Fun_People Archive
3 Nov
Blissful Ignorance and Our Place on the Planet...

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Sun,  3 Nov 96 20:08:28 -0800
To: Fun_People
Subject: Blissful Ignorance and Our Place on the Planet...

Forwarded-by: gosner@ainet.com (George Osner)
From: phs3@watdcs.uwaterloo.ca
Subject: Ignorance is bliss?  (True story)

My classmate, Susan, and I are in the middle of our thesis rewrites for Johns
Hopkins University.  We only have two weeks left and we are both quite razzled
at the prospect of doing more research in the remaining time.

Today Susan called me to say that she desperately needed more history about a
small tribe of Native Americans that lives in the Grand Canyon but there's
only one telephone on the reservation and no one ever answers it.

As a matter of fact, the three times she visited the tribe's Visitor Center
while she was on vacation, she said no one ever opened up the building.

Being a computer geek, I said, "Have you checked the Internet?"

She said, "No, what a great idea!  Thanks."

I did a quick check using Excite while she used Yahoo and she was astounded at
the information available about this little-known tribe.  She thanked me
profusely for the tip and hung up.

Two hours later, she called me back sounding absolutely miserable.

"Susan," I said, "What's the matter?"

"Well," she said, "You're not going to believe it but they have their own Web
page with all the information I could ever want about the tribe."

"That's great," I said. "What more could you ask for?"

"You don't understand," she said. "My article is about how *isolated* the
tribe is and how their only path to the outside world is a little dirt trail
up the side of the canyon!  On their Web page, they even have a scanned photo
of the helicopter that brought the donated PC into the canyon."

Moral of the story:  Sometimes ignorance is bliss--especially when you're
trying to finish a thesis on time.

==============================================================================

From: gosner@ainet.com (george osner)

"My soul can find no staircase to heaven unless it be through earth's
loveliness."

        >>>Michelangelo

(and, I would add, through the beauty and power of music.  The wilderness
and beautiful music are the twin forces that most easily remind me of the
grace we live in.I was in the California Coast Range near Patterson, CA
this week and had the privilege of a long visit from a coyote--I was on
his turf, and he was clear that I was the visitor.  Standing there with
the hills rolling in the background, the oaks around me, and this
magnificent creature wooking me in the face, I was reminded that we are
all family here, and are called on to care for one another and for our home.)

 George Osner   <gosner@ainet.com>

© 1996 Peter Langston