When I come to Presidents Day, I remember the pictures of Lincoln and Washington hanging side by side over the blackboard in the front of Estelle Shaver’s first-grade classroom at Benson School and I thought they were married since Washington’s locks looked ladylike and I didn’t know them from the $1 or $5 bills, I only knew Adam and Eve and Mary and Joseph from my
It’s not going to matter how old our Democratic leaders are if we keep electing Republicans who will block and oppose everything Democrats try to do. Until we elect Democrats nothing is going to move forward. We are in trouble if Republicans win because they will do what our governor here in Iowa is doing right now…..not allowing press to see what’s going on when they decide what they want to pass as laws, no longer allowing lobbyists, taking away land rights from farmers, allowing our parks to disintegrate and moving park rangers out of their homes in state parks to save money. Our educational system is worsening in Iowa because of lack of funding and now want to have cameras in the classrooms checking up on teachers. Yes, it was voted down but will again be voted on after the November elections for sure. Age will not matter.
I'm sorry Iowa is in such perilous circumstances. The problem, Mary Kay, is that a small minirority bother to vote in local elections, about 20% on average, and young people hardly vote at all. This needs to change.
". . . . perhaps the White House is only a straw man whom we hold responsible . . . . . "
They say that the person who does the most to determine a child's performance in school and in life is that child him/herself. After the child, then parents, teachers, and so forth influence how one does.
Many people don't want to accept responsibility for the condition of their own lives and an obvious person to hold responsible is the occupant of the White House or the Supremes or politicians or someone.
I don't know if this is true of everyone, but I don't think that the occupant of the WH has affected the quality or condition of my life. I admit that we live in the backwoods of rural Alabama which is not where most people live. But life rolls along about the same regardless of the politicians.
America has some flaws, but America is also a tremendously great country. About 300 million people are doing their thing every day, buying, selling, making things, serving food, teaching, practicing medicine, fixing cars, etc. That is living life every day and this living goes on every day regardless of the flimflam that we hear from politicians.
America is a great country but also remember that those politicians who we love to revile were all elected to office by Americans. Every one of them has "won" an election. The people that we put in office tell us a lot about ourselves.
Maybe I have just given up on politics. I tend to concentrate on the wellbeing and condition of family and close friends and on doing things that I find important. If I want to have a good life it is up to me to create it or make it.
Nobody in the WH or the Supreme Court is thinking about me and my life. Which is a good thing. They would probably foul it up if they were involved. Competence seems to be in short supply in both parties.
It is better these days to live quietly out of the public eye.
Yes, it is time for young folks to take over. All my recent fantasies involve taking a nap in the warm sun. More energy is needed to lead the country in the challenging times ahead.
That is a great idea. Unfortunately, on a percentage basis, young people tend to vote less than other age groups. When they do vote, they tend to vote in "important" elections such as Presidential elections but ignore state and local elections. As a result, our state legislatures lean heavily to republicans. State legislatures are where many important issues are decided, such as redistricting, and the passage of election laws.
So, I would love for the young people to take over and they can start by voting.
Heaven help us all if members of Congress take sabbaticals to teach in public schools. The majority of them don’t have a clue who the “public” really is. What could they teach about history anyway?
I hated history in school. Way too much about wars- what general went around whois’s flank- and very little about everyday people and how the Big Themes impacted them.
I got a master’s in Textile History, and suddenly the past opened up to me like a flower. That has enabled me to better understand today’s history as it is being made. Would a 30-year old be capable of such insight?
I do agree the young must grab the reins. It’s their world after all.
I’d be happy with Congressional and Judicial term limits. The Executive has term limits; seems to be working okay.
I’ll vote till I die. But people shouldn’t be senators or representatives or Supremes until they die. They just don’t have the vision of the future that youth has. And that vision is what will save the earth and humankind.
You're so right about history being fascinated by wars. As someone said, "God created war so Americans would be interested in geography." Textile History: what a fascinating idea.
Agreed in spirit, and I've also come to like the bartender turned legislator, but... You clearly do not have adequate exposure to youngsters if you imagine handing them the steering wheel will get us to a desirable destination. Knowing what should be done is very different from knowing what to do in order to get there. Knowing what to do isn't an age specific situation.
