The Parable of the Peruvian Condor Killers

Once apon a time, there were Peruvian farmers, sheep and lama husbaners, who were losing baby animals to predation by condors. They got together are hired a man to kill the condors, he was paid very well because sheep and lamas are valuable. There were a lot of farmers and a lot of condors and soon, there were a lot of condor killers. They had families and they spent the money they earned in the local economy and became a large part of the community. After a while they killed all the local condors and had to travel long distances to find more to kill; they even argued for extra pay to buy boats to pay for the increase in cost of doing “business”. The people didn’t want to pay for killing condors way far away but the condor killers said, “You can’t take our jobs away!” The condor killers got lobbyists and sent them to the government… they were also supported by the buggy-whip manufacturers and the incandescent lightbulb lobby…. Coming soon to the USA, sparkplug companies, automobile radiator companies, gas tank makers, antifreeze bottlers, and millions of people who make things needed for a gas powered internal combustion engine. Their jobs are going away… we’re not taking them, they just won’t be needed any more. Change is hard, there are always winners and losers. The losers never go quietly. Very often we continue to do things because we always did them “that way”. Now about those insurance companies and the middlemen in our for-profit health, liability, and property damage system… I guess we can’t take their jobs away… because congress. Oh, and how many lawyers can the economy support? Certainly not 100% of us.

Information from your mind to you hand to the page

The ability to record information, words that outlast the voice, is the most important revolution in the construction of civilization. Stewart, Cohen, and Pratchett* call it “extelligence”. I’m old, I graduated from high school in 1965. In class, I always took all my high school notes with a real fountain pen. I did the same in college and grad school. I even made my own ink when I took chemistry. Over the years, the availability of fountain pens was replaced with cartridge pens (I refilled those cartridge’s too), and then ball point pens. Ball points promote sloppy penman ship. The nib wanders over the page without a feel for grain or direction. Look at 18th century writing, not just official documents, but just everyday writing. It’s often beautiful… And now the debate is, should we teach penmanship? Not to mention should we teach cursive at all. I know that the keyboard will replace the word on the page. The demise of the United States Postal Service at the hands of the Republicans is imminent so keyboards and the internet will be the only way to use text. But I also know that AI voice-to-text will replace the keyboard (it’s already on a smart phone), and from the brain directly to text will replace that. So, we’re losing it, we’ve lost it, and it’s all going away. But studies show that taking notes by hand on paper is a superior learning tool. Try using a fountain pen to write something. It’s an education in the connection of your mind to your hand to the page. Let’s not lose that. The word “pen” comes from feather, a quill, from a goose, a “penknife” is a small knife you keep about you to sharpen your pen’s nib. I personally, feel naked without a penknife in my pocket. * The Science of Discworld is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, and The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day continue their excellent explication of science and the human condition.