Word Prisms

Anthropocene is a pretty darn recent word.   That’s because humans haven’t had the impact on the environment that they do now until pretty darn recently.   And it’s pretty darn depressing.   In fact, it’s my most depressing topic of contemplation and conversation next to death and disease.   The Anthropocene epoch is a term popularized by scientists in the 1980s to represent a new geological epoch based on the huge environmental impact we, the homo sapiens species, have had on this the planet.   Its recognition would put an end to the Holocene epoch, the epoch we normally consider ourselves to be in but scientists argue is fast disappearing.   The level of atmospheric C0 2 has increased about 40% since the mid-18 th century, glaciers and a ready supply or fresh water are disappearing, the disintegration of coral reefs, perilously reduced fish stocks, the extinction of species between 1000 and 10,000 faster than the natural rate, massive deforestatio...

Failure The concept of failure became a question for me while listening to a podcast of This American Life called Regrets, I’ve had a few.   The title comes from the song My Way that was written by Paul Anka and made famous by Frank Sinatra.   There were three stories in the podcast.   The first was about a young woman who regrets picking on her younger sister in childhood.   One particular moment stands out in her mind.   While being video-taped, she was put on trial for hitting her younger sister with a broom.   Witnesses were called and questioned and the verdict given by her father was not guilty even though she clearly cut to her sister’s head with the broom and the resulting gush of blood had obviously been her fault.   Ever since, the woman has been wracked with feelings of guilt and regret which honestly, as the eldest in my family, I don’t understand.   I have long since forgotten the numerous beatings I gave my brother and rationa...