In a democracy, we hope for the cream to rise. I look at some of those geezer senators and think, "This is what the Founders intended? Madison and Hamilton anticipated Ted Cruz?"
Yeah, hope is about as far as we can...uh, hope to reach. I also look at the geezers and despair. (Full disclosure...I am a geezer.) I have a theory, completely untested and absent footnoted research, that sez Weirdos like the ingrown toenail of a human in the form of a certain TX legislator have always been around, and it's only with our new tech media environment that we know about them. Folks "back then" had the sense to not waste expensive ink and paper on louts and other human fungus and attempted to appeal to the better angels of human nature. Now, we got...screw it...everyone knows what we got. Yuppie larvae have grabbed the media steering wheel, stepped on the gas, and are attempting to Eval Knievel us over a civilizational Caesars Palace into a Promised Land they imagine will coalesce beneath us before we face plant. It's always been this way. It's the New Tech that makes us aware of it. The first 1/3 of Ms. Lapore's "These Truths" outlines the phenomenon, proof that there is at least one smart person writing today. You are also proof. I love these columns.
Cut and pasted from someplace that seemed intelligent....
"Slower responses from older people are not due to slower thinking
A new study of 1,185,882 people aged 10–80 shatters the notion that the mind dulls with age after we turn 20—a commonly held belief that has profound implications for workplace hiring. We tend to assume older people are slower thinkers, and there’s lots of experimental evidence that seems to back that up, showing that average response times on elementary cognitive tasks increase as we age. But analyzing the data in this new study, psychologists at Heidelberg University in Germany attribute the slowing to decision-making caution—mentally, how much we look before we leap. They found that this caution decreases over our teenage years, bottoms out by the time we are in college (surprise, surprise), and steadily increases thereafter. They attribute measured age-related declines in test response times with a growth in caution and with non-mental processes, like fumbling old fingers on the keyboard, rather than actual declines in mental speed. (Nature Human Behavior)"
That's one possibility, Kurt. In observing my own greater mental confusion as I approach eighty, though, I'd offer another option. There's a whole lot up there in my head. As a librarian with some time on my hands, I scanned numerous trade journals for years. These days, I see the "mental bait on the hook of the line, and think "Now, what was it I saw???"
I don't have a pocket iPad, so I can't always flip it open and Google the subject at will. Even if I could - there are so many neurons up there, like intertwined oak trees - that I frequently can't find my way back to the trunk.
If you ask me, I'd attribute a lot of slow elderly responses to the fact that there's so much up there to sift through! That, and "pressure." When I'm speaking with someone and I fumble, I just jam up. It could be an hour or two later, or at three o'clock the next morning, that I sit up in bed and say "Of Course!"
As an example, I was writing the other day about the bells and lights that go off in casinos when a "one-armed bandit" spills a load on coins into a lucky someone's lap. "What do they call that?" I asked myself, thinking back to Psychology 101. Blank. Nada! At three a.m. the next morning, I woke up thinking "Partial Reinforcement!" Of course!
[Partial Reinforcement - 1 In partial (or intermittent) reinforcement, the response is reinforced only part of the time. Learned behaviors are acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement, but the response is more resistant to extinction. How Reinforcement Schedules Work - Verywell Mindhttps://www.verywellmind.com › what-is-a-schedule-of-re...
It could be, at times, at least, that "elderly confusion" is a sign of a very well filled brain! An outsider may say "Well, you're an expert. You should know." And it could be that the "expert" does know, but there's so much else up there that it's hard to find the right "avenue" to get to that particular spot! Maybe, if, instead of staring in increasing disgust, the interlocutor waited a bit and then said "So, how are things going?", that might release the tension for the moment. More than once in conversation, I"ve noticed someone will mentally snap their fingers and say - "By the way, you were asking about XYZ. If I recall, it was like this: ... "
Maybe it's not so much that we're getting older, but that we're getting full to overflowing!
