Category Archives: Musings

A pleasant visit to the 17th century

Posted on by
2

Mariner and his wife often schedule small day trips to places never visited or not visited in a long time. The destinations almost always are within fifty miles round trip. They have visited small parks, historical sites, certain stores or restaurants, fairs and other social events. Unbeknownst to them until they arrived, they even visited a town that wasn’t there anymore.

A day or two ago they traveled a whopping 27 miles west to visit a store they had not visited in many years. This was a special store for two reasons: first, it was an old store established in 1985 in a small town in the middle of nowhere that is run farm-to-store-shelf by members of the Pennsylvania Dutch denomination (one of many Anabaptist sects), second, the ‘Dutchman’s Store’ had a grand reopening at a new location last week. It is the only store of its kind that mariner and his wife know aside from smaller stores in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. When measuring this new store, think of Walmart.

Dutchman’s is entirely stocked for Anabaptist folks from kitchenware (does your store sell a flour mill to make your own flour or three versions of ice cream makers?) to clothing just for the Anabaptists (mariner was sorely tempted to buy a traditional brimmed straw hat that he would wear to scare his family when they visited) to special slaughtering bullets, to ancient used books for sale (slightly aligned with Anabaptist teachings), to an astounding produce market fresh from the farm and large cuts of meat from every kind of farm animal, goats too. His wife surprised him by buying two large lamb steaks, a meat seldom if ever seen in supermarkets – at least in Iowa.

But get this – mariner has lived in Iowa for 31 years. He has berated the ‘pork’ state for not having, nor even knowing about ‘scrapple’. It is one of his childhood memories and has disappeared from grocery markets, even in Iowa. Back in the 60’s when mariner lived in the town he lives in now, only one older woman knew what scrapple was. She made a batch for him.  On this trip, his wife surprised him by buying a pack of scrapple from the Dutchman’s store. Wow! Then he read the small print: manufactured in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Iowa just doesn’t understand fine cuisine.

99% of the staff are dressed Dutchman style with beards and Anabaptist clothing and the women all wearing the same white bonnet. When mariner checked out, he asked the attractive young lady wearing the bonnet what the significance was of the hat since every woman was wearing one.

She said, “We regard the head covering as a mystical cloth that carries protective powers of angels for our women” (using 1Cor. 11:10—and yet the word protection is never used in this verse) “and empowers us to somehow live a more righteous life than those who do not wear it.”

Mariner asked if the bonnet was sort of like a halo? She grinned widely and said, “Yes.” Mariner responded that he was quite pleased to have met an angel ….. Only at Dutchman’s.

Ancient Mariner

 

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain

Posted on by
3

Remember that old song from the sixties? It came to mind as mariner sat by the window the other day watching it rain. The song spoke of romantic issues but what came to mind was the orderliness of rain. What humans know as rain, which has been around since the Precambrian age, is a simple thing. Chemically, it is just water and will freeze when it is cold enough. Humidity (melted water) is evaporated into the warm layers of a weather system and returns to a solid form (water or ice) when it is cool enough, falling rhythmically to the ground. No warm-bodied cells manage it, no creature commands it, no mountain owns it. It just falls – listen to the rhythm of the falling rain . . . even windblown storms can’t disrupt that rhythm.

Humans often think of rain as an interference to the otherwise motivated ‘orderliness’ of human activity. Mariner sat by the window long enough to forget his orderly life and to be comforted by something that was 100% natural. No man made technology, no economic motivations, no political or sociological influence. Just rain, with that soft beat as it hits the solid ground.

Rain continues to do its simple thing, regardless of humans messing with the atmosphere; the rain may ride different weather patterns caused by human intervention, but that rhythm prevails.

The next time it rains, stop everything and listen to the rhythm of the falling rain. There is peace to be taken from its simplicity, honesty, and that the planet still controls the behavior of rain.

Ancient Mariner

 

It’s different today

Posted on by
Reply

In the last post, mariner cited a man who had lost his brain functions but could still make breakfast. The article citing him was about habit and how much of our behavior is managed by a special part of the brain that stores habits. Habits are frozen procedures that require no thought in order to take action.

