully discovered. Although man has stumbled and been slowed down by setbacks like these and an over reliance on other specific theories as universal it will not stop the progress toward answers and resolutions.
With mathematics we expect and demand predictability. From 3 of 6 “The Secret Life of Chaos”: “a system that is completely described by mathematical equations is more than capable of being unpredictable without any outside interference whatsoever.” Although this might be thought to throw a monkey wrench into the works, if the theory is correct, it helps explain rogue waves and other anomalies that have no apparent rhyme or reason. It is possibly due to the fact that what we think was completely described by mathematical formulas had a few things missing from the calculations. Possibly “The Butterfly Effect” is a concrete fact that affects systems to give such ‘random’ unexpected results.
“The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely that small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position. The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect)
There is a hitch in the giddy up of the progression of this BBC presentation and to go further along it is necessary to switch over to the “3 of 7” progression (instead of the “3 of 6”) of the links at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyTs0yYKXZI&NR=1 (ad infinitum).
Order and chaos are so deeply intertwined that it is almost beyond our comprehension; to the point that chaos is the true natural relationship of things instead of ordered patterns. We need to stop trying to concentrate on the few patterns that we see reflected in our interpretation and measurement of things as the “be all end all”. Life is one huge feedback loop, a picture within a picture within a picture as small changes are radically amplified to demonstrate the ‘Butterfly Effect’ so the seeming chaos that emerges is not really chaos at all. It is the natural order of things. Because of morphology and self organization the chaos that emerges transmutes into the patterns we eventually observe. The patterns and the chaos are really the same thing differentiated only by where they lay on the continuum of the spectrum where they are. It is our understanding of the process of how this happens and why that it limited. Is it possible to give up the idea that opposites attract because they are different and instead adopt the possibility that opposites attract because they are on in the same?
We still try to oversimplify things into a two dimensional world or continuum when our existence and the world are multidimensional and far more complicated than only two, three or even four or more. Life is not a compilation of straight lines, circles or regular known shapes. There is a mathematical principle that underpins this (as much as we can identify it) - the simplicity of things: the Principle of Self Similarity. We have moved beyond the ancient Greeks and no longer believe the entire universe is composed of earth, air, fire or water. It took Aristotle, a philosopher to add a fifth element Aether. It took science to dispel these theories dating to the Babylonians only about 38 centuries to narrow it down to only one; we now believe that all things are composed of energy.
I am certain this is only a part of the puzzle as Newtonian Physics is only a small part of the whole. Like Newtonian Physics which was adequate as a part of the solution but not the complete one, what we know is only fractal. As a child I spent hours wondering if we (humans and our systems) were but electrons in some larger system, a small parasite on a larger animal. Infinity and our known world are all elements in a “Mandlebrot set”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set - “When computed and graphed on the complex plane the Mandelbrot set is seen to have an elaborate boundary which, being a fractal, does not simplify at any given magnification.”
From the simple to the complicated without any conscious thought; morphogenic self organization of the seemingly unrelated pieces parts smaller than atoms to conscious thought - this is quite an achievement. It is an evolution just because that it is what happens regardless, at least in our universe as we know it.
It amazes me how much a Mendlebrot Set fractal graphic representation looks like anything from a DNA molecule to a black hole.
Mandlebrot Set Zoom
© 09.27.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Oligarchy, Subservience or Revolt?
.
There should be more options. Sometime rulers and ruled have not a clue of the inequity of this type of system that continues to emerge. Oligarchy is cliquish and fosters abuse of power.
Eccentricity is not welcomed in an oligarchy and although it is necessary for any system to flourish, it is treated like a parasite bacteria set to devastate the organism. Pushing those out that do not toe the line weakens the fabric of an entire organization as it continues to strengthen the cliques in power.
“To adhere to rules or doctrines conscientiously; conform” (American Heritage) is one definition of toe the line. It is the conformity that is demanded by oligarchy. It is not the conscientious part of it that is required or even wanted. It is far easier to force conformity on the unconscious. When one walks in a fog it is hard to know if one’s head is in the clouds.
