The consolations of Philosophy

I am onto the Economics section now so why the title here is Consolations of Philosophy I don't know. To be honest once past the science, I was a little bored as in my opinion, economics is only a step up from sociology and only a few clicks higher than quackery. All you business-suited MBAs out there are probably gearing up for a bout of apoplexy but tough. Business seems to make a mess of things when we could be so much better. I know that my Sociology lecturer (a nice American by the name of Tom Manual if he is out there anywhere) would say that a deep understanding of how people behave in organisations helps business to adapt and react to situations in a sort of cybernetic feedback loop but I think so much of organisational activity is so beset by personal axe-grinding, that sociology must give way to a need for a psychological understanding at a level not beloved of sociologists. Too much sentence there I think. Anyway, I did learn all about Maslow and Taylor and many other people who generalised about the way the world works. We spend too much time deciding on how bad things are rather than trying to make things better. What colour should fire be?

It is very quiet in here at the moment. I am on help desk but it is not evening. I am afraid I have two consecutive half-day stints at this because I swopped with Martin some months ago and only now has he got his time. There is a general working day ambience because the windows are open and we can hear some of the traffic and some of the aircraft outside. And now I want to talk to you all about trees. I love trees. They are the most important form of life on the planet and very important more locally because they make this country so wonderful to be in. Call me a tree-hugger if you like but being in woodland and forest is one of the most relaxing things you can do. I don't get to do this very often. Take away all the trees and see what the world will be like. Some people seem to be making a start on this already. I have news! We will all SUFFOCATE! Stop it NOW or we are all going to DIE. Sorry. Next time I won't be so nice about it. The wind outside has started howling now.

I have just found this Ladybird Book site and consequently this one. Browse and go back to your childhood. Don't the children in the Junior Science section look happy and well cared for? A pleae for private education if ever there was one. How radical are you. Putting a ring through your nose does not make you a dangerous individual worthy of special branch investigation but neither does it make you a free-thinker - more of a sheep if you ask me. Ubermensch anybody? I would think of myself one if it were not for the requirement that you crave the exact repetition of your life. Nietzsche, Smietzsche - of sorry I have done that some time ago.

Someone called Andrew Collins has just called our help desk. I don't think it was THE Andrew Collins as I am sure he will be on his way to work for this show. Notice that a guy called Adam Smith is in the studio today. So the economics section did leave some impression on my brain. Actually, I already knew of Adam Smith - Wealth of Nations and all that. We used to have a site in Kircaldy where he was born. That is of course all I can tell you except that Margaret Thatcher probably has a shrine to him in her bedroom and sacrifces small animals to his memory. Oh! Quite Charming. It makes me want to dance. (Amarok by the way)