The Good Boy Placebo

Astral Facts, January 2012


Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

The Good Boy Placebo

With current realities of political posturing and scripted television spontaneity bombarding us from all sides, we might end up feeling quite lonely by taking the red pill and facing reality. Rather than suffer in isolation with reality, why not just suck on that blue sugar-coated sugar pill delivering today’s reality scene?  Would you prefer cable or dish?  As far as I know, no one ever died as a direct consequence of the placebo.

Mark Twain approached this topic situation back in 1870 with his character sketch of “The Good Boy”  who was caught up in the “media” portrayal of what a good little boy should be and do.  (According to the link coming later, This story was originally published in May, 1870, in the Galaxy Magazine, as "The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper.")

For those who’d like to take a five to ten minute break and read the actual story, here’s a link that also has the illustrations from the 1875 printing of the story:

       http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/tomsawye/mtgoodboy.html

 For those who didn’t have time to do so, here’re some highlights:  

       Twain’s “good little boy,” named Jacob Blivens, learns about the profile of the “good little boys” from what he reads in the Sunday School books. He is much impressed by the glory of their lives, but his life doesn’t exactly mirror what he reads. When he sees the bad boy in the apple tree stealing apples, he goes to warn the bad boy he may be punished by falling out of the tree and breaking a leg.  Although expecting to be a hero for saving the bad boy, Jacob’s life is not as described in the Sunday School books, for the bad boy does fall out of the tree, but he lands on Jacob and Jacob ends up with broken bones instead.
       Nonetheless, Jacob is inspired by the lives of the good little boys in the Sunday School books, for in the end they do something extremely heroic to save the community. The stories always end with the deathbed stirring last words from the good little boy in the Sunday School books, and the final scene of the story describes the glorious funeral scene with the attendees crying into their handkerchiefs over the good little boy who died too young.
      This troubles young Jacob, because he can never go and meet another actual good little boy from the stories. Anticipating his own fate, he composes his dying speech to give advice to the community so that he can also be remembered as a remarkable “good little boy” himself. Of course, the drawback would be that he would not be alive at the time to bask in the final recognition of the value of his life.

Since we don’t know the ending, we can’t really discuss the “moral” to the story, but we can note some hints that might be connected to it and perhaps to our current cultural phenomena related to the “reality” motif oozing underfoot as we facebook, twitter, and twaddle each other. Jacob Blivens saw the “good little boys” in the Sunday School stories as the models for his behavior as he imagined his glory would finally be acknowledged, but issues of motivation weren’t really stressed in those stories about those other good little boys.

Fortunately, today we have those little disclaimers on the commercials telling us that the stunts are performed by a professional on closed courses, and we shouldn’t try this at home. It’s too bad that the disclaimers elsewhere are too small to read, even if people bothered to look.

Twain wrote a companion piece, “The Story of the Bad Little Boy,” published five years earlier in 1865. Although we don’t have time and space to discuss it here, it is available online as well:

     http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/tomsawye/mtbadboy.htm

 Perhaps the combination holds the clue to dealing with reality these days.

I forget – is it the red pill or the blue pill that is the placebo?

Walter Lowe

Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Rocking Around the Clock

Astral Facts, November-December 2011


Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Rocking Around the Clock

Sometimes people may lose sight of the value or relevance of the works in the humanities field. However, time and again we find art imitating life and life imitating art. This was brought home to me in the classroom once again this holiday season.

During the week after the Thanksgiving weekend each year, my students and I spend time observing and presenting interpretations of a variety of short fiction selections from our textbook. About two weeks prior to the holiday weekend, we draw cards and students take turns signing up to teach one of the ten fiction selections from our reading list. We take the four most popular ones and the students who chose them form “teams” to teach them. (Students who chose ones other than those four also join one of the four teams.) We use the class sessions on the M-T-W prior to Thanksgiving for the teams to meet and formulate their lesson plans, with teams taking turns on Monday through Thursday of the following week to teach their classmates how the story might be read. (Friday I provide closure and then finals are the week after.)

One of the selections not chosen very often is “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence, published in 1926. However, this year one of the groups did choose to teach that story. While observing the presentation by the students, I was struck by how contemporary the content still is, even though it was written nearly 90 years ago.

I realize there’s a slight possibility some people may not have read the story, and I’d hate to spoil it for them by discussing the plot details and conclusion, even though the value of good literature comes from reading and rereading the material. It’s about a dozen pages long and someone has posted them online, so if you want to take a break and read the story, here it is. I can wait while you read it:

http://www.dowse.com/fiction/Lawrence.html

http://www.dowse.com/fiction/Lawrence-part2.html

Welcome back. (If you just skipped ahead planning to read it later, I’m not responsible for spoiling the story for you.)

