Downwardly Hunkering (Shh It's the 13th)
There's a couple of fairly important things I could do today, but I could also just as well do them on Monday the 16th instead of—you know—today.
Not that I'm superstitious or anything!
I don't actively believe in the supernatural in any form. But I also think there are limits to our knowledge, and there may well be things happening that we can't explain. A couple of thousand years ago, nobody could explain lightning in rational terms, so they invented supernatural reasons for its existence. But lightning was always there, always the same, right? And maybe luck is the same way—it's a family of viruses, say, some benevolent, some harmful. Catch a good one, and suddenly money and love are working out just fine. A bad one makes your dog bite you and your car break down. And maybe in 2037 some future Pasteur will come along and prove this.
Science has limits, is the thing. I knew this professor of education who fancied himself a rigorously scientific guy. He would rage and storm at any mention of so-called "learning styles," which is the idea that some people learn better by hearing or seeing or whatever. Studies hadn't been able to show any such effect, so the guy assumed it was poppycock. But just because a study can't prove the existence of a thing doesn't prove the thing doesn't exist. Until 1930, nobody could see the dwarf planet Pluto, but you know what? Pluto was there all along.
OK, so anyway, we've established that there's no rational basis for superstitions—no rational basis, that is, that we know of. The thing is that lately, I can't afford to take any chances, can't afford not to give myself every advantage and avoid every pitfall. And I don't know that there's no risk associated with a certain day and date. So guided by a rational concern, a wise and sensible prudence and caution, I'm just sort of avoiding doing new stuff or starting projects today. Nope, just staying home with my black cat Panther and not taking any chances. It's simple common sense, really.
Not that I'm superstitious or anything!
I don't actively believe in the supernatural in any form. But I also think there are limits to our knowledge, and there may well be things happening that we can't explain. A couple of thousand years ago, nobody could explain lightning in rational terms, so they invented supernatural reasons for its existence. But lightning was always there, always the same, right? And maybe luck is the same way—it's a family of viruses, say, some benevolent, some harmful. Catch a good one, and suddenly money and love are working out just fine. A bad one makes your dog bite you and your car break down. And maybe in 2037 some future Pasteur will come along and prove this.
Science has limits, is the thing. I knew this professor of education who fancied himself a rigorously scientific guy. He would rage and storm at any mention of so-called "learning styles," which is the idea that some people learn better by hearing or seeing or whatever. Studies hadn't been able to show any such effect, so the guy assumed it was poppycock. But just because a study can't prove the existence of a thing doesn't prove the thing doesn't exist. Until 1930, nobody could see the dwarf planet Pluto, but you know what? Pluto was there all along.
OK, so anyway, we've established that there's no rational basis for superstitions—no rational basis, that is, that we know of. The thing is that lately, I can't afford to take any chances, can't afford not to give myself every advantage and avoid every pitfall. And I don't know that there's no risk associated with a certain day and date. So guided by a rational concern, a wise and sensible prudence and caution, I'm just sort of avoiding doing new stuff or starting projects today. Nope, just staying home with my black cat Panther and not taking any chances. It's simple common sense, really.
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