(no subject)
A bunch of people ask me "Hey Phil! You're such a skeptic, so why do you care about Groundhog Day? Is it because the groundhog's name is Punxsutawney Phil?"
Nope. I care because this morning I saw a centuries old tradition in which a groundhog is pulled out of a cage while an old guy who claims to understand the language of groundhogs speaks to it. That tradition was relayed by TV cameras through an editing room and transmitted across the country via the internet.
That, right there, is a barometer for how we've advanced in the last 150 years. It's a holiday for transhumanists everywhere who enjoy watching the march of technology.
Besides, there's something charming to the continuing fairy tale that the groundhog has never been wrong, that it speaks a special language, and that it has any connection to the weather.
Best of all, no one tells you to buy anything to celebrate it. Or indeed to celebrate it at all. That makes it fair game.
Nope. I care because this morning I saw a centuries old tradition in which a groundhog is pulled out of a cage while an old guy who claims to understand the language of groundhogs speaks to it. That tradition was relayed by TV cameras through an editing room and transmitted across the country via the internet.
That, right there, is a barometer for how we've advanced in the last 150 years. It's a holiday for transhumanists everywhere who enjoy watching the march of technology.
Besides, there's something charming to the continuing fairy tale that the groundhog has never been wrong, that it speaks a special language, and that it has any connection to the weather.
Best of all, no one tells you to buy anything to celebrate it. Or indeed to celebrate it at all. That makes it fair game.