Abby Normal

   

See: "Young Frankenstein" (below)

 

Jollities (with maybe just a touch of sarcasm)

 

 

 

Carl Sagan Speaks a Frightening Truth

☞☞☞ There are two kinds of dangers

Good Morning

 

On Stoicism

I have mentioned my devotion to Stoicism and the benefits I find in it for the times we live in, so I thought I should say something more about it. I'll just give a bit of historical background first, 'cause that's how I roll, but my aim is more to talk about what I find in it.

 

Stoicism was founded in the ancient Agora (the public square) of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. From that start, Stoicism boasts some 700 years of continuous evolution, most importantly in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, Stoic teachers spread the philosophy to Rome where it soon became favored by the aristocracy. It remained predominant among aristocrats and intellectuals of the empire for centuries to come, boasting Cicero and the emperor Marcus Aurelius among its adherents. In what can be called its Roman form, Stoicism placed a heavy emphasis on the practical issue of how best to live a serene and ethical life in a world that seems to militate against such an endeavor. In this, the chief figure is Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 135 CE) whose writings form the body of Stoic philosophy that has come down to us.

We can sum up Epictetus' philosophy in just two simple maxims:

-- Only seek to control those things which are under your control.

-- Nothing external to ourselves is under our control; the only thing under our control is how

    we react to things external to ourselves.

There you have it. What makes us miserable is not the events of our world and life, but rather the destructive emotions we conjure in reaction to those events. Overcoming destructive emotions, "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousies" means realizing that such passions are a disturbing and misleading force in the mind, which occurs because of a failure to reason correctly. Life hasn't been fair to me; whatever made you think that life was supposed to be fair? My boyfriend dumped me; isn't this something that happens all the time around the world--what makes you think you're exempt? I'm sick; you thought you had some sort of guarantee of perpetual health? The president is an idiot; has any society created a safeguard against bad leaders? It is not the events that cause us distress; it is our reaction to them that causes us pain. And our reaction to events is the one thing that IS under our control. Some of you may recognize that some contemporary psychological therapies are built on exactly this principle: the work of Albert Ellis, who developed rational emotive behavior therapy (RET), and Aaron T. Beck who is regarded by many as the father of early versions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and many other works of recovery literature also echo these principles. As the common consolatory adage goes: "It's not the end of the world."
 

It's important to realize that, contrary to the common understanding of the word, a Stoic does not attempt not to feel, indeed the Stoic is expected to have very strong feelings. What the philosophy offers is a way not to be overwhelmed by feelings. 

The Stoics realize that though this sounds simple, it is not easy to accomplish. Indeed, the Stoics believed that perfection in achieving this goal is impossible, and the ancient Stoics referred to themselves simply as "those who are making progress" (you may get a whiff of Buddhism in this; you wouldn't be the first to note similarities). Philosophy for a Stoic is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims; it is a way of life involving constant practice and training, an active process of constant practice and self-reminder. What might be called "spiritual exercises" are required. Epictetus himself wrote a short handbook of meditations for this purpose called the Enchiridion (the Greek word for Handbook). If you're interested in Stoicism, this is a great place to start to familiarize yourself. A very accessible translation is on line at https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html and there are all sorts of translations and editions on Amazon for only a few bucks. Marcus Aurelius himself also wrote a book of Stoic exercises called the Meditations, also widely available. On Stoicism generally, there's Wikipedia, which has a decent entry; likely better is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/).

 

Hope I didn't bore you too much!

Flowers

Aficionados of my FB page will perhaps remember my periodic posts of the flower arrangements in our living room. I have decided to revive the practice here on the blog with this week's bouquet, a combination of two mixed bouquets from Trader Joe's. And yes, the colors really are that vivid. Enjoy!

More Phancy Physics!!!

☞☞☞ Click here.

Captain's Log: Supplemental

This was an historic day! I went to my first water aerobics class AND I started using my new coffee canister!!!  And some people think retirement is boring...

On Fear of Change

For quite some time now, some 8 years ago to be precise, I started thinking that the motivating factor for right-wing reaction is fear of change. Now old beliefs, attitudes, etc. have been discarded over time since probably the beginning of time, but I believe the case can be made that never have so many changes happened so quickly, over such a wide area of human experience, as in the past 20 years. Yes, we can talk about technology, computers, AI, laundry detergent pods, and assorted other wonders, but I think it's the day-to-day fundamental human experience stuff that rattles lots of folks--primarily those with a conservative bent.

