500 and holding...

This is my 500th blog. It is not a milestone that I ever set out to reach, let alone achieve. I noticed some time ago that I was approaching this mark and as a result, I decided that it would be my last - at least, for the time being. As of today, I am putting Marginalia55 on 'hold'.

I am certainly not deleting it; I am only discontinuing my now regular pattern of posts - which follows that for the 'sixy primes', as previously explained.

So, without more ado or fanfare, that's all for the moment.

Thanks for reading. I hope something in what has gone before in the previous 499 blogs will continue to prove interesting to somebody. Hopefully, this quote applies:

"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen."
Robert Bresson (1901-1999)

What this blog has been...

If I could sum up what this blog has been, it might be expressed in the following image:

This is an image of a random walk. This, one could say is very much what this blog has been.
(Animated random walks may be seen here and here.)

Shop Window

The following is a scan of a postcard that I found in my clutter. (You can see the holes from where it has been pinned to my old office wall.) I don't know for sure, when or where I bought it but it continues to fascinate. Very few shop windows, if any, can be said to do that - and certainly not in quite this way. It is entitled 'Naturalist, rue de l'Ecole de Medecine' and was taken in 1926 by the French photographer Eugène Atget (1857-1927). (It can also be seen - in better quality - online at Wikimedia Commons and The J. Paul Getty Museum.)

Epictetus - 29 (From the Fragments)

From: The Golden Sayings of Epictetus (translated by Hastings Crossley) - from Project Gutenberg.


Fragments:

IV
Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind.

IX
Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

XI
Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight.

XII
Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.

XV
No man is free who is not master of himself.

XVI
A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.

XVII
Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.

XVIII
No man who is a lover of money, of pleasure, of glory, is likewise a lover of Men; but only he that is a lover of whatsoever things are fair and good.

XIX
Think of God more often than thou breathest.

XX
Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.

XXI
Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink.

I can never get enough fog

Sunny days are great but I do love foggy days. The world is less expansive, less vast. It is closer, more intimate. And perhaps more mysterious. (Without there being an intentional pun on 'mist'.)
One Saturday, a year or so ago, I awoke to find that outside there was a thick fog, so I dressed quickly and went out for a walk. I even took photographs of the fog - or rather of familar sights now rendered unfamiliar by being wrapped in a blanket of mist.

Here is one of my photographs:

Alma Mater

In May 2017, my wife and I are going back (and by the time you read this will have been back) to our old university - Surrey - for a weekend visit when it celebrates its 50th anniversary. In one form or another, the University of Surrey has been in existence for 125 years but it is choosing to celebrate just 50 years as a fully fledged university. That is in stark contrast to another I will not name that recently celebrated 175 years in existence even though it had only been a university for 10 years!
I'm sure that we will enjoy the ocassion very much but I notice, not least from its website, how much things have changed. All UK universities have changed, although to varying degrees. I nearly didn't type 'degree' then because it sounded too much of a pun but I leave it in because the degrees on offer are now very varied in their depth and value. Many, I feel, are not worth the time, effort or debt - nor the heartache because no university education is devoid of this in some form or another. When we went to university, it was a formative experience that many no longer receive or even want! Many are at university to pick up a degree because they have been told that it is a ticket to a good job (which is becoming increasingly debatable).
This degree-ticket mentality is not helped by the modular approach to higher education that has now been widely adopted. Rack up the modules; get a degree. My undergraduate degree in Human Biology seemed very intricately woven. So much so that, given the subject matter, I feel that I am still unpicking it.

The following seems particularly relevant:

"...bits of knowledge laid end to end [do not] lead to wisdom."
Altered and attributed to Melvin Konner. I hope I have got his sentiment right - it is certainly mine.


As I write (and schedule) this, I notice that it is about this time of year that the exam results come out. Good luck.

Before Selfie Sticks

I do have a couple of selfie sticks but I have never used them to take a selfie! I got them because they were being sold for £1 each and I took the opportunity of getting them while I could. The idea was to use them a bit more creatively than to pamper my ego. I've used them only a few times and then mainly to take a photo of somewhere hard to reach - like the top of a bookcase. I needed to know what was (lurking) up there.

