For some reason lying in bed this morning I called to mind a piece of wisdom that went something like
Act as if your every action is significant to the world, and laugh at yourself for such grandiosity
.Just thinking about it cheered me up. And paradox is on my mind this morning.
A paradox is not a contradiction. Paradoxes are engaging, and challenge our tendency to think of things as either/or. Quite a lot of trouble is caused by getting into either or, as in “She loves me, she loves me not” “If you loved me, you would (or wouldn’t) do X”
But apparently light is both particle and wave, even though it can’t be. And Schrodinger’s Cat is both dead and alive.
Now Paul Goodison links me to Piers Young blogging
There’s an interesting article in the New Scientist concerning research on newness and novelty. We now know fear of new things shortens life, in animals at least, thanks mainly to the stress it generates.
But …
“The researchers also found that both traits [fear of novelty and curiosity] were roughly as common in the population. That suggests that sustaining both behaviours actually benefits a species.”
i.e. running away is sometimes good.
So fear of the new, and openness to it are both good, sometimes…
As the great Harry Hill is fond of saying, “I don’t make the rules”