Personally, I'm slower. Way slower. It's obvious to me. I was just citing some research. The overflow part is also part of it. Research has also shown that when we change our opinion or particular belief, that part of the brain that stores that stuff doesn't delete the previous file or overwrite it; it stays in there and the new stuff is jammed in with it, totally confusing our ability to have both pieces of info correspond in a coherent manner with all the other stuff consequential stuff that provides context. So, overflowing...sure.
Hey, Kurtocracy! I'm interested in your reply! Can you give citations for that research, especially sources that are available online? Since I retire, I've been out of the current literature loop for this Millennium! [What would we do without the Internet???]
From my own religious experience, I'm not so sure that holds water. I've had a varied "religious identity" over the years. My Methodist Missionary-born paternal grandmother imposed, as her part of my parents' marriage contract, that any children born to my parents would be raised in the Methodist Church. They dutifully signed on. It wasn't until I went away to college, that my feet found "religious freedom" by walking downhill to town and attending the local Unitarian/Universalist Church. When it was my turn to march down the aisle, we asked our minister to unite us. At the college chapel, we were married in front of a three-sided fixture: Christian with a cross, Jewish with a Star of David, or an ornamental tapestry for "None of the Above." We had active student organizations of Hindus, Taoists, Moslems, atheists and just plain "I don't Knows." When my Methodist grandmother heard about that, she sent us a soiled tablecloth as a "wedding present." I'm not exactly sure what message she intended with that, but you can guess.
We moved to California, and my religious search continued. Judaism appealed, as sort of the "fount of Western European religions." I went to a Reform Temple for several years. I was surprised, for example, to find that our Protestant final prayer: "May the Lord Bless you and Keep You,": etc. , is just a direct translation of the much older Jewish parting prayer.
While there, our neighbors across the street included a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS = Mormon). They felt our kids were missing out because they weren't getting any basic Bible background. We decided that it might be "socially advantageous" to know who Noah and Daniel were, so they went to Sunday School for a couple of years. The girls had LDS playmates. All the same, as adults they'd probably be classified as "religiously tolerant" since they also grew up with Vietnamese Buddhists, Mexican Catholics, etc.
At the end of the millennium, my branch of our company was shut down. I moved back to New York state and began attending a Fundamentalist Protestant church whose members were new immigrants from the Ukraine. As sort of a mental shield from "conflicts of Interest," the debates that might have been happening in my mind were muted by the fact that I rarely heard a sermon in English. Somehow, hearing the foreign language filtered out possible contradictions.
All those experiences are in there, as you noted. However, they're all stamped and dated like cash register receipts! Neurologically speaking, when we file information, our brains tag them with "Who, What and Where. " I can remember my missionary-bred grandmother taking us to Fundamentalist Methodist services when we visited her in Oklahoma City during my childhood. I can also remember the groans emanating from my parents in our car when they were alone again after the services. "Oh, well! What can you expect from a child growing up in India because the parents believed they had to Convert the Heathen?" Dad will finally conclude.
There are lots of "religious experiences" filed away in my head, but they just sit there. If someone talks about the "Cole family" of vegetables, cauliflower is different from radishes, or broccoli, cabbage or kohlrabi. They're alike in having small, dark round seeds. I love broccoli and can do without radishes. I don't feel any need to tie them together in one way or another. I don't feel any need to have religious beliefs correspond in any coherent matter, either. And, I try very hard not to get into any deeply invested arguments over the supremacy of one approach over another with dedicated followers of one denomination or another. It seems to be a characteristic of "True Believers" that it's "My Way or No Way!"
It's one of the confusing things about being "An American", isn't it? Christianity was important to many of "Our Founding Fathers." And yet, those who were here before them had different views, and many who have come since then also favor other approaches. The Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom - but some folks add a disclaimer: "As long as its Christian." Even then, the LDS founders were pushed West and ended up in Utah because their founder's "Christian" vision was too radical. "Religious Freedom," it seems to me, is a subject we could do more to advance, even as we approach 250 years since we gained our independence.
The REAL age to lower is that of the most important office in the country: citizen. So never mind Congress or the Presidency - lower the VOTING age to 16. We might find some common sense there. God knows it's hard to find it anywhere else these days. I'm serious, btw.
