Life On A B-I7

Day #222

Eight things I enjoy about writing:

Writing is an act of bravery.
Writing tells us a great deal about who we are.
Writing allows us to converse with the universe.
Writing shows us our path.
Writing is a door to wisdom.
Writing helps us to be more objective.
Writing helps us to be more honest.
Writing can make us healthier.

Day #221

“It seems to me,”¹ people use social media to exert their will rather than share the truth. This is why (generally speaking) I shun social media as much as I possibly can. It would be nice if everyone asked themself, “Why” is that person saying what they are saying, rather than accept every statement they are handed as a priori truth. Humanity is not as evolved as we tend to think we are…

Day #220

It’s never a good idea to fall in love with your ideas. That is a good way to delude yourself. Along those same lines, be careful what you wish for, you may get it, or worse, you may not get it and end up living in regret.

Day #219

Question: What is “Originalism?”

Answer: Finding shit you like and then proclaiming that to be the law of the land.

Day #218

I started writing today’s entry but got distracted by the news on Television. It’s hard not to have that happen these days.

I recently had a breakthrough in improving my skills in an area that I love. I had a coach who spoke to me in a way I could understand and that opened my eyes to some insights I had not previously grasped. Now I’m afraid I’ll forget what I learned. Living with the fear of something that might occur in the future is an uncomfortable feeling. In this case, I can take steps to avoid that happening. For example, I can make notes and refer to them periodically. That’s a great tool. In the case of the news on Television, it’s much more difficult to forget what you see occurring, and forgetting is hard to do, even if you try.

Day #217

Will Generative AI (GAI) ultimately learn to be more creative (smarter) than humans? It does not seem likely. It seems to me that GAI suffers from something similar to MAD Cow Disease — only in reverse.

Back in the mid-eighties when feeding meat-and-bone meal to cows made from their slaughtered companions was a common practice, the onset of MADCD was first detected. It took almost a decade to eradicate the occurrences of MADCD in the bovine food chain. Very few cases are reported today.

GAI machines suffer from the opposite fate. If they are not fed a continuous stream of new thought and knowledge the creativity they exhibit appears to degenerate. Whether or not GAI meets the challenge of becoming an intelligence to rival or better that of humans remains to be seen. If that does occur, the fate of humans becomes an interesting prospect.

As a side note, I spent some time in the late 70s installing and calibrating lumber-drying kilns in slaughterhouses. They were used to dry the blood of deceased cows which was then fed to the animals waiting in the feedlot. As far as I know, this was not proven to be detrimental to the waiting animals or humans. But you never know. I’ve seen some pretty strange human behavior, in the last couple of election cycles…

Day #216

The Western Apache believe that the goal of life is to walk the “trail of wisdom.” For them, like the Cherokee and most Native Americans, the trail is a special place. To walk the “trail of wisdom” requires the walker to be focused on three things: “smoothness of mind,” “resilience of mind,” and “steadiness of mind.” These may seem strange, but when placed in the context of walking, they reflect an approach that helps the walker meet their goal… that is: Walking smoothly, steadily, and when necessary, resiliently. Someone who obeys these precepts is said to be on the right path. Cherokees call this ”du yu ko dv i.”

Day #215

God’s Waiting Room

If you are wondering where God looks when it comes time to acquire another soul, look no further than the Super 8 Motel in Driggs Idaho. Keep in mind though, you have to be there at about 6 AM, on a powder day at Grand Targee.

Day #214

James Madison late in his life expressed the concept of a “commerce of ideas.” He believed that media, using as he put it, “the cool voice of reason,” could be used to influence the population, steering public opinion in a manner that favored reason and peaceful debate over selfish and irrational modes of thought. While this was likely the case in his time, today in the era of mass media for profit, all bets in this regard are off. The only thing you can be sure of is that the media you are consuming is doing the best it can to persuade you to view the world in the way most advantageous to its paid subscribers and commercial supporters. This applies to all outlets from the New York Times to Truth Social. Choose your content wisely and question what you are consuming.

