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Two Quick Thoughts
Mar. 16th, 2011 01:11 pmThought #1
I like John Scalzi. I've met the man twice, and he seems as friendly in person as on his blog. Now I'm sure he has his quirks and bad habits, but one of the things I like about him is that he's realistic. Somebody asked him "If you were born in the dark ages, and couldn’t be a writer, how would you earn a living?" Scalzi's very realistic response was peasant farmer.
This is because, for 90% of human history, 90% of humans were peasant farmers. Apparently Scalzi's last name means "barefoot" which suggests what kind of shoes they could afford. For me, this is also a nail in the coffin of reincarnation, or at least people remembering what they were in a past life. I mean, how many people "recalling" their past lives say "I was a peasant and shoveled shit?" Yet, statistically, that's exactly what you'd expect them to have been.
Thought #2
There's a wonderful map floating about which shows what percentage of Americans per state have passports. With the perhaps obvious exception of Alaska, these percentages correlate strongly with education, ethnic diversity and political leanings. Basically, "blue" America has passports, ethnic diversity and education, and "red" America doesn't.
I like John Scalzi. I've met the man twice, and he seems as friendly in person as on his blog. Now I'm sure he has his quirks and bad habits, but one of the things I like about him is that he's realistic. Somebody asked him "If you were born in the dark ages, and couldn’t be a writer, how would you earn a living?" Scalzi's very realistic response was peasant farmer.
This is because, for 90% of human history, 90% of humans were peasant farmers. Apparently Scalzi's last name means "barefoot" which suggests what kind of shoes they could afford. For me, this is also a nail in the coffin of reincarnation, or at least people remembering what they were in a past life. I mean, how many people "recalling" their past lives say "I was a peasant and shoveled shit?" Yet, statistically, that's exactly what you'd expect them to have been.
Thought #2
There's a wonderful map floating about which shows what percentage of Americans per state have passports. With the perhaps obvious exception of Alaska, these percentages correlate strongly with education, ethnic diversity and political leanings. Basically, "blue" America has passports, ethnic diversity and education, and "red" America doesn't.
