Different Differences

Tom Kando 

One of my sociological interests consists of differences between people. Diversity, if you will. People differ in innumerable ways. Some differences are physical, some mental, some are inevitable, some are achieved. Some are due to nature, some to nurture. And then, we often rank people according to a particular variable, for example athletic performance, or wealth. We know who the world champions are in various sports, who the world’s richest people and who the world’s greatest violin players are.

There could be a “Sociology of differentiation and ranking.” This is not necessarily a pretty business. It is also the realm of inequality, racism, winners and losers. And you might wonder whether it makes sense to compare apples and oranges. 

The most striking aspect of “differences” and “inequality” is this: For some variables, the “top dog” is only a couple of times “better” or “higher” than the bottom dog. However, in other respects, some individuals outdo others MILLIONS of times. 

Consider the magnitude of the top-to-bottom range of any variable. The range can be enormous - or not - depending on what it is that we measure. 

People can be compared and ranked on a scale of any attribute - wealth, income, body weight and size, intelligence, strength, how fast you can run, how fast you can put together the rubik cube, etc.. The Guinness Book of World Records lists many world records of facts and achievements. 

Consider three kinds of characteristics for which we often compare and rank people: (1) physical characteristics, (2) technology-assisted records, and (3) acquired characteristics. A few examples: 1. Physical characteristics:

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A New Americanism

By Madeleine Kando

I am an immigrant who has turned into an American over the past 50 years.

All my childhood I was a political refugee from the East Block. First, in France, then in Holland. I finally wrote to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and asked her for Dutch citizenship. She told me to send her a hundred guilders and she sent me back a Dutch passport.

I expected something special to happen, a carillon bursting forth from the ‘Wester Church’, whose steeple I could see from my rear windows. Or confetti raining down on my head, but all that fell was the usual dreary Dutch rain. I didn’t feel more Dutch than before. In fact, I realized at the tender age of 20, that Holland was not going to be my final destination.

I tried London for a while, a beautiful city where I could disappear and become totally anonymous. Then on to Malaga, but the southern European culture did not fit my personality, whatever that was. So instead of trying out different countries, I decided to change continents.

I moved to the US in the late 60s. In those days, moving to America literally felt like moving to the ‘New World’, a world so vast that you were guaranteed to find yourself, if not in New England, then somewhere else.

The thing that attracted me the most, was the knowledge that 15.7% of people here are born somewhere else. That's about 53 million people, more than the entire population of many countries, such as Canada, Poland, or Spain.

But the US has always been a country divided. The South and the North are still almost like two countries. The “tribalism” is not just North vs. South. As Heather Cox Richardson demonstrated in How the South Won the Civil War,  reactionary nationalism is thriving in other regions as well, for example, the West (Cowboy country).

Surprisingly, this division hasn’t caused it to break entirely in two. Maybe because of its size, America can accommodate this division, like two brothers fighting under the protection of their mother’s large hoop skirt.

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A Tale of Survival

Tom Kando

Dear Readers:

Here is a trailer for my book: 'A Tale of Survival'. It is available on Amazon. If you are interested in writing a review, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

leave comment here

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Ancient Rome lasted nearly Twenty-one Centuries

Tom Kando 

We recently re-watched two magnificent TV miniseries: 

1. The 2005-7 HBO series “ROME,” (Rome).

2. The 1976 series “I, Claudius,”  based on Robert Graves’ 1934 book I, Claudius. 

Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb both give these two series extremely high marks, rightly so. 

The 2005-7 series covers the era lasting from 52 BC to about 30 BC: In 52 BC, Caesar completed Rome’s conquest of Gaul. In 30 BC, Emperor Augustus (Octavian) completed his takeover of absolute power over the entire empire. The series is about Rome’s transition from a republic to an empire. This is the best-known and most frequently described period of Roman history. It lasted from the middle of the first century BC to the beginning of the first century AD. In other words, from Julius Caesar through Octavian Augustus. 

The 1976 series covers the life of Emperor Claudius, from his birth in 24 BC to his death in 54 AD. Therefore, it picks up roughly when Augustus has been in power for about six years, and covers the remainder of that emperor’s reign plus the reigns of his three successors - Emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. 

Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC. He was elected to Rome’s highest office - Consul - in 59 BC. He spent much of the following decade (from 58 BC to 49 BC) waging war against the Gauls, and conquering much of the territory that is now France. He won his most important victory at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, where he defeated the joint Gallic forces led by Vercingetorix. In 49 BC, Caesar and his thirteenth legion crossed the Rubicon river, which constituted the border between Rome and its provinces. By doing so, Caesar invaded Rome and started a civil war which eventually gave him control of the Roman government. 

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Kamala Harris for President

Tom Kando 

I wrote this a couple of days ago. It now looks like loyalty to Biden may prevail. It may be too late and too complicated to replace him. Whatever. Obviously, if Biden remains the Democratic candidate, I will vote for him. He is a fine man. I would probably vote for ANY democratic candidate. But my point remains: the pragmatic move would be to nominate Kamala Harris. Biden’s chances remain dim. 

My sister Juliette lives in Spain, but she definitely follows our country’s political antics in great detail, as I am sure many people around the world do. After watching the entire Biden-Trump debate (or should I say debacle?), she summed it up as “Evil vs. Feeble.” Funny and true. 

We have had over a decade of Trump news. About half of all the news is devoted to Donald Trump. All other topics combined probably take up the other half. Presidential campaigning never stops during the four years between elections. American politics are a form of entertainment, not aimed to solve problems. How much longer can this country afford this luxury? 

The Biden-Trump debate exposed the weakness of the democratic candidate, the final implosion of his campaign. Our champion simply didn’t measure up. His weaknesses could no longer be hidden. 

Biden’s re-election in November is probably impossible. The rats are abandoning the ship. The polls indicate further decline in support for him, financial contributions can be expected to decline, and many Democrats are calling for him to withdraw his candidacy. 

Here is where I stand: I have always greatly admired and supported Joe Biden. He is a fine human being and he has been a very good and successful president. There is no need to reiterate his many accomplishments. If he remains the Democratic candidate, I will vote for him. 

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Should we Fear Death?

By Madeleine Kando

Here is a layman’s attempt at understanding

Thomas Nagel’s argument that Death is a bad thing.

Talking about death in a rational, unemotional way is the domain of philosophers. As long as it is not their death, that is. That is why I find what Thomas Nagel has to say about the Grim Reaper fascinating. Should we see death as a bad thing, a good thing, or neither?

Nagel argues that death is not bad in itself, but since death deprives you of life, it means that it is indirectly bad. Even if a life is full of misery? Yes, because even misery is an experience. Death is devoid of experience, so even a life full of misery is preferable to death.

Some philosophers in the past have argued that the fear of death is irrational since there won’t be any post-death experiences. You cannot be afraid of something that doesn’t exist. As Epicurus put it: 'Where death is, I am not; where I am, death is not.'

Another argument put forth against the fear of death is that it doesn’t matter whether you die young or old, since you will be dead forever either way.

A third point is that your nonexistence after death is just a mirror image of your nonexistence before your birth. Why should you fear one more than the other?

Unfortunately, Thomas Nagel criticizes all three arguments against the fear of death, in his essay ‘Death’. ‘Suppose’, Nagel says, ‘an intelligent person has a brain injury that reduces him to the mental condition of a contented baby. Certainly, this would be a grave misfortune for the person. Then is not the same true for death, where the loss is still more severe?’

The second argument, that dying young is not worse than living long, is just as poor. Being alive and having experiences is what is good about life. If a person dies prematurely, she is deprived of those experiences. Being dead is neither good nor bad since it is devoid of experiences. Therefore, what is evil about death is not the state of being dead, but the loss of life. More of life is better than less. Bach had more of it than Schubert because he lived longer.

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Beautiful Kauai

Madeleine Kando

Of the many places I've traveled to in my long life, Kauai remains my favorite. I've had a decades-long love affair with this beautiful island. The moment the plane lands on this tiny speck of land in the vast Pacific Ocean, I feel at home. Every night, the soothing surf lulls me to sleep, and during the day, the trade winds caress my skin like a silken glove. The lush green of Kauai’s mountains and valleys contrasts perfectly with the red ochre of its soil. As the oldest of five sisters, Kauai, in my opinion, is also the most beautiful.

Kauai is rainbows and white foam, blue waters and soaring tropical birds. Bursting with life in May, it exudes an intoxicating fragrance. Her tree barks streaked with red and purple seem as if a child secretly finger-painted them.

