THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 30

Can you buy a mnemonic device at a hardware store?

Subject:  Mnemonic Devices -  “Thirty Days Hath September” 

Event: September 30

On this last day of September, we focus on not forgetting one of the more famous mnemonic rhymes in English:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have 31,

Except for February all alone,

It has 28 each year,

but 29 each leap year.

This verse is attributed to Mother Goose, but it’s only one of many versions of the poem.  One website, for example, lists an astonishing 90 variations of what has come to be called The Month Poem (1).

Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

Mnemonic rhymes are just one type of mnemonic device. No, you can’t buy them in stores. A mnemonic device is a method of remembering something that is difficult to remember by remembering something that is easy to remember.

The word mnemonic is an eponym, originating from the Greek goddess of memory and mother of the Muses, Mnemosyne.

To make things easy to remember, mnemonic devices employ different methods, such as rhyme, acrostics, or acronyms. Another method is the nonsense sentence made up from the initial letters of what it is you are trying to remember. 

Mnemonic devices capitalize on a concept known as cognitive fluency:  the brain’s strong bias in favor of things that are easy to think about.  (For more on cognitive fluency, see Thinker’s Almanac - January 31 and September 28.)  By crafting a mnemonic device, you are packaging information in a way that makes it easier for your brain to process; therefore, there is a higher likelihood it will be remembered.  Not only does the brain like things that are easier to process -- such as things that are repeated, things that rhyme, or things that are in an easy-to-read font -- the brain also sees these things as more valid.  As a result, the brain is more likely to transfer them from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Here’s an example of a sentence that is crafted to help us remember Roman numerals:

In Various Xmas Legends Christ Delivers Miracles.

Notice how the letters that begin each word correspond, in order, to Roman numerals:

I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, D=500, M=1,000

You might also use an acronym. For example, CAMP WE is a mnemonic device that helps us remember the essential elements of the rhetorical situation.  For example, if you want to truly understand Lincon’s Gettysburg Address you need to know more than just words, you need to know something about the following elements:

C = Context

A = Audience

M = Message

P = Purpose

W = Writer

E = Exigence

Generations of school children have used the rhyme from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” (1861) to remember the start date of the American Revolution:

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is a mnemonic device, and what are two contrasting types of mnemonic devices with examples?

Challenge - Remember, Remember the Mnemonics of September:  What are some examples of important information that needs to be committed to memory?  Think of something you need to remember or something that everyone should remember, and create your own original mnemonic device.  Use rhyme, acrostics, acronyms, and/or nonsense sentences to package your device in a handy, easy-to-remember format. 

Also On This Day:

September 30, 1784:  Kant’s essay, "What is Enlightenment" was published. (See Thinker’s Almanac- April 22:  Kant’s birthday.)

September 30, 1951:  Today is the birthday of Barry James Marshall, who along with his colleague Robin Warren was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2005.  In the 1980s, Marshall and Warren were scoffed at when they theorized that rather than being a permanent condition caused by stress or spicy foods, peptic ulcers resulted from a bacterial infection.  To prove the theory and to challenge the status quo, Marshall mixed up a broth containing the H. pylori bacteria and drank it, giving himself an ulcer.  As a result of the work of Marshall and Warren, ulcers are easily treated with antibiotics (2).

Sources:

1 – Leap Year Day.com. Days of the Month Poem. 1904 Public Domain. http://leapyearday.com/content/days-month-poem.

2-De Bono, Edward.  Think! Before It’s Too Late.  London:  Vermilion, 2009: 81.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 29

How did a psychologist’s boyhood memories of playing chess springboard a lifetime study of happiness?

Subject: Happiness - Flow

Event:  Birthday of Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1934

While happiness itself is sought for its own sake, every other goal – health, beauty, money or power – is valued only because we expect that it will make us happy. -Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

From its beginnings in ancient Greece, one primary purpose of philosophy has been to help people live fulfilling lives. The Greeks used the word eudaimonia, which translates to the English words “fulfillment” or “happiness.”

Image by Poswiecie from Pixabay

Plato’s prescription for achieving eudaimonia began with reason.  Thinking is hard work, but it is necessary to think carefully and logically, seeking knowledge, but most importantly seeking to “know yourself.”  Long before the field of cognitive psychology was invented, Plato understood that good thinking required an understanding of the human tendency toward bad thinking: errors, prejudice, and superstition.  Plato knew that people were often led by their emotions, feelings, and instincts rather than their reason.  Furthermore, rather than thinking for themselves, people let the crowd do their thinking by adopting popular opinions, what the Greeks called “doxa.”

