Daily Archives: January 8, 2016

Colorado, Humanities, Latin, Myth and Story, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., The West, US History

Stock Show Weather

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Yule                                                                                 New (Stock Show) Moon

The Denver metro has Stock Show weather. Stock Show weather is cold as opposed to snowy, not surprising since the Stock Show runs the three weeks after the first week of the New Year.

We got 5 or 6 inches of snow overnight. The next few nights will be in the single digits or low double digits, cold by Colorado standards. Just getting cool by Minnesota’s. It rarely gets chilly here, that is well below zero, though it does happen. Still, as I told Greg, my Latin tutor, this morning, I wouldn’t care to visit Minnesota during a chilly period. Not anymore.

A couple of weeks ago Greg gave me an assignment. Match my English translation against other English translations, then figure out where and why we differ. This means I’m moving closer to the sort of translating I sought when I began this long journey. In order to proceed honestly I still have to translate the Latin first, then check others. This way I don’t engage in cheating, making my translation fit someone else’s interpretation. But, done in the proper sequence this method allows me to begin polishing my language, getting beyond a more literal translation to a more literary one.

Getting back to regular, that is daily, Latin work has been frustratingly slow. I’ve allowed holidays and illness to intrude. Understandable, not helpful. After this morning’s session though, I have a feeling I’m back at it. Greg said I did very well with the material I prepared. That means, when we sight read the Latin, I easily and accurately translated what I had put through the English translation match.

With my workouts somewhat regular now, illness and holidays again, it feels as if I’m returning to the productive rhythm I had in Minnesota. Now I need to add writing on a novel and/or the reimagining book. Working out, Latin and creative writing are the three legs to my stool, each necessary in their own way.

The art will come along, too.

General

more triangle

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Yule                                                                               New (Stock Show) Moon

The triangle of influence came from thinking about the limits of reason. A field where this sort of thinking has become very important over the last few years is economics. Classical economics assumes the rational man (sic). This central figure in all economic thinking chose economic actions based on a logical analysis of his own self interests. His choices maximized his self-interest, so a cheaper car made with the same quality as a more expensive one would always be his choice since he got similar quality for less money.

Problem is, people don’t actually behave this way. Many factors influence a consumer’s choices and some of them create decisions actually opposed to a rational man’s self-interest. Our solar array is a good example. We voluntarily tied up thousands of dollars of capital in an energy generation system that will take years to pay off. This means we eschewed certain short term benefits, having the money to spend or save right now, for a future good. This future good is not defined by the return on investment, but by a shift from a polluting energy source to a non-polluting one. The field of behavioral economics tries to take into account this more typical choice making.

Those whose influence flows largely from the Nietzschean corner, secularists like myself, must account for the choices made by people influenced more strongly by the Smithian. We cannot dismiss it, as the new atheists, flat earthers I call them, do.