Why is it cold in Duluth / Recollections

 Very glad to have some interlude full of mostly uninterrupted and mindless or witless banter: Pedestrian - to a.i. car:  So, hi, I couldn't help but notice what an upscale , higher end, vehicle you do appear to be  a.i. to ped: Well, thank you for noticing that, and although looks can be deceiving , you are definitely correct about that upper scale. Ped to a.i.  Well, I do hate to get personal, but, are you a local or from out of town? a.i. to ped: I make no pretenses, my owner, who, by the way, I think the world of only drives a few miles a day, and generally not every day, so I am about as local as you can get.  Say, you seem to have something on your mind?   Ped to a.i Well, just look, maybe I am here and you are here and you might give me just a -- spin -- around the block or something?  Just take a minute ... Ai. to ped:  ( loud laughing , honking noise ) okay jokester, that is a good one. but number one, you is a ped, peds and owners n...

 Well, firstly it does seem easier to look back, of course there is -- Don't Look Back -- , but I guess that is another story.  So, looking forward, big event is Labor Day, which is of course a pivot for -- the beginning of  school, but you should not be frightened yet, really, because of course, there is Halloween, which if pretty hard to avoid, and hardly anyone wants to, anyway.  But immediately , following that, is of course Thanksgiving, which always seems to happen after Halloween, which is a good thing, and provides professional football players extra time to get it together for Thanksgiving, which you had better be giving some thanks, and leftovers, 'til almost Christmas, which we can not do without, least we be haunted by spirits of long past Legionnaires, who need something going on for Solstice.  And then last but most likely not the least, New Year 2024. So my hope for 2023 was that we , collectively, would be less dumb, which I don't know , don't li...

 So, this is a big day, the 60th Anniversary of a Dream, or a dream that we all may share, so on this anniversary this may be an inappropriate thought, something you might get boos for, because just after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot, in 1968, I had a --- nightmare --- .   That nightmare involved oddly, talking cars, which eventually became a movie and as far as I know , we do have talking cars, although I never met one.   That is my hero of course, a gifted a.i. 1954 Studebaker pick-up truck, who has became somewhat neurotic in 69 years, as almost anyone could well understand.  Possibly the most neurotic pick-up truck in the history of mankind, and no --- zero help --- from the human medical profession and because there is no automobile medical profession , he is unable to obtain medical help for his condition.  But, as far a I know, a bit  of a rascal, but does have good manners, and never involved in a serious accidental mishap after 6...

 So, I have recently learned that as a mathematician I have no weapons, of course somewhere in the arsenal , which I guess you can imagine that like Plato's Cave, there is.   Anyway, I always thought that my main weapon was the Classification Theorem, but apparently not.    So apparently it's a theory.  So that means that a mathematicians weapon is a theory, which I do not know if that theory is provable but ,,,,, I do know that classification is connected to symmetry, but the issue of structure, seems a bit obscure, and so .. as far as I know a theory based on an obscure probably undefinable whatever it might mean, does seem both clever and well, maybe confusing. So what is my point here ?  Well if a theory based on structure is a weapon, it vaguely seems to me that , it's some kind of loop hole , which is probably definable.  Of course I know almost nothing about it, and I am therefore --- quite harmless --- .  But I do have a large number ...

 I guess, much of this applies to a lot of things.  Like the old issue of - if it's not broken - don't fix it.  But personally, the last 60 years have been a kind of -- mixed bag -- . A common saying in San Francisco in the 1970s was, " .. different strokes, for different folks  "., where that comes from, not sure. So, in my very humble way, I might observe that it seemed all the -- horse manure -- , that we avoided cleaning up, for so long, had really fallen on us for the last 60 years.   So, whatever the point is, the idea is: this democracy experiment, we often call the U.S.A. , with all it's quirks, sudden turns, miss steps , and even some sliding downs, but almost 250 years it's been going, a long and often treacherous and difficult road. But look at the last 60 years and think of the 50 years to come.  I believe truly we can do that.  So, what is the strength of this nation, and what is the true power we connect to ?  Clearly, in part i...

  So, a Lakota, might reply to that previous post, that simply this --- grace ---, I spoke of, actually has always been here.  Some people need to open their eyes to that.  But, the Lakota, have for a long time, endeavored to keep that light in focus, both in their individual lives, as well as in the life of that nation.