Four years ago, having one would have been very useful. I was aware that some blackbirds had built a nest in a tree in our garden and I was quite sure that it had been vacated. I wanted to look inside but didn't want to make too much disturbance - just in case. A camera on the end of a selfie stick would have been ideal had they been available (for £1!) that summer. In the end I got a number of photos of the inside of the nest but it took a lot of trial and error, stretching at arm's length and hoping the angle was right - it often it wasn't. The photo below is probably the best I got (which says a lot.)

My Fascination With Right Angles (again)

Here is a collection of images (some my own; the first two are web finds) which reflects, in various ways, my fascination with right angles and the like:

To the above I will add this, a photograph I took in St Peter's Square (which, of course, is not square!):

Epictetus - 28

From: The Golden Sayings of Epictetus (translated by Hastings Crossley) - from Project Gutenberg.


CLXXXIX
What wouldst thou be found doing when overtaken by Death? If I might choose, I would be found doing some deed of true humanity, of wide import, beneficent and noble. But if I may not be found engaged in aught so lofty, let me hope at least for this—what none may hinder, what is surely in my power—that I may be found raising up in myself that which had fallen; learning to deal more wisely with the things of sense; working out my own tranquillity, and thus rendering that which is its due to every relation of life. . . .
If death surprise me thus employed, it is enough if I can stretch forth my hands to God and say, "The faculties which I received at Thy hands for apprehending this thine Administration, I have not neglected. As far as in me lay, I have done Thee no dishonour. Behold how I have used the senses, the primary conceptions which Thous gavest me. Have I ever laid anything to Thy charge? Have I ever murmured at aught that came to pass, or wished it otherwise? Have I in anything transgressed the relations of life? For that Thou didst beget me, I thank Thee for that Thou hast given: for the time during which I have used the things that were Thine, it suffices me. Take them back and place them wherever Thou wilt! They were all Thine, and Thou gavest them me."—If a man depart thus minded, is it not enough? What life is fairer and more noble, what end happier than his?

More Sky Lines

Standing at the bus stop, I often look up to see the trails of aeroplanes. (As I have previously mentioned.) These not unattractive features are, unfortunately trails of polution. From below, they look clean; white and bright wisps like any other cloud. What is noticable when travelling in an aeroplane is how dark they appear from above.

Just try...

Although it is not wise to be too harsty, it is also not wise to delay. Consider these sayings...


"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

"If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads"

Anatole France (1844-1924)

To the latter I would add '...but let us not tarry lest the path ahead lead to more spectacular views.'

"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed."

Possibly Martyn Lloyd Jones (1899-1981)

 

 

What is...?

It is worth stopping and asking how one might define certain things should one be required to do so. It helps clarify one's understanding of the world. This is particularly worthwhile when it comes to familiar things - objects as well as concepts. There are many things with which we are so familiar that trying to give a clear and succinct definition or description can prove very difficult. Some things may even prove impossible to define satisfactorily. Dictionaries may give an idea of how words are used but what about the real essence of a thing?

Here are two definions that won't be found in any dictionary:


What is a philosopher?

"Everything is perceptually modified by proximity and perspective and philosophy is the capacity to pan in and out at will - and a philosopher is someone who can do this."

Christopher J. Ross - Tunnel Visions: Journeys of an Underground Philosopher (6) p12. 

 

Similarly, What is a gentleman?

"A gentleman is a man who can describe a woman without using his hands."

Unattributed (and perhaps rightly so)

On Travelling to Work - 2

Driving to work takes effort: concentration on the road and arriving safely. When one arrives at work this level of effort and concentration continues into the work of the day. At the end of the day, that effort and concentration continues as one drives home again. From leaving home to returning home again, one is expending effort and concentrating. The working day is extended as a result by the work that it takes to get to and from work.

Going to work by train or bus, if undertaken in the right frame of mind (and in the right circumstances: on trains and buses that are not overcrowded or uncomfortable) can (or perhaps should) be an extension of the leisure time one has at home.

Epictetus - 27

From: The Golden Sayings of Epictetus (translated by Hastings Crossley) - from Project Gutenberg.


CLXXXII
Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, "He who is content."

