Enlightenment

It was nice and warm yesterday--about 75 when I walked to the Market in the morning. Got tomatoes, rice cakes, and a few other things. For lunch, I decided to skip the chicken fajitas for protein in favor of black beans and a hard-boiled egg. I always read while eating and I started the "enlightenment" book.  

Wow, what a find! The author, Stephen Pinker, who teaches at Harvard, starts with the history Enlightenment. Having been educated (or semi-educated) in Catholic schools, I never really knew what it meant and the huge importance it had to human affairs and progress. Pinker writes about what people believed as a general rule, before it was published, such as that a dead murder victim would bleed again if his murderer came near. After the general population simply didn't and all kinds of superstitions and  beliefs were challenged,  Interestingly, the idea of randomness and coincidence was one of its major tenets. It was the opposite of the cliché, "Everything happens for a reason." All this didn't become widely known overnight, of course; it took hundreds of years and not all of it is entirely accepted by some, even now. I'm only on the second chapter of the book and there's much, much, more to come, such as an exploration of humanism, toward which I tend to lean. 

Bused to town after lunch, as I was notified by the library that the DVD Magic was in. Just read the book, so will see the movie. I also bought a long wooden container, which I'll use to store DVDs. 

Called Jim in the evening to tell him about the book and we had a long talk re philosophy. He likes Emmanuel Kant and Hegel best--or maybe "likes" isn't the right word. The fact that he reveres their philosophical ideas is probably more accurate. 

Unfortunately, I again had a problem sleeping. As ever, I fall asleep fine, wake up for the usual, and can't get back. I think I'll take a nap again today.