Acquired Value

When I was a little kid — around 7, I suppose — I made a bargain with my stepsister, who was the same age. I'd noticed that she was charmed by some lovely clinky bits of money I had. She, on the other hand, had a dollar bill.

I proposed that we swap my 45 cents for her dollar. I knew that I could buy more stuff with a dollar, and she knew that the coins were pretty and tinkled together with a sound she liked. We made the deal.

My parents later found out and reversed the trade. I did not protest. I wasn't even upset. To me this was just another one of those rules the adults teach us.

They said the rules made sense. I took them at their word. I was just a kid.

In case you've forgotten, this is what money looks like:

Anyway, I'd received a piece of paper worth about a hundredth of a cent. My stepsister had received sparkly coins made of pure Canadian nickel, shiny copper, and a smidgen of silver.

Did I cheat my sister? Did she cheat me? Was anybody cheated at all? It turns out that it depends on those rules the adults teach us.

Question of the Daze

What if the thing you are
trying to save yourself from
is the very thing you are
trying to save yourself with?

Embrightenment

Agg the caveman saw lightning hit the dead log and set it on fire. Rushing forth, he grabbed the burning wood and brought it back to the cave. The tribe rejoiced as Agg restored the ancient cold fireplace to life, and Agg was hailed as He Who Captured Lightning. Agg died one year later but the tribe managed to keep the fire lit for several more months.

A hundred years passed.

Egg the caveman was idly tossing dark stones around when one of them sparked brightly, setting some straw on fire. Sensing opportunity, he added more straw to the fire. Eventually he managed to get the fire hot enough to burn wood, and this enabled him to bring flame back to the cave. Egg was hailed as Keeper of the Flames. After Egg died, two years later, the tribe managed to keep the fire lit for several more weeks.

A hundred years passed.

Igg the caveman, while banging stones together, inadvertently set some dry moss alight. It went out too quickly for him to build up the flame, but Igg decided to try banging stones together again. It worked, so he brought some of the magic stones back to the cave. Igg was hailed as Master of Fire because he could, apparently, call it forth at will. Igg treasured his position as Master of Fire and never revealed the secret. The last fire went out a few days after his death.

A hundred years passed.

Ogg the caveman discovered flint in the usual accidental way. As the legends recommended, he was declared Firemaster. But Ogg was quite old — over 30 years! — so he taught his son the secret. The son taught his son, and so on for generations. The tribe had fire for nearly 200 years. Alas, toward the end of a particularly good hunting season a wild beast killed both the Firemaster and his son. Later that same day, the fires also died.

A hundred years passed.

Ugg the caveman found the legendary flint rocks hidden near the back of the cave. After some experimenting he discovered how they worked. The tribal tales declared that this could make him an honored Firewizard, with all the privileges that entailed. But Ugg knew other, older stories about the Firewizards. These said that Firewizards gave the people gifts for only a while, then took those gifts with them into the Great Beyond.

Ugg had an idea. He gave everybody a flint. The tribe rejoiced. Ugg then went to the next valley and gave flints to the tribes there, too. When he returned his tribe killed him for sharing their secret.

A million years passed. The fires continued to keep us warm.

Things I Wonder About

Why do so many “enlightened” sages ...

Jump to the conclusion that their IQ has risen?
Miss the fact that most or all of their followers are pale imitations of them?
Claim to have discovered something crucial all other sages overlooked?
Rarely cooperate with one another?
Conclude that by solving one big problem they've solved all big problems?

What does it all mean?

Humans are hairless apes. Our cousins are still throwing shit at each other. And in a way, so are we.

Trust Me!

If a man can fool
the one person who
can genuinely read his mind ...
then how much easier
is it for him
to thoroughly mislead you?

The Unrepeatable Feeling of Alive

Nothing, absolutely nothing you can do can make something new. You can polish it, you can buff it, you can paint it, you can scrape it, you can hold it at arm's length, you can hug it. But you can't make it new again.

When you forget it's old there is a chance. When you forget you're forgetting there is a chance. When you are not looking for the chance there is a chance.

Something old is new again when you trip over it in the dark. Something old is new again when you were looking for something else. Something old is new again when you never got used to it.

Every drip of a faucet — even the first — can be old or new. If it annoys it is old. If it pounds and pounds it is old. If it crashes just before it splashes it is old. If it has a fresh voice it is new, but if you wait for it, it will never arrive.

If a bird chirps while it's not yet a bird, it is new. If you hear a train whistle before it becomes a train whistle it is new. If you taste a note you expected to hear it is new.

When something is new, all the time in the universe can fall into it.

Finding Our Way

"My car's navigation computer is broken! How will I get to the show now?"
"You could always use ... this."
"Wow, an old-fashioned paper map! Does it still work?"
"Look, here is where we are now..."
"Right under your finger, ha ha, yeah."
"So you follow this road to here, then turn here, then —"
"Wait, no! There's a break in the road!"
"What? Where?"
"Here!"
"That's a rip in the paper because of the fold."
"So how do I get past the break in the road?"
"It's not a break; it's a rip."
"Semantics! You say rip; I say break!"
"The rip isn't part of the map!"
"Look right there! Are you saying that's not part of the map?"
"From the point of view of the map, it's not there."
"The map has a point of view?"
"No, no. Listen: the map is not the territory."
"So they say."
"Right. And that rip isn't there in real life."
"But ..."
"Lord! For millenia people have used maps successfully! What's your problem?"
"It doesn't make sense, is all. You and your invisible rips!"
"Okay, forget that. I have a different idea."
"What now?"
"I'm sure you already have one of these, but ... here."
"A compass?"
"Yes. If you use this and heed the signs, you'll get to where you need to go."
"How does it work?"
"Magic. It works by magic. It has always worked by magic. Just use it intelligently."
"So, sense of direction, common sense, and paying attention. Anything else?"
"Yes. Enjoy your journey!"