Monthly Archive for May, 2010

The Family Purse

Family purse-group

Our money is family money… really. It is one big pot from which each takes as needed. This is radically different from the independent model upon which my parents raised me. I did chores for which I got a salary. I suppose the idea here is to prepare the me (their child) for the employer – employee relationship that would lie ahead.

That was not to be my model for raising my kids. Here, everyone in the family did / does ‘chores’, but not as some ‘job’, but rather as part of what needs doing as part of practical daily living. A shared life involves shared responsibility (which makes life feel more shared). Here, each takes on what they are most naturally capable of doing. ‘It happened to us naturally.’ Continue reading ‘The Family Purse’

Chapter of the Week: #46

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Group Think

Group Think-fishA recent issue of Science News has an article on the group behavior of social animals. I’ve always been dumbfounded by how well we, as social animals, are able to manage the logistics in dynamic civilizations composed of millions of individuals. I know, ’supply and demand’ plays a big role in this. Still, it mystifies me(*). This article, Swarm Savvy: How bees, ants and other animals avoid dumb collective decisions, sheds light on this for me somewhat by extending the mystery to all social animals. Continue reading ‘Group Think’

SETI Shmeti

Can_you_hear_me_nowA recent article in Science News, Can you hear me now?, explored issues around the ’search for extra-terrestrial intelligence’ (SETI) program. I see a Taoist twist on this, but first here is the editor’s short take on this:

An intelligent ET would probably just stay home.

Apart from jokes about how hard it is to find intelligent life on Earth, let alone in the rest of the galaxy, the possible existence of extraterrestrial beings — and the lack of contact with them — poses a perplexing issue. Continue reading ‘SETI Shmeti’

Chapter of the Week: #45

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The Worry Gene

Worry instinctI’ve noticed over the years that there’s always something ‘wrong’, no matter how ‘right’ things seem at first. There is a seemingly endless supply of issues to fret over. After we resolve the pressing life and death issues, you’d think we could relax and appreciate that success. Alas, no sooner one problem is solved, we find another to fret over. Continue reading ‘The Worry Gene’

Chapter of the Week: #44

≈≈≈ Click Here for Translation and Commentary ≈≈≈