challenge history ideas observations pragmatic historian

A Social Contract of Care and Concern

  I found the above story on Twitter. It is attributed to anthropologist Margaret Mead as told to Ira Byock. It relates how Mead felt that the first sign of civilization within a culture was finding a broken femur that had healed, indicating that someone had taken the time to allow an injured person to heal by protecting and caring for them. It’s an interesting story, though the tweet has since been removed, probably because…

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design observations preservation

The Humidifier Poorly Designed for the Fussiness It Requires

The older I get, the more annoyed I become with poor design. Age may be part of that annoyance in that the body is simply not as capable as it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago. I’m finding it harder to lift things and my grip is not as strong. We recently purchased a new humidifier because our other one stopped releasing mist, which is a bad thing for a humidifier. In comparing box…

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inspiration observations

With Abandon

Today’s my birthday and blogging has taken a back seat to chatting with family and hanging out with my husband on a fall colors drive. The colors in Central Minnesota around our many lakes are particularly vibrant this year. Sorry, no pics. I was too busy enjoying the drive. I have kept this quick, lighthearted blog post in my back pocket for a few weeks now, waiting for a moment when I wanted to deploy…

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