Comments on A wayfarer’s notes: Lucky

Paul, it's funny how I was writing about self-help...

2008-07-15T08:36:00.000+01:00

Paul, it's funny how I was writing about self-help books in the last couple of posts, while your wonderful book - which can certainly be classed in the self-help genre - was on its way to me in the mail.

I want to write about it now, indeed got up at 4.30 am with that purpose though I've only reached page 30. I was expecting to argue with it, find fault. But dazzled with its quality -

but BBC aren't you glad to be affected by the weat...

2008-07-15T08:16:00.000+01:00

but BBC aren't you glad to be affected by the weather? I look back incredulously at the years I spent in warm well-lit offices, especially when I used to travel to London by warm well-lit train and Tube, hardly touched by the benign or angry moods of nature. better to have to battle the seasons.

Hayden, I am not so different from you in followin...

2008-07-15T08:12:00.000+01:00

Hayden, I am not so different from you in following an intuitive flow or rhythm in the construction of sentences. My observation properly belongs to the editing. For example if I want to add a sentence between two others, it may upset the interlocking of subjects, objects and the referencing of pronouns. So to get that sentence in, a lot of tweaking is required.

Such work is so detailed

Absolutely - about luck. Sellers of self help book...

2008-07-15T04:49:00.000+01:00

Absolutely - about luck. Sellers of self help books often grossly downplay or entirely overlook that one, the idea being, "if you buy my book, your success is guaranteed."

B.s....

In the US, downplaying luck is part of the myth that we're running a meritocracy over here.

And I think that for many people, the idea that so long as they (fill in the blank - work hard, stay

It finely stopped raining here and I'm thankful fo...

2008-07-15T03:51:00.000+01:00

It finely stopped raining here and I'm thankful for that, I was getting so tired of it.

"I like to construct sentences as though they are ...

2008-07-15T01:38:00.000+01:00

"I like to construct sentences as though they are intricate little mechanisms which mesh into other sentences which mesh into paragraphs and so on."

amazing! I would never think to use writing/language that way! I tend to follow an intuitive flow or rhythm..

Hayden, I am sure you are right, and that brains a...

2008-07-14T08:30:00.000+01:00

Hayden, I am sure you are right, and that brains are wired differently.

You refer to "right-brain". I can never remember which is supposed to be which and on reading Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio, which is full of analysis as to which parts of the brain are responsible for what, hemisphere lateralization is rarely referred to. So I checked up on Wikipedia and it confirms the

No, you are right Scot, and it's true that much of...

2008-07-14T08:14:00.000+01:00

No, you are right Scot, and it's true that much of what we consider luck can be accounted for quite rationally. I'm as guilty as anyone in seizing on things as evidence of something uncanny.

Thanks for this Jim. I think you have aligned luck...

2008-07-14T08:10:00.000+01:00

Thanks for this Jim. I think you have aligned luck with prophecy, as I should have done if looking at the matter more comprehensively.

Siegfried thanks for the information re geluk. It ...

2008-07-14T08:08:00.000+01:00

Siegfried thanks for the information re geluk. It gives me a lot to think about. In English we have older uses of "happy" which are closer to "luck". "Happy coincidences" for example. We also have the word "haply" which means "by chance" or "by accident". (as well as mishap, happening referring to chance .) I am no philologist but the word luck is not so deeply embedded in the English

this reminds me how differently people learn and e...

2008-07-13T18:53:00.000+01:00

this reminds me how differently people learn and even think. My mind is typically absent images, and heaven forbid a schematic showed up - my right brain would have a seizure! Perhaps this is why I belabor my efforts to visualize my new shelter - because its difficult for me to see space relationally.

I devour "how to" books - and often enough their words show up in my brain to guide

pretty lucky--no I'd say it was designed. If you ...

2008-07-13T17:16:00.000+01:00

pretty lucky--no I'd say it was designed. If you had titled it spammers or self-help books instead of lucky--it would not have come up. So it is what you make it--don't you think?

A quick comment, after reading the reference from ...

2008-07-13T03:10:00.000+01:00

A quick comment, after reading the reference from the poor Gage situation, but allied to this post even as my memory plays among the latest three.

You Vincent, ARE a primer, essence is in the action, not in the thing, but Vincent, that does not mean physical action, as in body separate from mind, but in words that clothe the body. And 'luck' to me is simply recognizing future, the '

Be lucky. Or be happy.

2008-07-11T17:39:00.000+01:00

Be lucky. Or be happy.

The Dutch word for happiness is "geluk". Which als...

2008-07-11T17:37:00.000+01:00

The Dutch word for happiness is "geluk". Which also means luck. Gelukkig means happy.
Gelukt means "it is made or done". It was possible.

Glorifying self-help books: yes they fascinate me ...

2008-07-11T15:37:00.000+01:00

Glorifying self-help books: yes they fascinate me in a rather negative way. It might be a good idea to ignore them I suppose.

you are obsessed with self help books. in fact, in...

2008-07-11T15:01:00.000+01:00

you are obsessed with self help books. in fact, in the process of criticising them, you are glorifying them. 'you can love them or hate them,but you cannot ignore them' sort of.

btw, i am amazed with your talent. the same hand that can hold the spanner and fix things can hold a pen and do magic. great vincent.

So Rob, to find luck one should use pluck, and plu...

2008-07-11T08:04:00.000+01:00

So Rob, to find luck one should use pluck, and pluck the winning balls from life's lottery, each day. As you seem to have done lately.

Wayfarer scientista, thanks for your visit. Which ...

2008-07-11T06:29:00.000+01:00

Wayfarer scientista, thanks for your visit. Which of your posts did I comment on? I couldn't find it again.

Goatman, yes indeed. I should buy a socket set myself but am using neighbours' at present. So many baffling things in the Universe, I love it.

Davo, it is a long time since I heard of a thou. Did you ever use a slide rule? You don't see them these days, either, or hear

The lucky are usually also plucky.

2008-07-10T23:54:00.000+01:00

The lucky are usually also plucky.

Certainly buggered up some literary imagery .. can...

2008-07-10T19:31:00.000+01:00

Certainly buggered up some literary imagery .. can you really imagine the hero or heroine "millimetering their way toward freedom"?

Strange tools, spanners. When i was growing up in ...

2008-07-10T19:23:00.000+01:00

Strange tools, spanners. When i was growing up in the world of measurement, the language was all in "thou" (of an inch). Then we "embraced" a "universal" measurement of tenths. Go figure.

Its always the missing socket that you need.Why do...

2008-07-10T19:19:00.000+01:00

Its always the missing socket that you need.
Why do the metric-sized sockets' set always skip every other number?
Tis a baffler.

hello there! I finally have have a stable enough i...

2008-07-10T16:52:00.000+01:00

hello there! I finally have have a stable enough internet connection to come visit and thank you for your comments on my bird-friendly post! Nice to meet you - I'll be back.