Of Cats And Men Part 2

Once again tiny steps forward contrasted with big slides back mark my relationship with the cat who came to dinner, but all in all our relationship has improved.

He got to the point where he would not run away when he saw me, especially if I had his dinner in my hands, but instead would hover quite close. He also was not above loud complaining if I was late with this food. Clearly he had come to have certain expectations for me and expected me to fulfill them dutifully.
As time went on, he would maintain closer and closer proximity as I fed him. I was surprised one night when he actually came forward to sniff my fingers (as cat lovers know that's quite a big step in becoming friends with an animal). A few days later he actually allowed me to scratch his ears.

Of course, then he went right back to refusing to let me touch him and insisting that I had to go in the house and close the door before he would begin to eat.

Two nights ago he really shocked me. He not only let me scratch his ears, he let me pet him for a time. Naturally, all the while I was petting him he was busy complaining because he was afraid to eat until I went, yes, you guessed it, back in the house and closed the door. It's also interesting to note that just a moment, literally one or two seconds before he allowed me to pet him, he was hissing at me because he was so terrified that he was within touching range, but even as he was hissing, he didn't run away and did follow it up by letting me pet him.
I always knew we was conflicted and didn't know wheher to trust me or not, but I've decided now that he is, in fact, a case of multiple personality disorder.

I used to have interesting debates with my best friend (who was also our district Attendance and Child Welfare Officer and a licensed child psychologist) about the existence of multiple personality disorders. It was in the DSM, so he accepted it as real. I pointed out that the vast majority of psychologists and psychiatrists never encounter even a single case whereas one or two encounter many cases. I contended then and I contend now that the whole thing is a delusion imposed by the therapist on his patients. At least it is in humans. Apparently, it's very real in cats.

Sidenote to my daughter Racquell: OK, so I guess it needs a name. Lately other cats have been coming around and taking part in the great free feast of cat food I put out for him. I found I resent it because I'm not paying money I can't really afford to feed cats who have a home. I find myself thinking that they're stealing my cat's food.
So, considering that I know he has a very thick coat from petting him and of course he does in this winter, also because he's the cat who came to dinner (Google the movie The Man Who Came to Dinner and you'll understand the reference), And since the star of the American movie version of the play was named Wolley, for now I'll just call him Wooly. Happy now?

Final note: In case you haven't guessed, since that one time he let me pet him he has again reverted to not coming closer to me than a good yard. Thus proving that the mouse in the Merry Melodies cartoon Scaredy-cat had it right when he declared, "Pussycats is the cwaziest peoples!"

SifFi, Space, And Quantum Entanglement

A recent Facebook conversation.

ME: Bobby. Just finished watching an episode of The Orville for the first time. Apparently its a very popular show. I didn't like it.

It is listed as a comedy, so perhaps it's not surprising that as a drama it's a total failure. The characters display as much depth and rich color as a set of shadow puppets. Since this includes even the characters introduced as dramatic elements only for a single show, it's not simply a lack of character development. It's a lack of character.

As for comedy… I didn't find much. During the entire show I did smile very briefly at one moment. That's it.

As for the program's setting, it would work as a spoof of Star Trek since it's almost entirely an imitation thereof, right down to the color-coded tunics and replicators, but it manifests as nothing but a badly planned rip off.

Ever seen it? I'm curious as to your responses.

C: No and it doesn't sound like something I would want to see.

ME: C, I would say don't waste your time but there are an awful lot of people who think it's wonderful.

BOBBY: Glad to hear your opinion. I suspected a repelling incongruence between Seth MacFarlane's flippant cynnicism and the bright-eyed promise of progress I like to get from the Star Trek universe that I've avoided the show altogether.

ME: You and me both. But I decided I ought to give it a least one look.

BOBBY: Have you checked out Bandersnatch yet?

ME: That I haven't. Dark Mirror was just a bit too dark for me. Well-made shows, you understand, but I found them depressing so I don't generally watch. I'm willing to give Bandersnatch a try. Are you recommending it or just wondering?

ME: I saw the most amazing show on YouTube today. It was a lengthy discussion of quantum physics. The panel was emceed by Brian Green and included none other than Gerard t' Hooft!! I was really shocked to see him sitting there. (He had some really great insights but he did stand firmly in the "hidden variables" school.)
The show was interesting but what absolutely stunned me was when one of the panelists, for the first time I could ever even imagine such a thing, actually exlained his theory of how space itself is generated. I mean it isn't as if I haven't asked, "Where does space come from?" Who hasn't? But I never thought anyone would have an answer!

His explanation isn't one I want to try to dictate out right now, But it is based on the holographic principle as in the concept that three dimensional reality is actually projected by two dimensional Holographic images on the event horizon surrounding our universe.

He made it convincing.

Now if only someone would do the same thing for time.

ME: Hey, did you ever check out The Expanse?

A FEW DAYS LATER:

Found out more about this from an article. The theory does cover not only space, but also time, and even to some extent, gravity. It also has strong applications for black holes because a black hole would be the result of when the whole system just falls apart. Oddly enough the whole theory began with looking into quantum systems and how they self correct with hopes that it could be applied to quantum computing.

True Believers

Re: https://quillette.com/2018/12/27/from-astrology-to-cult-politics-the-many-ways-we-try-and-fail-to-replace-religion/

Humans have certainly used religion as a reason for hatred and extremism, but without religion, Communism turned to fanatic dedication to ideology, as have so many other “isms“. Atheists who like to blame religion for humanity’s problems, somehow seem to forget that the real cause of all of humanity’s suffering very often stems from the simple fact of being human.

> When people turn away from one source of meaning, such as religion, they don’t abandon the search for meaning altogether. They simply look for it in different forms. < > And if you imagine that secular ideologies and political movements now seem to exhibit faux-religious characteristics, you aren’t alone. “We have the cult of Trump on the right, a demigod who, among his worshippers, can do no wrong,” wrote Andrew Sullivan recently in New York magazine. “And we have the cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again Evangelical. They are filling the void that Christianity once owned, without any of the wisdom and culture and restraint that Christianity once provided.”<

Well, the wisdom and culture and restraint that Christianity provided on occasion. I didn’t notice any of those three elements as a significant part of either the Protestant Discipline or the Spanish Inquisition.