For normal folks who still have brain function, much of our personality and our capability is under the control of habit storage – no thought or judgment required, A simple example is getting ready to go out the door. Typically, the car keys are always in the same place, ready to grab without thinking. If the keys aren’t in place (often in a purse or pocket), a person may get to the car door before realizing the keys are not at hand.

Mariner is aware that he and the gentleman with brain damage have similar habits. With mariner, it’s making the morning coffee pot. He is aware that he doesn’t need to process the routine – just do it!

Our reasoning skills are supported by many habit files. For example, one may have a firm prejudice about which route to take to a destination; why? “Oh, it just seems the easiest way to go” [even if it isn’t]. Prejudice, no matter the subject or behavior, has strong support from habit files.

In politics, a good example is staying with a political decision that isn’t relevant anymore. That person has a habit for their position on the matter and uses that memorized (habitual) position rather than apply new reasoning to a changed reality.

It requires way too much wordage to indulge in examples of a person’s personality. Suffice it to say there are tons of habit files; one doesn’t have to reconstruct who they are every moment of the day.

The comfort of habit is that one can do many procedural (and physiological) things and not have to think about them. How about when you change jobs and you realize you can’t do something the way you’ve always done it – something as simple as pulling out of the driveway in the right direction to go to work?

As we move through those periods of life where we have to figure out a new us, especially at retirement time, it often is a difficult time. Or it is a tough time when a family member dies. Or perhaps one’s role in past life disappears completely at retirement. What makes these transitions difficult is that we must toss out a lot of internalized habits about who we are and how we behave in a new situation. We have to invent new habits! The brain, of course, is hesitant to participate because these were supposed to be habits so the brain didn’t have to deal with them.

As the brain dwindles in old age, habits become important whether they are relevant or not. Perhaps this is why it’s so hard to be a new ‘you’ in one’s eighties and nineties.

Ancient Mariner

Know a song?

Posted on by
Reply

I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own
A doll that other fellows cannot steal
And then, the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes
Will have to flirt with dollies that are real

When I come home at night, she will be waiting
She’ll be the truest doll in all this world
I’d rather have a paper doll to call my own
Than have a fickle-minded real live girl

I guess I had a million dolls or more
I guess I’ve played the doll game over and over
I just quarreled with Sue, that’s why I’m blue
She’s gone away, and left me, just like all dolls do

I’ll tell you, boys, it’s tough to be alone
And it’s tough to love a doll that’s not your own
I’m through with all of them, I’ll never fall again
Say boy, what you gonna do?

I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own
A doll that other fellows cannot steal
And then, the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes
Will have to flirt with dollies that are real

When I come home at night, she will be waiting
She’ll be the truest doll in all this world
I’d rather have a paper doll to call my own
Than have a fickle-minded real live girl

Know what? Mariner just sang that entire song from memory. It is by the Mills Brothers and released in 1944! In fact, He knows several of their songs by heart. Yet, today he can’t remember what happened yesterday!

How does the brain play games like this? On the one hand, there’s Marilu Henner (Taxi), who has instant recall of every single day in her life versus the man who suffered total brain loss but could still make bacon and eggs for breakfast.

There are 100 billion neurons (brain cells) in the human brain. One would think that once learned or experienced, that moment would always be at hand. The brain, however, is a lot like a computer: it has a delete key and an escape key. And like most folk’s computers, the brain has a truly garbled filing system. Also like a computer, the brain has a restrictive operating system that will keep some information at hand for frequent use (virtually all these programs don’t care about the Mills Brothers, it’s more about body chemistry, aches and pains and making sure all the body cells understand what to do).

Has the reader ever searched for a file they knew was somewhere but after great effort never found it? The brain does that, too. Has the reader ever accidentally deleted a four page document they were working on and it is irretrievable? The brain does that, too. The brain’s delete key is used for these situations and also  when junk gets into the files – usually from illness, injury or drugs. Often, the delete key is used when brain processing hits a neuron to process but it’s not there. That’s called amyloid clusters.

Big city folks may never have experienced this, but out in the boonies, the internet signal isn’t always steady. The computer or TV screen goes dark for a moment or more and that little spinning curlicue shows up. The blocked signal is exactly what amyloid clusters do – they block the signal. The more amyloid clusters are mixed in between neurons, the more the brain shows signs of dementia. Fortunately, scientists are tinkering with ways to remove amyloid clusters.

