Paul Buckingham - Philosophy and life in general

Travels with ducks April 2007 The Alpine valley along which we were travelling was perhaps a mile wide and more or less flat. We were on our way back to Annecy from Chamonix, where we had taken a look at the glacier which comes down from Mont Blanc. This has carved out its path over millions of years and, in the summer, when it is not covered in snow, you can see the boulders strewn all over it, marking its continued determination to let nothing stand in its way. The valley leading away from Chamonix was no longer the subject of these forces, but clearly had been created by the immense rush of billions of tonnes of water, ice and rock which marked the end of the ice-age. It was winter, in fact the beginning of January. It was cold and there was snow at the edges of our road. Along the way, there were one or two small lakes with some very puzzled ducks sitting on ice instead of paddling in water. Granted the short life of a duck and the lack of the parent ducks’ ability to pass on their experience of this strange time of year, it is surprising that the young cope with it at all. They must have very bruised undercarriages from when they first try to land on what should be water. By contrast, we were travelling on a motorway in a car with all the latest in computer-assisted controls to help deliver us in safety and comfort to our destination. And that marks as well as anything the difference between us and the lower orders of animals. We can learn from one another, not only directly by talking to parents and friends, but indirectly by, for example, reading books and consulting the internet. This knowledge, indeed, has a life of its own, separate from that of its authors. People work out explanations for what goes on around us and invent things and as soon as they are publicised, they cease to be the sole preserve of the discoverer or inventor - instead we all have access to them and can use and build upon them. So does knowledge grow and enable future generations to start, not from scratch, like the ducks, but from the stage that the previous generation had reached. Knowledge is now increasing at an almost frightening speed. It has been estimated that the amount of knowledge is currently doubling each year. It remains to be seen what will happen in the future, but long may it continue to grow. How dull our lives would be if it stopped. Home A Point of View Philosophy Who am I? Links Photos of Annecy

	Travels with ducks

	April 2007 The Alpine valley along which we were travelling was perhaps a mile wide and more or less flat. We were on our way back to Annecy from Chamonix, where we had taken a look at the glacier which comes down from Mont Blanc. This has carved out its path over millions of years and, in the summer, when it is not covered in snow, you can see the boulders strewn all over it, marking its continued determination to let nothing stand in its way. The valley leading away from Chamonix was no longer the subject of these forces, but clearly had been created by the immense rush of billions of tonnes of water, ice and rock which marked the end of the ice-age. It was winter, in fact the beginning of January. It was cold and there was snow at the edges of our road. Along the way, there were one or two small lakes with some very puzzled ducks sitting on ice instead of paddling in water. Granted the short life of a duck and the lack of the parent ducks’ ability to pass on their experience of this strange time of year, it is surprising that the young cope with it at all. They must have very bruised undercarriages from when they first try to land on what should be water. By contrast, we were travelling on a motorway in a car with all the latest in computer-assisted controls to help deliver us in safety and comfort to our destination. And that marks as well as anything the difference between us and the lower orders of animals. We can learn from one another, not only directly by talking to parents and friends, but indirectly by, for example, reading books and consulting the internet. This knowledge, indeed, has a life of its own, separate from that of its authors. People work out explanations for what goes on around us and invent things and as soon as they are publicised, they cease to be the sole preserve of the discoverer or inventor - instead we all have access to them and can use and build upon them. So does knowledge grow and enable future generations to start, not from scratch, like the ducks, but from the stage that the previous generation had reached. Knowledge is now increasing at an almost frightening speed. It has been estimated that the amount of knowledge is currently doubling each year. It remains to be seen what will happen in the future, but long may it continue to grow. How dull our lives would be if it stopped.
	Home A Point of View Philosophy Who am I? Links Photos of Annecy