Wednesday, March 2, 2011

national brain month giving me a headache


had i only not known about it. no such luck. a table at the bookstore announces it with a spread of books. and so many brainchilds appearing, i feel like i'm a rat in a maze.

of course, it's my own fault. at eighteen i felt we're controlled by chemical emissions and every body's jumping on the bandwagon as i read the female brain. yes, these books have something to tell us, but where do you draw the line? this sounds like determinism. not that of fate where we've an individual destiny, rather like lemmings leaping into the sea.

hopeless, however, it is not. the man with the highest measured IQ in the world uses his brain like a neanderthal. lacking the opportunities for social skill and interaction with fellow brainiacs, he feels his one brain better than all the lower level intelligences around him. unfortunately, that's not so intelligent. culture and science the sum greater than it's parts. you need minor deities to raise the greater to the heights. everyone is the product of an age.

no, i do not want my IQ measured. i know it's a helluva lot lower than i think. (pun intended.) right now i'm worried about losing what little wit i have. i figure the best thing i can do is read shakespeare and the poets. this is brainily incorrect, as the author daniel pink says the gold medal will go to the right brain thinkers. but what if we can't read and don't know what words mean? we've already lost history more than a week old.

see the big picture, yes. all these rantings against government workers takes no account of how much our society depends on them for safety and structure. lay them off and increase the ranks of the unemployed. boy, that's smart. a fellow at thanksgiving dinner a radical in the 60's and presently a tea-party member. nothing's changed, both groups anti-government, noisy, and simple-minded.

what a time! if i could trust my noggin i might feel a bit better. now i need oxytocin therapy to increase my compassion.

poetry my only defense against madness and alzheimer's: http://www.pbase.com/wwp/prayers