I get our Honorable Host's point about the USA being a land of "Equal Opportunity." In principle, I agree. Right now, though, I'm reading the (long) preface to a republication of John F. Kennedy's "PT109". It almost reads like the history of "An American Dynasty." His grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was mayor of Boston, and Democratic Party boss. His father, Joseph Kennedy, was a very successful banker and US Ambassador to London. I read elsewhere that Joe and Jack were the first Catholics admitted to Harvard - thanks to sizable contributions from their father and the fact that they were the Boston mayor's grandsons. But it wasn't just the fact that they came from an "Influential Family" that mattered. I can imagine what it would be like, to be a "fly on the wall" at their dining room tables. The elder Kennedys would get into deep political arguments, discussing the pros and cons of the "Appeasement at Munich" for example. Suddenly one of the elders would turn to Joe or Jack and say "What do you think?" What a political training ground that must have been!
As I read this background material to "PT 109". I thought of the "Cuban Missile Crisis." Where would we be today, if we had had some Texas rancher for a president at that time instead? It was all that "born and bred savoir faire" that gave President Kennedy the "gamesmanship" and daring to defuse the situation!
Think of how "poor" we would be, if we were all exactly the same! There's a place for the "Outsider Looking In" like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and there's also a place for our Boston Back Bay Irish Aristocracy! Maybe the more important factor is to recognize the particular strengths of individuals, and to be wise enough to step aside and hear them out when they're "In Their Element!" None of us have lives long enough or varied enough to actually be "Know-It-Alls!"
Haha, Snoop Dogg and Taylor Swift indeed! That's a throwaway line to amuse, but you're on to something when you recommended that Uncle Joe teach 10th grade civics. Our current leaders, of a certain age seem remarkably detached from what their constituents deem important. I'm for any process to put them in contact with relevance. Healthcare for example, which is a perk of their position, stands out as a good place to start, whether it's instituting ours or denying theirs to put us on a level playing field. Why should they get both the carrots and the use of the sticks?
Thank you for kind words concerning AOC. Very few seem aware of the epic nature of her journey...a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for our times. I would also be happy to endorse your idea of lowering the age of 18 to be eligible to serve in the House of Representatives though, as is the case with terms limits, an amendment to the Constitution would be needed, which pretty much ends the discussion. And I am old enough to remember George and Abe at the front of my classroom though I always took their presence to mean that America hadn't enjoyed someone decent in the White House since 1865. Hope all is well in your world...
So, there you go believing those internet biographies (Ocasio-Cortez), and self-administering the cool-aid.
Younger, and of the preferred gender and ethnicity, doesn't always mean better, smarter and stronger.
Certainly it doesn't mean more charitable. If you really look closer you will see the evidence of carpet-bagging, and traditional political machinations behind the curtain.
Though I question your assessment,
your conclusion that it's very "American" is indisputable.
As with most of my opinions though,
I may be singularly out in left field.
In which case, I will enjoy picking flowers. Reach down and gather your evagelical strength, will ya'.
"Let my age group shut up"....no, not altogether. Some of us are not curmudgeon-like...we still have lots to say and contribute. And by 30, I had my act together and still do. So let's compromise and work with both age groups' contributions, Garrison!
It’s not going to matter how old our Democratic leaders are if we keep electing Republicans who will block and oppose everything Democrats try to do. Until we elect Democrats nothing is going to move forward. We are in trouble if Republicans win because they will do what our governor here in Iowa is doing right now…..not allowing press to see what’s going on when they decide what they want to pass as laws, no longer allowing lobbyists, taking away land rights from farmers, allowing our parks to disintegrate and moving park rangers out of their homes in state parks to save money. Our educational system is worsening in Iowa because of lack of funding and now want to have cameras in the classrooms checking up on teachers. Yes, it was voted down but will again be voted on after the November elections for sure. Age will not matter.
I'm sorry Iowa is in such perilous circumstances. The problem, Mary Kay, is that a small minirority bother to vote in local elections, about 20% on average, and young people hardly vote at all. This needs to change.
You're so right, Mr. Keillor. They think these "small" elections are not important. How sad that is. Our rights are being eroded slowly but surely.
Thanks, Garrison, for that interesting column.
