Tag: nuclear physics

Boredom Begone

I’ve never understood boredom.

I have been bored from time to time and usually for very concrete reasons. Sitting at a conference table listening to someone in love with the sound of their own voice, going on and on has been tantamount to coming close to death by boredom.

Some of my teachers and university lecturers were less charismatic than others. Some would drone on in a monotone that suggested they were more suitable candidates for administering hypnosis than complex intellectual theories.

Anything that is examined closely will often put you on a path that will yield more insight and education than you can possibly absorb in one lifetime. It can feel as if knowledge and insights go on forever and ever depending on the path of inquiry we pursue.

The word “gardening” is a pretty bland high level description of what most of us have passing familiarity with. We glean our familiarity either as the beneficiaries of some gardeners’ efforts or as gardeners ourselves.

I have been scouring gardening sites, looking for fast-growing plants germane to our climate and environment. What started out as a quick jaunt to get familiar with what might, and what will not work, in our yard, I am on track to earn a PhD in horticulture.

There is not only a dazzling variety of types and colors and heights and purposes for plants but a dazzling assortment of species and sub-species within any plant genus.

To many people – often depending on their age and stage of life – gardening is dead boring. An end of life activity that rates on the excitement scale right up there with watching grass grow.

But as you begin to tease out this plant’s hardiness and drought-tolerance against that one’s delicate and easily undermined growth temperament, the whole genre of gardening becomes complex and multi-layered. Master gardeners are often referred to as “artists” and with good reason.

Life is rather like this. Admittedly we all arrive on the planet with little other agenda than to get our needs met and survive. Sadly, some people get stuck at this stage for their whole life. I kinda feel like I was stuck there for an unnecessarily protracted period of time.

Curiosity has always been one of my primary drivers. I need to understand something inside and out and upside down before I can rest easy. This has applied to many aspects of my life from family, to religion, to alcoholism, to power structures, and money. I unashamedly admit the parallels with my life challenges.

So except for exposure to self-important windbags, I am rarely bored. It is said it was philosopher Aristotle who said: “The more you know, the less you know.” A blogger/software architecture developer called Ardalis (https://ardalis.com/blog) that I recently came across explained that phenomenon this way:

“Try to keep in mind that most of the things you have a cursory knowledge of, but which really are known unknowns to you, probably are similar in that if you were to really dive into them, you’d find there’s a lot more to them than you realize now. Doing this has several benefits. It helps keep your ego in check. It helps keep your curiosity and willingness to learn alive. And it helps you develop and maintain respect for others who maybe have taken the time to learn more about a topic about which you’ve only scratched the surface.”

This is a bugbear of mine in our modern world. Everyone is pitching themselves as an “expert” in spite of limited experience and equally truncated chronology.

“This paradox of “knowing just how much you don’t know” can lead us to a more human centric solution: “It’s easy to feel small when we consider how large the world (and universe!) is. It’s good to keep in mind just how big the world is, as it offers us humility, but to keep from feeling down it’s important to focus on what you can impact. This starts with yourself. How can you make yourself better? What can you do this day to make it so the you of tomorrow is better than the you of today? Once you’re on the path to trying to improve yourself, it’s gratifying to try and help others do the same. Can you help the whole world or move the universe? Perhaps not. But everyone can help someone. Even if all you do is share your journey and what you’re learning, even your struggles, you’re bound to help others facing similar hurdles. Do these two things, consistently, and you will look back and see the progress you’ve made and the lives you’ve touched and hopefully feel that you’ve made a positive impact.“

What I personally don’t know could fill volumes. Or copious numbers of concurrent blog posts. Given all I don’t know and all there is out there in the world to know, boredom is the last thing I, or anyone, should allow themselves to be.

Whether your thing is gardening or nuclear physics, there will always be more to explore and discover during your lifetime, even when it most seems like there ain’t.

Crabbing About Cursive

I subscribe to very few websites. Many are fitness or health-related. Others are full of inspiring quotes from towering historical figures. And this one.

WordGenius. https://www.wordgenius.com/

I am a subscriber because words are its subject matter and I love words. This website manages to push out a new word every day that I have never heard of before.

I apologize if that sounds arrogant. I know a lot of words. But it turns out I don’t know every word, as WordGenius makes abundantly clear with its daily delivery to my Inbox.

