Why aren't the trees waving?

Isn't science a bit of a buzz kill, really? I mean, yeah, it's incredibly fascinating and the search to 'prove' everything is an adrenal whirlpool, but it kinda takes the fun out of things. For Example...


...It's at this point that I admit to having little/no knowledge of the Native American Indians. Although, I did get the highest marks in my school year for a history report on Sioux and North American Indians, my memory has long since faded like Basil Brush's popularity or Michael Jackson's good looks. But, I think I'm right in saying that they believed the wind to be a spirit or a God or something like that. I know that many religions had Gods of Wind, so if my American Indian example has confused you, think of Aeolus, the God of Wind in Greek Mythology, with whom we all are familiar (*shifty eyes*). All of these people have believed that a spirit or higher being of some form has controlled wind or thought of them as physically being the wind. How amazing would that be? To have spirits brushing past your face everyday. And to have people say, instead of, 'Ohh, it's windy out today!', they could be saying, (while raising some form of bejewelled staff to the air) 'Ohh wind Gods, thy will be done, I beseech thee, lay thyne glorious request upon the human bosom and we shall carry out your wants'. How amazing would that be?

It would also be a lot more fun, when a child asks the question 'What's wind?', to turn to them, with menace in your eye and say 'CHILD, do not speak of the wind, for you shall displease the Gods and spirits and they shall take your toys and blow them away, ne'er to be seen again, little one'. I'm trying ne'er out as a word. Let me know what you think.

But science has taken this child-scarring ability away from us, by telling us that it's just the boring movement of boring particles and the trees aren't really waving at you. Boo to science I say. Although not too big of a boo so they hear and cancel Science for all of us. More of a small, squeeky boo.

'Cos Science is Cool. ;). *thumbs up*

But wouldn't it be good to live with notion that spirits surround us. I think it would, dear reader...

...I think it would. :)

Ok, so we know what we know...

I'm a little new to this so forgive the prattling and obvious smelling mistookes.



I tried, when writing this, to avoid the patronising Cbeebies opening of 'Today, I've been thinking about Cannabis' or some such nonsense. Note the use of the word tried...



Today, I've been thinking about impressions. Impressions are weird. There is nothing in rational thought that can explain some of the impressions we get upon meeting somebody. And why is everyone always so quick to say 'Ohhh don't knock it till you've tried it', or 'Your instincts aren't always right'? For example...


A drooling twit of a 'human being', who uses a ten pound note to buy a newspaper and says "Keep da change" will almost certainly, in a shared, pre-existing schema, be judged to be a boundering fumble-bum (I'm not entirely sure that that's a word) who is more likely to give you the classic 'Duh?' look, when you mention existence, rather than spout off a little-known Poe-esque quote or make your brain bleed with confounding theories about wibbley-wobbley membranes surrounding the universe, projecting all existence as we know it into the world.


Now admittedly, there are a few flaws to the analysis of our fellow playing the role of 'Drooling Twit #1'. When they buy the newspaper (if our analysis proves to be valid, the newspaper in question has to be 'The Sun') and they allow the humble shopkeeper to keep the £9.68, or however much it is, they may have just had a Spartan attack of conscience and felt the need to give charitably to the shop. In which case I will gladly accept my null hypothesis on these matters and say 'Oh well, old boy, I am sorry for judging you'.



The point I am trying to make, albeit adrift in a mass of back-tracking and grammatical faux-pas (which I have yet to find), is that most of the time, our instinctive first impressions are right! Correct! Bonefide! Spot-on! On Target! Si Senor (with the little squiggle over the 'n'...I told you I was new to this)! Whatever you want to call it, they are it. It's evolutionary! We have adapted with the ability to make snap-shot judgements about others, so that we can tell if they be friend or foe. It makes sense. It's just about the only thing that does in this essay of a boring ramble, but that is besides the point. Most of our judgements are right, as harsh or pleasant as they may be.

Having said this there are 'a few provisos, a couple of quid-pro-quos'. (Disney's Aladdin, 1992; I'm so cool). I don't always trust my judgements as they can be wrong. The snake's strike doesn't always catch the mouse. The dart doesn't always hit the triple 20. The shaky hand of the alcoholic does not always deliver the sweet nectar to his foamy and spittle-soaked lips. Things go wrong. You may judge someone to be a really very pleasant person who's sunny disposition lights your way down a dark and lonely corridor (fetch a bucket). But but but but, they may turn out to be a vile 1920's silent movie villain with a hidden, pencil-thin moustache, a black cape with a red velvet lining and a fetish for tying helpless and pathetic women to a train track. Things can go wrong.

So, overall, I say, if you take anything from this asinine dribble, let it be this: don't be too hasty to dismiss your instincts. After all, they're there to do the job they do. A recent venture that happened in December 2009 was one in which I followed my instincts. That worked out superlatively perfectly... (:

Thankyou anyone who reads this, it's my first. Any comments and criticisms would be welcome. I have proof read it, hopefully there's no spooling mistales.