 During this amazingly historic weekend, possibly one of the most historic weekends of this nation, in that we are celebrating both our victories and our losses.   So, that makes it -- bitter/sweet -- , on so many levels.   For us, the Dream/ or dream, that comes fore most to mind would have to be the dream/ or Dream of Dr. M,L. King , Jr., Some might think , perhaps, that the dream may have faded, or dissipated.   For me, a lot of understanding about his dream arises in my mind connecting back to an extraordinary work - Strength to Love - , which just by the title, in many ways,  you get sucked in - immediately.  So, written sometime in the 1950s during a period in which his home was attacked, and he had a lot of anxiety about his family, and he prayed to God/or Jesus, and asked if he should keep going.  My memory fades about what happened next, but we know from our collective memory , that he did continue.  And so, my thesis woul...

 Now, I think culturally, and in many cultures these words stand out a bit, on account of they reflect something about relationships.  So, if we think about relationships, it is highly fundamental to the concerns of arithmetic, geometry, or mathematics in a broader way, because nothing much happens in the sense of some kind of transition without 2 players.  One of the more important notions of course is that after these transitions you end up with an equality.  When you think about it , although children practice this on an almost daily basis, the notion of equality, is fundamentally , pretty rare, in nature or the natural world.   But reflecting on the better or worse part, what you do find in nature or real life is these better and worse, or better, or worse, tend to combine in really odd, and ,you might say, inappropriate ways.  Of course, if you did say inappropriate, sometimes the game changes drastically, on account of inappropriate is sometimes ...

 So neither hot nor cold is the east from west, but maybe as you travel north or south these elements might apply.  What follows is mostly Lakota cosmology.  Is direction persistent?  It seems clear that all directions can not be one, else there really wouldn't be directions.  One thing is clear in my mind, conclusions are really not drawn from the directions.  We must always find that certain direction, from three other places, that we always must face, as we do face the directions.  And what are these directions, ?  We have been taught in various ways, from above, from below, and from what is in between.  So although we often think that the directions are 4, or sometimes we even think that the directions are as few as two, what ?, the directions are 7. So, I have been wondering what would have happened if John Kennedy was not shot, LBJ, had not been the president, JFK got re-elected for his second term, and turned out to be a real jerk....

 You can start with either one, because , at least from my point of view, seem to be closely connected.  But I think there is always the element of fear connected with change.  Certainly, an approaching storm will often create a sense of fear, which of course brings us to Stephen King, who does seem to have developed a keen sense of how to describe it, and my memory of watching the Shining, on T.V. , which makes me wonder how that was possible, in sort of " blizzard " conditions.  Made a lot of those scenes much more realistic. But to me, dread is something a bit different than fear, because, in fearful conditions you tend to respond in a more immediate way.    In many ways there is a sense of dread as the seasons change, which I believe they must.  When this sense of dread approaches, we often follow this with preparations, that are sometimes naturally ceremonial , and sometimes perhaps more instinctual ?  For example , our often quite instinctua...

 So, sometimes, you get a persistence memory, and this one starts with a location, where I had been, many times.  But today, it seems a little difficult to write about, since it appears that a storm is approaching, which makes this memory a little more difficult.   Now, you know it is pretty unusual for Duluth to experience a tornado, although we do often have unusual weather.  So, sitting at this location, for an unclear reason, the storm -- hit --.. But where I was, it was just a lot of water, but still kind of scary.  After, it had calmed down, I drove home, and so really unprepared for the fact that a road I needed to pass was actually no longer there, but had been replaced with a 15 foot ditch, which, of course, made it impassible. So I had to walk to get home, which turned out to be a couple of miles, through an area that had become standing water about 1 foot deep in places.  Strange event for sure, for me.  I can't remember how it got clea...

  Lots of questions immediately arise when you mention the issue of stupid.  One quick question might be, can you eliminate  ---> stupidity <-- entirely..  Well, I am just goin to bet, and say, probably not.  If you go back to -- stupid is as stupid does --, you end up in some kind of Mandelbrot set.  So now we come down to was Picasso stupid?  Probably not.  He did sell a hunk of metal to the City of Chicago for $1,000,000.00 or so, so maybe not so stupid.  Which reminds me of a similar story about Charlie Parker and his horn, from Toronto.  I really don't think many people thought Charlie Parker was stupid, either.  Anyway, sometime, way back when, meaning last fall, which at that time was 2022, I suggested my wish for 2023 was that we might be somewhat less stupid than the previous 10,000 years.  Well, exactly, who am I to judge ?