Day #213

Thinking about Arthur Miller’s words (#209) I have to say that I miss my sweetheart when I am away from her. I don’t know how to put into words what she means to me. I am a lucky man to have stumbled into her life. It is revealing to say it was words that brought us together (another story perhaps). Words brought us together, I love to write, a coincidence possibly, but a fortunate one for sure.

Day #212

Frank Herbert said: (Paraphrasing) “The end of your life is the place where you stop the story.”

I started writing late in life. I might have gotten good at this if I had started sooner. I don’t regret coming to this choice later than sooner… I am enjoying this time with words very much. It brings me peace and a good bit of contentment. For my 70th birthday, my daughter gave me the first three volumes of Frank Herbert’s life work. I don’t think she knew how much I admire him, but now she does. Thank you, baby.

Day #211

Brenda Ueland said: “Everybody human has something to express.”

I don’t think she is telling us we all need to write some sort of manifesto. I believe she is saying we should think about leaving a few words behind that express who we are so that those who follow us can have a deeper appreciation for us.

Day #210

Joan Didion said: “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking.”

Spot on, I could not agree more. I do fear losing my mind, more specifically my memory. I’m sure writing will help to prevent that. That’s a big part of the reason why I do this.

Day #209

Arthur Miller said: “The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing him.”

That’s easy enough for me to do but I suspect that’s not exactly what he meant.

Day #208

Madeleine L’Engle said: “Just write a little bit every day. Even if it’s for only half an hour.”

This may be the best advice from an author I have stumbled across. I appreciate that she does not attach any expectation to that writing because neither do I…

Writing is also good for old peoples’ brains.

Day #207

Jack Kerouac said: “One day I will find the right words.”

I’m searching. I’m getting closer but won’t get there unless I keep trying.

Day #206

Virginia Woolf said: “So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for the ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”

Thank you, Virginia. Those are comforting words for me. I do hope that some of this will matter to my children. That’s what I think about most when I sit down to write.

Day #205

Edward Bulwerlytton said: “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

It’s nice to finally learn the name of the person that said that.

Day #204

Stephen King said: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and get to work.”

Good advice, whether you are writing or not. Although I consider myself an amateur by any stretch of the imagination, it’s also the case that every day I simply “get to work.” Why? I enjoy it. I have faith that someday before I die, something I consider to be worth reading will come off my pen.

Day #203

C.S. Lewis said: “I never exactly made a book. It’s rather like taking dictation. I was given things to say.”

Ray Bradbury would say something very similar. There are writers and there are people who write. Let there be no confusion, I fall into the latter category. Someone close to me said recently, why do you spend so much time writing? My reply was slightly apologetic, essentially I gave as my excuse, you can’t become a writer if you don’t write.

Day #202

Natalie Goldberg said: (I am paraphrasing slightly) “Write about what you are afraid to speak about.”

I’m working up to that. I need to print out that quote and paste it up above my desk… There is a part of me that is afraid to speak out. I’m not quite evolved enough to step into that territory. I joined the Central Oregon Writers Guild this week, not because I’m a writer, let’s be clear about that. I joined in the hope that by meeting with real writers once a month in the Bend Oregon Library, I might learn something about how to do this.

Day #201

Susan Sontag said: “A writer is someone who pays attention to the world.”

I like to think I do that. As long as you are paying attention, there’s a chance you will observe something that leads to a new understanding. It may be gradual and it may be slight, but it is probably naive to think that enlightenment comes in any other way.

Day #200

William Faulkner said: “Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything good.”

I often find that my ideas are bad, in that case, I don’t share them. Occasionally I do create something “good.” That usually comes after having taken a chance. It’s safe to say, my best work usually comes after taking a chance.

Day #199

Franz Kafka said: “Writing is prayer.”

I’m not the praying type… Perhaps that’s why I write.

Day #198

Martin Luther said: “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”

Of course, it has to be worth reading and it will also need to be read. Nevertheless, he is correct, even if the world you are changing is only your own.