CLXXXVI
It is hard to combine and unite these two qualities, the carefulness of one who is affected by circumstances, and the intrepidity of one who heeds them not. But it is not impossible: else were happiness also impossible. We should act as we do in seafaring.
"What can I do?"—Choose the master, the crew, the day, the opportunity. Then comes a sudden storm. What matters it to me? my part has been fully done. The matter is in the hands of another—the Master of the ship. The ship is foundering. What then have I to do? I do the only thing that remains to me—to be drowned without fear, without a cry, without upbraiding God, but knowing that what has been born must likewise perish. For I am not Eternity, but a human being—a part of the whole, as an hour is part of the day. I must come like the hour, and like the hour must pass!

Centaur-ess

In my experience, centaurs are almost always represented as the head, arms and trunk of a male and the body of a horse (presumably also male!). I do not recollect ever seeing a female centaur. Looking into this, I find that they are not mentioned in early Greek mythology but that centauresses or centaurides are mentioned in later Greek literature. After all, without female centaurs, where would any centaurs come from? I found this image somewhere, some time ago. I doubt if the ancient Greeks had this sort of image in mind though.

Seeing things differently

In his Jayne Lectures of 1968 - which appeared as 'Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thought' (which was later incorporated in 'Pluto's Republic') - and in his book 'Advice to a Young Scientist', the Nobel prize winning biologist Sir Peter Medawar (1915-1987) describes four types of experiment.

They are:

* Baconian (or Inductive) Experimentation.
This type of experimentation is typified by the phrase, "I wonder want would happen if … ?"
All investigations, Medawar suggests, begin this way.

* Galilean (or Critical) Experimentation.
This is the type of experiment where "actions are carried out to test a hypothesis or preconceived opinion by examining the logical consequences of holding it." Here Medawar's words reflect the ideas of Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994).

* Aristotelian (or Demonstrative) Experimentation.
This type of experiment is "intended to illustrate a preconceived truth and convince people of its validity."

and then there is...

* Kantian (or Deductive) Experimentation.
This type of experimentation is based on: "Let's see what happens if we take different view" and consists of "experiments in which we examine the consequences of varying [our] axioms or presuppositions."

Taking a different view is not just useful or important when it comes to scientific experiements. It makes a big difference when just looking at the world.

Here are some images to make one think (differently):

and what about this...?

Sun and Moon... and Mercury

The sun comes out during the day and the moon at night... well, not quite. Here is a picture I took of the moon late one afternoon. The colour of the sky and that of the moon are continuous with each other giving an interesting transparency effect. On another occasion, I took a photograph of the sun (using, of course, appropriate filters and precautions). I did so to catch the transit of Mercury on 9th May last year. It can be seen as the tidy dot in the lower left quadrant.

On Travelling to Work - 1

There are two ways to get to work: by private transport or by public transport. Private transport usually takes the form of travelling by car; public transport, the bus or the train. Some, of course, choose different forms of cycling. If one can't afford a vehicle, one has little choice than to go by public transport. Those who can afford a car often buy one and drive themselves to work.

However, if one becomes very wealthy one may decide to hire a chauffeur so that one no longer has to drive oneself. Here I think that there is a sense of coming full-circle here. Doesn't a bus or train driver chauffeur those who travel by public transport? So, don't knock public transport; it's much the same, to my mind, as being chauffeur driven.

Epictetus - 26

From: The Golden Sayings of Epictetus (translated by Hastings Crossley) - from Project Gutenberg.


CLXXV
Never call yourself a Philosopher nor talk much among the unlearned about Principles, but do that which follows from them. Thus at a banquet, do not discuss how people ought to eat; but eat as you ought. Remember that Socrates thus entirely avoided ostentation. Men would come to him desiring to be recommended to philosophers, and he would conduct them thither himself—so well did he bear being overlooked. Accordingly if any talk concerning principles should arise among the unlearned, be you for the most part silent. For you run great risk of spewing up what you have ill digested. And when a man tells you that you know nothing and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun the work.


CLXXVIII
At feasts, remember that you are entertaining two guests, body and soul. What you give to the body, you presently lose; what you give to the soul, you keep for ever.

Google Maps - Can be funny

Browsing through Google Maps can yield some interesting finding. The world is not a static thing. Least of al the human wolrd. Things are always happening, so taking an aerial photograph can produce some interesting and even funny effects. Here are a few I collected sometime ago:

Heathrow airport:

Gatwick airport:

Somewhere over SE England:

In North London (a split tube train):

Mancot, North Wales: