- Fedgov issues “healthy meal standards” for schools that are so bureaucratic they threaten an actual healthy meal program (that even teaches kids about growing their own food).
- Don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that shows so profoundly how tangled and deep the relationships of snitches can be with both handlers and targets. Wish Mr. Aoki had agreed to talk more before he died. Not that anything he said would have been believable.
- The Tesla Museum: closer to becoming a reality thanks to a cartoonist’s crowdsourcery.
- Two cases in which dogs died in hot cars, apparently because air conditioning systems failed in the vehicles. Hard to think about. Why is this case treated (and reported) so differently from this case?
- Yeah. I guess it’s sort of like just doing it in a different position. Or something.
- Turning off the phone and the tension. Amazing how people have to keep rediscovering this. (H/T Jim Bovard)
- From Kent McManigal: “Fear not, take control of your life.”
Via Jim B. for Neil Armstrong …
“Fear not, take control of your life.”
Late in life I discovered that my definition of fear is not the same as most other people’s. I never understood how people could be afraid of things they have never experienced and probably never will, or of harmless things. Fear of flying, of spiders, of terror attacks, of people who don’t look like you, to me all seem to be irrational. My definition of fear is when my gut turns to ice and adrenaline pours into my bloodstream by the gallon while I methodically search for a way out of the predicament that is causing the fear. I have experienced that a few times in my life but it doesn’t drive my daily decision making process because all the circumstances were unusual, not everyday events. Fearing or worrying about things that are unlikely to happen or seems pointless to me. Life is too short to let fear rule (or diminish) your life.
What Woody said.
Well said, Kent. Though I do hope your fellow didn’t include your arguments as a part of this “terrifying” world. 🙂 If he did, he has a long way to go toward understanding you.
The world, like “society”, is composed of many individuals and components. If we broke it down into only those we personally have reason to fear, how many would there be that can’t be dealt with?
~~~
I saw Hope Eyrie earlier and saved it; it is a lovely tribute to Neil Armstrong – and to “getting out there” someday.
There are many different kinds and levels of fear. Fear of putting one’s hand on a hot stove, or into a table saw blade, is natural and extremely necessary for survival. To some extent, the very natural fear of the unknown can help us not rush into things before we think through the potentials and options.
Fear can be rational or irrational, and in so many combinations it is impossible to describe them. Many are useful and many are harmful, and each person needs to sort it out for themselves – which is a lot of what life experience is supposed to be about.
The person who thinks critically, accepts themselves and others realistically and rationally, and learns from their own and other’s experiences will probably never need to deal with abject, irrational fear. But they will be wise to listen to their guts when that adrenaline begins to course through their blood. It’s probably time to run then. Or draw….
But “fears” that are indulged in without analysis or thought, rejecting anything new or challenging and hugging always the known and “safe”… that’s a living death.
an actual healthy meal program – well leave it to the “fecal alchemists” who run this camp to muck up anything good.
Mama said “rejecting anything new or challenging and hugging always the known and “safe”… ” She hit it right on the head. The biggest, most overriding fear most people have is, that for war, storm or whatever reason, their lives tomorrow will not be as “comfortable” as they are today. Too may have become too accustomed to flipping the switch and having lights, pushing a button for big screen entertainment, going to a well stocked grocery store, not waiting in line for fuel, etc., and too few are willing to sacrifice anything if it means even a modicum of inconvenience.
We have generations today that have never known any hardship. They’ve never gone to sleep outside broke, wet and hungry. They’ve been taught to fear any change and uncertainty that could negatively impact that comfort, and will give up their rights and freedoms and do anything or support anyone who they believe will keep them from it.
Well now… not always true. There’s a difference between the anticipated discomfort of a changing lifestyle and the fear that comes from an unknown future (such as a cancerous lesion that must be removed). I think many people would rather know than not know, so they can prepare – physically and mentally. How complaisant we’ve become and how we react to the unknown, may determine our attitude and ultimately our success in meeting the challenge, but the fear itself is neither [necessarily] abnormal nor shallow.
In an emergency, people panic because they haven’t had time to prepare. That’s why survival blogs have been so popular. When Americans were upset about UFOs, it wasn’t the Flying Objects they feared as much as it was the Unknown part of the phrase.
Fear of the unknown is normal in itself. Self-control and self-responsibility is the key to overcoming the fear and acting appropriately in response to it.
Thanks for the 2 dog death from mechanical a/c failure stories. I’m saving these for the next time some jackass tells me they leave the a/c running so that makes it OK to leave the dog in the vehicle unattended. *Which I hear a LOT.
Pat- The guy didn’t elaborate on why he found the world terrifying. He recognized me from the horrible picture beside my columns in the newspaper and told me he finds my columns “interesting” even though he doesn’t often agree with me (he works for The State, so I wasn’t surprised). Anyway, we talked a bit and he mentioned that he finds the world “terrifying”. I think my only response at the time was a blink and an “Oh.”
MamaLiberty- I’m not “afraid” of putting my hand in a spinning saw blade, since I know the way to avoid that is to stay conscious of where all my parts are at all times. Now, if the saw was unpredictable and came after me due to a grudge, then I’d be afraid. LOL. Avoiding doing stupid things is smart, not “scared”, I would say.
Maybe I just have a weak fear response. It wouldn’t be the first oddity about myself I have discovered.
@Mary Lou: “I’m saving these for the next time some jackass tells me they leave the a/c running so that makes it OK to leave the dog in the vehicle unattended. *Which I hear a LOT.”
That seems like a perfect illustration of an irrational fear. How many dogs die in that manner? How many die in traffic accidents while passengers? By your logic I’m a jackass for taking my dogs for a ride in the car. Everything has a risk and a benefit, balancing the 2 requires rational analysis. Fear of rare mechanical failures seems counterproductive. Just sayin’.