Writings of the Mind and Heart of RW Doefer
There are certain words, especially in political discourse, that we hear too often such as ‘everyone knows that’ and ‘that’s what they always do,’ which is a double generalization. Frequently, ‘they’ is a nebulous group of people somewhere out there with no identity or proof that’s what ‘they’ think or even exist.
It seems to me that at least every other week there is a new, oddly spelled drug on the market. Do the folks who create these ‘wonders of improved health’ have a reservoir of names from which to draw? Is it possible that big pharma has an ad agency, one its job it is to develop a source of names from which the various companies can make selections, depending upon the purpose of each new item. Or does each one have a linguistics specialist on the payroll.
Directly in front of our patio is an interesting tree, one of which I don’t know the name but which I realize is a representation of my life. I do realize, however, that every tree is a ‘Tree of Life’ and is depicted as such by many writers and artists. As I sit here and examine ‘my’ tree I can create a scenario which parallels my life.
I read an article in Reader’s Digest months ago by Bruce Grierson whose article, ‘The Rule of 10’, which had been published in full in the magazine Psychology Today. In it he writes,
Ten-year olds are about to experience the biggest surge of intellectual horsepower in their lifetimes, as measured by gains in executive function. . . Ten-year olds are transitioning, in other words, from dreamers to lawyers.
