Think of the predominant opinions of past generations. I know that some people do still believe these things, maybe even you do. But they are no longer the predominant beliefs in much of the world, and are fading away in areas where they are still strong.
For example:
The earth is flat
The liver is the center of intelligence
Tomatoes are poisonous
Interracial marriages will create monster babies
Slavery is legitimate
Women are intellectually inferior to men
People in hotter climates are less intelligent
Wealth proves moral uprightness
Life spontaneously generates from non-life
Physical deformities from birth prove immorality in the family’s past
Now think of what the prevailing opinions are in your society now. Do you think they will be around in 90 years? Tell me what opinions and ideas you think will go by the wayside by 2100.
Day 2 of decompression from my vacation. I am still thinking about travel and so am going to continue this week (maybe) in drawing about it.
During our vacations it is a tradition that about half way in we will turn to each other and ask ‘what is your favorite part, so far?’. We will tell what event was the best in our minds, and also what part was the least fun or interesting. This year the whale watching was pretty much the #1 favorite of the first half.
What is funny is that the first 2 1/2 hours of the whale watching trip was easily the worst time of the trip up to that point. It was cold, it was very foggy (no horizon in sight) and it was boring. The people around me were purple lipped from the cold, red faced from the wind, eyes watering from the wind, and bored.
It wasn’t until we had pretty much given up hope and realized we were have to return to the Provincetown without seeing a whale that 2 whales appeared. Then the mood changed. Then the sun broke through just a bit. Then the whales came close. Then the whales breached (jumped) out of the water. Sometimes completely. Then they did it again, very close to the boat. They put on a show like the captain and the naturalist and the crew hadn’t even ever seen. The lady next to us had been on 20 whale watching tours and had never seen one jump, much less the dozen or so we saw. She was wooping it up like she was at a tight baseball game in the 9th inning! The whale watching fiasco of a mere 45 minutes earlier was just a great lead in to the big climactic story of the breaching whales in the glorious setting sun.
What we remember is greater than what we saw. It is the story, the arch of the event, the people, the feeling, the mood and the mood swings, that we add into the event to make it what it is in our mind. I love that about travel.
“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli – 1804 – 1881, British Prime Minister (twice) under Queen Victoria
