[FRIAM] flattening -isms

Sun Nov 17 17:22:28 EST 2019

On 11/17/19 10:01 AM, Nick Thompson wrote:
>
> Steve,
>
>  
>
> Apparently the modern definition of apocryphal is “widely circulated
> though probably untrue” .  Nothing that we have said about Hywel (so
> far) is untrue.  We need a word for “widely circulated and true”. 
> Notorious? 
>
My working definition of "apocryphal" is that such stories carry a kind
of transcendent Truth, independent of the literal and specific
truths.    I didn't intend to impugne Hywel's reputation in any way, but
rather to acknowledge the reverence held in "the Mother Church".   I
suspect that some day there will be a similar reverence held for other
regular posters here... perhaps in some circles that reverence is
already being circulated...    

I would also claim, appealing to the etymology you included, that
references to Hywel are are often vague in the sense that the teller of
the story seems to really claim to understand Hywel's pronouncements,
that they were all somehow "beyond the ken of common man"?

Speaking of "the Mother Church",  my partner's son treated us to a an
evening with "Joe Bob Briggs", explaining to the Austin Film Society
"how Rednecks Saved Hollywood".   All other nonsense aside, he gave a
credible history of Rednecks, starting with the Scots-Irish from the
Cumberland region of northern England (as well as the eastern tip of
northern Ireland), and the Cumberland Presbyterians.   My own hillbilly
relatives (radiating from my parents who moved west in 1949) from KY pay
homage to that heritage in spite of most all of the geneology offered to
me named German, Polish and northern Scots immigration.   What struck me
most strongly in Briggs' story was the story that Cumberland
Presbyterians did not have "churches", they had "meeting houses" in a
similar fashion to the Quakers, not believing that any man held a higher
station or was more able to talk to God than any other (I don't know how
that translates to women?).  

>  
>
> As you know, I love etymology.  Here from etymology on line:
>
>  
>
> *apocrypha (n.)*
>
> late 14c., Apocrifa, in reference to the apocryphal books of the
> Bible, from Late Latin apocrypha (scripta), from neuter plural of
> apocryphus "secret, not approved for public reading," from Greek
> apokryphos "hidden; obscure, hard to understand," thus "(books) of
> unknown authorship" (especially those included in the Septuagint and
> Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as
> genuine by the Jews), from apo "off, away" (see apo-
> <https://www.etymonline.com/word/apo-?ref=etymonline_crossreference>)
> + kryptein "to hide" (see crypt
> <https://www.etymonline.com/word/crypt?ref=etymonline_crossreference>).
>
> Non-Biblical sense "writing of doubtful authorship or authenticity" is
> from 1735. Properly plural (the single would be Apocryphon or
> apocryphum), but commonly treated as a collective singular.
>
> Nick
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>
> Clark University
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
>  
>
> *From:*Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Steven
> A Smith
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 17, 2019 8:56 AM
> *To:* friam at redfish.com
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] flattening -isms
>
>  
>
> I never met Hywel myself, but the stories of him are always
> apocryphal...  someday I expect all of the stories referencing Mulla
> Nasruden to reappear with Hywel as the central character.
>
> On 11/17/19 8:40 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
>
>     Hywel was an experimental particle physicist and a regular Friam
>     attendee.  He had been a professor at Penn and Cornell and a group
>     leader at Los Alamos.  Once he said to me, "the number one does
>     not exist".  He meant that there is nothing that is precisely one
>     centimeter long, for example.  I asked him, "How many biological
>     mothers did you have?"  I don't have enough time to repeat his answer.
>
>      
>
>     Frank 
>
>     -----------------------------------
>     Frank Wimberly
>
>     My memoir:
>     https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly
>
>     My scientific publications:
>     https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2
>
>     Phone (505) 670-9918
>
>      
>
>     On Sun, Nov 17, 2019, 8:31 AM Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com
>     <mailto:wimberly3 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         Yes, I meant to say including the types type.
>
>         -----------------------------------
>         Frank Wimberly
>
>         My memoir:
>         https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly
>
>         My scientific publications:
>         https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2
>
>         Phone (505) 670-9918
>
>          
>
>         On Sun, Nov 17, 2019, 8:02 AM glen∈ℂ <gepropella at gmail.com
>         <mailto:gepropella at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>             I don't know this Hywel person. But number of things of a
>             type is different from number of types of thing. 8^)
>             Unless types of a thing are also things of a type.
>             Channeling a modern teenager: That's so meta, dude.
>
>             On 11/17/19 6:55 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
>             > Channeling Hywel, I hope accurately: There is no
>             irrational number of
>             > things of any type in the Universe
>
>
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