Philosophy
With yesterday being 4/20, it is appropriate to start a conversation about the social construction of weed. The weed I want to talk about, however, is the dandelion. Adults put it in the category "weed," where children put it under the heading "wildflower." Thus, we have the same drama unfolding repeatedly..."Thank you so much. Let me find a vase for this beautiful bouquet of flowers you've picked me," and under the breath "Shame you didn't get the roots."
The switch is no doubt connected to the social meaning of lawns. With the tide of suburbanization, the notion of a lawn became a matter of social status and having complete control over unruly nature so that your little patch of it looks like a thick green rug became an issue so central to establishing one's bona fides in the suburban mindset that anything that encroaches upon your wall-to-wall exterior carpeting should be seen as a personal character flaw. Even if it is pretty. We'll pay lots of money and spray chemicals on our lawns whose long-term safety we really are not sure of, just so our neighbors will not think us insufficiently suburban with the presence of dandelions.
But kids love them. I have to admit, I still do, too. A field of yellow and green under a blue sky with fluffy clouds, there's just something wonderful about it. Yes, they are a pain in the garden, but not insurmountable.
At what point do we make the switch? When does dandelion go from nature's gift that we want to give to our most precious loved ones to curse? Is it a matter of being adult? Does it happen before we get a house and lawn? If they we the shape of buttercups with larger petals, would we even think them weeds at all? They are edible, what if they became more popular, say, in salads, would that utility take them from the list of weeds?
- On Cute
My dear friend Aspazia from Mad Melancholic Feminista is giving birth today. The welcoming our our newest little feminista is indeed a happy, happy occasion. No matter what else she is, there is no doubt little m will be cute. That's a word that...
- The Essence Of Love
Thinking about the nature of love today. It's TheWife's birthday and I'm puzzling over how someone so strong, smart, gorgeous, and caring could end up in love with some awkward uber-geek with no fashion sense and a philosopher's salary....
- Deep Tautologies
I love language. I had cause in the car last weekend to repeatedly utter the sentence, "We'll get there when we get there." Now if understood literally, the sentence is what we call a tautology, that is, it is a sentence that because of its form is...
- Four Letter Ethics
As I ready myself to step into the world of the seven second delay, I've been thinking about the ethics of swearing. On the one hand, curse words are just sounds that have been culturally designated as vulgar. To swear in polite conversation is socially...
- Ptsd And Normality
In last week's discussion of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, MT made an interesting statement, What especially makes distant times and cultures seem unfathomable to me is that what I count as "trauma" begins there as a child, and even the concept...
Philosophy
Dandelions
With yesterday being 4/20, it is appropriate to start a conversation about the social construction of weed. The weed I want to talk about, however, is the dandelion. Adults put it in the category "weed," where children put it under the heading "wildflower." Thus, we have the same drama unfolding repeatedly..."Thank you so much. Let me find a vase for this beautiful bouquet of flowers you've picked me," and under the breath "Shame you didn't get the roots."
The switch is no doubt connected to the social meaning of lawns. With the tide of suburbanization, the notion of a lawn became a matter of social status and having complete control over unruly nature so that your little patch of it looks like a thick green rug became an issue so central to establishing one's bona fides in the suburban mindset that anything that encroaches upon your wall-to-wall exterior carpeting should be seen as a personal character flaw. Even if it is pretty. We'll pay lots of money and spray chemicals on our lawns whose long-term safety we really are not sure of, just so our neighbors will not think us insufficiently suburban with the presence of dandelions.
But kids love them. I have to admit, I still do, too. A field of yellow and green under a blue sky with fluffy clouds, there's just something wonderful about it. Yes, they are a pain in the garden, but not insurmountable.
At what point do we make the switch? When does dandelion go from nature's gift that we want to give to our most precious loved ones to curse? Is it a matter of being adult? Does it happen before we get a house and lawn? If they we the shape of buttercups with larger petals, would we even think them weeds at all? They are edible, what if they became more popular, say, in salads, would that utility take them from the list of weeds?
- On Cute
My dear friend Aspazia from Mad Melancholic Feminista is giving birth today. The welcoming our our newest little feminista is indeed a happy, happy occasion. No matter what else she is, there is no doubt little m will be cute. That's a word that...
- The Essence Of Love
Thinking about the nature of love today. It's TheWife's birthday and I'm puzzling over how someone so strong, smart, gorgeous, and caring could end up in love with some awkward uber-geek with no fashion sense and a philosopher's salary....
- Deep Tautologies
I love language. I had cause in the car last weekend to repeatedly utter the sentence, "We'll get there when we get there." Now if understood literally, the sentence is what we call a tautology, that is, it is a sentence that because of its form is...
- Four Letter Ethics
As I ready myself to step into the world of the seven second delay, I've been thinking about the ethics of swearing. On the one hand, curse words are just sounds that have been culturally designated as vulgar. To swear in polite conversation is socially...
- Ptsd And Normality
In last week's discussion of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, MT made an interesting statement, What especially makes distant times and cultures seem unfathomable to me is that what I count as "trauma" begins there as a child, and even the concept...