Where Does The week Go?
- Kara Hughes
- Oct 23, 2020
- 3 min read
It’s been an odd couple of weeks; first with me feeling grotty for most of the time, and then my knee hurting quite a bit it’s been quite hard to get up and get on with things. But at least my reading material has (well I can’t say improved but I’ve done a lot more reading) I read at least three books in the past two weeks – but then I’m a voracious reader anyway, but I can’t say that I’ve actually enjoyed many of them. ‘The Irrational Ape’ is really interesting although I find parts of it quite hard to follow, especially the syllogisms. You know everyone knows a syllogism:
1) All Greek philosophers are dead
2) Jimi Hendrix is dead
3) Therefore Jimi Hendrix is a Greek philosopher
That is what is known as a 'false syllogism' because most sensible people know that although Jimi Hendrix is dead, he was not a Greek philosopher. The syllogism is really interesting although sometimes trying to grasp (or explain them) can leave me feeling like my brain is oozing out of my ears. A good site for explaining syllogisms is:
Some of the science I find particularly confusing, although very interesting. I’m always fascinated by what is known as the Placebo/Nacebo effects, and while the placebo effect can be very useful – even when the person taking the placebo knows it’s a placebo, the effect can be the same because the brain can be ‘fooled’ into believing that the capsules, even though they’re full of something as innocuous as ‘rice powder’ are actually extra powerful painkillers (with no side effects.) Of course they also have the added advantage of costing the NHS pennies.
My favourite book I’ve read to date has to be ‘Longbourn’ which tells the story of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ from the perspective of the servants. So, the reader thinks it’s great that Elizabeth tramps across the fields to Netherfield to look after her sister (getting 5 inches of mud on her skirts) because it shows that Elizabeth is strong, independent, and is as sassy as hell. From the perspective of the servants, however, Elizabeth is a pain in the neck because someone has to scrub the skirts; and clean the mud covered boots. It’s really interesting when you realise just how difficult life was for the servants, and how difficult people could make it for the servants. The author also posits the idea that Mr Bennett may have fathered a child out of wedlock with Mrs Hill. A lot of readers take umbrage with this because they say that Mr Bennett could not/would not do such a thing. But we forget, the reader sees Mr Bennett as he is now an older man with four daughters, not as he was in his youth. Certainly we know that he is indolent, that he takes the path of least resistance, he retreats rather than confronts, hence the reason he allows Lydia to go to Brighton even though Elizabeth specifically counsels against it, even begging him not to allow Lydia to go. But Mr Bennett is not necessarily a good father; the attitude of the servants towards Mr Collins is interesting as well, the reader sees Mr Collins as officious, slimy and annoying. However the servants see him as reasonable, thoughtful and if not caring (few people cared about their servants’feelings) at least complimentary about what the servants did for him – we forget that the servants’ livelihood depended on who would inherit the house – and it was in their best interests to keep him happy. I’ve read a few Pride& Prejudice variations this one was so good that I actually read it all in one go.Hopefully, things will improve next week, or at least they won't get any worse. I can't spend my entire life in bed.....
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