- Watership Down, Richard Adams - This was a new one to me and I wish I'd read it long ago. It's been on my shelf for ages but for some reason I'd never taken it down. A huge shame. The book is told from the point of view of rabbits and it's something of a quest book. A very fine book.
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig - This is an odd book but also very well worth reading. I expected something of a combination of biker and hippie but it really wasn't either. Most if it is a long search for the essence of quality. The last 100 pages or so deal with elements of both Greek and German philosophy and tied in directly with elements of the Great Books. Very thought provoking.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Books Read in March
Another month done and this one seemed like a busy one for reading. It turned out that I didn't read all that much outside of the Great Books reading list.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Yeats - Poetry
I've heard of Yeats, but I don't know any of his poetry. This poem is titled 'Lake Isle of Innisfree'.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
What a lovely poem. It speaks to me for right now I feel that same pull for a quiet and more peaceful spot. I would go tomorrow, if I could to a place where I could 'have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow'. I can also hear the lake water lapping. And I'm sure I hear it deep in my heart.
Ok Yeats, it's probably time that I got to know you better.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
What a lovely poem. It speaks to me for right now I feel that same pull for a quiet and more peaceful spot. I would go tomorrow, if I could to a place where I could 'have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow'. I can also hear the lake water lapping. And I'm sure I hear it deep in my heart.
Ok Yeats, it's probably time that I got to know you better.
Friday, March 28, 2014
The Elements (Book One) - Euclid
(True story: I tried to read through this and found it very hard going. Then I found this playlist and was able to understand it all.)
Euclid lays out some definitions and postulates and then works and works and works with them. He proves various relationships between angles and lines and eventually provides a proof for the Pythagorean theorem. If you follow along, you'll understand each of the steps.
I'd always assumed that the Pythagorean theorem was basically found in nature and then worked out later. I thought that someone found the 3/4/5 resonance and then worked backwards from there. Now I don't know that. This proof suggests that it could have gone the other way where the it was worked out in theory first and then proved in practice. That's kind of mind-blowing to me.
As the proof started, I wanted to take out a ruler and measure each square and then do the math, but in the theoretical world that Euclid worked in, that isn't necessary. Working from already proved processes and postulates, he shows what must be true of every right triangle. What must be true even if you don't have a ruler handy.
It's hard to overstate the influence that Euclid had on the math world. From what I understand (and I'm way out of my comfort zone here), it wasn't until the 19th century that non-Euclidean math was developed. That means for more than 2000 years, math in the Western world was all based on rules and assumptions that Euclid laid down.
That's simply amazing.
Euclid lays out some definitions and postulates and then works and works and works with them. He proves various relationships between angles and lines and eventually provides a proof for the Pythagorean theorem. If you follow along, you'll understand each of the steps.
I'd always assumed that the Pythagorean theorem was basically found in nature and then worked out later. I thought that someone found the 3/4/5 resonance and then worked backwards from there. Now I don't know that. This proof suggests that it could have gone the other way where the it was worked out in theory first and then proved in practice. That's kind of mind-blowing to me.
As the proof started, I wanted to take out a ruler and measure each square and then do the math, but in the theoretical world that Euclid worked in, that isn't necessary. Working from already proved processes and postulates, he shows what must be true of every right triangle. What must be true even if you don't have a ruler handy.
It's hard to overstate the influence that Euclid had on the math world. From what I understand (and I'm way out of my comfort zone here), it wasn't until the 19th century that non-Euclidean math was developed. That means for more than 2000 years, math in the Western world was all based on rules and assumptions that Euclid laid down.
That's simply amazing.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Who Decides? - Aristotle
There is something about Aristotle that makes my mind wander back to the works of Robert Heinlein. In this case the discussion of various ways of governing brought me to a couple of Heinlein quotes that I'll share here.
The quotes are from a book called 'Time Enough for Love'. In the book, an incredibly long lived man named Lazarus Long is kept from death by his ancestors who want to find out what wisdom he has acquired in his life. He scoffs at the idea but relents and keeps a journal in a section simply titled 'The Notebooks of Lazarus Long'. In that section, these two quotes are back to back:
But of course, how would you pick such a person? You'd need to know what their thoughts were on budgets and defense and the environment and health care and so on. You'd need to know what they thought of tax policy and abortion and gay marriage and so on and so on. In other words, you could only pick such a person after they had gone through the political process.
And then you'd risk the movement to tyranny.
This is why we go with democracy. We'd rather have the messiness and uncertainty. We'd rather be able to correct course if we go badly off track. (One could argue that every major election in the US since 2006 have been course corrections.) We want the legitimacy that majority rule brings. And if the ignorant majority sometimes swallows up the wise few, well, that's an ok price to pay.
The quotes are from a book called 'Time Enough for Love'. In the book, an incredibly long lived man named Lazarus Long is kept from death by his ancestors who want to find out what wisdom he has acquired in his life. He scoffs at the idea but relents and keeps a journal in a section simply titled 'The Notebooks of Lazarus Long'. In that section, these two quotes are back to back:
"Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How's that again? I missed something."Of course in any million people, the amount of people what will have the expertise to decide any kind of technical question will be overwhelmed by the ignorant majority. This sometimes leads to wistful, late night discussions of having a benevolent dictator or some such. "We need someone who can cut through the politics and do the common sense things that need doing." That kind of thing.
"Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let's play that over again, too. Who decides?"
But of course, how would you pick such a person? You'd need to know what their thoughts were on budgets and defense and the environment and health care and so on. You'd need to know what they thought of tax policy and abortion and gay marriage and so on and so on. In other words, you could only pick such a person after they had gone through the political process.
And then you'd risk the movement to tyranny.
