Friday, May 18, 2018

Entry Note To Self...a look inward

Journal Entry: 5/18/18
Looking Inward

Every story I see, whether it is an inspiring one, or a limiting one...has a way of keeping me from noticing everything that exists outside of that story.  Then I notice again (after I pick myself up and dust myself off) how much more has been available to experience all along if only I had been able to suspend the "life as usual" mode for a bit. 

I remember a conversation with my dear Humberto we had regarding how our sense of self derives from language. We use language to communicate with other people and to think to ourselves. At around age 2 or 3, children begin talking out loud in a way that’s clearly not intended to communicate to others. They seem to use this self-talk to direct their own behavior. Within a few years, they learn to turn that self-talk inward, and from then on they maintain an internal monologue instead.

We all engage in this inner speech. When we read, we hear our own voice speaking the words. When we work on a problem, we talk out the steps in our head. As we go through the day, we make comments about the people we meet that we’d never dare say out loud. This running monologue inside the head...could it be what constitutes the self?

I find this idea intriguing, because it helps differentiate the interrelated concepts of consciousness, mind, and self. 

Most psychologists agree that all organisms with a nervous system experience at least a minimal level of consciousness. That is, they’re aware of their surroundings and can respond appropriately. Animals with complex nervous systems and highly developed brains, such as mammals, likely have a vivid conscious experience that includes an awareness of the external world and an inner experience of memories and emotions.

It seems quite likely, then, that your dog has a rich mental life. In other words, it has a mind. But dogs don’t speak, so there’s no reason to assume that canines have an inner monologue. Thus, we can say the dog has no self. And that’s why, when a dog looks in a mirror, it sees another dog.

Language gives us the ability to create a narrative that ties together all the experiences in our life into a coherent whole. We identify this self-story as our core essence. Although our bodies change over time, we experience the self as immutable. And that’s why, when we look in mirror, we see someone we know.

Who knows...really?
Just taking a ride on this spaceship called Earth.
Hope you are enjoying your ride. I know I am.
Be well, enjoy your weekend...

Doc

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

From Inside The Sane Asylum

Conversation Between Dr. Ego and Jes B. Rambling.


Naked as the eyes on a clown...


Jes: “Doc what are we looking for?”

Doc: “Jes, we are here to see the full moon rising in May.”

Jes: “Last time we did this you gave me a treatise on the importance of objective pronouns and dangling participles.”

Doc: “Well this is just as important. This moon will affect our throat chakra. If we are not careful, it might make what we have to say to others sound offensive and hurtful. This is why it will be essential that before we speak, we think, and before we think, we take time out to balance our throat chakra. We will need to do breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, chanting mantras or humming to open and harmonize this chakra throat thing, so that blockages are cleared and we don’t offend no one.”

Jes: “Can we just belt out a John Prine ballad instead?”


That’s the way the world goes round...

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Reflections From The World...love bugs

Love Bugs

I see these post all the time with couples adoring each other. Every time I see one the words “love bugs”, races across my thinking....love bugs;

It’s almost May, which means one of the most annoying creatures in Florida is about to plague the state.
No, not legislators. They swarm in March and are largely confined to their natural habitat — the bars, private clubs and dark alleys of Tallahassee where lobbyists cut them checks.

I’m talking about love bugs.
Twice a year, the coupled flies invade Florida. Now is one of those times. So after another week of divisive political news, I thought we could unite around critters I love to loathe.

I wanted to understand why they are here, why they swarm, how they can mess up my car and why they fly around attached to each other.

So I devoted a little time finding out. The first thing I learned is that love bugs aren’t supposed to be here at all. Much like Burmese pythons, lion fish and residents of New Jersey, love bugs invaded Florida. They came from their native lands of Central and South America, presumably in search of theme parks and retirement communities.

Except that love bugs don’t really get to enjoy retirement. They die a few days after they are born. They hatch, mate and then perish — which ain’t a bad, if short, life.


The males hatch first and then swarm feverishly, waiting for the females to arrive … much like guys at a fraternity before the sorority bus shows up.

When the females finally come out, it’s a fight to impress. And when a female finally selects a mate, they’re usually hitched for life.

The randy little rascals immediately start mating, leaving absolutely no time for safe-sex lessons. 

They stay coupled for days. Why? “They’re mating,” explained Dr. Philip Koehler, an entomology professor at the University of Florida.

I’m familiar with mating, Doc. It doesn’t usually last 72 hours.

“They’re very good at it,” he responded.

You go, bugs.

Actually, these little guys don’t have nonstop rumpy pumpy. The males stay attached to prevent another male from coming in and fertilizing the female as well.

See, research shows that the last male love bug to, um, fertilize is the one whose babies get born.
“The male is preventing another male from mating,” explained Dr. Norman C. Leppla, another love-bug expert at UF.

That’s right, UF has two love bug experts. But the two profs don’t spend their lives attached. In fact, both study lots of other things and often fight to let the other serve as the state’s chief love-bug luminary.

“If you’re out of the room, you get elected,” Leppla explained.

Why the disdain for these little guys? Mainly because they make a mess when they and their acidic-larvae hit your car and splatter all over your windshield.

Humans are funny this way. We murder these bugs and then claim we’re the victims. (Hey bug, I knew I just ended your life — as well as the future lives of all your babies — but now I have to go through the trauma of finding a wet paper towel.)

You do want to get them off your car as soon as possible, though. (Damp dry-cleaner sheets work well.) If left to decompose, their larvae and guts turn more acidic and can eat through your clear coat or paint. Think of it as revenge from the grave.

An interesting thing about love bugs — also known as plecia nearctica, which is Latin for “Splat!” — is that there are a lot fewer of them in Florida than there used to be.
Decades ago, motorists could barely drive down the Turnpike without stopping every few miles to wipe all the bug guts off their windshields.


But their population has diminished — quite significantly, Leppla said. The scientists aren’t completely sure why, but it may be partly because love bugs don’t have any really impressive survival defenses. In fact, Koehler said, they have only one.

“Have you ever tasted one?” he asked.

Now, Doc, wouldn’t it be weird if I said yes?

“Their main defense is not to taste good or smell good,” he said. “So some birds don’t eat them.”

Apparently we don’t want birds to eat them all anyway. Their larvae feed on decaying vegetation, making them one of the world’s tiniest clean-up crews.

So the bottom line appears to be they’re not all that harmful. There are fewer of them than before. And they actually do some good.

“Believe it or not,” Leppla said, “some of us love love bugs.”

Maybe more than legislators anyway.

“Actually,” Leppla noted, “most of the funding we have to study this came from the Legislature.”

I still like love bugs better.



Image: Christopher Bryson

Love Bugs

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