Blog #151--Interesting Tidbits Not Included in Book, Part 7

This blog is part of a continuing series of brief subject matter not included in my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life.”

Tidbit #1: My mother gave me an automatic watch for my college graduation in 1969. Arm movement helps keep the watch wound, and I’ve grown accustomed to wearing it over the years. Plus, there is a sentimental attachment.

When I dropped it on a linoleum floor one day, it stopped running. There are all sorts of alternative ways of determining time of day, including cell phones and a wide variety of electrical devices. And retirees like myself have much less need for a precise time. Still, I wanted the watch to work again.

I found a jeweler who still did watch repair (a dying breed), but his estimate of $150-$200 for cleaning and repair was truly exorbitant. I chose not to have it repaired. When I went to pick up the watch, it was working. Seven months later, it is still running. I realize its remaining life is short and may stop for good any day. But I consider the entire episode a case of good luck. I imagine the jeweler wasn’t too happy about it working either. Basically, I got the repair work for free. The main lesson I take from this episode is that good things can happen for us when we least expect them.

Tidbit #2: Reports out of Thousand Oaks, California, tell the sad tale of massive die-offs of bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and other predatory animals and birds. It appears the town’s recent decision to eradicate rat populations led to an unanticipated chain reaction. The poisons used to kill rats also kill these other species.

Ironically, the predators mentioned are the ones that keep rat populations in check. Killing the predators was not the town’s intent, but there is no way it can use poisons on rats without those same poisons being toxic to other species including humans. I hope it doesn’t take the death of a child before the town stops its rat war. This is another example of how humans trying to control Nature do as much harm as good. Nature should be trusted to do the balancing; humans make things worse when they feel they can eradicate one species without causing other unforeseen problems.

Tidbit #3: I once participated in a chain letter while in college. It was said to be legal since the money sent to the first person on the list did not accompany the letter. And I was one of the first people on my campus to hear about it since a friend had obtained it from someone 50 miles away. My roommate purchased both of the letters I was supposed to sell, making my decision to participate an easy one.

I didn’t really expect anyone to send me $5.00 through the mail, but 13 did. I even heard from someone in one of my classes who told me he had sent me a check. I was one of the lucky ones, in part because so many people who participated in the letter thought they could cheat the system by putting their names at the top of a list of 10. That meant only two people could possibly send them money, but they weren’t patient enough to wait until their name reached the top of the list through multiple letter sales.

This is another example of how our efforts to control things backfires. If everyone had cooperated as requested, it might have been profitable for a number of people. But there are always a few who think they can beat the system and must learn the hard way how difficult a task that really is.

Tidbit #4: According to Veronica Vecellio of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, two juvenile gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park learned how to dismantle snares set to poach gorillas. After another young gorilla was killed in this fashion, the two teamed up to figure out how to tear apart a snare without harming themselves. Analytical thought was likely required.

Researchers hadn’t seen this behavior before, but they will undoubtedly see it again. Other gorillas in their family will learn to do it also, and word will eventually spread to other gorilla families. This is how all species, including humans, learn to do things. A bit of inspiration that works for one or a select few will be copied by others.

This is also how one family of killer whales has learned to catch baby seals. One inventive and daring whale learned to rush the shore and then squirm back into the ocean. Now the whole family does it. And it is how humans learned to start and control fires.

Tidbit #5: One chapter of my book discusses the possibility this world is an illusion. It may seem real to us, but no two people see the world in the exact same way. I provided a number of situations that make us doubt this world is as real as we perceive it. The following is another example.

Each atom that makes up the universe and all humans is mostly empty space. Just like looking at outer space, looking inside an atom shows minute particles swirling within a vast ocean of emptiness. So why do we perceive ourselves as bodies residing within a material world of solid objects? Why don’t we see ourselves as mostly empty space also? More than likely, a combination of spiraling energy that surrounds and interpenetrates us, along with our tendency to see only blips of things at a time rather than continuous motion, gives us the false impression that objects are composed of solid mass rather than empty space.

When we see a wall, we believe we can’t walk through it because it is solid and won’t permit it without tearing a hole in the wall. But if we perceive ourselves and the wall as mostly empty space, perhaps walking through walls would be possible. I haven’t learned to perform this feat, but I do believe it is possible and not a “miracle.”

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