A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH

A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH by Anna Julia Cooper (Oxford U. Press, UK: 1892, 1988), p.60-62 W4RmyvQo/UzgQ8Rnzg7I/AAAAAAAAEAg/nbehpHAlEtg/s320/anna+julia+cooper.jpg" /> “All I claim is that there is a feminine as well as a masculine side to truth; that these are related not as inferior and superior, not as better and worse, not as weaker and stronger, but as complements—complements in one necessary and symmetric whole. That as the man is more noble in reason, so the woman is more quick in sympathy. That as he is indefatigable in pursuit of abstract truth, so is she in caring for the interests by the way—striving lovingly and tenderly that not one of the least of these ‘little ones’ should perish. That while we not unfrequently see women who reason, we say, with the coolness and precision of a man, and men as considerate of helplessness as a woman, still there is a general consensus of mankind that the one trait is essentially masculine and the other as peculiarly feminine. That both are needed to work into the training of children, in order that our boys may supplement their virility by tenderness and sensibility, and our girls may round out their gentleness by strength and self-reliance. That, as both are alike necessary in giving symmetry to the individual, so a nation or a race will degenerate into mere emotionalism, on the one hand, or bullyism, on the other hand, if dominated by either exclusively; lastly, and most emphatically, that the feminine factor can have its proper effect only through woman’s development and education so that she may fitly and intelligently stamp her force on the forces of her day, and add her modicum to the riches of the world’s thought. “For woman’s cause is man’s: they rise or sink Together, dwarfed or godlike, bond or free: For she that out of Lethe scales with man The shining steps of nature, shares with man His nights, his days, moves with him to one goal. If she be small, slight-natured, miserable, How shall men grow? Let her make herself her own To give or keep, to live and learn and be All that not harms distinctive womanhood. For woman is not undeveloped man But diverse: could we make her as the man Sweet love were slain: his dearest bond is this Not like to like, but like in difference. Yet in the long years, liker must they grow; The man be more of woman, she of man; He gain in sweetness and in moral height, Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care, Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind; Till at the last she set herself to man, Like perfect music unto noble words.”

recognize

SELF-DETERMINATION

A number of Face Book posts imply that mankind's life and destiny are extensions of its thoughts and prayers. They improperly suggest that the power of self-determination is personally possessed by all mankind. Yet, unless one has created one's self, one did not solely nor self-determine one's existence. Thus, neither can one solely determine the nature of one's existence. Rather, the nature of one's existence is determined by many factors, some unique to that person; others beyond that person's power, thought, prayers or comprehesion. Only God is self-created or determined.

tone of voice

feelings are perceptions which sense what is unsaid...

UNLOCK THE DOOR

WHEN ONE OF MY YOUNGER BROTHERS WAS 3 OR 4 YEARS OLD, HE ACCIDENTALLY LOCKED HIMSELF INSIDE THE BATHROOM. UNABLE TO GET OUT, HE STARTED HOLLERING. WE ALL RUSHED TO THE DOOR TO SEE WHAT WAS WRONG. HIS LOUD DISTRESS CRIES DROWNED OUT OUR VOICES. FINALLY, WHEN HE QUIETED DOWN, MAMA ASKED: "HAROLD, WHERE ARE YOUR HANDS?" HE REPLIED: "IN MY POCKETS." MAMA THEN SAID, "TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS, BABY, AND UNLOCK THE DOOR." HE DID AND THEN OPENED THE DOOR. THE MORAL FOR THIS MORNING IS THIS: WHEN YOU BELIEVE YOU THAT YOU ARE LOCKED INTO A BOX, STOP HOLLERING, SO YOU CAN HEAR DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS; TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT YOUR POCKETS, AND UNLOCK THE DOOR. AMEN.

mental calisthenics

MENTAL CALISTHENICS: Both knowledge and belief are illusions. The wisest of men concede that they know nothing. The moron believes anything. The more we know; the less we know that we know. They--knowledge and belief--occupy the same consciousness, same brain, same place, same plane, in any person.

the golden ratio....excerpt

THE GOLDEN RATIO: The Story of Phi, The World's Most Astonishing Number, by Mario Livio, (Broadway Books, New York: 2002), p.87-88 “The last great Greek geometer who contributed theorems related to the Golden Ratio was Pappus of Alexandria. In his “Collection (Synagogue;” ca. A.D. 340), Pappus gives a new method for the construction of the dodecahedron and the icosahedron as well as comparisons of the volumes of Platonic solids, all of which involve the Golden Ratio. Pappus' commentary on Euclid's theory of irrational numbers traces beautifully the historical development of irrationals and is extant in Arabic translations. However, his heroic efforts to arrest the general decay of mathematics and geometry in particular were unsuccessful, and after his death, with all the overall withering of intellectual curiosity in the West, interest in the Golden Ratio entered a long period of hibernation. The great Alexandrian library was destroyed by a series of attacks, first by the Romans and then by Christians and Muslims. Even Plato's Academy came to an end in 529 A.D., when the Byzantine emperor Justinian ordered the closing of all the Greek schools. During the depressing Dark Ages that followed, the French historian and bishop Gregory of Tours (538-594) lamented that the 'study of letters is dead in our midst.' In fact, the whole enterprise of science was essentially transferred in its entirety to India and the Arab world. A significant event of this period was the introduction of the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals and of decimal notation. The most important Hindu mathematician of the sixth century was Aryabhara (476-ca. 550). In his best-known book, entitled Aryabhatiya, we find the phrase 'from place to place eac is ten times the preceding,' which indicates an application of a place value system. An Indian plate from 595 already contains writing (of a date) in Hindu numerals using decimal place notation, implying that such numerals has been in use for a long time. The first sign (albeit with no real influence) of Hindu numeral moving west can be found in the writings of the Nestorian bishop Severus Sebokht, who lived in Keneshra on the Euphrates River. He wrote in 662: 'I will omit all the discussion of the science of the Indians... and of their valuable methods of calculation which surpass description. I wish only to say that this computation is done by means of nine signs.' “With the ascendancy of Islam, the Muslim world became an important center for mathematical study. Had it not been for the intellectual surge in Islam during the eighth century, most of the ancient mathematics would have been lost. In particular, Caliph al-Mamun (786-833) established in Baghdad the Beit al-hikma (House of wisdom), which operated in a similar fashion to the famous Alexandrian university or 'Museum.' Indeed, the Abbasid empire subsumed any Alexandrian learning that had survived. According to tradition, after having a dream in which Aristotle appeared, the caliph decided to have all the ancient Greek works translated.”