tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post7797700379205679353..comments2024-02-11T12:24:26.294-08:00Comments on The Compass Rose: To Retard the Future - A Backward GlanceCurtis Favillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-11371272602248101302012-04-20T07:09:38.168-07:002012-04-20T07:09:38.168-07:00Actually, I misquoted.
Hannibal Lector: "...Actually, I misquoted. <br /><br />Hannibal Lector: "He covets what he sees."Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-4809438236523107242012-04-20T07:07:59.492-07:002012-04-20T07:07:59.492-07:00Charles:
There's that famous Bill Cosby routi...Charles:<br /><br />There's that famous Bill Cosby routine where he's talking with god about the ark, and he asks him "right . . . what's a cubit?" (laughter)<br /><br />Actually all size is relative to context. <br /><br />If people were typically 8 feet tall, our measures would reflect that proportion. <br /><br />On a more interesting note, how fast is fast? If we hear, say, five different renditions of La plus que lent, each one distinct, then which is correct? There's the metronome, of course, and we can agree on the length of the tick, but that's just a rationalization. How fast is fast? Relative to something else, ultimately. <br /><br />As we hurtle through space, spinning in concentric circles, we are still the still center of our own consciousness. This is what Eliot meant in the Four Quartets. We could be going about dizzily whirring in a blur, and not be aware of it at all. We could be passing through multiple dimensions, and not know it. Thinking is a context based on laws we can describe to some degree (relative to ourselves) but we can't "understand" it. Thinking is about thinking. Measuring is about applying standards arbitrary to our own understanding. <br /><br />Hannibal Lector: "He covets what he knows."Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-4898032229658961352012-04-20T00:09:12.266-07:002012-04-20T00:09:12.266-07:00Look at the Talk tab of the Wikipedia page on &quo...Look at the Talk tab of the Wikipedia page on "ounce". <br />NISCharles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-33268661725233568852012-04-15T06:49:21.065-07:002012-04-15T06:49:21.065-07:00Well, then, but what's a ounce?
NRN.Well, then, but what's a ounce?<br /><br />NRN.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-32467506162797628652012-04-15T00:13:46.377-07:002012-04-15T00:13:46.377-07:00Yep. Six ounces.
Wasn't my idea.Yep. Six ounces.<br /><br />Wasn't my idea.Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-43130760326968300952012-04-13T21:05:35.295-07:002012-04-13T21:05:35.295-07:00Well, Charles, measurements which interlock aren&#...Well, Charles, measurements which interlock aren't necessarily more useful or handy than those based on body parts or animals. <br /><br />I like a little liberality in the measure. Exactitude can be unreasonable and absurd. <br /><br />The best measures are those based on something familiar in our immediate environment. <br /><br />How big is a glass of wine? Has it been codified?Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-13833566024896308472012-04-13T19:15:21.442-07:002012-04-13T19:15:21.442-07:00"I often think how silly metrical measurement..."I often think how silly metrical measurements are, since they derive from no physical object in our world".<br /><br />But the meter is a millionth of the distance from the pole to the equator; the kilogram is the weight of a liter of water, etc., etc. The metric system was a product of Rationalism, intended precisely to derive from verifiable physical objects.Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.com