Think Happy

“You are what I think.” B.F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner

B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) was a Harvard psychologist who advocated behavioral engineering and thought that people could be controlled through rewards and punishments. Human free will is an illusion, human action the result of genetics and nature. Farewell to free will. 

“Poppycock”, says Popeye, "I yam what I yam and tha's all what I yam." 

Distant memories of Psychology 101 at KU come back to me. Taught by a Turkish professor who regaled us with stories of his own revolutionary days as a student in Turkey; quite appropriate, I thought, for the times. Listen to everyone, I also thought, for they have something to say, but make up your own mind. 

Skinner’s debate still rages on in my head. I like to think, like Popeye, that I am what I think, that I can influence the future with positive thoughts. It is my own form of behavioral reinforcement. 


Make up your own mind. This is what I tell the next generation. It's empowering. 

So I say to you, in 2015 think happy thoughts in the coming year.

There comes a time

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation. W. C. Fields

Not right now and not with this bull, thank you.

No bull

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger)

Seneca writes a letter to Lucillus, procurator of Sicily during Nero’s reign, concerning the topic, On the Supreme Good.

The archer must know what he is seeking to hit; then he must aim and control the weapon by his skill. Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

Chance must necessarily influence over our lives, for we live by chance.But it is the case with certain men, that they do not know that they know certain things. Just as we often search for that which is beside us, so too we are apt to forget that the Supreme Good lies near us. 

Seneca begins his letter to his friend Lucillus with a caution:

[A] vast stretch of sea separates us. Since, the value of advice may depend on the time when it is given, it must necessarily result that by the time my opinion reaches you, the opposite opinion is the better.

Seneca continues:

The nature of the Supreme Good is not described by many words or long-winded discussions. It is pointed out by the forefinger and not parsed with endless dissection… The Supreme Good is that which is honorable.

The task ahead, Seneca proposes is to conquer our emotions.

I fully understand what this task is. It is a thing …I desire it with all my heart. I see that you also have been aroused and are hastening with great zeal towards infinite beauty.

Let us hasten; and only on these terms will life be a boon to us; otherwise, there is a delay … while we busy ourselves with revolting things.

Let us see to it that all time belongs to us. This, however, cannot be unless, first of all, we ourselves belong to us. … When will it be our privilege, after our passions have been subdued and brought under control, to utter the words "I have conquered!"?

Do you ask me who have I conquered? The answer is neither the Persians, nor far-off Medes, nor any warlike race beyond the Dahab (Sinai); not these. Rather greed, ambition, and fear of death have I conquered, that conquered the conquerors of the world.

Farewell.

Be thankful

Though you seek it 
You’ll never find it. 
What is it? 

Gratitude for what you’ve got

Kansas landscape

 Image taken driving home from Kansas City to Wichita just after sunset.

Alice doesn't live here anymore.

Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) said it best more than 30 years ago:

Oh very young 
What will you leave us this time? 
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while 
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now 
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans 
Denim blue fading up to the sky.

Image taken on Old Highway 50 north of Emporia.This house is typical of many Depression era homes, two stories, bedrooms on the second floor, a corrugated metal roof because shingles were too expensive, and a kitchen attached at the rear of the home.

Alone My Dogs and I

 Alone, my dogs and I walk by the river, along the lake, and through the woods.

For days and weeks and months
Through all the seasons of the years

In azure days of Spring when flowers came
In Summer’s rain when birds and bees and butterflies took shelter
In Fall when nature’s color was resplendent

And finally,
In the gloom and gray of Winter When all life seems to have gone away
Alone, but for my dogs, these two careless creatures of nature
Naked and unaware
Like Adam and Eve
Of the world’s woes and constant cares
Wandering at the water’s edge
And through the brown and lifeless grass

Looking for some other wild creature to pursue
Happy to be tasked as God intended
To think of pleasure
And not of higher thoughts



And I, …
Alone, but for these two simple dogs
Wonder (Is this God’s gift to man?)
In all God’s vast creation
Do I alone?
Think of what He wrought
And what He must now think
Seeing his beautiful world
Filled with war, famine, and hate
But not here,
Am I
Alone, but for my dogs, these two careless creatures of nature

Why do leaves change color in Fall?

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter. A busy year making flowers and seeds, the trees need their rest and so get ready for winter. Thus, the trees begin to shut down their food-making factories, the green chlorophyll. As it disappears from the leaves, the yellow is left behind briefly until it too is gone and all that is left is the brown, the remnants of a glorious summer and beautiful fall.

 

Fall leaves, Mulberry tree

Kansas Paw Paw

Pin Oak, Kansas

What makes the bright reds in Maple trees? These colors and the deep purples we see are glucose trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Autumn daylight and cool nights combine to produce these brilliant colors.

Maple tree, Kansas