Quote:
Originally Posted by michael7733
There were times, now disposed, when the taste of the hunt would arouse the roaring spirit, driving me head-long into the wind sniffing out the treasure that was sure to be my tenacity's prize. Like the sow's passsionate quest to unearth the alluring truffle, my thirst for knowledge was more powerf'ul than the need for sleep and was not thwarted by the hunger-driven stomach. Just another bite of knowledge or a tid bit of understanding before I retired and dreamed of the ultimate find.
My roar has dwindled to a whimper, and my passion's flame would do well to cover the head of a match. How will I again catch the taste of the hunt and be driven by its teasing? I will stoke the ashen embers until they spark to life and fan the flame until it again burns bright. Then I will eat the knowledge that others have gleaned until I salivate for one morsel more. Standing then, I will stretch my sinews back to life and join with others to claim my right to Taste the Hunt until that last puzzle piece is placed.
michael b.
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Sometimes "flowery language" is exactly what's called for and this is one. All of us are on a descending path (at least for now). I ride in full cry in search of the grail for all of us, but for how long I don't know. When I fall silent someone must take my place just as I have stepped in where others have stood. We all have an obligation and a debt of honor to do what we can. There are speechless ghosts who were once warriors, watching from the shadows and who once struggled on our behalf. I fear I will someday join them and hope someone will be there to take my place. All you lurking "newbies" pay attention. Find a way to contribute and do it. Take part here. Write a letter to your local paper. Educate yourself and then dive into the databases and see if you can see something no one has seen. Support those who are doing. Do yourself. Heck, storm the White House gates. Whatever you can contribute, do so.
Now that I got that out of my system, let me end on a more hopeful note. Each of us has different capabilities. Among those are differences in intelligence and education, although as a group we are above the norm there. But those of us with those advantages, especially if we have a scientific/technical bent, have a special obligation and a special opportunity simply because of the era we find ourselves in. Never before has a group like us had the access to the information we have. From our keyboards we can reach into pools of knowledge unimaginable just five years ago.
That gives us a unique opportunity. Scientists are specialists. There is both power and weakness there. It gives one intellectual tunnel vision. The various disciplines seldom talk to one another in a formal way and the individuals are as busy as everyone else. As a result, cross disciplinary collaboration is rare.
We, however, are generalists. There is both power and weakness there, too. With a little effort to educate ourselves, we have the ability to take a big picture approach and use those databases and libraries in a new way. We don't have laboratories and we can only experiment on ourselves. But we CAN look across the disciplines in search of patterns that are only visible from that vantage point.
Give me a hundred such Parkies and I think a cure could be found.
End of rant. For now.