It is nice to find myself regularly surprised by what I don’t know (only about words and writing, of course. There is tons I don’t know about nuclear physics or astral projection.)

An article on Cursive Writing showed up in my inbox along with the regular Word of the Day post (Deedy for those who might be interested. Fittingly it means someone who gets a lot of deeds done. Who knew?)

I am among those who grieve the denouement of handwriting. It has become a lost art. Like many lost arts (tatting, common decency, moonshining, manners), we are collectively poorer.

I had a real-life lesson in abandoning cursive. I attended a post-graduate program some years back at uni. I decided to take notes only on my computer. Big mistake. Handwriting experts agree that the mind better learns when what you hear is written down. Something about the positive connection between hearing and writing.

My daughter once came to me as a very little girl and asked me if I would teach her what I was doing: “Can you show me how to do that curly writing?” I know she learned cursive as she was at the tail-end of a generation that learned it but now seems to have abandoned it.

So I will let the WordGenius folks make the argument for cursive and the importance of keeping handwriting alive. It is both creative endeavor and an enhancement of learning. Remember the importance of handwriting analysis to identify and formulate conclusions about the character of the writer.

While cursive is now out of fashion, I put my faith in the pendulum swinging back to a place where it is valued and widely used again.

I will reverse the order of the article to share WordGenius‘ take on the importance of handwriting. The more interested and ambitious readers can read to the end to learn about the history of cursive writing. More there than I ever knew about.

Does Anyone Still Use Cursive?

  • Cursive writing has been used less and less since the 1980s. Quite simply, since computers became the new big thing, people don’t write as much by hand. Grade schools teach computer skills instead of penmanship. So is there still a use for cursive? Absolutely! Handwriting helps us remember. This goes for all handwriting, not just cursive. The Wall Street Journal says that actively forming letters with pen and paper reinforces language concepts and helps the brain remember. It’s a lot more effective than just reading and memorizing, especially for kids. That’s why so many teachers stress taking notes by hand — they know that many students who put pen to paper tend to remember concepts better. And no matter how many digital devices you have, you’ll need to use writing utensils at some point. Maybe you need to scribble a note or mark something in a book. Maybe your phone died, and you can’t type an appointment into your calendar. Technology is good, but it’s not omnipotent. Instead of sloppy chicken-scratch, take some pride in your penmanship. Start reviving the lost art of cursive today.

Gratuitous Information for word nerds “About the History of Cursive” from the good people at WordGenius.com

As with many thousands-of-years-old practices, cursive writing was more of a collective effort than something we can attribute to one person. It goes as far back as the Roman Empire, after written language first developed.

Square capitals were used on inscriptions on buildings and monuments (some of which are still standing), but cursive (or script) was used for daily writing. Scripts and styles have changed since the fifth century. In the eighth century, monks created the Carolingian script — the earliest form of standardized cursive that others built upon. This script evolved during medieval times, and its twists and curls became harder to read before the Renaissance revived the Carolingian way.

The earliest form of cursive you probably recognize is called Copperplate. Calligrapher Timothy Matlack penned Thomas Jefferson’s words on the original copy of the Declaration of Independence using the Copperplate script. While beautiful, this fancy calligraphy just wasn’t practical for everyday writing.

A teacher named Platt Rogers Spencer developed a new form of penmanship around the mid-1800s. He came up with the name “chirythmography,” from the Greek words for “timed handwriting.” He used a metronome for writers to keep pace with his elliptical letters, which he claimed were inspired by nature.

The “Spencerian” method was taught in schools for the latter half of the 19th century. Quick-working clerks and telegraph operators translating Morse code into script found the Spencer cursive still too time-consuming.

Next up: Austin Palmer and the Palmer Method. His idea was to make cursive writing more practical and lose the fancy flourishes from the Renaissance days. This form of script was very popular in the early 20th century and can probably be seen in old letters from your great and great-great-grandparents.

Penmanship started to become big business. It was taught in grade schools, and adults entering the business world got a leg up if they completed a course in a penmanship school. The Zanerian College of Penmanship became the Zaner-Bloser Company, selling handwriting instruction material to schools.

(Fun fact: Still around today, Zaner-Bloser, Inc., publishes Highlights for Children magazine.)The Zaner-Bloser cursive and the later D’Nealian cursive are the simple scripts that were taught in grade school for the second half of the 20th century.