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Improving Brain and Spirit

© Richard Kent Matthews

" If all the insects were to disappear from the face of the earth tomorrow, the rest of life on this planet would follow very shortly. But if humanity were to disappear tomorrow, the rest of life on the planet would thrive. How's that for knocking our arrogance down a bit?!" (Attrib.)

In this little article, I simply want to share some statistics for you to ponder. It's easy to write opinions, and fun, actually, but sometimes, statistics can be fun, too, as I am sure you'll agree. But first, be clear: Mark Twain said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." But that notwithstanding, I share these with you in a light-hearted sense. Learn from them, but don't take them too seriously.

But first, we humans like to think we know a bit. And we do, actually. Nearly everything we know of any consequence we have learned or discovered within the past 150 years or so. In fact, most of what we know, scientifically and technologically at any rate, we have learned within the last 100 years. We went from horse and buggy to the moonwalk in less that 70 years. We went from the first computer back in the 1920s to the Internet. We watched Filo Farnsworth's blurry little TV picture, also in the 1920s, and now we have big screens and DVD technology that surpasses anything Filo could have imagined. (Actually, I read somewhere that Filo actually stole the idea for TV from someone else. If any of you know about that, let me know about it, too. Thanks.)

And still we know practically nothing. And we know we know nothing. But we continue to reach. And we must always continue to reach. It is our saving grace.

Do you do much reading? No? Then you're not alone. Here are some stats from the American Booksellers Association. They're eye openers!

Eighty percent of Americans did not buy or read, and will not buy or read, a book this year. (Yet, book sales are at an all time high. Interesting. . .)

Seventy percent of adults have not been in a bookstore in the past five years. (My favorite bookstore is Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon. It takes up an entire city block and is three levels of both new and used books of all kinds. It's located at SW 10th and Burnside, if you're visiting our city. On most days, it's nearly packed. It's a big tourist draw, especially in summer. But the customers and visitors represent a drop in the bucket compared to those who do not go to bookstores-ever.)

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