So if it’s important to remember something, put it in a song and memorize it.

Ancient Mariner

The Neanderthal

Posted on by
Reply

If one looks hard enough on television one can find excellent documentaries. Mariner recommends a documentary on Netflix about the Neanderthal. It was engrossing enough to provoke him into visiting several books and URLs about the topic of Homo history.

These five skulls, which range from an approximately 2.5-million-year-old Australopithecus africanus on the left to an approximately 4,800-year-old Homo sapiens on the right, show changes in the size of the braincase, slope of the face and shape of the brow ridges over just less than half of human evolutionary history. {Human Origins Program, NMNH,}

The future Homo in an artificial intelligence age: Homo electrus

Seriously, the documentary about Neanderthal was excellent and he recommends the reader check it out. One of the commentators suggested, in mariner’s words, It ain’t over til its over. How many more evolutionary eons in the future are there for Homo sapiens?

The Neanderthal existed for 400,000 years, disappearing 40,000 years ago because of the aftermath of the Great Ice Age that occurred in the Pleistocene Period. Neanderthal disappeared simultaneously with the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa. There was enough hanky-panky that all humans today have some Neanderthal DNA in them.

Several sources cite the beginning of ‘modern man’ to be around 6,000 years ago – less than a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. ‘Modern’ implies an interest in economy, invention and the manipulation of the biosphere AKA the beginning of industrialism.

What was pleasantly insightful in the documentary was the insights of the archeologists  who, interpreting the bones and surmised behavior, showed that even Neanderthal had an awareness of spirituality and compassion. These primitive sensitivities were exercised without any need for a defined religion or imposed cultural obligation. Would they be able to understand today’s anti-religious Protestant Evangelicals? How can Homo saps exist for the next 400,000 years, they wonder.

Making some comparisons between the fate of Neanderthal and ourselves today, there is one commonality: the environment. Neanderthal had no choice because the ice age totally wiped out a forested biosphere. Perhaps we have no choice, either . . . .

Ancient Mariner

 

 

 

 

 

In these times

Posted on by
2

A person is as pressed by social media as if the person were a movie star. Every potion, every holiday spot, every kinky way to do something, is tossed at the screen. There are some well intentioned advertisers, for example medical advice, an ability to talk with family and friends, how to interact with government and the legitimate news organizations that love to talk about themselves.

But by a massive degree more frequently, a person is assaulted by mercenaries, corporate manipulators and irrational hagglers. Privacy is lost. Personal decision-making is thwarted by unbalanced information. And watching television has become so pervasive as to shut down normal social behavior, that is, interpersonal dialogue and mutual participation in life.

In the middle of the last century, mariner was a preacher. The job of preacher does have a political aspect to it when dealing with the congregation but the standard job description had a set of priorities: Foremost, run religious services and sacraments. Second, above all other responsibilities, visit the ill and shut-ins. Third, promote community programs and evangelism.

He is sorry to say that visiting is no longer a priority, In this century, the services and sacraments are sustained and the political aspect is not about the political issues that arise when attempting to be a Christian but rather, doing just the opposite by politicizing issues contrary to Christian doctrine.

In the world of politics, the well being of the citizenry has been co-opted by corporate interests and in recent times has created a have, have not society. Finally, in the background, the planet’s traditional political liaisons between nations have grown old and are under stress.

. . . .

Mariner mentions these situations because every one detracts from the one behavior that can see us through: Be a normal human being! That means talking to other human beings at least as often as sitting in a TV chair or scratching a computer/telephone screen. Sustain personal relations that build community spirit.

A simple pattern, be sure to visit each friend and neighbor regularly – even have them visit you.

Attend community events. Organize or associate with a picnic or event that includes friends and neighbors; participate in neighborhood activities; look for ways, even very tiny, where you can help a neighbor – especially shut-ins and the ill because preachers don’t do it any more. In fact, ask a neighbor to help you – something about which mariner has become experienced.

Belong to a local group that helps the indigent or get with friends to repair an old person’s home.

Reinforce family unity with visitations, vacations, and reunions. Share more time with children whether at home or who have moved into their own life.

