THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 3

What happened to Marie-Olympe de Gouges two years after she wrote ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen’?

Subject:  Women’s Rights - Marie-Olympe de Gouges’ Declaration

Event:  The execution of Marie-Olympe de Gouges, 1793

Woman, wake up! The tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe. Discover your rights! The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. -Marie-Olympe de Gouges

A major achievement of the French Revolution occurred on August 26, 1789 when The Declaration of The Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted.  This document failed, however, to recognize the equality of women, an important detail that was not overlooked by writer and playwright Marie-Olympe de Gouges.  In response to the Rights of Man, Gouges published The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in 1791.  Gouges minced no words in her Declaration, saying, “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society.”

Gouges challenging the male sex to live up to the ideals of the Revolution and of the Enlightenment. She also challenged conventional views.  She argued that just as nature manifests the harmonious cooperation of the sexes, so too should the laws of the state.  In an incredulous tone, she berates the male sex for his irrationality: 

Bizarre, blind, boated with science and degenerate -- in a century of enlightenment and wisdom -- into the crassest ignorance, he wants to command as a despot a sex which is in full possession of its intellectual faculties.

In words that eerily foreshadow her fate, Gouges demanded the same rights to free speech that men had:  “No one is to be disquieted for his very basic opinions; woman has the right to mount the scaffold; she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum, provided that her demonstrations do not disturb the legally established public order.”

For having the audacity to demand equality and for speaking out, Gouges was silenced.  Arrested in July 1793, she was sent to the guillotine and was executed on November 3, 1793.  Her influence and spirit lived on, inspiring Mary Wolstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, which was signed in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.  Women in France were granted the right to vote as equal citizens in 1944.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How do the long term consequences of Marie-Olympe de Gouges' Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791) compare with Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Rights and Sentiments (1848)?

Challenge - Rushmore of Women:  If there were a Mount Rushmore featuring the four most influential women in history, which four women would you select and why?

Sources:  

1-Marie-Olympe de Gouges. The Rights of Woman, 1791.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 2

As victorious generals paraded through the streets of Rome, something was whispered in their ears to keep them humble.  What was it?

Subject: Mortality - Memento Mori

Event:  National Write Your Own Epitaph Day

Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back. -Marcus Aurelius

It’s the one universal, the one reality that all must face.  Whether rich or poor, a king or a commoner, we all are mortal.  Everyone dies.  Or, as Jim Morrison said, “No one gets out of here alive.”  There’s an ancient story that comes to mind called “The Appointment in Samarra”:

A merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the public market. When the servant returned, he approached his master trembling with fear.  “Master” he said, “When I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd.  I turned and saw Death looking at me in the face, and she made a threatening gesture towards me.  Please, Master, please allow me to take one of your horses and flee from this city to Samarra so that death will not find me and so that I can avoid my fate.”  The merchant granted his servant’s request, and within minutes the servant was galloping away to Samarra.  Next, the merchant went down to the marketplace and saw Death standing in the crowd.  The Merchant approached Death and asked, “Why did you make a threatening gesture towards my servant?”  Death replied incredulously, “That was not a threatening gesture; it was a start of surprise.  I was astonished to see your servant in Bagdad, because I had an appointment with him today in Samarra.”

Image by Milos Duskic from Pixabay

Some, like the merchant, try to forget or avoid this inevitability; however, there is an ancient tradition of embracing it, not to be morbid but instead to be proactive.

In the Roman tradition it’s known as memento mori, and it’s even on the calendar:  January Third.  In Latin, memento mori translates, “remember that you must die.”  The phrase was put to use in ancient Rome to prevent leaders from falling prey to hubris.  When a Roman general was paraded through the streets after a victorious battle, a slave was strategically placed behind the general in his chariot.  As the general basked in the cheers of the crowd, the slave’s job was to whisper in the general’s ear:  “memento mori” or “Someday you will die” (1).

The Stoic philosophers embraced memento mori as a reminder of life’s transience and of the importance of making each minute count.  Instead of fearing death, philosophers like Epictetus tried to reframe it, saying, “Death and pain are not frightening, it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear.”  For centuries, an entire genre of art works has been produced around the memento mori theme, usually depicting a skull and an hourglass (2).

