tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post7915162132009535966..comments2024-03-29T03:19:09.227-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: THE THOUGHT OF SIGMUND FREUD - FIRST POSTRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-8838366847190799292011-05-05T21:36:54.897-04:002011-05-05T21:36:54.897-04:00BTW that etymology of the phrase "short shift...BTW that etymology of the phrase "short shift", as deriving from "shrive", -to confess and grant penance/absolution,- I did not know or suspect. The quick confession granted to a condemned man. It revived in memory a piece of my long-ago, late-adolescent poetastry:<br /><br />"Oh! Shrive me not, crowds of false innocence!/ I'll abide by my heart's own indolence."<br /><br />Hey! At least it's worked. So far. Or maybe not so much. Or maybe not at all.john c. halaszhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674692969448923049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-89698495504570495542011-05-05T13:47:22.912-04:002011-05-05T13:47:22.912-04:00Eels. Slightly OT, if not entirely, but it's m...Eels. Slightly OT, if not entirely, but it's my favorite story about Aristotle the empiricist. Aristotle thought that most species develop from seed, like following from like in accordance with the categorical structure of the cosmos. But there were a few exceptions, the causal origins of which he could only explain through spontaneous generation, among them eels. The actual facts are these: Mediterranean eels don't develop sex organs til shortly before spawning, and after they spawn they die, and they spawn off the coast of Bermuda.john c. halaszhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06674692969448923049noreply@blogger.com