 So, a subtitle might be Robert's rules of disorder, however, it is unlikely that I would be able to make sense of that connection, and so. Well, it does appear that most things sleep.  Some might have skepticism on this subject, nevertheless, if you consider plant life, there is obviously a change of state from daylight to nighttime hours, which implies a definite change. Birds apparently sleep as well, although sometimes I think they are faking it and I wonder if they are capable of sleeping while they are flying.  Birds, obviously, think somewhat differently than people or other animals, fortunately, and so there are  less bird brains among humans than you might expect.  With trees, of course, I am not sure, because, the rustling of leaves will often put me to sleep, but I'm not sure show restful that might be for a tree. Anyway, we all, mostly, go through this process, on practically a daily basis, in which we wake up.  Now, I am not clear on the public...

 So, to begin with I want to distinguish between " hard " and "softer" technologies, based primarily on one variable often connected back, to Max Planck and Albert Einstein.  So, the harder technologies would be those who are closely associated with Dr. Planck's famous or infamous -- number --. But the really interesting technology, much more related to the -- issues -- at hand, would have to be the rheostats which are used to -- adjust -- temperatures.  So, it should be clear that we did not have them at the beginning of the 20th century, and therefore the issue of - how did the human race manage without this device for the previous several millennium, arises. In fact, thermometers have only existed for about 400 years, and so if you think about it, nobody in history really knew how hot or cold it was (*???*). That is just a bit frightening to think, that for hundreds and even thousands of years, nobody really knew how hot or cold it was.  Somehow we managed.  ...

  So, generally, like to think of this as not too hot, and not too cold, but then, you know, sometimes, it just is. So, I am thinking about , in particular baseball, but of course both games and sports have many things in common, and generally there is some type of lessons involved, if simply about working in groups, and how groups can be most effective in how they work together.   Of course, I grew up at a time , when, amazingly , but truly, the great American sport/game, of baseball, was transmitted, without the need for wires at all, ( well, maybe a few wires, but not so many ), directly into your individual home.  In many ways, the meaning of this was  what is often referred to as incredible, meaning of course, beyond the limits of credibility.  But, nevertheless, it was so, although it did mainly begin in the garage, and eventually worked it's way into the -- home -- proper. But then, for me, being quite young at this time, I viewed baseball players as...

 According to Google,  German Inventor Karl von Drais is credited with developing the first bicycle. His machine, known as the  "swiftwalker,"  hit the road in 1817.  Over 200 years.  It's also interesting to think that the technology coming out of this , was, enabling of two world wars, during the 20th century, which most everybody can be genuinely grateful about that no - according to most historians - no number three.    Of course, this is all connected back to another event , 80 some years later:   the 1903 Wright Flyer In conclusion, not sure, there, very well, might be a conclusion, but can not quite get there.

 I think when you are on the edge of a cliff and if you are worried about being knocked off it, you might think of lots of innovative ways to defend yourself from this possible aggression.   And so today, lots of us find ourselves if not out on some edge, at least feeling that we are on some edge.   If you go along way back in history, and of course a lot depends on how you wish to journey back, but it is easy to view history as a process by which larger and larger numbers of people get hooked together in various ways.  Sometimes , these larger groups of people, being linked together results in substantial advantages, that you can kind of call cultural benefits.   Now, of course, this situation does have some disadvantages, when you consider that , when one group of people threaten is some way another group of people we often end up in quite complex conflicts, that often involves considerable aggressive, and sometime even predatory behaviors....

 And so, one of the most powerful recollections for me from grade school was the presence of our school principal , usually in the hall way somewhere, exclaiming, with the greatest sincerity, " I never heard of such a thing! ".  This was not meant in a good way, but usually meant to instill a great deal of fear in anyone who might be listening, whether they were just passive bystanders, or any one else close to the point of the incident.   Although, as there is nothing particularly astonishing about that, when it occurred as it did, several times during my time in grade school, it left me with the following conundrums:  how is it possible for one man to experience something he has never heard of, so many times, in such a sort period of time? If I had been thinking a bit quicker back then I might have replied: " Maybe, you need to buy yourself a radio ? "   But, my guess is, if he was around today, he would have very little to say, by this time.

