On the Propagation of Constraints

It is often amazing how propagation of constraints from one situation to another results in non obvious connections between various aspects of the human condition. A few minutes ago, and still now, my granddaughter Willow has been joyfully carrying around a little shopping bag in it with various items. She comes to me about once a minute to add or subtract something from her bag. She has discovered the utility of bags, and probably learned the concept from some older female in her family.

So, what has this to do with the propagation of constraints ? A woman depends, in part, upon her physical attractiveness to others for survival or simply to have a good life. That simple and controvertible fact leads to constraints on the clothes she wears. The clothes must be attractive and favorably display her figure. This leads to the subsequent constraint that women's clothes seldom have as many pockets as men's clothes. A notable example is that men's shirts usually have a breast pocket on the left side, usually absent on women's clothes.

Similarly pockets on women's skirts are usually inconveniently on the front instead of on the side where they would interfere with display of her womanly hips. The net result of this is that women carry purses for their item carrying needs. In men's clothes, the pockets are their "purses." A follow on example of the utility of carrying capacity is the ancient tradition of basket making especially used in hunter-gatherer societies.

And so it comes to pass that my female grandchild is having fun today having joyfully discovered the utility of carrying capacity of some sort, all constrained by her future need to be attractive with that need conveyed to her by the habits of some older woman.

The change of the year

Cicero and the budget

My friend Nat sent me this:

What have we learned in 2,064 years since the Roman Empire?

So here it is. What have we learned in 2,064 years?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled,
public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be
tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should
be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to
work, instead of living on public assistance."

- Cicero - 55 BC

Cougars in Maryland

There have been over 500 cougar sightings in Maryland in the past few decades. One of the most recent was in "Lagrest swamp on Charles/St. Marys County Line off of Rte 235 as recently as October 10, 2008 was by a Maryland State Trooper." The quote is from John Lutz of the Puma Research Network. There are also credible testimonies of cougars around Sugarloaf mountain and elsewhere.

Cubs have been sighted in the northern east Cheasapeake Bay area, thereby establishing that there is a breeding population, not just wandering males. The white-tailed deer is the cougar's favorite prey. Only rarely will they eat a young child.

It is believed that cougars might have survived from a remnant Delaware/New Jersey population and were never truly extirpated. It is also known that people are breeding and releasing them.

I'm passing into another dimension

This a pic that is definitely not copyrighted by someone else. It is me the blogger.

Diary flashbacks

For a long time, Lona and I have occasionally made entries in a joint diary since March 4, 1978. With a long ago view to climate change, I often recorded leaf emergence in the Spring and leaf fall in the Fall season. Today Oct. 27, 2008, it is still mostly green in the forest with some yellow leaves. Oct. 1, 2006 most had already turned yellow and would soon fall. Someday I will extract all entries and summarize them somewhere as a record of climate change.

Here is a random entry from Dec. 1, 1978:

It is really quite pleasant sitting amongst family (Soren & Lona) here at our apartment looking out at the night view of lights. Soren is happy, Lona is happy, I am happy. All is well. Just had spinach quiche washed down with tonic water ... Ahhh.

Ken LaCapria stopped by to pick up a buckle order. We talked about old times. Soren is sitting on Lona's shoulders pulling her hair. Great fun for Soren. We hope to hear from our builder soon about a price estimate.

Quote by John Archibald Wheeler: "... the past exists only as it is recorded in the present..."

The reference to an apartment, was in Oxon Hill, across from Sunnybrook and Henson Creek. Lona was still in the belt buckle business. We never did use the builder's services and instead built our house ourselves as project managers with John Greene's help on framing. I evidently recorded the quote from Wheeler as a remainder of the diary process itself. Wheeler specialized in general relativity and thus often thought about the passage of time.