Diversity is the key to strength. When any system loses its diversity it begins to ebb. As the gene pool gets homogenized small dilemmas are magnified to a point they become overwhelming. An insurmountable crisis will eventually arise and the medicine to cure the patient may become so poisonous that its use is inadvisable.
Multidimensionalism may be the cure rather than subservience or even revolt since it is not the usual that fascinates or leads to the exceptional.
I recommend watching a full compliment of Dali interviews starting with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHTWDNii87k - Arena - Salvador Dali (1 of 7)… It will take some time. I suspect The History of Chaos Theory is hidden in there somewhere.
© 09.25.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
There should be more options. Sometime rulers and ruled have not a clue of the inequity of this type of system that continues to emerge. Oligarchy is cliquish and fosters abuse of power.
Eccentricity is not welcomed in an oligarchy and although it is necessary for any system to flourish, it is treated like a parasite bacteria set to devastate the organism. Pushing those out that do not toe the line weakens the fabric of an entire organization as it continues to strengthen the cliques in power.
“To adhere to rules or doctrines conscientiously; conform” (American Heritage) is one definition of toe the line. It is the conformity that is demanded by oligarchy. It is not the conscientious part of it that is required or even wanted. It is far easier to force conformity on the unconscious. When one walks in a fog it is hard to know if one’s head is in the clouds.
Diversity is the key to strength. When any system loses its diversity it begins to ebb. As the gene pool gets homogenized small dilemmas are magnified to a point they become overwhelming. An insurmountable crisis will eventually arise and the medicine to cure the patient may become so poisonous that its use is inadvisable.
Multidimensionalism may be the cure rather than subservience or even revolt since it is not the usual that fascinates or leads to the exceptional.
I recommend watching a full compliment of Dali interviews starting with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHTWDNii87k - Arena - Salvador Dali (1 of 7)… It will take some time. I suspect The History of Chaos Theory is hidden in there somewhere.
© 09.25.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Who knew?
.
There are so many things I know so little about that I am constantly in awe of my own inadequate education. For today the case in point is ‘dried toad”.
Google only found 9,370 different web pages with that exact text on it (“dried toad”). When suspend is added the number decreases to only 451, many of which are replications or even parodies of each another.
When you take the word saint out of the equation there are only 94 results left. Apparently, dried toad was extremely popular with saints. If witches are removed from the search results 72 results and then removing any URL with the word devil leaves only 65 things I likely did not know about dried toad. If more than one toad is involved and the s is added to the search parameters then there are only 34 things left to peruse, so this could be a short post.
Oh so wrong, Obi Wan. I am driving around the block to park across the street.
It does not seem at all unusual that first on the list is a Google Book: A history of magic and experimental science By Lynn Thorndike. I went right to the first search parameter on a find on this page search for suspend. It was not what I was looking for because it was something else suspended besides dried toads.
The second result was: Legal Weed
Legal Bud
Legal Ways To Get High - Bufo Alvarius ... which also did not address dried toads suspended. I decided to enter neck into the search to see if I could find what I was looking for. That most certainly would be information on hanging dried toads from cords, ribbons or chains but to what end. I thought I had knowledge of people hanging dried toads around their necks to prevent or cure the Bubonic Plague. I am not expecting the Black Plague to come to a neighborhood near me soon but since I could find no reference to hanging dried toads around the neck in Wikipedia this could possibly be an opportunity to add something critical to the understanding of the medieval curse, cures and prevention. I could yell SCORE when my information was added to the impressive data base of knowledge that is Wiki.
I decided to add Wiki to the search line to see if there were any instances of dangling amphibians there that were not associated with saints, witches or devils. Off we go.
I am excited to report that all references in Wiki are related to the Chinese medicine. When this small group of Asians are excluded there is but one result left – http://nursemyra.wordpress.com/page/24/?pages-list – somebody else’s blog for “gimcrack hospital (PG) - Where the Nurses are Pretty and the Doctors are Pissed” which appears to be owned by an individual more warped than even I am.
From first impressions there is a lot of nudity and spanking for a PG site. The blog seems to be run by “nursemyra” who has some quirky thoughts, likes and dislikes. This might be further around the block then I had intended to go but it is where I have arrived even though I am more than a little disappointed that the incidence of appearance of "dried toads", suspend, Wiki and minus the words saint, witch, devil, Chinese do not appear on the limited number of WordPress pages the blog is permitted to display at one time. Toad definitely does not appear unless it is couched somewhere deep on another page amid the illustrations that are quite graphically enlightening.
