As I’ve said, you can teach an old dog new tricks. In 2022, in addition to a better understanding of how doubt works in me, I learned a few other lessons. Such as:
- Animals, and perhaps even some plants, show signs of behaving consciously, including self sensing. See my post on reading Peter Godfrey-Smith about the octopus.
- Paradoxically, when we are first born, we are totally solipsistic; yet, we have not developed a sense of self.
- Time does heal. It is possible to enjoy music that once caused great distress.
- Even an author for whom you have great respect saying things with which you agree can be quite irritating. After it sat on my shelves for more than ten years, I finally started to read Philosophy in the Flesh by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. Their know-it-all tone led me to put the book down and plough through Piaget. I do intend to go back to it now that I know what to expect.
- Even a group of people who do good work for the best of motives can be quite nasty to each other. Attention to this lesson had faded because of distance from former leftist associations.
- People young enough to be my grandchildren tend not to read their emails, but will respond to texts quickly.
- People young enough to be my grandchildren tend to avoid talking on the phone with new people, preferring to text.
- Almost everyone I deal with now is younger than me.