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The NY Times has a fascinating article this morning on a subject that I have given some thought to in the past, and have discussed with my polyglot friends at length. Namely, does language shape how we think? The author gives many compelling examples (and some counter examples) but the upshot is that yes the structure and vocabulary of our language can indeed influence to a significant degree how we see the world. One of the things I love about language is how lyrical and fluid it can be. Learning other languages, I have noticed how different we can be as people in those languages. It is as if we are playing the role of a Frenchman or Spaniard, and with friends of mine who speak multiple languages, we can confirm that the personalities we have in one language do not always line up so neatly with those in others and our native tongues. This is due to so many things. When we learn a language, we are very much influenced by those around us who are native speakers, and we pick up many of their mannerisms and choice of vocabulary. We also are in a different time and place in our own lives when first mastering communication in another tongue. And then there is the image of how we should speak floating in our heads, as imaginary and subjective as could be, but still an ideal we fix upon. Tie all these elements together and you have the making of a personality. And that personality may not always agree with your other ones. In some ways we are living in another world when we speak another language well, and that is quite a feat of magic, to be able to live several lives. One becomes most aware of these differences when they are pointed out by others, or when we need to translate something that really has no good equivalent in the other language. Sometimes I will be deep in a conversation in another language, and catch a glimpse of my other self. I sense the difference, but not necessarily how it “reads” to other people. For me the greatest value in learning other languages is that it forces us to conceptualize outside of our normal headspace, and expands not only our understanding of what is possible, but our connections to other people. It allows us to erase the hard edges of “other” and break down the fictitious wall between “us” and “them”.
The New York times has an article today discussing why the president is suffering from fading popularity. As with most of the “mainstream” media outlets, I think they are DC focused and really miss the point. Their argument is that he has been focusing on a legislative agenda to the detriment of getting his message out.
Hogwash.
Here is the reason I, and many other people, are disappointed in the President, and it boils down to one word: timidity. The President has never missed an opportunity to water down any and all of the bold promises he made during the campaign. Either he negotiates away things before ever pushing for them (public option, financial oversight), says he will fight for/against things and then doesn’t (don’t ask don’t tell, executive branch abuses), or just outright gives up on things started (Guantanamo, second stimulus). These are but a few examples, but it boils down to something pretty simple. This President eloquently argued that he stood for all sorts of things during the campaign, and once in power promptly forgot about a lot of them. Plain and simple, people voted for something better. They voted for the “fierce advocate” who never was, and seems to have never missed an opportunity to compromise on his “bedrock” principles. I am really shocked that the mainstream press seems so clueless about this. Obama was voted in on a wave of hope for a better future, and the power of all those young people, all those progressives, all those common sense conservatives was targeting the same idea: To put behind us the abuses of the past 8 years and try to rebuild trust in government. Are we better off than under Bush or than we would have been under McCain? Absolutely, not a shred of doubt there. But just being better off than we would have been makes for a pretty lackluster argument, and doesn’t speak to the huge drop in enthusiasm. If the democrats lose a lot of seats this fall, it will be due to a lot of factors (the state of the economy, obstruction by republicans, etc). But it will also be due in large part to the fact that the President refused to stand up for what he (supposedly) believed in.
Just as I had begun to come to terms with my impending surgery, and getting happy with my upcoming trip, THIS happens. It started innocently enough, I went downstairs to check for today’s mail. I opened the mailbox, and started leafing through the contents. Oh good, there is that check from a client, I thought….and there is the umpteenth credit card offer I don’t need…and there is my latest netflix disc…and…what’s this?? Something sent to me from Amazon in a white plastic envelope about the size of a DVD. I shook it, and sure enough it sounded like a DVD. But…I didn’t order anything, not that I could remember anyway. I went ahead and opened it, and to my absolute HORROR, I discover this:
Now, I don’t know what kind of sick motherf#$&%@ out there want to harass me in this way, but I will not be cowed! Show yourself, you…you…MONSTER!
For some months, I have been planning a long trip to Spain with my cousin Josh. And as you might remember, I have had this ongoing shoulder problem as well, which nothing has seemed able to ameliorate. In fact, it has really taken a turn for the worse recently, and I was worried that I would have to cancel the trip. I finally got in to see (yet another) specialist yesterday (much nicer than the last one btw), and finally accepted that I will indeed need surgery. The recovery for this type of thing is awful. It involves several weeks wearing a sling, sleeping on your back in a particular position (something I am not at all good at), lots of pain, and 6-8 months (yes, MONTHS) of physical therapy until one is back to “normal”. And oh yeah, thousands of dollars b/c my health care plan covers so little. I told the doctor of my desire to go on my trip and he said it wouldn’t hurt anything to go and then do the surgery upon my return. And since I will be basically immobile for months after this, I want to make the experience a last hurrah of sorts before entering the convent. I say “entering the convent” b/c let’s face it, it will probably be the equivalent of taking a vow of chastity for several months. (Not that the last few, with all my aches and pains, has been any great shakes, but still.) I asked the doc for a cortisone shot for my shoulder and he said it wasn’t a good idea, and that he would prescribe me some pain meds. I hope that will be enough, because it has been pretty damned uncomfortable recently. On the plus side of all of this, I am happy to be returning to Spain after so many years away. 1996 was the last time I was there, I think.
“Don’t be evil.”