At first I mistakenly thought nursemyra had tired of the entire blogging experience since the post Google pointed to was from November 18, 2009. I went straight to the heart of the matter and I am pleased to announce that nursemyra posted as recently as today, which is: ‘t shirt friday’. Although nursemyra has posted on her blog since February 2007 she seems to have a slight intermittent aversion to capital letters. I know in my heart that I do not want to search all of her blog posts for the occurrence of ‘dried toad’. That would be more like a drive around the country than the block. Since nursemyra does not have a FaceBook link on her page I will have to leave it up to others to like her in that way and not the ones she seems most curious about. However, nursemyra has several comments on today’s post so she does have something my blog is seriously lacking.
The thing that is difficult for me and obviously others is the fact that I almost frequently forget the original objective in many of my journeys. I decided to start all over and searched for “hanging dried toads” because I thought there would be few instances of dried toads being given the death sentence; after all, they were already dead. Google - No results found for "hanging dried toads". Dried toads around the neck without the quotes yielded a big score: About 396,000 results (0.31 seconds). The first hit was precisely what I had been searching for: Plague, arsenic, and a dried toad : The Lancet by EB Gilman – 2009 - "In the absence of any verifiable cause of the disease, much less any cure, the rival camps of Galenic and Paracelcian (“Empiric” or “Chemical”) physicians were moved to rancorous debates in print, divided as they were between the traditional view that the physician's task was to heal by correcting an imbalance in the bodies humors, and the radical new philosophy that advocated more aggressive interventions, such as the ingestion of metallic salts. Unsurprisingly, money bought the best (available) medical care. A good living was to be had if a rich patient could be persuaded to dose himself with a rare and potent remedy—“potable gold” was one—that could be had for a price. Elite “licensed” physicians of either school cast aspersions on the motives of their nearest down-market competitors, the barber-surgeons and apothecaries. They also warned against the quacks who hawked their nostrums in the open air, and they had nothing but scorn for the flood of cheap broadsheets offering recipes for sure-fire elixirs concocted from common household ingredients.
The lists of potions to be found in these publications are as bizarre as they are lengthy. They include the smoke of fragrant woods, vinegar-based air fresheners, floral pomanders, various pills and purges, unguents, poultices, concoctions of roots, seeds, leaves, spices, and much else, usually steeped in water or wine, and with a dash of sugar and lemon juice. Alternatively, one could hang a large dried toad around one's neck, since it was thought that as a poisonous creature, even in death, the toad would draw the noxious vapours out of the patient's breast and into its desiccated body."
The potable gold I was looking for was right under my nose. Now the huge question remains do I park the car? I was relatively certain people hung dried toads around their necks either as a cure for Bubonic Plague. I might have to find additional sources to buoy my contention if anyone might even care. After that I can post my findings in Wikipedia and make a contribution to the education and knowledge base of man.
And the point is?
Who knew if one put the right question before Google he could find the answer he was looking for? Or, when you put the wrong question out there it is not surprising to end up with more questions than answers with the net result of much wasted time. Even so, look at what I learned today . . . nursemyra has many more posts than I do and I am less interested in her subject matter than my lack of focus. Although, the letter from Harpo Marx to TS Elliot showed great promise and Harpo thinks a lot like I do; it must be time for my dose of potable gold.
© 09.23.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
There are so many things I know so little about that I am constantly in awe of my own inadequate education. For today the case in point is ‘dried toad”.
Google only found 9,370 different web pages with that exact text on it (“dried toad”). When suspend is added the number decreases to only 451, many of which are replications or even parodies of each another.
When you take the word saint out of the equation there are only 94 results left. Apparently, dried toad was extremely popular with saints. If witches are removed from the search results 72 results and then removing any URL with the word devil leaves only 65 things I likely did not know about dried toad. If more than one toad is involved and the s is added to the search parameters then there are only 34 things left to peruse, so this could be a short post.
Oh so wrong, Obi Wan. I am driving around the block to park across the street.