This is why we go with democracy. We'd rather have the messiness and uncertainty. We'd rather be able to correct course if we go badly off track. (One could argue that every major election in the US since 2006 have been course corrections.) We want the legitimacy that majority rule brings. And if the ignorant majority sometimes swallows up the wise few, well, that's an ok price to pay.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Politics (Books 3-5) - Aristotle
The bulk of this reading is concerned with categorizing various types of government and then discussing the differences between them. Aristotle has three main categories: democracies, kingdoms and aristocracy. Democracy is the rule of the many, kingdoms are rule of the one and aristocracy is the rule of a select (often wealthy) few. He talks about various ways that a city will decided who is or who isn't a citizen and remarks that different cities require a different type of government.
Aristotle also talks about how to make the city better. He argues that the virtue of a city will be derived from the virtue of its citizens. He speaks at length on what will make this virtue and whether the virtue that makes someone a good man is the same virtue that makes a good citizen. I found this striking because here today, we do very little educating on how to be a good citizen of our country. Our children do some work on being a good 'world citizen' but beyond that the duties of a modern citizen are very little more than 1) obey the laws and 2) make sure you recycle. This is probably not enough.
Another large element that Aristotle talks about is the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of government. He says that 'when it is in the hands of the few, it will be a government of the rich; when it is in the hands of the many, it will be a government of the poor'. He also argues that a blend of various governments could work well.
One problem with reading Aristotle on your own is that there is so much in his writing that it makes it hard to digest it all. Repeatedly while I was reading this, I wished that I could cover each 'book' of Politics in a group discussion or class room. You could spend a week (or a month!) on each one and probably still have more to talk about.
I'm sure this is a reflection of how this material first came together. And I'm absolutely certain that this exact approach was taken in various schools and academies in centuries past. I don't know if it is still done anywhere but I'm sure the results would be fascinating.
Aristotle also talks about how to make the city better. He argues that the virtue of a city will be derived from the virtue of its citizens. He speaks at length on what will make this virtue and whether the virtue that makes someone a good man is the same virtue that makes a good citizen. I found this striking because here today, we do very little educating on how to be a good citizen of our country. Our children do some work on being a good 'world citizen' but beyond that the duties of a modern citizen are very little more than 1) obey the laws and 2) make sure you recycle. This is probably not enough.
Another large element that Aristotle talks about is the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of government. He says that 'when it is in the hands of the few, it will be a government of the rich; when it is in the hands of the many, it will be a government of the poor'. He also argues that a blend of various governments could work well.
But the best proof of a happy mixture of a democracy and an oligarchy is this, when a person may properly call the same state a democracy and an oligarchy.I think you could argue that the US is in that situation right now. I wonder if Aristotle would be happy with it?
One problem with reading Aristotle on your own is that there is so much in his writing that it makes it hard to digest it all. Repeatedly while I was reading this, I wished that I could cover each 'book' of Politics in a group discussion or class room. You could spend a week (or a month!) on each one and probably still have more to talk about.
I'm sure this is a reflection of how this material first came together. And I'm absolutely certain that this exact approach was taken in various schools and academies in centuries past. I don't know if it is still done anywhere but I'm sure the results would be fascinating.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Kipling - Poetry
Up next is a poem from Rudyard Kipling. I've read plenty from him. Certain of the 'Just So Stories' are regular bedtime reading for my son. (He's a particular fan of the Elephant's Child. So am I.) This poem is a new one for me, 'Gunga Din'.
YOU may talk o' gin an' beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But if it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them black-faced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You limping lump o' brick-dust,
Gunga Din! Hi! slippy hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao!
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din!"
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a twisty piece o' rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee in it,
Or I'll marrow you this minute,
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"
'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done,
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is mussick on 'is back,
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire."
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide,
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could 'ear the front-files shout:
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"
I sha'n't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' 'e plugged me where I bled,
An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water—green;
It was crawlin' an' it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground an' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake, git the water, Gunga Din!"
'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e died: "I 'ope you liked your drink," sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later on In the place where 'e is gone—
Where it's always double drill and no canteen;
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to pore damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in Hell from Gunga Din!
Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Tho' I've belted you an' flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Well, I can't imagine that this would get published today. The original was published in 1892 and it's something of a product of its time. I guess you could say that the last stanza could be eye opening about the possibility that people from other cultures can be better people. I don't know how true that was in this case.
Ok, so the message has issues. What about the language? I have great admiration for the way that Kipling works with words and that includes this poem. It's hard not to fall into the dialect of the speech. Still, it's hard to fall for this poem.
I have some respect for it, but it's far from a favorite of mine.
YOU may talk o' gin an' beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But if it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them black-faced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You limping lump o' brick-dust,
Gunga Din! Hi! slippy hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao!
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din!"
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a twisty piece o' rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee in it,
Or I'll marrow you this minute,
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"
'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done,
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is mussick on 'is back,
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire."
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide,
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could 'ear the front-files shout:
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"
I sha'n't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' 'e plugged me where I bled,
An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water—green;
It was crawlin' an' it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground an' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake, git the water, Gunga Din!"
'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e died: "I 'ope you liked your drink," sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later on In the place where 'e is gone—
Where it's always double drill and no canteen;
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to pore damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in Hell from Gunga Din!
Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Tho' I've belted you an' flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Well, I can't imagine that this would get published today. The original was published in 1892 and it's something of a product of its time. I guess you could say that the last stanza could be eye opening about the possibility that people from other cultures can be better people. I don't know how true that was in this case.
Ok, so the message has issues. What about the language? I have great admiration for the way that Kipling works with words and that includes this poem. It's hard not to fall into the dialect of the speech. Still, it's hard to fall for this poem.
I have some respect for it, but it's far from a favorite of mine.
Friday, March 21, 2014
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