This was long Google’s motto, and one I quite admired in a large company. This meant that every potential action taken by the company should be considered against whether this was something that would cause harm or not. And for the most part, despite some privacy concerns, I have felt that on balance what Google has given the world was indeed on the side of the good, and sometimes even the amazing. This was a company that I felt by and large deserved their great profit. But if this New York Times article is to be believed, Google has abandoned that motto and their own previously stated positions. Google has abandoned the idea of net neutrality, a cornerstone of the Internet. In a nutshell, net neutrality says that any content on the internet, whether produced by you or I or the White House or Google or Apple, will be on a level playing field with regard to the connections to it. Think about how important this principle is. It is what makes a great democracy of the internet. It is what allows anyone, anywhere to publish a web page that can be viewed by the entire world. According to The NY Times, this agreement will allow Verizon to play traffic cop with the content, and deliver it more reliably and faster for those willing to pay more (or less reliably and slower to those who pay less). When companies as large as Google and Verizon collude in this way, it becomes fait accompli across the spectrum. Other companies will follow suit, and because a Bush era court has struck down the FCC’s power to enforce net neutrality, only Congress could pass legislation to ensure fairness. And that doesn’t seem very likely since so many there are in the pockets of their major corporate sponsors.
Imagine if your phone service calling worked better if you paid more, that for a certain price companies would connect you first or without dropping calls. Or that by charging more you could call more numbers instead of dialing anyone you like? How about electricity that comes to your home? How about for a greater fee you could guarantee that when power had to be cut to the system, that yours would not be, or would be cut last? How about police and fire protection? How about, for a fee police and fire services would give you priority over other victims? How about voting? If you paid a greater amount of taxes, you would get more votes or your vote would have more weight, how does that sound?
The internet ushered in a world where everyone is a potential publisher, everyone has a chance to be heard. The idea that at a company’s whim or by what they charge you they can decide who gets to see your content and how fast, is anathema to democratic ideals, poison to the idea of free speech. It puts control of the internet in private hands, where it was never meant to be. The internet is a public resource in the public sphere, and it must remain equal access.
Can’t we all try just a little harder not to be evil?
UPDATE: I hope reports like these contradicting the NYT are correct.
Satori, notes — Stephen on 29 July 2010 @ 10:43 PM — 1 comment
- I have a lot of current clients each with their crazy deadlines, all of them crashing into each other. This makes me edgy in a way I wish it didn’t. It is a feeling of pressure I haven’t felt in a long time, and even though I know I am responsible for feeling it, it pervades my consciousness these days.
- New music is great.
- I just saw the movie Salt. It amazes me that Angelina Jolie is so mesmerizing to watch that she can make me enjoy an empty-headed piece of action crap like this.
- August is filled to the brim with visitors and arrivals.
- I took a lovely walk home tonight (while listening to music about loves lost and found) in the warm summer breeze and thought to myself: It has been a long time since I have had my heart broken. I wouldn’t mind, actually.
Satori, Stephen on 28 July 2010 @ 10:22 PM — 0 comments
…but still happy I went. There is a strange logic to Fire Island that I am figuring out, a kind of alternate universe where the same laws of gayness don’t apply, or apply more than ever, or both. I really like the easy breezy stop-by-for-a-drink everywhere vacation atmosphere, and the his and hellos that people give strangers as they pass them along the path. These are the same people who once back in the city would never behave with such random kindness, but the island has its own etiquette and rules, and people are generally more relaxed there and willing and able to be friendlier. Despite everyone’s obsession with cell phone signal (I’m as guilty as everyone), people really do seem to forget the rest of the world while there, and go after relaxation with some small vengeance. This can take the form of a beach, a bbq, a bar, or a boy, and sometimes more than one of these in the same moment.
Despite the very high humidity, the last two days have been a lot of fun and pretty relaxing. We have spent a fair amount of time on the beach, walking the island, going to tea, drinking and most of all eating. There is something really great about getting to know a new group and cooking and eating together. This has been exactly the kind of break I needed, and everyone here is really great. Some of our party are leaving tomorrow for a more or less normal work week. And three of us will stay til Tuesday and then head back. It started raining heavily about an hour ago after two days of pretty uninterrupted sunshine (right, as luck would have it, as we were on our way to the store), but we have taken it all in stride and are hanging out getting ready with dinner and conversation and lazing about. Just what a vacation should be.
After a couple of trains, a van, a ferry and a walk, we made it to our rental house on Fire Island. The location is great and the house is…rustic. Which is just to say that it is in a bit of disrepair and not as clean as it could be. It is also hotter than hell here and cooling is in short supply. The houseboy/property manager Ryan was a cracked out mess who is clearly falling down on his job a bit. We figure he took the cleaning deposit and decided to buy crystal or ecstasy with it instead. But, I was thinking that this is how groups come to know the island, and over time get better at picking out a place to stay and making sure that it meets all of their expectations. That said, the group of guys seems very nice and we had a fantastic dinner together last night of lasagna, caesar salad and tiramisu (guess who made that). Before that we went to one of the daily tea dances and said hi to our fellow vacationers. Today we will go to the beach and walk around a bit exploring.
…there is fire. A whole island of it in this case. Since I have been killing myself with work the past month, I decided to take a much needed little vacation of a few days on Fire Island. As luck would have it, my friend Barrett was going in with a group of friends on a week share and the price was right so I jumped at it. I am really looking forward to the experience of getting to know a group of guys and hanging out with them for a relaxing few days. I only ever spent one day on Fire Island (last year with Josh), so it will be nice to get more of the full experience. I will leave early tomorrow morning and be back sometime next week. What internet access I have will be a little uncertain, so not sure how much I will be posting. This break couldn’t come at a better time, though. I had my first work-stress dream in years this week, THAT is how much I have been working.