As you can see, in this story set in Britain we have a family with a mother who is concerned about the social status associated with wealth and the material evidence of the family’s social position. She considers herself and the family unlucky, which has resulted in the limitations on the family’s social mobility and an anxiety within the mother. The three young children are sensitive to the coldness around the mother’s heart. They can hear the vibrations reverberating through the house as it murmurs “There must be more money! There must be more money!”

Paul, the oldest child but not yet old enough for boarding school, and his two sisters are aware of this, and Paul tries to reverse the situation by being lucky, which is evidenced by getting money. Uncle Oscar gives Paul a small amount of money as a gift, and Paul then forms a pact with Bassett, the gardener, to bet on horse races. (Also a nursery governess is mentioned in the story and the family probably also had a cook, although that was not specified beyond the mentioning that the family had “discreet” servants. Considering their social status, it was probably quite difficult to get along with only three servants.)

Because Paul is old enough not to need a nursery governess, he can secret himself in his own bedroom, where he has a toy rocking horse. He can ride the horse, whipping himself into a frenzied state, and the names of the winning horses come to him. He does this out of love for his mother, in a battle to break the cold ice around her heart.

Once Paul accumulates a nice bank account, he shares his secret with Uncle Oscar, who helps arrange for his mother to receive an anonymous birthday gift of a thousand pounds each year for five years. (In 1926, this was around $5,000 to $10,000 each year.) Paul hopes this will ease the anxiety in the house and around his mother’s heart.

Unfortunately, the opposite is the case. The mother immediately goes to the lawyers to ask the donor to give her the whole amount in a lump sum and the murmuring of “There must be more money! There must be more money!” only intensifies! Of course, Paul accedes to his mother’s desires, and now he becomes even more desperate to touch her heart and ease her anxiety.

Actually, he seems to be making progress, for his mother is concerned about him and suggests he go with Uncle Oscar to the seaside for a vacation. Paul has the trip delayed until after the Derby. Two nights before the Derby Paul frantically rides his rocking horse into the night, collapsing into a stupor just as he reaches the name of the winning horse. Paul’s mother, feeling something strange around her heart, rushes home and reaches Paul as he collapses.

Bassett places the bet for Paul while he is gripped in the coma of his brain fever, and the horse wins. With his mother at his side, Paul regains consciousness, tells his mother that he is indeed lucky, and dies in the night.

The story ends with the mother regarding her deceased son while hearing Uncle Oscar’s voice,

"My God, Hester, you're eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking-horse to find a winner."

Oops! Sorry to have such a story here at the holiday time.

Anyhow, at the time I was struck by the contemporary events - seeing how “Black Friday” had been adjusted by some merchants to start at midnight on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) as something to benefit the customers – now they wouldn’t have to get up early in the morning on Friday and stand in line in the frigid morning cold. Instead, they could enjoy the early afternoon turkey meal, let the tryptophan kick in for a late afternoon nap, and then head down the mall or shopping center to wait for the doors to open at midnight. In fact, some businesses were even opening back up at 9:00 pm for even greater customer convenience! It’s amazing how times have changed with all this concern for the well-being of the customers. (Of course, some of the employees were upset that they had to cut their family holiday short in order to man the aisles and cash registers, but we know the customer is king and it is an honor to serve such customers.)

There must be more money! There must be more money!

And now as we are deep in the throes of the holiday spirit, I see that the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts selling holiday trees and decorations are on holiday break from school, so they have extended their hours to open at 7:00 am and close at 11:00 pm for the convenience of the customers! Seven to eleven: How lucky!

That’s the spirit, boys!

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Gang Braggers

Astral Facts, October 2011


Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Gang Braggers

The end of October is always a time for contrasts.

Of course, the last day, Halloween, is the evening before the Hallowed Day of November first, also called All Saints’ Day.  Hell and Heaven in open confrontation! 

 This time also leads into the general elections coming in early November, and we’re getting all the “I’m right, the other side is wrong” election material flying in from every direction. This year we see even more of the same with the budget cuts on the horizon raising the “cut theirs, not mine” specters along the spectrum.

In the Humanities Sciences, with life imitating art, we usually have a new season of voting survivors off islands and the dance floor and such, as well as bombardments of the film releases, DVD and celluloid, leading into the holiday season.  Will the Great Pumpkin fail to show again or not?

