The evolution of the curmudgeonly spirit
Comments: 4
While writing that last post it occurred me to that I’m well and truly on my way to becoming a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas (or so it would appear) even though the Shorter OED would call me merely a “churlish and niggardly” person.
Now churlish I would hope I’m not, but niggardly with respect to the new is not so bad if it helps to preserve things worth keeping, and if you can fit it into some sort of larger, noble rationale (which, this being a matter of self-preservation, can be easily done). To that end, a thought occurs to me.
The curmudgeonly spirit evolves to act as a sort of brake on impulses or behaviour that while possibly beneficial in the short-term, are not in our long-term interests. It’s there to keep an eye on the marginalia which are usually subordinate to bald economic concerns.
I imagine proto-curmedgeons huddled around ancient campfires grunting at the rest of the tribe to leave some of those trees on the hillside — we can go cold for a while and we’ll want that shade in the summer — or exorting them to leave that last breeding pair of mammoths unspeared.
Viewed in this way, you ignore curmudgeons at your peril. So there. I’m feeling better about myself already.
P.S. For a wonderful reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh as environmental parable, see The Ecology of Eden by Evan Eisenberg.
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2005.02.28 (Mon) • 13:39
Comments
Posted by Kristen 2005.03.02, 18:40
I have observed that curmudgeonliness is in direct proportion to grey hair. My friends who greyed early are farther along the path than those who retained their pigment.
Posted by jh 2005.03.04, 01:13
I’ve had grey hair since I was eighteen … there may be some truth to what you say.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) 2005.03.04, 10:00
You just wrote this to see if anyone would challenge you on the use of the word “niggardly” without first looking it up, didn’t you? Or have you trained your readers better than that now?
Speaking of being old and crabby, I want to recommend the Crabby Old Lady blog, Time Goes By. (http://www.timegoesby.net/). I love her writing and I think you would, too. Plus some of her photos (like her with John Lennon and Yoko Ono) are great.
Posted by trucos de casinos 2005.07.12, 19:48
There maybe some truth to what you say. Henry Wallas…
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