Watching the sun slowly rise out of the sea, I spot two red-crested cardinals landing on the railing of my lanai. Their tiny, perfect forms with candy-colored crests hop along as I place crumbs for them. Timid mynas keep watch on the roof, resembling professors with yellow glasses. Their calls, unlike the high-pitched whistle of my little red-crested friends, are not exactly music to the ear.

Despite its serene beauty, Kauai's geologic history is a volcanic inferno. Mount Waialeale began erupting 10 million years ago, and the island itself is 5 million years old. Kauai spent half of its life submerged in the Pacific, until enough volcanic activity brought it above water. Erosion has since sculpted the island's breathtaking landscapes.

Constantly battered by waves, Kauai’s shoreline is marked by large caves, like bite marks from an angry ocean. The deep valleys and razor-sharp ridges of the Waimea Canyon leave an indelible impression. Steep cliffs jut out into the ocean like a giant hand dipping its fingers into the foamy waves. Nature’s artistry needs no enhancement.

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Gambler's Fallacy vs. Law of Large Numbers

Tom Kando

Here is a baffling mathematical problem which I have pondered for years: The "Gambler’s Fallacy” and the “Law of Large Numbers" seem to contradict each other:

Consider two statements: 

(1) “Previous outcomes do not affect the probabilities of the next (similar) event.” Take coin tosses for example, each having a fifty-fifty probability of head or tail, right? 

(2) The larger the number of coin tosses, the more likely you are to approach a fifty-fifty distribution of heads and tails, right? 

Statement number #2 implies that if you have just tossed a coin twelve times, and ALL twelve of those have resulted in heads (a probability of 1 in 4,096) as you proceed to toss the coin for the thirteenth time, you expect it to come out a tail, and you bet accordingly, as some gamblers sometimes do. 

But actually, the smart gambler might be better off betting on head because, given the outcome of the first twelve tosses, there is a chance that the coin was tampered with and is loaded towards “head.” 

Statisticians try to explain the irreconcilability of the two statements above by quoting the “law of large numbers.” In probability theory, the law of large numbers (LLN) is a mathematical theorem which states that the average of the results obtained from a large number of independent and identical random samples converges to the true value, if it exists. More formally, the LLN states that given a sample of independent and identically distributed values, the sample mean converges to the true mean (Wikipedia).

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Who to Vote for President?

Tom Kando

The presidential election is coming up. We will have four more years of the same president we had before - either a good and decent octogenarian who is doing his best, who is a normal human being, who is overseeing a country that is doing quite well despite  turbulence overseas and a general domestic malaise, Or an unpredictable weirdo  who is likely to steer the country deeper into right-wing  chaos and extremism.  

The president of the US matters. So I Googled this topic once again. Who were our good and successful presidents, and the bad  ones? One Wikipedia website offers this in the form of metadata:

Twenty-one separate rankings obtained throughout the second half of the 20^th century and the first decades of the 21^st.  

US Presidential Rankings

I summarize the combined results below: 

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Israel's Mistake

Tom Kando 

I have always been a strong supporter of Israel. Of its right to exist. Of Jews’ right to have a homeland. Of this homeland existing peacefully side-by-side next to an independent Palestinian homeland. Does this make me a Zionist? I also happen to be Jewish, in the sense that my family on my mother’s side was Jewish. In the last year of World War Two (1945), my grandparents and other relatives were evicted from their homes in Budapest, forced to wear a yellow star, and incarcerated in the city’s Jewish holding centers awaiting shipment to Auschwitz. 

I remain a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist, but that country is now going in the wrong direction. I am not addressing the moral question underlying the current war in Gaza. My plea stems from fear and a desire for pragmatism 

What Israel is doing right now is not going to work. The country is going the wrong way. I’m not speaking morally. The moral objection to what Israel is doing has been stated clearly by the thousands of marching students all over the US and elsewhere as well as by a majority of the world’s public opinion. 

What I’m talking about here is the future of Israel, and how to make sure that the country HAS a future. Part of the problem is that in this war, both parties’ objective is the total destruction of the enemy. But what Israel seeks is the destruction of a militant group, whereas Hamas’ objective is the destruction of an entire country. 

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