Asimov

A friend Mario is re-reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series published in 1951. He suggests it as the perfect read for these times as it's about societal disintegration with hints of possible renewal. Mario noted that Asimov and I are in agreement in one particular passage.

"The hands?

But why not the hands? Trevize found himself floating away, almost drowsy, but with no loss of mental acuity. Why not the hands? 

"The eyes were no more than sense organs. The brain was no more than a central switchboard, encased in bone and removed from the working surface of the body. It was the hands that were the working surface, the hands that felt and manipulated the Universe. Human beings thought with their hands. It was their hands that were the answer of curiosity that felt and pinched and turned and lifted and hefted. 

"There were animals that had brains of respectable size, but they had no hands and that made all the difference. And as he and the computer held hands, their thinking merged and it no longer mattered whether his eyes were open or closed. Opening them did not improve his vision nor did closing them dim it. Either way he saw the room with complete clarity."

And so, here we are. Police forces are challenged over their inappropriate use of force. They respond through inappropriate escalation of force, proving the demonstrators right. In the meantime, we are experiencing a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in Northwest Arkansas. And we have a national election that will determine whether or not our nation attempts to hold true to the ideals of justice and democracy. 

Tomorrow I have a zoom based class at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. It may seem trivial to some that we would have a class on design. But design is at the core of renewal. Some of what we learn through designing and building a box or any other lovely useful thing applies also to what we build as a new foundation for a society in which we have love for each other. There are still a few vacancies in this class https://essa-art.org/workshops/wood/online-principles-of-3-dimensional-design/

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.