Out in the ‘hood the Bloods and Crips are banging away at each other on a regular basis, as gang bangers are noted for doing.

In all this, perhaps one of the classic “struggles” is the mano v. mano battle between East Coast and West Coast styles.

Before the current “tea party” politics were in vogue, lines were drawn with “tea party” gang bragging of a different kind, as evidenced in the following “Battle of the Bands” salvos, [eastern formal prep v. western casual organic?] which have come to the attention of us here among the Humanities Sciences eavesdroppers.

(Of course, this is presented in an academic vein, with no suggested endorsement of either style or the products associated with them.)

So take a look and see which gets your vote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGKVQeU4SXE&feature=related

Remember:  Stay kewl, playahs!

Walter Lowe

Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Coming Through the Wry

Astral Facts, September 2011

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Coming Through the Wry

September has come and is about gone with changes to adapt to, which really is nothing new. In an article I read recently, the author noted that ethics and morality are personal issues, but they don’t have any meaning until the individual is involved in some kind of relationship.

For example, on campus we’ve moved the faculty and staff along with offices, work space, and classrooms related to five general disciplines occupying five smaller buildings into a centralized single building. Adaptation is coming at many levels of personal sacrifice for the greater good. For instance, I can no longer select the temperature or strength of the water when I wash my hands in the restrooms. I have to hold my hands under the spout and the flow automatically comes at an intensity and a lukewarm temperature deigned to be “ideal” in our one-size-fits-all (even if it doesn’t) brave new world.

Another interesting aspect is the cutback on classroom support, with the reduced number of custodial staff not required to clean the white boards during the night. Thus, we now have extra green towels and water spray bottles in each classroom so the last one out can “prep” the room for the new dawn that is surely coming.

I’ve found these very handy since I teach in three separate classrooms this quarter. I am able to use my “down time” prior to each of my classes to thoroughly “whitewash” the boards prior to each of the classes on a daily basis, removing the vestiges of profundity unearthed in the previous 23 hours. We have these sliding boards, with two overlapping layers (four board surface sections), and I often find interesting messages hidden away between layers. Of course, the additional side boards can be cleaned on a “need to go” basis.

It’s funny how history tends to be circular or recyclable, for I’m reminded of the halcyon days of my youth when I shared a house with three other guys in my post BA days. I was using my English degree very effectively by reading and critically interpreting map directions and road signs while driving a frozen food delivery truck. Another of my housemates (Pat) was doing accounting for a record company, his friend Don was collecting unemployment from a warehouse job at Sears, and Don’s younger brother Steven was a student at the UW. We shared a little place at 51st and Wallingford.

We decided to take turns doing meal duty. Each person would have total control one day: buy the groceries, prepare the meal, and clean up afterward – each contributing according to means, ability, and opportunity. My turn was Monday, Pat had Tuesday, Steven on Wednesday, and Don on Thursday. Four single guys on our own – we figured it was individual responsibilities on Fri, Sat, & Sundays. What a nice plan! Except…...

Pat and I would fulfill our responsibilities, but on Wednesday Steven prepared the meal (usually something cheap, easy, and messy – like mac& cheese or frozen lasagna), and then he ran upstairs to study. So the other three of us would put our dirty plates and stuff in the sink with the rest of the mess and wait for Stephen to clean up. Something that never happened. He just added his dishes to the mess when he finished studying.

So Don would cook on Thursday and just add to the mess left by Stephen. Since Stephen hadn’t cleaned up, Don didn’t feel he should be responsible for pre-existing conditions (not his brother’s keeper or something like that). Then Friday and Saturday the accumulation continued to accumulate. Pat and I never really discussed the situation except to share our disappointment that Don wasn’t making his younger brother be responsible. It wasn’t our job to confront either one about this.

Finally, on Sunday either Pat or I would have reached the breaking point, and one of us would wash up the mess in the sink and clean the kitchen to start the new week all fresh again. I’m not sure how long this would have lasted, but after four months Don’s unemployment ran out and he moved back to Wenatchee to get his old job in the cannery and I got accepted to go to Afghanistan in the Peace Corps.

I’m sure there must be a lesson or moral there somewhere. Somehow this seemed reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance, where it seemed like all the main character did was complain that the others weren’t doing their fair share. I don’t know why we had to read this in class back then or how any of this makes sense, but I’ve got to go clean some whiteboards – no time to think about it.


Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Who Needs Humanities

Astral Facts, May/June 2011

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Who Needs the Humanities?

In these days of budget cutting and all, concerns about relevant and necessary programs have emerged here in the ivory towers of higher ed.  Perhaps a reduction in the course load for the Humanities might be a good way to cut some of the "fat" from the sacred cows of education.


