Remembering History

[mindyislive]

I am playing so many sad songs from even sadder records. Did you know that Death Cab for Cutie has a song, "Coney Island?" Well they do, they do and its just mediocre. The same, nothing was open at Coney Island, yet I was still happy. I definitely think this is a poem. I think it was called, "A Coney Island of the Mind," something something. Maybe

Comments

Larry Levine, warbles

[mattatat]

Speaking of being noticed, I had no idea who that guy was, until I read about him on your page here. But he does write eloquently and, I think, what adds to it is the truth in what he's getting at in your quote above. It seems perfectly clear that most "social science" (and especially mixed with humanities like AmCiv or history) is not even a little rigorous and tend to get mired in the difficulty of the subject. But on the other hand you have stuff like his basic point, there are perceptions out there that are just wrong (a majority of them, I think), and they influence the decisions people make about how to deal with each other, politics, and on and on. As tough as it is to study something you can barely define, it's worth doing.

Like today people will brandish slogans like "never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" or talk about how masses can do horrible things and that some survey said the "average joe" can't tell you what the bill of rights is. And in the same breath they'll tell you how important democracy is. And it's more likely they don't really know (of course neither do I) what's going on in either (since the two are tied at the hip), and somebody's gotta do the impossible work of trying to sort it out. And it can't be done all in one bite, and the same holds for countless issues.

And if all that wasn't enough to make me jealous of your present career path, you have the added hope of creativity. It's hard to find a job where you can really claim to make much of a "difference" as compared to the person you bumped out for entrance to medical school, or the guy whose application for public defender you narrowly beat out. But in something like this, where you're after something that's not today understood, you might be able to really get at something different or new, in a way only your perspective could have gotten at.

So that's my thoughts on Larry Levine, as for your warble triumph, congratulations. That's a big deal, and I think you're right to be glad about it. As usual you're self-confidence has you doubting that your advisors like you, and anything that boosts your self esteem about that is good. But the real boost is pushing through the speaking nerves. Hopefully in 10 years you'll think back to how you used to get nervous about public speaking as a distant memory.