Poetry

[Sinned]

I came across this poem ( at least I think it's a poem ) attributed to the late Steve Jobs and couldn't find a thread for short poems so I started one. You should see why I thought it appropriate for us.

Here's to the Crazy Ones

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers.
The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them,
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things.
They push the human race forward
And while some may see them as the crazy ones we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world -
Are the ones who do.

[Milfmog]

Thanks Dennis.

It is a good and appropriate thought for the Café. However, it is not generally attributed to Steve Jobs as it was written by an advertising agency. The TV advert was originally recorded with two different voiceovers, one by Steve Jobs and another by Richard Dreyfuss. When broadcast it as the Dreyfuss voiceover that was used. More information than anyone really needs can be found here.

Have fun,


Ian.

[dillon]

It is said that Albert Einstein could get so lost in his own train of thought that the world simply vanished around him. At Princeton University, officials once received a telephone call from someone who asked "How do I get to Einstein's house?" They replied "We can't give out that information. If you wish to meet Professor Einstein, please arrange an appointment." The caller replied "This is Professor Einstein. I'm lost and wish to get home." After that the University would have graduate students discreetly walk with him while conversing, to make sure he didn't lose his way again.

When Einstein was to be made a fellow of a prestigious international physics society, in between-wars Berlin, his wife Elsa asked his younger cousin Norbert, later to become an international economist in his own right, to take him to the ceremony. Norbert recalled that Albert appeared wearing a tacky tuxedo and a dirty shirt. Elsa sent him back to the bedroom to put on a clean shirt. Concerned some time later, when Einstein had not reappeared, Elsa and Norbert entered his room and found him propped in bed reading Spinoza. He had forgotten about his induction ceremony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APS_3Q3mGlQ Note Count Basie on piano, Tony Bennett in the audience.

[crfriend]

It is said that Albert Einstein could get so lost in his own train of thought that the world simply vanished around him.

This can happen to anybody when they've achieved a really intense state of concentration. Some forms of meditation also try to induce it.

It used to happen to me quite frequently during my 20s. I'd be working on a problem, the world would fade away, time would stop, and I would have unfettered use of my mind. Programmers liken it to "being 'in the zone'"; others have termed the state "flow" -- and popping in and out of it can be quite odd indeed. Since time subjectively ceases to exist, the time-to-completion on a problem or a task is lost on one; what may subjectively seem to be hours may, in fact, have occurred in minutes, or even seconds, of wall-clock time. Interrupting someone who's in that state is said to be virtually impossible.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Einstein could occasionally get lost on walks, thinking in "flow" while walking. What's surprising is that he didn't get hit by cars when in such a state.

[dillon]

It is said that Albert Einstein could get so lost in his own train of thought that the world simply vanished around him.

This can happen to anybody when they've achieved a really intense state of concentration. Some forms of meditation also try to induce it.

It used to happen to me quite frequently during my 20s. I'd be working on a problem, the world would fade away, time would stop, and I would have unfettered use of my mind. Programmers liken it to "being 'in the zone'"; others have termed the state "flow" -- and popping in and out of it can be quite odd indeed. Since time subjectively ceases to exist, the time-to-completion on a problem or a task is lost on one; what may subjectively seem to be hours may, in fact, have occurred in minutes, or even seconds, of wall-clock time. Interrupting someone who's in that state is said to be virtually impossible.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Einstein could occasionally get lost on walks, thinking in "flow" while walking. What's surprising is that he didn't get hit by cars when in such a state.

Actually, Carl, that nearly happened. A fellow notable mind at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies, Marston Morse, also known as a bit of an absent-minded professor, routinely drove himself to campus while Einstein walked. In an intellectual daze - the "flow", as you say - Morse almost backed over Einstein when leaving his driveway. Wouldn't that have been an irony - one genius accidentally killed by another while both lost in thought?

I too have ended up at places I didn't intend to go while in the midst of "flow", which I call "mental lapse". I do not attribute mine to genius, usually, but more likely to approaching senility. Perhaps, after death, I should allow my brain to be kept in a bulk pickle jar like Einstein's was, for the sake of ghoulish curiosity.

[crfriend]

I too have ended up at places I didn't intend to go while in the midst of "flow", which I call "mental lapse".

The trick is harnessing it. I was never really good at entering the state wilfully, but when in it I was capable of amazing things, usually having to do with solving truly baffling hardware problems on computers with > 1,000 boards in them. It's something I haven't experienced in ages, and I kind of miss it.

I'd not call it "genius" or anything of the sort -- more of an "altered state" in which concentration becomes the norm rather than something forced. This may be the result of too many years operating (or trying to) in an interrupt-driven world which has induced in me something very akin to attention-deficit disorder. I miss the ability to fully apply my mind to something to the exclusion of all else, but I'm not willing to try to induce it chemically.

[moonshadow]

It is said that Albert Einstein could get so lost in his own train of thought that the world simply vanished around him.

This can happen to anybody when they've achieved a really intense state of concentration. Some forms of meditation also try to induce it.