It does not seem at all unusual that first on the list is a Google Book: A history of magic and experimental science By Lynn Thorndike. I went right to the first search parameter on a find on this page search for suspend. It was not what I was looking for because it was something else suspended besides dried toads.
The second result was: Legal Weed
Legal Bud
Legal Ways To Get High - Bufo Alvarius ... which also did not address dried toads suspended. I decided to enter neck into the search to see if I could find what I was looking for. That most certainly would be information on hanging dried toads from cords, ribbons or chains but to what end. I thought I had knowledge of people hanging dried toads around their necks to prevent or cure the Bubonic Plague. I am not expecting the Black Plague to come to a neighborhood near me soon but since I could find no reference to hanging dried toads around the neck in Wikipedia this could possibly be an opportunity to add something critical to the understanding of the medieval curse, cures and prevention. I could yell SCORE when my information was added to the impressive data base of knowledge that is Wiki.
I decided to add Wiki to the search line to see if there were any instances of dangling amphibians there that were not associated with saints, witches or devils. Off we go.
I am excited to report that all references in Wiki are related to the Chinese medicine. When this small group of Asians are excluded there is but one result left – http://nursemyra.wordpress.com/page/24/?pages-list – somebody else’s blog for “gimcrack hospital (PG) - Where the Nurses are Pretty and the Doctors are Pissed” which appears to be owned by an individual more warped than even I am.
From first impressions there is a lot of nudity and spanking for a PG site. The blog seems to be run by “nursemyra” who has some quirky thoughts, likes and dislikes. This might be further around the block then I had intended to go but it is where I have arrived even though I am more than a little disappointed that the incidence of appearance of "dried toads", suspend, Wiki and minus the words saint, witch, devil, Chinese do not appear on the limited number of WordPress pages the blog is permitted to display at one time. Toad definitely does not appear unless it is couched somewhere deep on another page amid the illustrations that are quite graphically enlightening.
At first I mistakenly thought nursemyra had tired of the entire blogging experience since the post Google pointed to was from November 18, 2009. I went straight to the heart of the matter and I am pleased to announce that nursemyra posted as recently as today, which is: ‘t shirt friday’. Although nursemyra has posted on her blog since February 2007 she seems to have a slight intermittent aversion to capital letters. I know in my heart that I do not want to search all of her blog posts for the occurrence of ‘dried toad’. That would be more like a drive around the country than the block. Since nursemyra does not have a FaceBook link on her page I will have to leave it up to others to like her in that way and not the ones she seems most curious about. However, nursemyra has several comments on today’s post so she does have something my blog is seriously lacking.
The thing that is difficult for me and obviously others is the fact that I almost frequently forget the original objective in many of my journeys. I decided to start all over and searched for “hanging dried toads” because I thought there would be few instances of dried toads being given the death sentence; after all, they were already dead. Google - No results found for "hanging dried toads". Dried toads around the neck without the quotes yielded a big score: About 396,000 results (0.31 seconds). The first hit was precisely what I had been searching for: Plague, arsenic, and a dried toad : The Lancet by EB Gilman – 2009 - "In the absence of any verifiable cause of the disease, much less any cure, the rival camps of Galenic and Paracelcian (“Empiric” or “Chemical”) physicians were moved to rancorous debates in print, divided as they were between the traditional view that the physician's task was to heal by correcting an imbalance in the bodies humors, and the radical new philosophy that advocated more aggressive interventions, such as the ingestion of metallic salts. Unsurprisingly, money bought the best (available) medical care. A good living was to be had if a rich patient could be persuaded to dose himself with a rare and potent remedy—“potable gold” was one—that could be had for a price. Elite “licensed” physicians of either school cast aspersions on the motives of their nearest down-market competitors, the barber-surgeons and apothecaries. They also warned against the quacks who hawked their nostrums in the open air, and they had nothing but scorn for the flood of cheap broadsheets offering recipes for sure-fire elixirs concocted from common household ingredients.