Participate in local election activity. Of course, always vote!

One of the overlooked activities that build community strength is a local newspaper. Sadly, local papers are disappearing because of competition with the Internet. However, if you are fortunate to have a local paper, subscribe to it. More is happening around the community than one may think.

Deliberately give one full day each month dedicated to servicing others. That includes spouses, children, neighbors, social organizations and anyone else who would be pleased with your dedicated interest.

Finally, enforce a time when your own well being Is important. It could be fishing, golfing, boating, etc. Or perhaps reading, visiting natural surroundings, taking a short trip to see something interesting, have a hobby. Just find a place where time belongs only to you – and not to the TV or telephone.

Our genome says we need a tribe to care for.

Ancient Mariner

Mariner lied

Posted on by
3

Watched the democratic convention. How many times did you hear someone say ‘existential’? Did they mean:

Meaningful? Emotional? Positive? Real? Empirical? Spiritual? achievement?

Let’s face it. ‘Existential’ is a thesaurus word – just like ‘gay’ was.

Ancient Mariner

Existential-3

Posted on by
1

Isn’t it great that we have a new hobby – the meaning of existential? Marc’s observations are a true experience; when we hear folks use the word, we tend to feel they really don’t have a substantive argument. Marc is wise beyond his years (He has many).

Mariner promises this is the last post about existential.

Just to warm up the reader’s egotistical, self-centered brain, what you have warmed up has nothing to do with existentialism. To use another awkward analogy, existentialism in its correct, philosophical perspective, is not who you think you are.- that is not what’s important. Who you think you are is a result of interacting with reality.

Many years ago an individual, unnamed at the time, described his philosophy of life as an effort to experience as many different sensations, emotions, circumstances and social engagements as he possibly could because, he said, “I am what I experience”. He believed in the philosophy of existentialism.

Given Schroeder’s cat in a box, the cat is not real until you otherwise experience it.  What makes it real is a context provided by reality, not one’s egotistical, self-promoting ego – the reader didn’t know until reality presented it to them. A valid existential moment. One has the realization that until reality interacted with you, you could not add the experience.

Philosophically, those who believe the existential experience is what gives meaning and purpose to one’s life, believe reality is what defines us and shapes us. Our own definitions of ourselves are a way of interpreting that existential moment.

So, now that this wonderful, abstract word is not just part of your vocabulary but also an existential experience – and a hobby, mariner leaves the reader to enjoy a newly defined sense of self.

Ancient Mariner

Existential-2

Posted on by
2

Mariner expected the common response to be “Doesn’t this guy have anything else to do?” The feedback from friends and readers was varied. Two responses to the post are examples.He admits his detailed meandering may have caused confusion. This time he will be breviloquent.

On the second line of the post, classic Latin suggests it is an essence or a state of continuous ‘being’.

Graphically, in the sequence 4,5,6   5 is the existential relationship.

The moment of behavior combined with the impact of present reality is the existential moment. That moment provides meaning to the behavior and to the definition of reality.

He said it was a hobby.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

Existential

Posted on by
2

When is something existential? Defining this word can be a hobby. Its origins, going back to classic Latin, suggest it is an essence or a state of continuous ‘being’. Today, it has many applications as a moral circumstance, an historical value, an empirical experience or a moment of reality.

Mariner’s interest in this word goes back to his college days when he had a philosophy class. The word has many faces. A common use today is as a form of empiricism, where all knowledge comes from experience. Social activists often use the word as a transition point where an idea becomes reality. (a quote from a political aide who said, “If we don’t do something about this, it will become existential.”). Philosophers use the word as a way to describe an entity – like how a rabbit interacts with reality is what makes it a rabbit. (Remember, this is a hobby).

What makes using the word ‘existential’ difficult is that it is two-faced, that is, it is one moment with multiple conditions. For example, someone could say “My experiences are who I am, meaning that they exist because they experience it”. Another individual could say, “My existence is how i react to reality”. A subtle difference for sure but the context of one begins with the person and the other begins with reality.

The classic definition of existential means ‘relating to reality’. That’s it. It is a condition, not an act; it is an interaction, not a conclusion; it is a noun, not an adverb.

He hopes the reader has enjoyed this existential moment.

Ancient Mariner