Bifurcation of Thoughts

 

There is a concept in Mathematics called "Bifurcation Theory".  I am not a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination, but aspects of this mathematical theory have permeated into my own discipline a bit, and I do talk about a specialized aspect of bifurcation theory in reference to my course on ethology.  

Biological Bifurcation Theory relates to attempts to understand the behavior of organisms that are responding in a fluid (dynamic) fashion.  The theory purports to help establish and understand how small changes in sensory input by an organism observing behavior of others can result in qualitative (and potentially quantitative) change in the behavior of the observer.   

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The word "bifurcation" was in my mind today, not only because of my interest in Biological Bifurcation Theory.... but primarily because when I decided to write here today, I was of two different minds about what I wanted to try to discuss. And as I have decided to spend a few minutes here writing, I can now say that in reality I NOW have a trifurcation of thoughts I wish to write about.  So, even though they are more disjointed than even my USUAL sling requiring disjointed thoughts, here are the three things I plan to focus on:

1.  The Oxford High School shootings.

2.  My "bulleted list" sort of stream of consciousness thoughts.  

3.  My big lecture foci from today.

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1.  Oxford..... these horrific shootings hit so close to home for me.  We ALL know and realize how horrific the kid's actions were.  We ALL know the need for stringent gun control measures and safety.  We all know how these tragedies reflect our significant short comings in providing mental health services.  The patterns these shootings seem to follow are along two tracks as well.  Usually the perpetrator is either a) a long time troublemaker who has shown consistent and accelerating levels of aggression over a period of months if not years, or b)  a quiet kid who has been persistently forced to be an "outsider" and very frequently has been bullied.  I am not sure about anything regarding this perpetrator, but I suspect he will fit into either (a) or (b) in the above.  

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2.   Abbreviated Bulleted List

• Only ran seven miles this morning, as I awoke rather late (well.... I should really say I hit the snooze alarm so many times, that my feet did not hit the FLOOR until it was rather late.... my alarm DID start ringing at its usual time of 4:30am).   I have to try to hit the pavement again when I get out of the U tonight.  Luckily we had a bit of a heat wave where it was in the low 40s and the snow melted, so I can potentially run outside.  
  

• I tried my damnedest to force myself into a nice dream last night with hopes of remembering it this morning.  After reading the next chapter in my book about Solanus, I closed my eyes and was trying to vividly imagine being retired where my wife and I were in our two bedroom (one for us to sleep in and one for us to have as an office/hobby room) condominium somewhere in Florida.  I even was imagining that I was wearing a pleasantly garish tropical shirt and shorts as I closed down my computer for I had finished the little bit of work I was doing as a side gig teaching one ONLINE course in A&P, and was heading off to bicycle down to my other side gig, where I worked at a tobacco shop for about 10 hours a week.   My bicycle had a cup carrier on the handlebars so I could conveniently hold my tall glass of iced coffee while I pedaled towards the pipe shop.  It was at this point in my daydream that I must have fallen asleep.... and frustratingly, not a damn bit of any dream was remembered... again.
  

• A wonderful older lady at our Parish made a wonderful treat to share at the Parish Council Meeting last night.  She told me it was a classic Mexican candy that she had eaten since she was a little girl.  She simply called it "Pumpkin Candy", but that moniker really does not help to describe it.  It was literally large chunks (around 3 inches across) of pumpkin rind that had been slow simmered and candied in a processes she said took most of the day.  When finished simmering, the chunks of rind were chilled before eating.  They were absolutely delicious! And the texture was quite surprising as well.  The rind was firm, and almost "crisp" on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside.  Some folks at the meeting did not seem to like the pumpkin candy..... so she had about a 1/2 dozen pieces left.  She VERY kindly and generously gave them to me, because she saw how much I had enjoyed the one I had eaten.
  

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 3.  My two lectures for today had a bit of overlap.   They both were focused on the hormonal control mechanisms, but in one class I focused on  these  mechanisms related to a) metamorphic changes in morphology of insects, and in the other class I focused on how these mechanisms b) make the hypothalamic-pitutiary-adrenal axis in the human body the primary chemotaxic regulator of homeostasis.  Happily, I feel both lectures were clear and precise, and I felt I even had a bit of panache in my delivery as well.  

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