In this country, we went from constitutional bans on same-sex marriage to nationwide legality virtually overnight. Transgender people seem to hit the national awareness like a bolt out of the blue. All in a country where a lot of people are fundamentally shaken by, and inimical to, evolution. The very foundations are shaken. And there is the feeling of loss of control: too much is happening, too many things are changing, prices are going up, buying power is going down, bloodshed is scattered throughout the world and no one is able to make it stop, America is no longer invincible--always a dangerous idea that got a gut punch on 9/11. Insecurity. We don't control our own lives... because the government has too much power. (Huh?) Let's get back to the good old days, before all this happened (and when America was great). A black woman is a scary novelty; let's go with the tough-talking white guy--he'll make us feel better (remember Ronald Reagan)--heck he's even been president before. Nothing like a known quantity. When bedrock beliefs, ideas that constitute basic reality, are challenged, like male/female, the reaction is knee-jerk and ugly. Ban the teaching of evolution, burn the books, let the federal government declare that it recognizes only 2 genders. Are we destroying the planet? Easy, just declare we're not.

Fear, fear that the world is falling apart. We're not alone in this; Hungary, Poland, Italy, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and bunches of others outside "the West" (that cradle of progressive democracy) have caught the bug.

Back in 1965, E.R. Dodds, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford, published a brilliant little book, Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety: Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine. It made quite a splash, but some critics said it was ridiculous to think that an entire civilization as vast as the Roman Empire could suffer from empire-wide anxiety. Everybody feeling fearful and uneasy, wondering what was happening to their world? Preposterous! In 2025, we know better than to say that. 

A Nugget of Wisdom!

From time to time, I am prone to spout nuggets of such incisive and astounding wisdom, I amaze even myself. Upon reflection, I realized I have a responsibility to humanity to share them. This one bubbled up the other evening after dinner:

 

Continuing to answer a question, after it has already received a satisfactory answer, only causes confusion.

You're welcome!

Have You Met my Favorite German Physicist?

Sabine Hossenfelder doing one of the things she does best, attacking the premises of ridiculously expensive experiments.  I adore her!  https://www.youtube.com/@SabineHossenfelder

Physicists Claim This $2 Billion Experiment Can Tell Us Why We Exist

 

Have I Mentioned I'm a Devoted Monarchist?

More Stuff

 

A Little Morning Music

Yesterday we went to an 11:30am National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) concert at the Kennedy Center. Daytime concerts are especially convenient during winter weather, especially given the winding, tricky streets that lead to the KC. Also, daytime concerts are good for the ego since we are usually among the youngest members of the audience. The outfit I wore was exceptionally slimming, so I took a rare selfie in one of the mirrored walls in the foyer:

The program:

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
Jorge Federico Osorio, piano

Gabriela Ortiz: Téenek – Invenciones de Territorio
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Jorge Federico Osorio, hailed as “an imaginative interpreter with a powerful technique” (New York Times), takes on Beethoven’s intensely energetic Piano Concerto No. 3.

Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto, who returns to the NSO following his “high-octane” 2018 debut (Washington Classical Review), conducts Rachmaninoff’s lush and lively Symphonic Dances. Prieto, a champion of Latin American music, opens the program with Téenek – Invenciones de Territorio, Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz’s uplifting ode to a future without borders.

The percussion section gears up for Rachmaninoff:

Weather Update...

Data from the Mighty Hamster Weather Satellite Network (eat your heart out Elon!) indicates Sunday evening, 1 to 3 inches of snow. Monday high in the mid 20s. It’s going to be a lovely inauguration! I wonder if he’ll end up getting a bigger crowd than Biden did (recall, it was Covid and there was no crowd.)  As some of you might know, an inch of snow sends DC into a blind panic.  This could be quite amusing.

❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎☃️❅❆❄︎

Weather (a Schadenfruede* post)

FYI, the high temp forecasted for DC on Inauguration Day is 24º.

Heh, heh, heh… 

 

 *pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune

Report

So... what to do today?  Yesterday I cleaned the carpet in my bedroom, a too-long postponed task. I bought a new, smaller, lightweight cleaning machine which works very well (the old one was a bit too big and clunky for the condo) except that when I went to use it a couple of days ago, I discovered the belt broke. Amazon came to the rescue and I was back at the task 2 days later. There are a couple of largish rugs that can also use a cleaning; that will be easier since there is less stuff to move around, but I should be careful not to overdo. They'll get done the next week or two. I could go to the Apple store and have them show me how the dang "Focus" feature works. I tried setting it up so that I don't get notification sounds from 11pm to 7am, but when I try to do that, the phone goes silent from 7am to 11 pm. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. I'd pair that with a bit of grocery shopping, but it's like 28º F. out there, which is chilly even for me.  I could go into the city and hit a museum, but at fear of repeating myself, it's like 28º F. out there. I have laundry to fold, and that I definitely will do. I don't like folding laundry (though strangely I kinda like ironing)--it's my own fault since I insist on folding laundry the "right" way, to the utter mystification of my dear hubby.  There a journal submission I was asked to referee, i.e., write up an evaluation of the article for the journal editor.  That sounds a bit ambitious for today. Of course, in my blessed retired state, I don't HAVE to do anything. By the time I sort this out and complete my morning rituals, it'll be time for lunch. Sometimes, it just ain't easy being me...

Because...

 we can all use a Wonder Woman twirl from time to time...

Just a Touch of Sarcasm

Chilly Penguins

 ...because why not

-- from pingmyping in Instagram