Of course, one thing for sure is the importance of the math and science programs.  It's not something new, for back in 1983 Susan Jacoby wrote an article for The New York Times in which she noted the "self-inflicted disability" many high school girls were inflicting on themselves by dropping out of math and science classes because they considered them "masculine" and success in those fields might exclude them from getting a date for Prom.


In other words, in a patriarchial society, one shouldn't challenge those in power.   Twenty some years later Lindsay Lohan, in the movie Mean Girls, illustrated this same principle at work when her character dumbed down to attract the hunky guy sitting next to her in math class.


In my English 101 class, we read and discuss Jacoby's article and then students need to write a paper of summary and analysis about the article.  Here's a copy of a student's paper that is quite illuminating, which I have reproduced unedited:

Bright Girls

          In the article “When Bright Girls Decide Math Is ‘a Waste of Time’” by Susan Jacoby the point she is trying to get across is that the problem teenage girls are having can be stopped if the parents realize what is happening and do something about it. Her main thesis is that adolescent girls and their parents are active conspirators in limiting their own intellectual development. One of the key ideas in the article are during the vulnerable period of mid adolescence, girls are most likely to be influenced by the traditional belief that math and science are “masculine” subjects. Susan Jacoby also says that in adolescence girls begin to fear that they will be unattractive to boys if they [are] typed as “brains”. In some cases like the Bronx High School of Science where women go to learn too they are still largely outnumbered by the men. To prove her point she shows us a 1981 assessment of female achievement in mathematics, based on research conducted under a National Institute for Education grant, they found significant differences in the mathematical achievements of ninth and twelfth graders. At age thirteen girls were equal if not better in math but four years later the boys had outstripped them. She brings up an example from her own life about how in her sophomore year she pretended to do badly in math when actually she had straight A’s last year in algebra. One of the methods she uses is casual analysis where she says that this problem is a self inflicting female issue and later in the article she says the consequences are that the girls are limiting their own career options. Throughout the article she uses contrast telling us how bad girls are doing math and then she says how the boys are doing in the same situation. Her conclusion clearly states that it is up to the parents to see to it that their daughters do not accede the old stereotypes about “masculine” and ‘feminine” knowledge. This story is still relevant today and parents need to be more aware of what classes their daughters are taking.

Isn't this a nice summary that clearly shows the issue from nearly 30 years ago?  but wait ---- it gets better when the analysis kicks in:

     This article can be applied today because it is still going on. Even I witnessed it in high school just last year. In my math class we had this girl who did really well on her tests because she know if the failed the tests then would fail the class. But during class she would be the class dummy always asking for help from some guy who pretended he knew what he was doing. In reality he just wanted to talk to the girl. Cases like these are really common today because the girls think that the guys don’t look twice at the girls who get a 4.0 in math class. So thinking like that girls pretend to be stupid in the math class or even the science classes because it still applies there too. Like in my biology class the cheerleader at my table would always be asking for help from the teacher because she didn’t want to look like some nerd doing so good in geology. Part of this problem of women acting dumb in front of guys is us guys are deciders of what is attractive or not so somehow we let the girls know that it is hot to be dumb. Especially these days most guys don’t care how educated women are as long as the guys can get some action. Unfortunately it sounds harsh but it’s true. Knowing that men think like that women don’t bother getting good education in math or science.
       In Susan Jacoby’s article she says how if the women don’t take math and science they will not have the total vision of human experience. This is not necessarily true because these days most of the men take the responsibility of knowing all the gadgets and technology. For women it’s mostly about emotion so they go after the gossip of this worlds and most of the time technology and math doesn’t interest them. Just the subject technology most women cringe from because they wouldn’t know one word that they hear about it. Usually women just depend on the guys to get all the cell phones and cars in their life. I think that women get along in life just fine without the complete knowledge of technology and math. Most of the women who are in universities getting their science degree are probably fat and ugly so they know that they won’t easily get a rich smart guy who they can depend on. That assumption is wrong that Susan Jacoby made in her article about women. I agree that teenage girls should go through all the necessary math classes so they get the basic math knowledge but the higher up math is optional.
      Concluding from this article I think parents should keep a good eye on their daughters throughout high school but after that it is their own choice whether they want to continue in math. Most women are not cut out for a career in math or science. A good solution for most situations would be to just get a guy who knows about all of that tech stuff so the women have all the time to gossip and spread rumors.

You know something?  I think maybe here we have a good case for keeping the Humanities alive.  Perhaps this writer might be the first candidate for additional courses!