". . . . perhaps the White House is only a straw man whom we hold responsible . . . . . "
They say that the person who does the most to determine a child's performance in school and in life is that child him/herself. After the child, then parents, teachers, and so forth influence how one does.
Many people don't want to accept responsibility for the condition of their own lives and an obvious person to hold responsible is the occupant of the White House or the Supremes or politicians or someone.
I don't know if this is true of everyone, but I don't think that the occupant of the WH has affected the quality or condition of my life. I admit that we live in the backwoods of rural Alabama which is not where most people live. But life rolls along about the same regardless of the politicians.
America has some flaws, but America is also a tremendously great country. About 300 million people are doing their thing every day, buying, selling, making things, serving food, teaching, practicing medicine, fixing cars, etc. That is living life every day and this living goes on every day regardless of the flimflam that we hear from politicians.
America is a great country but also remember that those politicians who we love to revile were all elected to office by Americans. Every one of them has "won" an election. The people that we put in office tell us a lot about ourselves.
Maybe I have just given up on politics. I tend to concentrate on the wellbeing and condition of family and close friends and on doing things that I find important. If I want to have a good life it is up to me to create it or make it.
Nobody in the WH or the Supreme Court is thinking about me and my life. Which is a good thing. They would probably foul it up if they were involved. Competence seems to be in short supply in both parties.
It is better these days to live quietly out of the public eye.
Best wishes to one and all.
Yes, it is time for young folks to take over. All my recent fantasies involve taking a nap in the warm sun. More energy is needed to lead the country in the challenging times ahead.
That is a great idea. Unfortunately, on a percentage basis, young people tend to vote less than other age groups. When they do vote, they tend to vote in "important" elections such as Presidential elections but ignore state and local elections. As a result, our state legislatures lean heavily to republicans. State legislatures are where many important issues are decided, such as redistricting, and the passage of election laws.
So, I would love for the young people to take over and they can start by voting.
Love, love, love this...
Heaven help us all if members of Congress take sabbaticals to teach in public schools. The majority of them don’t have a clue who the “public” really is. What could they teach about history anyway?
I hated history in school. Way too much about wars- what general went around whois’s flank- and very little about everyday people and how the Big Themes impacted them.
I got a master’s in Textile History, and suddenly the past opened up to me like a flower. That has enabled me to better understand today’s history as it is being made. Would a 30-year old be capable of such insight?
I do agree the young must grab the reins. It’s their world after all.
I’d be happy with Congressional and Judicial term limits. The Executive has term limits; seems to be working okay.
I’ll vote till I die. But people shouldn’t be senators or representatives or Supremes until they die. They just don’t have the vision of the future that youth has. And that vision is what will save the earth and humankind.
You're so right about history being fascinated by wars. As someone said, "God created war so Americans would be interested in geography." Textile History: what a fascinating idea.
Agreed in spirit, and I've also come to like the bartender turned legislator, but... You clearly do not have adequate exposure to youngsters if you imagine handing them the steering wheel will get us to a desirable destination. Knowing what should be done is very different from knowing what to do in order to get there. Knowing what to do isn't an age specific situation.
In a democracy, we hope for the cream to rise. I look at some of those geezer senators and think, "This is what the Founders intended? Madison and Hamilton anticipated Ted Cruz?"
Yeah, hope is about as far as we can...uh, hope to reach. I also look at the geezers and despair. (Full disclosure...I am a geezer.) I have a theory, completely untested and absent footnoted research, that sez Weirdos like the ingrown toenail of a human in the form of a certain TX legislator have always been around, and it's only with our new tech media environment that we know about them. Folks "back then" had the sense to not waste expensive ink and paper on louts and other human fungus and attempted to appeal to the better angels of human nature. Now, we got...screw it...everyone knows what we got. Yuppie larvae have grabbed the media steering wheel, stepped on the gas, and are attempting to Eval Knievel us over a civilizational Caesars Palace into a Promised Land they imagine will coalesce beneath us before we face plant. It's always been this way. It's the New Tech that makes us aware of it. The first 1/3 of Ms. Lapore's "These Truths" outlines the phenomenon, proof that there is at least one smart person writing today. You are also proof. I love these columns.