Memento mori is not just for Roman generals or Stoics, however.  After he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, Apple Founder Steve Jobs gave a moving commencement address at Stanford University, reminding graduates that facing our mortality is no morbid exercise; instead, it is motivating:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. 

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.  (2)

One sure way to face mortality is to take a walk in a cemetery, perusing the gravestones and reading the epitaphs.  Today, November 2, is the perfect day for such a ruminative stroll because it is National Write Your Own Epitaph Day (3).  It’s a day to remember your mortality but also to consider what words you will leave behind to the living.  How might you distill the wisdom of your life into a single concise aphorism?

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How did the merchant’s reaction to Death in “Appointment” differ from Steve Job’s attitude towards death, and how does this relate to momento mori?

Challenge - Words To Leave Behind:  Do some research on epitaphs.  Then, carefully craft your own epitaph.

Sources: 

1-Crosby, Daniel. Memento Mori – The Ancient Roman Cure for Overconfidence. 7 Nov. 2013.

2-Jobs, Steve.  Death is Very Likely the Single Best Invention of Life.  The Guardian. 10 Oct. 2011.

3-Nationaltoday.com “Plan Your Epitaph Day – November 2, 2021.”

THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 1

How can metaphors influence a person’s thinking about the stock market?

Subject: Language - Agent Metaphors or Object Metaphors

Event:  Metaphors We Live By published, 1980

Love is friendship set to music.  -Jackson Pollock

Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.  At night, the ice weasels come. -Matt Groening

In the two quotations above, the idea of love is framed very differently, not just in words but in metaphors.

On this day in 1980, the book Metaphors We Live By was published.  In the book, cognitive linguist George Lakoff and philosophy professor Mark Johnson challenge the reader to view metaphors as much more than just a poetic device.  Instead, the authors argue that metaphors are essential to the way humans think and the way they perceive the world.  To illustrate, one 2007 study looked at language used to describe the stock market.  The metaphors used were identified as either agent metaphors or object metaphors.  Agent metaphors animate the market as a living being, saying, for example, that “the Nasdaq climbed higher” or “The Dow fought its way upward.”  Object metaphors, in contrast, describe the market in terms of inanimate objects or forces, saying, for example, that “the Nasdaq dropped off a cliff.”  More than just linguistic flourishes or vivid imagery, Lakoff and Johnson argue that these metaphors influence our thinking and frame our perceptions.  In the 2007 study, for example, investors who examined market data were more likely to predict a stock would continue to rise if the data was described using agent metaphors -- as in the stock “climbed.”  Object metaphors -- as in the stock “increased” -- did not have this kind of influence (1).

The message here is that language is not simply a method of expressing thoughts; instead, the relationship between language and thought is much more nuanced.  Perhaps the philosopher Burtrand Russell said it best:  “Language serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts which could not exist without it.”

Nothing in language is as powerful as metaphor.  As Aristotle said, “It is metaphor above all else that gives clearness, charm, and distinction to style.”  Through the alchemy of metaphor, writers transform ideas into concrete, vivid images that make readers imagine and feel.  When you use figurative language like metaphors and similes, you set the tone and frame the argument. Positive imagery makes your reader feel and imagine good emotions; negative imagery makes your reader feel and imagine negative emotions.

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Shake the dust off a tired idea; use a metaphor or simile to polish it up and make it look and sound brave and brand new. 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How do agent metaphors differ from object metaphors, why does this distinction matter?

Challenge - Metaphors Be With You:  Generate a list of abstract ideas, such as greed, trust, or ambition.  Then, do a search for some quotations on one of your abstract ideas.  Look for quotations that use metaphors to bring the abstract ideas to life with concrete, showing images.  For example, the American lawyer and orator Robert G. Ingersoll said, “Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.” Select your favorite metaphor and explain how the metaphor makes the abstract idea more concrete.

Sources:  

1-O’Mahony, Proinsias.  “Market Metaphors Can Lead Investors Astray.”  Irish Times 20 Sept. 2016.