To know yourself, you must think for yourself, which means being skeptical and applying reason to both our thoughts and our emotions.

One modern person who exemplifies Plato’s method is the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced Chick-SENT-me-hi), who was born on this day in 1934.  Csikszentmihalyi's contribution to the human quest for eudaimonia is what he calls flow: a state of optimal experience in which an individual is fully and passionately immersed in an activity.  To achieve this flow state there must be a just right balance between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer.   Furthermore, in the flow state, an individual becomes so absorbed in their activity that they lose themselves in it;  self-consciousness and time disappear.

To illustrate his own experience with flow, Csikszentmihalyi recounts his own experience as a 10-year-old in Hungary during World War II.  He and his family were interned by the Italians in a refugee camp.  To pass the time he played chess against adult players.  Immersing himself in the games, he discovered, allowed him to forget all his troubles (1).

For Csikszentmihalyi, happiness comes not from acquiring property, earning a lot of money, or relaxing on a sunny beach; instead, true happiness -- ecstasy even -- is achieved through the intrinsic desire to engage and immerse oneself in a challenging, exhausting activity.  Based on his interviews with more than a thousand people, including actors, athletes, doctors, and artists, Csikszentmihalyi concludes that happiness is not about extrinsic rewards, but is about intrinsic motivation: “A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness.”

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is flow, and what are the contracting characteristics that describe a person in and outside of the flow state?

Challenge - Get Lost in the Flow:  What is the activity that allows you to enter into the flow state?  Describe the activity.  How are you able to lose yourself in it, and why does it bring you happiness?

Also on This Day:  

September 29, 1967:  On this date in 1967, The Beatles worked to complete the recording of the song I Am the Walrus.  Known for their innovative work in the studio, the group on this day did something truly unique, blending the conclusion of their new song with a BBC recording of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In addition to the Bard, The Beatles also drew inspiration from two other poetic sources.  One was Lewis Carroll's poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” which inspired the song’s title and its plentiful use of nonsense lyrics.  The second was a playful nursery rhyme that they remembered from their childhood in Liverpool:

 

Yellow matter custard, green slop pie,

All mixed together with a dead dog's eye,

Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick,

Then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick.

 

This bit of rather grotesque verse inspired the colorful lyric:  “Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye.” 

September 29, 1999:  The television series West Wing premiered an episode named for one of the most prominent of all logical fallacies: “Post Hoc.” (See Thinker’s Almanac - October 1.)

September 29, 2009:  Padgett Powell published a novel made up entirely of questions.  It’s called The Interrogative Mood A Novel? Each sentence in the 160-plus page novel is a question.  In the novel, Padgett asks roughly 2,000 questions without giving a single answer.

Sources:

Flaste, Richard.  “The Power of Concentration.” The New York Times  8 Oct. 1989.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 27

How did Socrates illustrate the quest for truth by talking about a toppled statue?

Subject:  Epistemology - The Warren Report and Daedalus’ Statues

Event:  The Warren Report is published, 1964

When I think of the most able students I have encountered in my teaching - I mean those who have distinguished themselves not only by skill but by independence of thought - then I must confess that all have had a lively interest in epistemology. -Albert Einstein

In very simple words, the quotation above encapsulates the purpose of one of the key branches of philosophy.  It is called epistemology: the study or theory of knowledge.  If we are, as Socrates stated, to live examined lives, we must be able to tell what is true from what is false.  The quest for the truth and the questioning of the truth is the core of epistemology.  

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates presents a metaphor to illustrate how belief differs from knowledge.  He began by describing a statue by the Greek sculptor Daedalus -- you might remember him from another story about his son, Icarus.  It was said that Daedalus’ statues were so life-like that they needed to be tethered to prevent their walking away.  Socrates compared a true belief to an untethered statue that might be easily lost or toppled.  Knowledge, however, was a statue that was tethered by cables, giving it stability.  A statue anchored by reason and tethered by examined counterarguments will stand strong even against a strong wind or storm.

One of the most important quests for truth ever published came in the form of the 888-page Warren Report issued on this day in 1964. The goal of the report was to establish the truth behind who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 29, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that a lone assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy.

Image by Mike Foster from Pixabay

From the moment the Warren Report was published, its validity was questioned.  In the true epistemological tradition, several of these critics were philosophers who were not convinced by the evidence presented. 

One of the skeptical philosophers was Josiah Thompson, who completed his own extensive investigation into the evidence.  In his 1967 book Six Seconds in Dallas: A Micro-Study of the Kennedy Assassination, Thompson concluded that it was impossible for Oswald to have acted alone.  He closely examined the physical evidence and eyewitness testimony, including the Zebruder film, which captured the six-second sequence of gunshots that took President Kennedy’s life.  Because Thompson believed that it was impossible for Oswald to have fired his rifle three times in six seconds, he concluded that there must have been a second gunman.