Ode to A Cerebral Cortex
On occasion the voters of the Bronx
Cheer and confuse even policy wonks.
They chose an upstart who's smart
Who serves barbs a la carte,
Impervious to honkies and taunts.
Keep working on it.
Ode to A Cerebral Cortex
On occasion the voters of the Bronx
Confuse even policy wonks.
They chose an upstart who’s smart,
Who serves barbs a la carte,
Impervious to honkies and taunts.
Unlike the old conquerors of yore,
Alexandria campaigns for the poor;
As she fights for fair wages and health care,
Bankers worry and watch from their lair;
Will student loan debt be cancelled for sure?
Social media twits
Follow stylists with glitz,
Yet authenticity has its appeal.
With brains, and, yes, beauty,
(and obviously, not snooty)
She’s refreshingly, totally real.
As her poll numbers rise
The pundits apprise
The odds that she’ll rise to the top.
Hypocrites with dull wits
Wring their hands and have fits
(especially the Faux News guys).
So raise a glass to the lass kicking Congress’s ass,
Volunteer, write a check, do your part.
We need citizens to rally, to vote and to tally
Results that will gladden your heart.
Cut it back somewhat.
Ode to A Cerebral Cortex
On occasion the voters of the Bronx
Confuse even policy wonks.
They chose an upstart who’s smart,
Who serves barbs a la carte,
Impervious to honkies and taunts.
Social media twits
Follow stylists with glitz,
Yet authenticity has its appeal.
With her brains and her beauty,
She’s certainly not snooty;
Just refreshingly, totally real.
As her poll numbers rise
The pundits apprise
The odds that she’ll rise to the top.
Hypocrites with dull wits
Wring their hands and have fits
(especially the Faux News guys).
So, raise a glass to the lass kicking Congress’s ass,
Volunteer, write a check, do your part.
If the citizens rally and vote we can tally
Results sure to gladden your heart.
Well said Garrison! Thanks for articulating my thoughts. We do need our young to lead us now more than ever.
Cut and pasted from someplace that seemed intelligent....
"Slower responses from older people are not due to slower thinking
A new study of 1,185,882 people aged 10–80 shatters the notion that the mind dulls with age after we turn 20—a commonly held belief that has profound implications for workplace hiring. We tend to assume older people are slower thinkers, and there’s lots of experimental evidence that seems to back that up, showing that average response times on elementary cognitive tasks increase as we age. But analyzing the data in this new study, psychologists at Heidelberg University in Germany attribute the slowing to decision-making caution—mentally, how much we look before we leap. They found that this caution decreases over our teenage years, bottoms out by the time we are in college (surprise, surprise), and steadily increases thereafter. They attribute measured age-related declines in test response times with a growth in caution and with non-mental processes, like fumbling old fingers on the keyboard, rather than actual declines in mental speed. (Nature Human Behavior)"
That's one possibility, Kurt. In observing my own greater mental confusion as I approach eighty, though, I'd offer another option. There's a whole lot up there in my head. As a librarian with some time on my hands, I scanned numerous trade journals for years. These days, I see the "mental bait on the hook of the line, and think "Now, what was it I saw???"
I don't have a pocket iPad, so I can't always flip it open and Google the subject at will. Even if I could - there are so many neurons up there, like intertwined oak trees - that I frequently can't find my way back to the trunk.
If you ask me, I'd attribute a lot of slow elderly responses to the fact that there's so much up there to sift through! That, and "pressure." When I'm speaking with someone and I fumble, I just jam up. It could be an hour or two later, or at three o'clock the next morning, that I sit up in bed and say "Of Course!"
As an example, I was writing the other day about the bells and lights that go off in casinos when a "one-armed bandit" spills a load on coins into a lucky someone's lap. "What do they call that?" I asked myself, thinking back to Psychology 101. Blank. Nada! At three a.m. the next morning, I woke up thinking "Partial Reinforcement!" Of course!
[Partial Reinforcement - 1 In partial (or intermittent) reinforcement, the response is reinforced only part of the time. Learned behaviors are acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement, but the response is more resistant to extinction. How Reinforcement Schedules Work - Verywell Mindhttps://www.verywellmind.com › what-is-a-schedule-of-re...
