And on into another week we plunge. Sigh. Here's an interesting blog post about what the elections in Iraq might mean for the bad guys there.
The flap about CBS and its fraudulent story about Bush's National Guard story based on fraudulent documents still flutters in the wind. Here is a good article on the matter.
It always amuses me, this Big Media desire to "get the scoop", to be the first one to air a story. They must think it proves to us great unwashed masses that they are worthy of their journalistic credentials. But, I rather (ha!) doubt that all over this great land, mothers sit in darkened rooms rocking their babes to sleep while whispering in their ears "Sleep peacefully, my child, CBS is out there somewhere, working for us, working to break the big story." We don't really care who breaks the big stories first.
And finally, a note about changes. We human beings are often resistant to change, especially as we grow older. We take comfort in the familiar, in the routine. Yet, it is an odd contrast that we human beings also love stories. I have talked elsewhere about how we learn by seeing patterns in things, and that stories provide patterns that help us make sense of what we see and experience around us. The oddity, though, is that one thing we value most in stories is the element of surprise. We love the twist at the end, we eagerly follow the plights of fictional characters just to find out happens to them next.
Why do we value surprise in our stories, with which we make sense of our lives, when we most value familiarity in our lives? Perhaps it is the risk-free nature of change in stories. We can accept change there, knowing our real-life world will remain stable. We experience the thrill of upheaval vicariously through story. Whatever the answer, there is more to understanding to understanding Home Sapiens than just cataloguing eating and sleeping habits. There is no one story that could explain us. Perhaps that is why there is such a vast sea of literature and art produced by human hands and minds.
The flap about CBS and its fraudulent story about Bush's National Guard story based on fraudulent documents still flutters in the wind. Here is a good article on the matter.
It always amuses me, this Big Media desire to "get the scoop", to be the first one to air a story. They must think it proves to us great unwashed masses that they are worthy of their journalistic credentials. But, I rather (ha!) doubt that all over this great land, mothers sit in darkened rooms rocking their babes to sleep while whispering in their ears "Sleep peacefully, my child, CBS is out there somewhere, working for us, working to break the big story." We don't really care who breaks the big stories first.
And finally, a note about changes. We human beings are often resistant to change, especially as we grow older. We take comfort in the familiar, in the routine. Yet, it is an odd contrast that we human beings also love stories. I have talked elsewhere about how we learn by seeing patterns in things, and that stories provide patterns that help us make sense of what we see and experience around us. The oddity, though, is that one thing we value most in stories is the element of surprise. We love the twist at the end, we eagerly follow the plights of fictional characters just to find out happens to them next.
Why do we value surprise in our stories, with which we make sense of our lives, when we most value familiarity in our lives? Perhaps it is the risk-free nature of change in stories. We can accept change there, knowing our real-life world will remain stable. We experience the thrill of upheaval vicariously through story. Whatever the answer, there is more to understanding to understanding Home Sapiens than just cataloguing eating and sleeping habits. There is no one story that could explain us. Perhaps that is why there is such a vast sea of literature and art produced by human hands and minds.
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