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Showing posts with label ancient Greeks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ancient Greeks. Show all posts

Sunday, December 28, 2008

CULTURE/SOCIETY: The Origin Of Bah Humbug

This is from me, and is NOT some reprinted material. - OlderMusicGeek

Last year, I had the following at the end of all my Christmas posts...

Happy Christmas and/or Boxing Day and/or Kwanzaa and/or Hannakah and/or Bodhi Day and/or Sanghamitta Day and/or Shabe Cheleh and/or Makara Sankranti and/or Junkanoo and/or Dong Zhi and/or Toji and/or Soyal and/or Yule and/or Seva Zistane and/or Alban Arthan and/or Long Night and/or Mean Geimrech and/or Brumalia and/or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and/or Saturnalia and/or Lenaea and/or Wren Day and/or Tekufah Tevet and/or Winter Solstice and/or ChriFSMas and/or any other December or winter solstice holidays i missed!

Oh, and Bah Humbug to those who don't celebrate the holidays! :)


Some of you asked about this "Bah Humbug" holiday.

So I thought I would explained this little known holiday.

It occurs on the winter solstice or rather during the longest night of the year.

Originally, the holiday was started by a ancient Greek school of philosophers known as the Skeptikoi. The purpose of it then was to "comtemplate how the unknowability of the world is like the darkest darkness".

It was called "βάλλω baukopanourgos" - "throwing of the humbug". The insects were so numerous that night, that they were swatting them left and right. And many of the insects got knocked around.

Somehow, βάλλω or "ballo" eventually became "bah" and "baukopanourgos" was translated to its English equivalent.


This time of contemplation was then picked up the school of philosophers in ancient Greeks known as the "κύων" or the "dogs" or The "Cynics".

They were called the dogs because they felt virtue was the only thing needed for happiness, and anything else - including family, money, and even hygiene - weren't needed.

But under The Cynics, this holiday became about they needed nothing, not even light, instead of the unknowable.


As time went on, "Bah Humbugs" became "Bah Humbug" and it became about things we don't need rather than not needing anything. So by Victorian times, it was a time to contemplate on serious matters rather than frivolous things.

And humbug got associated with nonsense and silly things. And also with hoaxes and jests.

And since "bah" rather than "boo" was used to scare people in Victoria times, most people assume "bah humbug" was away of telling people to send away their nonsense.

Thus, Ebenezer Scrooge telling his nephew "bah humbug" when he brought up Christmas.

Wikipedia entry on Skepticism
Wikipedia entry on The Cynics
Wikipedia entry for Humbug
The Uncyclopedia entry for Humbug

A link to all my Christmas posts

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix
powered by PANDORA
But if you don't have Pandora, you can hear some of songs at http://www.playlist.com/oldermusicgeek

Saturday, March 15, 2008

SCIENCE/TECHONOLOGY and CULTURE/SOCIETY: Pi Day

Well, I'm a day late on this one. I just learned about it on yesterday and have been kind of busy. But here's some stuff to make up for it!

But I'll start with this quote: Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important. - OlderMusicGeek




From The National Post
Pi Day: It only comes 'round once a year
Posted: March 14, 2008, 3:21 PM by Chris Boutet

Well, today's date is 3/14, and you know what that means: That's right, math nerds, it's Pi Day! And the 20th anniversary of the first Pi Day, at that!

So what are you waiting for? Straighten that pocket protectors and start celebrating the number that never ends. If you're at a loss for ideas, John Tierney of the New York Times offers a few celebration suggestions on his science blog, TierneyLab. Our favourite among them, of course, involves eating:

1) Enjoy a piece of pie precisely at the Pi Second, 1:59:26 p.m. (3/14/1:59:26)

Granted, those of us in the Eastern time zone may have missed the boat on this one, but for those of you in B.C. and the Prairies, grab a fork; you've still got time.

To learn more about this important milestone, check out The Exploratorium's 20th Annual Pi Day Celebration page.

Here are a few items from that page. - OlderMusicGeek

Pi-kus - haikus about pi...

Endless digits, yet
No guarantee your pie will
Yield another slice
- ?

A circumference
divide by diameter
irrational pi.
- Paul D

Mnemonics where the number of characters in each word gives you a digit of pi. The first word has 3 characters, the second word has 1 character, the third has 4 characters and so on...

Man, I know, I sense,
struggles to deduce life’s end.
Silly endeavor.
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf

Egg, a beer, a steak
decorates my shower floor.
I’ve drunk overmuch.
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf

It’s a bird, a plane,
appearing in cloudy skies--
It’s brave Superman!
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf

A Pi limerick....

Now there is an ancient Greek letter,
And I think no other is better.
It isn't too tall,
It might look very small,
But its digits, they go on forever.
- http://www.kathimitchell.com/piceleb.html


The official Pi Day website
The origin of Pi Day
A short history of pi from San Francisco's Exploratorium
Did a state legislature once pass a law saying pi equals 3?
NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday's story on Pi Day
NPR's The Bryant Park Project's piece on Pi Day
NPR's All Things Considered's story on Pi Day last year

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