My abstracts are done. We had to write an informational one and an indicative one. I haven’t turned them in yet because I am worried about them. The two of them combined are less than 200 words and we are allowed 200 words for each of them. I even padded the informational one which is allowed to be more descriptive. I’m having my Bookman review them for me this evening. If he thinks they meet the criteria of the assignment then I’ll turn them in and try not to worry about them.
I was busy fiddling with them last night and then hemming and hawing over various IPL questions waiting to be answered–do I want to research yellow jacket wasps? Or the history of public water fountains? Nothing struck me as interesting. Why couldn’t I have been online earlier today to claim the question about characters in Sister Carrie and Daisy Miller? Or the one asking how to make environmentally friendly washing liquid? It’s a luxury to be able to pick and choose what questions I want to answer. When I get to do this kind of thing as my job I won’t be able to do that.
I did get to read a little Travels with Herodotus last night. I am loving this book and thought I would share something of it with you, some food for thought.
Herodotus admits he was obsessed with memory, fearful on its behalf. He felt that memory is something defective, fragile, impermanent–illusory, even. That whatever it contains, whatever it is storing, can evaporate, simply vanish without a trace. His whole generation, everyone living on earth at that time, was possessed by that same fear. Without memory one cannot live, for it is what elevates man above beasts, determines the contours of the human soul; and yet it is at the same time so unreliable, elusive, treacherous. It is precisely what makes man so unsure of himself….Man does not obsess about memory today as he once did because he lives surrounded by stockpiles of it. Everything is at his fingertips–encyclopedias, textbooks, dictionaries, compendia, search engines….
Of course none, or almost none, of these institutions, devices, or techniques existed in Herodotus’s time. Man knew as much and only as much, as his mind managed to preserve…
In the world of Herodotus, the only real repository of memory is the individual.
And so, Herodotus had to travel the world (which was much smaller then) to talk to these individuals himself so he could write his Histories and “prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time” (the reason Herodutus gives for writing his book).
Wow. I get anxious about some of our less durable “memory” media, but I guess it’s nothing like it was in the time of Herodotus. I suppose he was quite forward-thinking to want to record what was in people’s memories. The Father of History indeed.
Reminded me of the story from Phaedrus – where the god Theuth gave the knowledge of writing to King Thamus.
Googled this:
“But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and the wit. Thamus replied:
‘O most ingenious Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing, they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.’
Herodotus was striving to be a preserver of stories and memories. But it seems to me that memory is inherently organic and will alway defy our attempts to capture it fully.
Oh, I know all about fiddling with work, and you have my sympathy. But really, if you’ve answered the question then I don’t see you need worry. Some responses may need more words than others, and I imagine the ruling is there to be generous but not excessive. And I really must get me a copy of that Travels with H. book!
I thought you meant fiddling as in playing the musical instrument LOL! That I can’t do, but the type of fiddling you DO mean, well, that I do all the time. I think, in this day and age, we could stand a little more of Herodotus’s fears when it comes to memory. We don’t seem to care quite so much that without a memory of our past history, humans can’t survive.
Sylvia, it does give a different perspective for Herodotus doesn’t it? He isn’t the first writer but he is the first who took human history has his subject.
Dark Orpheus, great quote! Oh yes, I agree, memory is and always will be an imperfect thing. That’s another reason why it is always important to have a variety of perspectives
Litlove, do as I say not as I do?
I am sure the 200 word count was there to be generous especially since the word counts in the examples we were given were far less than 200 words.
Emily, I would love to learn how to play the fiddle! Maybe when I retire or win the lottery, whichever comes first
I agree with you. I think too many times these days we try our best to forget rather than remember.