It could be, at times, at least, that "elderly confusion" is a sign of a very well filled brain! An outsider may say "Well, you're an expert. You should know." And it could be that the "expert" does know, but there's so much else up there that it's hard to find the right "avenue" to get to that particular spot! Maybe, if, instead of staring in increasing disgust, the interlocutor waited a bit and then said "So, how are things going?", that might release the tension for the moment. More than once in conversation, I"ve noticed someone will mentally snap their fingers and say - "By the way, you were asking about XYZ. If I recall, it was like this: ... "
Maybe it's not so much that we're getting older, but that we're getting full to overflowing!
Personally, I'm slower. Way slower. It's obvious to me. I was just citing some research. The overflow part is also part of it. Research has also shown that when we change our opinion or particular belief, that part of the brain that stores that stuff doesn't delete the previous file or overwrite it; it stays in there and the new stuff is jammed in with it, totally confusing our ability to have both pieces of info correspond in a coherent manner with all the other stuff consequential stuff that provides context. So, overflowing...sure.
Hey, Kurtocracy! I'm interested in your reply! Can you give citations for that research, especially sources that are available online? Since I retire, I've been out of the current literature loop for this Millennium! [What would we do without the Internet???]
Afterthought on consideration of this concept:
From my own religious experience, I'm not so sure that holds water. I've had a varied "religious identity" over the years. My Methodist Missionary-born paternal grandmother imposed, as her part of my parents' marriage contract, that any children born to my parents would be raised in the Methodist Church. They dutifully signed on. It wasn't until I went away to college, that my feet found "religious freedom" by walking downhill to town and attending the local Unitarian/Universalist Church. When it was my turn to march down the aisle, we asked our minister to unite us. At the college chapel, we were married in front of a three-sided fixture: Christian with a cross, Jewish with a Star of David, or an ornamental tapestry for "None of the Above." We had active student organizations of Hindus, Taoists, Moslems, atheists and just plain "I don't Knows." When my Methodist grandmother heard about that, she sent us a soiled tablecloth as a "wedding present." I'm not exactly sure what message she intended with that, but you can guess.
We moved to California, and my religious search continued. Judaism appealed, as sort of the "fount of Western European religions." I went to a Reform Temple for several years. I was surprised, for example, to find that our Protestant final prayer: "May the Lord Bless you and Keep You,": etc. , is just a direct translation of the much older Jewish parting prayer.
While there, our neighbors across the street included a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS = Mormon). They felt our kids were missing out because they weren't getting any basic Bible background. We decided that it might be "socially advantageous" to know who Noah and Daniel were, so they went to Sunday School for a couple of years. The girls had LDS playmates. All the same, as adults they'd probably be classified as "religiously tolerant" since they also grew up with Vietnamese Buddhists, Mexican Catholics, etc.
At the end of the millennium, my branch of our company was shut down. I moved back to New York state and began attending a Fundamentalist Protestant church whose members were new immigrants from the Ukraine. As sort of a mental shield from "conflicts of Interest," the debates that might have been happening in my mind were muted by the fact that I rarely heard a sermon in English. Somehow, hearing the foreign language filtered out possible contradictions.
All those experiences are in there, as you noted. However, they're all stamped and dated like cash register receipts! Neurologically speaking, when we file information, our brains tag them with "Who, What and Where. " I can remember my missionary-bred grandmother taking us to Fundamentalist Methodist services when we visited her in Oklahoma City during my childhood. I can also remember the groans emanating from my parents in our car when they were alone again after the services. "Oh, well! What can you expect from a child growing up in India because the parents believed they had to Convert the Heathen?" Dad will finally conclude.
There are lots of "religious experiences" filed away in my head, but they just sit there. If someone talks about the "Cole family" of vegetables, cauliflower is different from radishes, or broccoli, cabbage or kohlrabi. They're alike in having small, dark round seeds. I love broccoli and can do without radishes. I don't feel any need to tie them together in one way or another. I don't feel any need to have religious beliefs correspond in any coherent matter, either. And, I try very hard not to get into any deeply invested arguments over the supremacy of one approach over another with dedicated followers of one denomination or another. It seems to be a characteristic of "True Believers" that it's "My Way or No Way!"