The lists of potions to be found in these publications are as bizarre as they are lengthy. They include the smoke of fragrant woods, vinegar-based air fresheners, floral pomanders, various pills and purges, unguents, poultices, concoctions of roots, seeds, leaves, spices, and much else, usually steeped in water or wine, and with a dash of sugar and lemon juice. Alternatively, one could hang a large dried toad around one's neck, since it was thought that as a poisonous creature, even in death, the toad would draw the noxious vapours out of the patient's breast and into its desiccated body."
The potable gold I was looking for was right under my nose. Now the huge question remains do I park the car? I was relatively certain people hung dried toads around their necks either as a cure for Bubonic Plague. I might have to find additional sources to buoy my contention if anyone might even care. After that I can post my findings in Wikipedia and make a contribution to the education and knowledge base of man.
And the point is?
Who knew if one put the right question before Google he could find the answer he was looking for? Or, when you put the wrong question out there it is not surprising to end up with more questions than answers with the net result of much wasted time. Even so, look at what I learned today . . . nursemyra has many more posts than I do and I am less interested in her subject matter than my lack of focus. Although, the letter from Harpo Marx to TS Elliot showed great promise and Harpo thinks a lot like I do; it must be time for my dose of potable gold.
© 09.23.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Toad Swallowing.
This apparently should only be attempted by professionals so:
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
In an attempt to make this clearer to myself I will continue to investigate this fine expression because it obviously has more than one meaning and likely came from different places. Popular usage implies that people several meanings that seem to fall on different ends of the continuum.
Elegantly Urban sums it up as: “To swallow a toad basically means that if there's something you need to do that you're not so keen on doing, get it over and done with at the start of the day so that it's not hanging over you.”
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/05/21/how-britain-can-stop-eating-toads/ describes it as: “Toad swallowing is a delicate art; one must not only get the horrible thing down without gagging, but one must also smile and look imperturbably calm while doing so, as if swallowing a live toad were no more challenging or unpleasant than a light canapé. “
Not that I could put a lot of stock in something called the uncyclopedia - but for what it is worth:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Cane_Toad#Swallowing –
“ SWALLOWING
A cane toad swallower doing what he loves best.
Another sport that is popular in Queensland and includes cane toads is cane toad swallowing. This game includes any given number of people, whose aim is to swallow as many live cane toads as they possibly can. The person who swallows the most cane toads wins the game. Unfortunately, people can suffer symptoms after competing in cane toad swallowing, which may include vomiting or urinating poison or croaking sounds in the intestines.
According to the Guinness World Records, the person who swallowed the most cane toads is Mr Kane Towedman, who swallowed 248 toads. Soon after finishing, he spewed them all out onto the spectators.
There was also a game based on this one called stingray swallowing, which was banned from being played after the death of Steve Irwin.”
The Art of Toad Swallowing was not much help since the author was dealing with dieting and a diet of toads might be more than the dieter bargained for:
http://bufodieter.wordpress.com/
sarcastic pratchett fan describes toad swallowing… “Toads are poisonous enough to kill you if you eat them - giving rise to the medieval entertainment 'toad swallowing'.” I went down this road since I thought it sounded plausible as the origin of the term but found naught related to medieval entertainment involving ‘toad swallowing’.
Larry G said...
"toad swallowing" is simply a graphic phrase intended to convey the idea that in order for pragmatic solutions to be accepted - both sides must be willing to stop drawing lines in the sand and swallow something they really don't agree with.”
Found this at http://www.mansioningles.com/recursos146.htm -
“TOAD EATER. A poor female relation, and humble companion, or reduced gentlewoman, in a great family, the standing butt, on whom all kinds of practical jokes are played off, and all ill humours vented. This appellation is derived from a mountebank’s servant, on whom all experiments used to be made in public by the doctor, his master; among which was the eating of toads, formerly supposed poisonous. Swallowing toads is here figuratively meant for swallowing or putting up with insults, as disagreeable to a person of feeling as toads to the stomach.”
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue T 257
“TOAD EATER. A poor female relation, and humble companion, or reduced gentlewoman, in a great family, the standing butt, on whom all kinds of practical jokes are played off, and all ill humours vented. This appellation is derived from a mountebank's servant, on whom all experiments used to be made in public by the doctor, his master; among which was the eating of toads, formerly supposed poisonous.
Swallowing toads is here figuratively meant for swallowing or putting up with insults, as disagreeable to a person of feeling as toads to the stomach.”
