Getting back to ignorance - Charles was explaining to me a model of learning as building a polyhedron or a molecular structure, where with each new connection you open up more possible connections. Say, for example, with carbon you can make as many as 4 connections. So with the first connection you now have 6 open connections, because you are no longer the single atom but the compound of two, each of which has used one bond, leaving 6 open for more connections. You can see that the more you add to your structure, the more bonds are open to the void, or chaos, or God, whatever you choose to name the unknown. That's why so many men considered to have genius mentality have said something like "the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know"; their structures have become so large that there are tens or hundreds or thousands of open potential bonds reaching out like tentacles to the universe, giving them a profound sense of awe and wonder at the unknown beyond their understanding. Stupid people don't have this problem; they assume they know just about all there is to know, and do their best to shut down what few urges to reach out of their little shells do exist. Anyway, that's my riff on what he said.
That's how I can say "Charles's ignorance knows no bounds" and he would understand it as a compliment. This is a man who not only spends the greater part of his time thinking about the world's problems, he thinks about thinking and how to structure ideas and thought in new ways which yield additional insights.
In both San Diego and LA, there is a very pleasant aroma, most noticeable from dusk to dawn, from a plant with a small white 5-petaled flower and halberd- shaped shiny leaves. Anybody know what it is? They've been planted all over the place, downtown and suburbs, in both cities.
I found an easier way to clean prickly pear leaves for eating; this only applies to the types without visible spines, but with the tiny hairlike slivers that stick in your skin and itch: you take a piece of heavy cloth, or maybe chamois leather, and wipe the leaves (or fruits probably, too) and all those little pricks stay in the cloth, leaving an edible succulent leaf in seconds rather than minutes! I used my older serape for this purpose. I may someday regret it if those miniscule thorns end up in my buttocks. Or worse.
last updated 2013-01-10 20:18:44. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com