Of course, Thompson is just one of the hundreds of authors and filmmakers who have questioned the Warren Report’s conclusion.  Kennedy’s assassination is a moment in time that demonstrates the elusive nature of truth.  Even though there were dozens of eyewitnesses and a color film of the assassination, every second of the events in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza continues to be debated (1).

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is epistemology, and how do the differences between the Daedalus statues illustrate the difference between belief and knowledge?

Challenge - True or False?:  Do some research on quotations relating to truth and falsehood.  What is the best, most insightful quote you can find about either truth, falsehood, or the relationship between the two concepts?  What is the quotation, who said it, and why do you think it is important?

Also on This Day:

September 27, 1777:  On this day, the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, became the nation’s capital for a single day.  Developments in the Revolutionary War forced the Second Continental Congress to pack up and move from the original capital city, Philadelphia.

September 27, 1962:  On this day, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book that helped launch the environmental movement, was published.  Carson’s book altered the public to the destructive toll of pesticides like DDT: "Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of birds, and the early mornings, once filled with the beauty of bird song, are strangely silent." 

September 27, 1992:  On this day the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) made a presentation to persuade the general public that “movie popcorn is fatty.”  Standing in front of a table covered with a smorgasbord of greasy entrees, the CSPI spokesperson’s message was short but sticky:  “A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all trimmings -- combined!” (See Thinker’s Almanac  - May 13)

Sources:

1-Madigan, Tim.  “The Warren Report.”  Philosophy Now March/April 2008.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - August 29

In general, are people fundamentally good or are they bad?

Subject:  Human Nature - Veneer Theory

Event:  Hurricane Katrina, 2005

It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical.  Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.  -Anne Frank (1929-45)

What’s your view of the inherent nature of your fellow human?  Are they basically selfish, brutish, and cruel? Or are most people decent, moral, and generous?  

To test your viewpoint, imagine a natural disaster strikes your community without warning.  Unexpectedly, you're without power, without food or water. What would happen?  Would people pool their resources, check on their neighbors, and help each other to make the best of a terrible situation?  Or, would people panic?  Would people hoard resources, loot, or even steal from one another?

On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.  In what was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, 80% of the homes were flooded and 1,836 people died.  

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

In the aftermath of the hurricane, anarchy and chaos seemed to reign.  The media reported shootings and looting.  In the Louisiana Superdome, where 25,000 people fled for shelter, there were reports of rape and murder.  

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco expressed her disappointment with what was happening in New Orleans: 

What angers me the most is that usually disasters like this bring out the best in everybody, and that's what we expected to see. And now we've got people that it's bringing out the worst in. 

What actually happened in New Orleans was very different from what the media reported.  As the flood waters receded and the city began to rebuild, the truth came out.  A total of six people died at the Superdome, but none were murdered.  There was one suicide, one overdose, and the rest died of natural causes.  There was not a single documented case of rape or murder and the vast majority of people worked charitably and cooperatively.  The truth is, Katrina really did bring out the best in people.

In his book Humankind, historian Rutger Bregman works to debunk what is known as the veneer theory of civilization, “that civilization is nothing more than a thin veneer that will crack at the merest provocation.” (6).  Besides the true story of Katrina there is also evidence from the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware:

. . .  in nearly seven hundred field studies since 1963, there’s never total mayhem.  It’s never every man for himself.  Crime -- murder, burglary, rape -- usually drops  People don’t go into shock, they stay calm and spring into action.

While it is true that there are sometimes cases of looting, the vast majority of behavior is altruistic and prosocial.

It’s clear, as Bregman argues, that both history and science disprove the veneer theory.  When times get rough, things do not play out in a Lord of the Flies scenario.  Instead, the vast majority of people truly are good at heart.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:   What is the veneer theory, and how did people’s response after Hurricane Katrina disprove it?  

Challenge - Pulling Off the Veneer:  Put the veneer theory to the test by researching another natural disaster from history.  Describe what happened in the disaster but also what happened in its aftermath.  Did chaos reign, or did people generally help each other?  For example, on April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg.  Hollywood portrayed the scene of the ship’s sinking as one of hysteria and panic.  History tells a different story:  It is true that the shortage of lifeboats led to 1,517 deaths; nevertheless, despite the calamitous situation, passengers remained calm and orderly (1).

Sources:

1-Bregman, Rutger.  Humankind - A Hopeful History.  Bloomsbury Books, 2020.