Somebody is quoting somebody without giving credit. Obviously this phrase can mean more than swallowing your pride although that was the inferred meaning when I first came across it.
I think I am going to go visit my imaginary friends and swallow a few toads. After all, there are things that are more disagreeable.
© 09.23.2010 steven d philbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
Waiting for the Interwebs and Finding Something Nice to Say.
.
While waiting on the interwebs I was thinking about finding something nice to say when I decided what could be easier? Invoking my addiction I Googled "something nice to say" and came up with only about 8,660,000 results in 0.61 seconds. Since I did not want to spend my entire life reading all of the suggestions for the exact quote or a different approach, I decided to focus on only the second suggestion: http://complimentday.com/index.htm.
From the home page I navigated to the link for Not sure what to say? http://complimentday.com/ComplimentsPage.htm - Give these a try
“Not sure what to say? Here are a few compliments to chose from. Try adding a specific example to custom design it for the compliment receiver. Notice that all these compliments start with the same word. It's a gentle reminder that compliment giving is about others.”
“You...
...have a great way with words.
...are a terrific leader.
...make working on a project a joy.
...are very creative.
...are a good provider.
...are fun to be with.
...have a great reputation.
...are cleaver.
...make a house feel like a home.
...have a good eye for decorating.
...are a good driver.
...can do anything you set your mind to.
...are capable of accomplishing whatever you believe.
...are a good listener.
...are very cheerful.
...warm my heart.
...sing like an angel.
...are very handsome/beautiful.
...are important to me.
...have a terrific outlook on life.
...are very intelligent.
...are kind.
...are a good role model.
...are very alert.
...are funny.
...always motivate me.
...are unique.
...are very strong.
...are a picture of good health.
...are courageous.
...are very loving.
...bring out the best in me.
...make me want to be a better person.
...make me smile.
...are a wonderful cook.
...make hot dogs taste like a gourmet meal.
...are a wonderful caregiver.
...make me feel special.
...make me feel I can do anything.
...are fun to be with.
...are the wind beneath my wings.
...are the light of my life.”
Granted some of the canned ones sounded more like spam and would make people gag but what could the harm be? I am sure I know if my limited readership does not.
It really is in how and when flattering remarks are given that is paramount. I don’t think it would be appropriate to tell a French Chef that he/she makes hot dogs taste like a gourmet meal. Not only would the sincerity of the compliment be questioned but hopefully the appellation would not fit any occasion that might apply to a French Chef. Therein lies the crux of the problem: compliments often sound or are disingenuous.
Finding nice things to say can be very difficult for people not just because sometimes it seems impossible to find the right thing to say but also because frequently the compliment is not warranted or the right thing to say would be better left unsaid. Circumstances like these require a special tact I just don’t possess and, despite my mother being a huge proponent of the “If you can’t find something nice to say…” school of thinking I could never just sit mute when something begged to be pointed out or addressed. These instances can normally be covered by use of an extended allegorical metaphor… kind of a baffle them with bullshit offensive strategy that is couched enough not to appear as offensive as it is and is euphemistic in nature.
It takes real talent to disguise something as a compliment when really it is not. Often what was said is far beyond the comprehension of the person it is said about. For those who fall at the lower end of the bell shaped curve this is all about you. Sometimes an ah-ha moment can clear away the fog. This is usually what is desired by the person issuing the criticism.
It is not necessary to make some long extended allegorical metaphor to disguise a criticism. If the next time someone has an extended belch at the table or some cat or dawg rolphs up something huge and nasty on the rug it might be duty to clarify that “Nice One!” may not be praise for prowess.
© 09.22.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
While waiting on the interwebs I was thinking about finding something nice to say when I decided what could be easier? Invoking my addiction I Googled "something nice to say" and came up with only about 8,660,000 results in 0.61 seconds. Since I did not want to spend my entire life reading all of the suggestions for the exact quote or a different approach, I decided to focus on only the second suggestion: http://complimentday.com/index.htm.
From the home page I navigated to the link for Not sure what to say? http://complimentday.com/ComplimentsPage.htm - Give these a try
“Not sure what to say? Here are a few compliments to chose from. Try adding a specific example to custom design it for the compliment receiver. Notice that all these compliments start with the same word. It's a gentle reminder that compliment giving is about others.”