It's one of the confusing things about being "An American", isn't it? Christianity was important to many of "Our Founding Fathers." And yet, those who were here before them had different views, and many who have come since then also favor other approaches. The Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom - but some folks add a disclaimer: "As long as its Christian." Even then, the LDS founders were pushed West and ended up in Utah because their founder's "Christian" vision was too radical. "Religious Freedom," it seems to me, is a subject we could do more to advance, even as we approach 250 years since we gained our independence.
The REAL age to lower is that of the most important office in the country: citizen. So never mind Congress or the Presidency - lower the VOTING age to 16. We might find some common sense there. God knows it's hard to find it anywhere else these days. I'm serious, btw.
I get our Honorable Host's point about the USA being a land of "Equal Opportunity." In principle, I agree. Right now, though, I'm reading the (long) preface to a republication of John F. Kennedy's "PT109". It almost reads like the history of "An American Dynasty." His grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was mayor of Boston, and Democratic Party boss. His father, Joseph Kennedy, was a very successful banker and US Ambassador to London. I read elsewhere that Joe and Jack were the first Catholics admitted to Harvard - thanks to sizable contributions from their father and the fact that they were the Boston mayor's grandsons. But it wasn't just the fact that they came from an "Influential Family" that mattered. I can imagine what it would be like, to be a "fly on the wall" at their dining room tables. The elder Kennedys would get into deep political arguments, discussing the pros and cons of the "Appeasement at Munich" for example. Suddenly one of the elders would turn to Joe or Jack and say "What do you think?" What a political training ground that must have been!
As I read this background material to "PT 109". I thought of the "Cuban Missile Crisis." Where would we be today, if we had had some Texas rancher for a president at that time instead? It was all that "born and bred savoir faire" that gave President Kennedy the "gamesmanship" and daring to defuse the situation!
Think of how "poor" we would be, if we were all exactly the same! There's a place for the "Outsider Looking In" like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and there's also a place for our Boston Back Bay Irish Aristocracy! Maybe the more important factor is to recognize the particular strengths of individuals, and to be wise enough to step aside and hear them out when they're "In Their Element!" None of us have lives long enough or varied enough to actually be "Know-It-Alls!"
Vive la Difference!
Haha, Snoop Dogg and Taylor Swift indeed! That's a throwaway line to amuse, but you're on to something when you recommended that Uncle Joe teach 10th grade civics. Our current leaders, of a certain age seem remarkably detached from what their constituents deem important. I'm for any process to put them in contact with relevance. Healthcare for example, which is a perk of their position, stands out as a good place to start, whether it's instituting ours or denying theirs to put us on a level playing field. Why should they get both the carrots and the use of the sticks?
Well done, sir! Now 79, I've kinda' had the same perspective of "our" generation's relevance going forward. Time will tell . . .
Thank you for kind words concerning AOC. Very few seem aware of the epic nature of her journey...a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for our times. I would also be happy to endorse your idea of lowering the age of 18 to be eligible to serve in the House of Representatives though, as is the case with terms limits, an amendment to the Constitution would be needed, which pretty much ends the discussion. And I am old enough to remember George and Abe at the front of my classroom though I always took their presence to mean that America hadn't enjoyed someone decent in the White House since 1865. Hope all is well in your world...
Dear Garrison,
So, there you go believing those internet biographies (Ocasio-Cortez), and self-administering the cool-aid.
Younger, and of the preferred gender and ethnicity, doesn't always mean better, smarter and stronger.
Certainly it doesn't mean more charitable. If you really look closer you will see the evidence of carpet-bagging, and traditional political machinations behind the curtain.
Though I question your assessment,
your conclusion that it's very "American" is indisputable.
As with most of my opinions though,
I may be singularly out in left field.
In which case, I will enjoy picking flowers. Reach down and gather your evagelical strength, will ya'.
Sincerely yours,
Vince
son of immigrants
"Let my age group shut up"....no, not altogether. Some of us are not curmudgeon-like...we still have lots to say and contribute. And by 30, I had my act together and still do. So let's compromise and work with both age groups' contributions, Garrison!