It used to happen to me quite frequently during my 20s. I'd be working on a problem, the world would fade away, time would stop, and I would have unfettered use of my mind. Programmers liken it to "being 'in the zone'"; others have termed the state "flow" -- and popping in and out of it can be quite odd indeed. Since time subjectively ceases to exist, the time-to-completion on a problem or a task is lost on one; what may subjectively seem to be hours may, in fact, have occurred in minutes, or even seconds, of wall-clock time. Interrupting someone who's in that state is said to be virtually impossible.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Einstein could occasionally get lost on walks, thinking in "flow" while walking. What's surprising is that he didn't get hit by cars when in such a state.

This actually happens to me quite a bit white driving. Often times I can find myself driving for hours to various stores. I always wind up being there, but I have no recollection of the trip, aside from whatever I was thinking about. Interestingly I have navagated cities and towns, back country roads, never once running off. It's not like I'm not alert. No... people cut me off, and do this and do that and I always react. So I'm aware... it's just like I'm on some kind of auto pilot.

I've probed some serious metaphysics on the highway.

One time I "came to" during the trip, and didn't reconize my surroundings and drove for about another 10 miles before I learned what county I was in. Freaked me out a little to tell the truth. Sometimes I worry that I may be too absent minded for my age. Makes me wonder what my state of mind will be when I do hit my "golden years".

[Jim]

This actually happens to me quite a bit white driving. Often times I can find myself driving for hours to various stores. I always wind up being there, but I have no recollection of the trip, aside from whatever I was thinking about. Interestingly I have navagated cities and towns, back country roads, never once running off. It's not like I'm not alert. No... people cut me off, and do this and do that and I always react. So I'm aware... it's just like I'm on some kind of auto pilot.

I've probed some serious metaphysics on the highway.

One time I "came to" during the trip, and didn't recognize my surroundings and drove for about another 10 miles before I learned what county I was in.

This happens to me sometimes driving Interstates for extended distances. Happily there are mile markers each mile. Once I noticed I had missed an exit and was in the wrong state.

[crfriend]

This happens to me sometimes driving Interstates for extended distances. Happily there are mile markers each mile. Once I noticed I had missed an exit and was in the wrong state.

This is where it gets really risky. Our bodies and sensorimotor systems are capable of remarkable things -- up to and including basic (VERY basic) control of a motor vehicle. But the sensorimotor systems alone cannot perform tasks that require judgement.

One time driving across Florida I ran into this headlong. My ex and I were in sort of quiet moods so there wasn't much conversation, the scenery was deathly dull and flat, and the road was arrow-straight. Nobody noticed anything was amiss until a car was getting set to make a left turn a thousand yards up ahead and stopped to wait for oncoming traffic. I had perfect lateral control of the car but did nothing about my speed. My ex finally yelled at me (a wise move) about what was going to happen in another 15 seconds or so. I had fallen asleep -- and had been asleep for probably five or ten minutes -- and nobody noticed (Diana later clearly indicated that my eyes were open and I was actively steering) until a decision-point was reached that required judgement on the part of my brain, which was entirely off-line. Clearly I woke up in time, else I'd not be writing this. We kept a conversation going for the rest of the drive.

Note that this was sleep, NOT flow. When one is in "flow" he's fully conscious and making the best of it. He may look like he's "out" to the casual observer, but he's entirely awake and his brain is going full steam ahead.

[moonshadow]

Fortunately, straight roads are in short supply in this part of Virginia, so you don't tend to get zombiefied riding these highways. Also, I81 has A LOT of truck traffic (I've heard the more truck traffic than any other interstate in the U.S.), always climbing grades at 50MPH and descending at 80MPH, that with an ever increasing number of 4 wheelers (cars and light trucks), it they will keep you alert.

Georgia and North Carolina drivers will keep one on their toes. No offense Dillon, NC drivers seem okay in their home state, but it's like when they cross the state line they act like they own the road!

And Carl, though I tend to get ran off the road when I drive up near that way (not like I get up their often), but for what it's worth, it seems down here New Englander's behave their selves. It's like they just know that "things move a little slower down here".

[dillon]

Fortunately, straight roads are in short supply in this part of Virginia, so you don't tend to get zombiefied riding these highways. Also, I81 has A LOT of truck traffic (I've heard the more truck traffic than any other interstate in the U.S.), always climbing grades at 50MPH and descending at 80MPH, that with an ever increasing number of 4 wheelers (cars and light trucks), it they will keep you alert.

Georgia and North Carolina drivers will keep one on their toes. No offense Dillon, NC drivers seem okay in their home state, but it's like when they cross the state line they act like they own the road!

And Carl, though I tend to get ran off the road when I drive up near that way (not like I get up their often), but for what it's worth, it seems down here New Englander's behave their selves. It's like they just know that "things move a little slower down here".

I-77 (Columbia/Charlotte) and I-75 (Atlanta/Knoxville) to I-81 is now the Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia bypass, especially for Florida and Georgia trucks. And yeah, NC drivers are roadhogs on VA rural roads. We get kinda spoiled down here what with a full 16 feet of smooth pavement and painted lines. Gas taxes pay for the nice rides and no one notices.