 Walter Lowe

Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Formal Season Greetings

Astral Facts, April 2011


Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Formal Season Greetings

Many of us have grown up in the “Disney generation” of stories of the princess who lives happily ever after in some splendid castle. Often this is preceded by some trials and tribulations which really didn’t seem so necessary. How nice it would be to just skip over the trials and tribulations and jump to begin a life in the castle episode, even though that’s usually the end of the Disney tale! Of course, the prince usually has had a good life, albeit a bit incomplete, up to that point, but we can imagine that things later only get better for him as well.

Disney’s stories do have roots from the cultural tales of the past, but even back then, people were concerned about recognizing the line between reality and fantasy. According to essayist Deborah Ross, many of the fairy tales and romance stories were created with a “didactic” tone, guiding young women into understanding the value of proper roles and attitudes in the social milieu.

Ross notes, “Samuel Johnson was greatly concerned about the effects of fiction on ‘the young, the ignorant, and the idle’" and critics worried that the readers [in the 1700s] would look to some of these stories not only as entertainment but also as a source for moral and social guidance. Ross also touches upon the writings of Charlotte Lennox’s 1759 novel, The Female Quixote, whose protagonist challenged some of the social norms of the day before finally dismissing her fantasies and settling down to the traditional feminine roles (“Escape From Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination”).  Other sources have noted that such writings inspired later writers, such as Jane Austen, to critically explore the aspects of the feminine role in a patriarchal society.

Ross concludes by noting that the Disney versions omit the stage of the female princess protagonist’s objections or other really revolutionary questioning of the social systems.

Of course, these days, our young females seem to have progressed beyond the romantic yearnings for that princess in the castle lifestyle that Barbie has also helped enforce.

We may think so, but those Disney girls, now mothers with their own daughters, and the media may still be playing that same old tune, reinforced in the educational system with the hopes of skipping over that trials and tribulation segment, in spite of any teenage angst in catching the wry.

Perhaps nothing reveals this as much as a trip to the local high school gripped in the frenzy of “Prom Season” as covered in a recent ABC news report.   Here's a link to the news spot; unfortunately, you have to sit through the 30 second commercial at the start  (Note that no fathers or potential Prince Charmings were harmed during the presentation):

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/video/extreme-proms-spend-13426389

So much for the impact of “reality” television! With a royal wedding coming up as well, all I can say is,

Roll me in Elsie’s glue, cover me with glitter, and point me toward the princess!

Walter Lowe

Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Mendacity in the Country

Astral Facts, March 2011

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Mendacity in the Country

In my freshman composition (English 101) class, students form groups and choose from a list of articles which they would like to teach to their classmates. Among them is a 1990 New York Times article written by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “2 Live Crew, Decoded,” in which Gates defends the 1st Amendment rights of the controversial rap group.


Gates’ argument is that the content cannot be evaluated without first understanding the cultural background at its foundation. His point is that exaggeration and hyperbole are imbued in the culture, just as more mainstream cultural groups use the “tall tales” of the North to entertain. Due to the roots of slave oppression, African-Americans needed to create coded vocabulary to communicate among themselves while using what seems to be innocuous language.

These days, when the lyrics appear to cross beyond the innocuous, those in the mainstream culture can easily take the language content at face value, which Gates perceives as a problem at the receiving end. However, his commentary does not imply a blanket approval of the content, as he says,

“Still, many of us look toward the emergence of more female rappers to redress sexual stereotypes. And we must not allow ourselves to sentimentalize street culture: The appreciation of verbal virtuosity does not lessen one’s obligation to critique bigotry in all its pernicious forms.”

Obviously, he is concerned about the representation of the African American female stereotypes these lyrics portray, and back in 1990 he was anticipating a rebuttal to emerge from the community that is being misrepresented.It is now 21 years later and we might take a look to see what is happening in this cultural battlefield. Here is a posting by a group of young African American girls in response to content in the current music scene: (Although the presentation is by adolescent girls, expletives have not been deleted):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nLCg6ZwjY&feature=player_embedded



Obviously, they didn’t post this up all by themselves, as the URL for a website does appear on the screen. (If you do go to the website advertised, you can find links to over 250 photos of women who would like to meet you!)


Those in the community do find it troubling:

http://www.bvblackspin.com/2011/02/15/profane-kid-video-demonstrates-the-need-for-our-own-revolution/


A ten-year-old’s letter to Lil Wayne:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0SeTXjC74

But as one of the comments on the first YouTube notes, “kids will be kids.”

Walter Lowe

Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.