 So, if we spend a bit of time, mostly we will admit that there is a awful lot to be curious about, in the world we currently inhabit.   And reflecting back through history you will see that we have been curious about stuff for some time now.  One curious thing about curiosity would have to be that we are not the only species on this planet that appears to enjoy or at least employ curiosity.  So it is a curious thing.  Likewise, for empathy, all though we employ it often, and even have some appreciation for it , it does not seem to be unique to our species.   This does kind of make me wonder about where it did come from initially.  I suspect, that perhaps, in the future somebody might isolate the gene that these behaviors are associated with , and trace that gene back to it's origin, and then perhaps we will know where these behaviors originated from.  Figuring that out might just take some time, and an awful lot of curiosity. One thing,...

 Okay, hog doots, what am I talking about?  I think, one guy, seems to have locked up all the really serious --- hog doots -- awards, for this decade, and perhaps many more decades to come.  Never the less, you might be able to look at something like 70th place or 120th ? Anyway, I do have regrets, and I guess one is, I never studied as much topology as I might have, but those regrets never seemed to affect Mr. Clinton being elected and president and not getting indicted either, so what does that all  prove?  Likely, this proves nothing. But, is it hot or cold? Just don't know.

  So , I guess, for me, to make such a connection , might make this  a contestant for hog doots for this decade. So first, work, as you know usually has very little to do with whether or not it is hot or cold , except when it does, of course.  Now, topology, as most people might know, has something to do with surfaces, and stretching stuff, and how somethings are the same even though they might not look that way.  But, I should not say, in fact, but, in my opinion, topology is a subject in mathematics, with the primary focus  having to do with making it easier to understand analysis, which is not an activity, but a subject or kind of integral part of mathematics with the purpose of trying to make it clear to students of mathematics that have studied approximately 1 year of calculus what is actually and truly going on.  Many times, do to financial constraints they have to do it in 1/2 the time as allotted for trying to figure out what is going on in calculus...

 And so, I looked out on the Big Lake, and if it was looking back, I just can't say, and I looked around, and the whole day was looking somber, and the Big Lake was looking somber.  Neither hot nor cold, just lots of somber every where you look. This makes you reflect on how you go about, building so much somber.  Of course, you need some somber colors, then well, lighting is quite important, I imagine.  So there might be somber patterns, or textures.  I am not sure, but somber is definitely a thing, and obviously a part of who we are in some really fundamental way.  Like, I suspect we do get some of our --- somberness --- from rocks, or boulders, which are always there, they just do not go away. But ,all this somber makes me think for some reason about freedom.  And of course, that makes me think about Janis Joplin and Bobby McGee. And with all the somber around, I just have to ask, " Can any of us be as free as we wish ? "  Most likely, this que...

 Okay, pick a planet , just any planet, with some decent population of people who read new papers from time to time, or speak to other people in public places.  Now imagine, for what ever reason, that the environmental situation is not good for whatever reason, and the area of the world that might be in the best position to make positive changes, has a population involved and laser focused on one man.  That man who does not seem to be either able to walk very straight or talk very straight, but seems to have limitless access to red ties.  And now, most of those people who admire him so, have to listen to him --- over and over again --- discussing about how wrong it is that so many diverse groups seem to think he has done some things  wrong or maybe badly.    Most people might find it difficult to imagine such a world, or such a situation.   And what about the majority of the people on the planet, who seem to have some significant difficulties...

 And so, reading about Barack Obama, on Wikipedia, who served in the Illinois State Senate, from 1997- 2004, of course in Springfield , Illinois.  So then, this is more about the weather in Springfield, than the weather here, but it is close to being directly south, by some distance.   You might be surprised to learn that Mr. Obama, has not, to the best of my knowledge been indicted for any felony type crimes, or at least does not have an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to his trials.  This again does concern me about the situation facing law students in the future.  But you know, law is law, and other things are other things.  And of course, I could not fail to mention some of the scores ( I am sure ) of mathematicians, trying to figure out a maximum number of indictments, which could possibly become a theorem in the future. So about Mr. Obama, he seemed to take his --- >  job < ---- quite seriously.  Maybe, I misinterpreted it all, bu...