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:

Aristotle trumps Rumsfeld

By comparison with the false truths, half-truths (and nothing like the truth) that is currently being pumped out by the White House, the pronouncements on February 12th, 2002 by Donald Rumsfeld about 'known knowns', 'unknown unknowns' (and any permutation thereof) sound decidedly philosophical. And perhaps, so they should. There is a sense in which Aristotle got there first.

In Part (Book) 24 of his Poetics, Aristotle talks of prefering "probable impossibilities to improbable possibilities". I'm not sure exactly what he means - nor, at this point, does it matter. It is certainly much more thought-provoking than the current White House drivel which could learn much from the erstwhile Donald.

Lost and Found

I use quotations quite a lot on this blog. I started collecting them for use in my lectures. I found them to be a convenient way of making a point. Not only was it me that was making the point but somebody else had made much the same point before me. The collection of quotations then became something of a minor hobby. When I read or heard something interesting, I simply wrote it down.

In those early days of quotation collecting for lectures, they were printed on acetates for projection using an overhead projector. It was very easy for acetates to get jumbled up and they had to be reorganised afterwards - or more accurately, the following year just before giving the lecture to the next batch of students. Eventually one of my favourite quotations got lost.

I couldn't remember where I first came across it (somebody other than the primary source had used it and I couldn't remember who), nor could I find it online, not least because I couldn't remember the wording well enough to make an accurate search - or perhaps it just hadn't be put online yet. Now all that has changed. I have found it again (on Wikiquote). It is this by Lawrence Durrell from his novel Clea (1960).

'Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but mercifully laughter intervened.'


I used to use it in the context of not taking oneself too seriously. Ideally, I would suggest being a genius and have a good laugh at the same time.