“You...
...have a great way with words.
...are a terrific leader.
...make working on a project a joy.
...are very creative.
...are a good provider.
...are fun to be with.
...have a great reputation.
...are cleaver.
...make a house feel like a home.
...have a good eye for decorating.
...are a good driver.
...can do anything you set your mind to.
...are capable of accomplishing whatever you believe.
...are a good listener.
...are very cheerful.
...warm my heart.
...sing like an angel.
...are very handsome/beautiful.
...are important to me.
...have a terrific outlook on life.
...are very intelligent.
...are kind.
...are a good role model.
...are very alert.
...are funny.
...always motivate me.
...are unique.
...are very strong.
...are a picture of good health.
...are courageous.
...are very loving.
...bring out the best in me.
...make me want to be a better person.
...make me smile.
...are a wonderful cook.
...make hot dogs taste like a gourmet meal.
...are a wonderful caregiver.
...make me feel special.
...make me feel I can do anything.
...are fun to be with.
...are the wind beneath my wings.
...are the light of my life.”
Granted some of the canned ones sounded more like spam and would make people gag but what could the harm be? I am sure I know if my limited readership does not.
It really is in how and when flattering remarks are given that is paramount. I don’t think it would be appropriate to tell a French Chef that he/she makes hot dogs taste like a gourmet meal. Not only would the sincerity of the compliment be questioned but hopefully the appellation would not fit any occasion that might apply to a French Chef. Therein lies the crux of the problem: compliments often sound or are disingenuous.
Finding nice things to say can be very difficult for people not just because sometimes it seems impossible to find the right thing to say but also because frequently the compliment is not warranted or the right thing to say would be better left unsaid. Circumstances like these require a special tact I just don’t possess and, despite my mother being a huge proponent of the “If you can’t find something nice to say…” school of thinking I could never just sit mute when something begged to be pointed out or addressed. These instances can normally be covered by use of an extended allegorical metaphor… kind of a baffle them with bullshit offensive strategy that is couched enough not to appear as offensive as it is and is euphemistic in nature.
It takes real talent to disguise something as a compliment when really it is not. Often what was said is far beyond the comprehension of the person it is said about. For those who fall at the lower end of the bell shaped curve this is all about you. Sometimes an ah-ha moment can clear away the fog. This is usually what is desired by the person issuing the criticism.
It is not necessary to make some long extended allegorical metaphor to disguise a criticism. If the next time someone has an extended belch at the table or some cat or dawg rolphs up something huge and nasty on the rug it might be duty to clarify that “Nice One!” may not be praise for prowess.
© 09.22.2010 stevendphilbrick SR+ DakotaDawg
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Indian Summer – the Beginning of Creativity.
.
Imagine a 51:28 video… do we have the time (in more than one way)… in case no, then it is about a six day global challenge to promote creative thinking by adding value to a pack of Post It Notes. Can creativity and innovation be taught through entrepreneurship? You have to stimulate the imagination. More details in the video but that pretty much covers the idea behind it.
Imagine
We all need a little more imagine. Imagine John Lennon live at Madison Square Garden.
Sometimes the best ideas come in Indian Summer.
© stevendphilbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/21/2010
Imagine a 51:28 video… do we have the time (in more than one way)… in case no, then it is about a six day global challenge to promote creative thinking by adding value to a pack of Post It Notes. Can creativity and innovation be taught through entrepreneurship? You have to stimulate the imagination. More details in the video but that pretty much covers the idea behind it.
Imagine
We all need a little more imagine. Imagine John Lennon live at Madison Square Garden.
Sometimes the best ideas come in Indian Summer.
© stevendphilbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/21/2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Dissonance is not all we hear...
Sometime it is even worse with the earphones on. Most especially when there is one particular grey cat that chews on all types of electrical cords. I am patiently for him to turn into a cartoon cat. His taste for copper and rubber can not be sated and far too many cords are patched with electrical tape.
Evanescence - To disappear or vanish into a mist.
In the vein and in view of metaphor I came across more than just a word or a definition. I was thinking about October and I have been attempting to keep the neural netwok from running is such small circles in an effort to embrace the greater good.
But when thinking of one thing many others become apparent and more important. This must happen to keep us from drowning in dissonance.
A dissonant mind is difficult to have and to live with but it is that dissonat mind that brings the music to the party. Can you hear the screaming?
Lot's of shaking still to be done now is certainly not the time to vanish into the vapor. Are you listening or is all you hear the dissonance?
Too much Björk?
© stevendphilbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/20/2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Medium is the message.
.
Today I spent a little time with a medium I did not know as well as I should. I would say that my knowledge quotient is at best rare medium rare on something I ought to know well. And, this is all about a rare medium.
Things are habitually not as they seem. Today was a not so exceptional case of that, other than I acknowledged and saw beyond what was said. I heard one thing. Deep in my mind I knew that those so needed for their advice also had needs. I did what little I could for someone that means so much to so many.
I know not nearly as well as I should this medium that is so rare. I also know so little of all the other things. But, I do know that nature is curative. Given time nature will mend many of those problems that I cannot begin to fathom and even some that I feel most intimate with.
I will be planting a maple in the right place and hopefully at the precisely correct time. We shall watch that tree grow into something that might seem out of place. It is exactly where it was supposed to be even though the seed was floating blindly in a river far from home.
Let’s get on with it. DakotaDawg wants to help too but right now she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Terrible Triplets or one of her other mortal canine enemies. I think I will take her for another walk because I failed lately to take note of what was in bloom or much else beyond the small little world of one with concentrated tunnel vision. Maybe we can meet a new dog friend for her.
For me today, as always, I must not fail to remember that the Medium is the message. What’s lost will be found again.
© steven d philbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/19/2010
Just for today since the message was preempted… if you know what day it is (if not there is always Google)… ARRRR!
Today I spent a little time with a medium I did not know as well as I should. I would say that my knowledge quotient is at best rare medium rare on something I ought to know well. And, this is all about a rare medium.
Things are habitually not as they seem. Today was a not so exceptional case of that, other than I acknowledged and saw beyond what was said. I heard one thing. Deep in my mind I knew that those so needed for their advice also had needs. I did what little I could for someone that means so much to so many.
I know not nearly as well as I should this medium that is so rare. I also know so little of all the other things. But, I do know that nature is curative. Given time nature will mend many of those problems that I cannot begin to fathom and even some that I feel most intimate with.
I will be planting a maple in the right place and hopefully at the precisely correct time. We shall watch that tree grow into something that might seem out of place. It is exactly where it was supposed to be even though the seed was floating blindly in a river far from home.
Let’s get on with it. DakotaDawg wants to help too but right now she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Terrible Triplets or one of her other mortal canine enemies. I think I will take her for another walk because I failed lately to take note of what was in bloom or much else beyond the small little world of one with concentrated tunnel vision. Maybe we can meet a new dog friend for her.
For me today, as always, I must not fail to remember that the Medium is the message. What’s lost will be found again.
© steven d philbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/19/2010
Just for today since the message was preempted… if you know what day it is (if not there is always Google)… ARRRR!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
What is a Metaphor?
Have you ever noticed that the Klingons are all speaking unix?
"Grep ls awk chmod."
"Mknod ksh tar imap."
"Wall fsck yacc!"
"The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.
This alone cannot be imparted by another;
it is the mark of genius,
for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance."
Aristotle
DakotaDawg can sing too especially when she is happy.
What is a Metaphor?
© steven d philbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/18/2010
"Grep ls awk chmod."
"Mknod ksh tar imap."
"Wall fsck yacc!"
"The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.
This alone cannot be imparted by another;
it is the mark of genius,
for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance."
Aristotle
Co-Writer Bruce Hornsby's take on it:
Co-Writer Don Henley's take on it:
Jackson Browne - Bonnie Raitt - Bruce Hornsby - David Lindley and Shawn Colvin's take on it:
'Must See' originally published Music Video:
Don Henley "The End of the Innocence"
©1989 Geffen Records Music Video
DakotaDawg can sing too especially when she is happy.
What is a Metaphor?
© steven d philbrick sr+ DakotaDawg 09/18/2010
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