Apathy or Contentment

[Bill Spight]

Hi Bill

wake up in the middle of the night, do things for a couple of hours, and then go back to sleep.

Don't some cultures today also take naps during the day between working hours ?

Yeah, well in the Middle Ages people referred to the second sleep. It could last four or more hours.

BTW, in some accounts the Holy Grail is a stone. Which sounds funny, unless you know that some people have worshipped meteorites. I was reading in SPQR how the Romans welcomed an image of Cybele, the Great Mother goddess, into Rome from afar, only to be surprised and confused, if not shocked and dismayed, to find out that it was not some beautifully wrought statue, but a meteorite.

[EdLee]

Hi Bill,

some people have worshipped meteorites.

As they should! Extraterrestrial and all!

Off off-topic: I speak zero Latin,
do you know if sapiens starts off with \sei\ セイ (is that the English pronunciation of sapiens ? ) or \sah\ サ as the \a\ in tabula rasa ?

[John Fairbairn]

Years later I learned that it was common for people two have two episodes of sleep during the Middle Ages,

It extended well beyond that in England. Charles Dickens refers to a "first sleep" in Barnaby Rudge (my favourite Dickens novel). But it must have been widespread in Europe because most of the major cities were lit at night by the end of the 17th century, and it seems that people took advantage of this to enjoy nocturnal activities between sleeps. Maybe it was different in America - home on the range and all that - but an American historian called Ekirch (?) wrote the definitive book about the history. I haven't read it - just a review of it, but I gather it was an impressive work and I seem to recall there were (?are) tribes who practise(d) it, so it wasn't just an urban thing.

I believe there is also now a school of scientific thought that two separate sleeps are good for you.

[Tryss]

Hi Bill,

Off off-topic: I speak zero Latin,
do you know if sapiens starts off with \sei\ セイ (is that the English pronunciation of sapiens ? ) or \sah\ サ as the \a\ in tabula rasa ?

I'm pretty sure it's /ˈsa.pi.ens/, [ˈsa.pi.ẽːs]

[Bill Spight]

Hi Bill,

some people have worshipped meteorites.

As they should! Extraterrestrial and all!

Off off-topic: I speak zero Latin,
do you know if sapiens starts off with \sei\ セイ (is that the English pronunciation of sapiens ? ) or \sah\ サ as the \a\ in tabula rasa ?

I'm afraid that sapiens in homo sapiens has been thoroughly Anglicized, so it is pronounced with a long a. Judging from our current politics, sappiens might be better.

[Kirby]

More on the adventure thing, Ray Dalio (of Bridgewater) write in his book on principles that he preferred the high risk life: he'd prefer high risk and losing it all than going through a mundane life without risk. He argued something similar- that at least it'd be an interesting story. From a financial perspective, I can see where he's coming from.

I suppose I can sympathize.

On the other hand, from family experience with the whole chemotherapy thing... The experience is an "adventure" and gives me a story to talk about... But I think I prefer the mundane life in this case.

Maybe adventure is worth having if it offers chance of a better life? Not sure.

[Kirby]

Btw, this thread is taking a different direction than I expected. My concern with contentment wasn't so much about missing out on an adventure.

I fear more about missing out on self-improvement - or opportunities to learn and become new things. Since I'm somewhat satisfied, I fear improvements will stop. On the other hand, being unsatisfied may lead to less happiness.

Maybe there's a balance to be found between satisfaction for present contentment and dissatisfaction for the future to become better.

[Bill Spight]

More on the adventure thing, Ray Dalio (of Bridgewater) write in his book on principles that he preferred the high risk life: he'd prefer high risk and losing it all than going through a mundane life without risk.

Not that humans are genetically determined, but there are people (particularly men) with a genetic disposition towards risk taking. Perhaps Dalio is one of those. In terms of group survival, most people are risk averse, so having a certain percentage of risk seekers in the group is probably a good thing.

He argued something similar- that at least it'd be an interesting story. From a financial perspective, I can see where he's coming from.

Financially, I think that the stats are against him. In general taking on a moderate degree of financial risk pays off. As a cautionary tale, consider LTCM, which miscalculated their degree of risk, despite their expertise.

Edit: People who get great returns tend to be those who take great risks. But it does not work the other way around. Those who take great risks tend to crash. Beware of selection bias.

[Bill Spight]

Maybe there's a balance to be found between satisfaction for present contentment and dissatisfaction for the future to become better.

I have confidence that you will find a good balance for yourself.

I fear more about missing out on self-improvement - or opportunities to learn and become new things. Since I'm somewhat satisfied, I fear improvements will stop. On the other hand, being unsatisfied may lead to less happiness.

Consider children. Does their happiness or contentment hinder their learning?

[EdLee]

Hi Tryss,

pretty sure it's /ˈsa.pi.ens/

Thanks.

Do you agree with Bill that:

Original Latin pronunciation: サピエンス

Current Anglicized pronunciation: セイピエンス ?

[Bill Spight]

Hi Tryss,

pretty sure it's /ˈsa.pi.ens/

Thanks.

Do you agree with Bill that:

Original Latin pronunciation: サピエンス
Current Anglicized pronunciation: セイピエンス ?

Make that セイピエンズ

[EdLee]

Hi Bill,

Thanks.
I was trying to reconcile the difference between サピエンス and \sei.pi.enz\

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[Kirby]

EdLee, the book katakana is correct.

In Japanese, they typically produce katakana independently of the native language pronunciation - it's all about the spelling. And the spelling here is clear: sa-pi-en-s

So based on the spelling, the book title is correct, regardless of how the word should be pronounced.

If pronunciation were ever a concern, マクドナルド would never be a word :-p

Another good example is ウイルス. That's "virus", though I'd never guess it from pronunciation. But breaking down the spelling, it's vi-ru-s, so I guess you can infer the origin.

Note, there may be exceptions. But many times, you're in for trouble if you're counting on katakana being close in pronunciation to a foreign word.

[Bill Spight]

When I was living in Tokyo, a lot of Japanese liked to throw in strangely pronounced English terms, which usually confused me. Using romaji, one was hasto rabu.

First love

Another one, which caused a waitress a lot of frustration — Didn't I understand plain English? — was koohii zeri. Koohii I got, coffee. But zeri?

Coffee jelly

[Joaz Banbeck]

Why are you guys putting comments in hide tags?

Repeatedly clicking the 'show' icon is making me depressed.