Re: object: bunnies, et al.,

From: Bill Barowy (wbarowy@lesley.edu)
Date: Mon May 29 2000 - 07:20:02 PDT


>X-Originating-IP: [216.14.0.36]
>From: "John Konopak" <the_left_rev@hotmail.com>
>To: wbarowy@lesley.edu
>Subject: Re: object: bunnies, et al.,
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 06:40:48 PDT
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
>hi bill...im still away from my office machine...so this post, if it goes
>thru, hasta go thru you...
>in re: Bunnies
>im pretty sure what you described was the bunny mating dance, and your
>penned bunny, in heat, was pretending---or picking up pheromones--that the
>hunk of sod was a boy (or a girl) bunny...it just depends on where you're
>standing, and in whose discourse, non?
>
>as for sex, i think you got there, cautions notwithstanding
>
>regards from the bunny trail
>
>konopak
>>From: Bill Barowy <wbarowy@lesley.edu>
>>Reply-To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>Subject: object: bunnies, et al.,
>>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 01:06:06 -0400
>>
>>At 7:20 AM -0700 5/23/00, Paul H. Dillon wrote:
>> >"Now the physicist, himself, who describes all this, is, in his own
>>account,
>> >himself constrcuted of it. He is, in short, made of a conglomeration of
>>the
>> >very particulars he describes, no more, no less, bound together by and
>> >obeying such general laws as he himself has managed to find and to
>>record.
>> >
>> >"Thus we cannot escape the fact that the world we know is constructed in
>> >order (and thus in such a way as to be able) to see itself.
>> >
>> >"This is indeed amazing."
>> >
>> >
>> >G. Spencer Brown - "Laws of Form"
>> >
>>
>>Nicely put, Paul. I'm there -- except for the self-perception motive,
>>imposed by Brown, on the universe. Why, after all, would the world need,
>>or even want, to 'see' itself, when there are so many other ways of
>>self-perception, self-interaction, self-knowing, that are not limited to
>>what humans can detect and know? Consider this transform, granting that
>>humans already know about x-rays:
>>
>>"Thus we cannot escape the fact that the world we know is constructed in
>>order (and thus in such a way as to be able) to x-ray itself."
>>
>>Don't even think about sex. Don't go there.
>>
>>This brings us to bunnies. Today, while shoveling out backyard topsoil in
>>preparation for a patio, we noticed that the bunny was acting quite...
>>well... 'nuts'. She herself had been digging a bit here and there in her
>>pen since the ground had thawed, limited by the fence put underground to
>>keep her from going too far. As we were digging, she was running back and
>>forth along the retaining fence rather excitedly -- shadows of Leont'ev.
>>Was it the smell of the fresh earth? Instinctively, I took a chunk of sod
>>that Judy B. had dug up and dropped it into bunny's enclosure. She began
>>nibbling on the grass, and I cautioned her against eating too much greens
>>in one day, ignoring my own earlier conclusion that she was quite deaf, and
>>the fact that she probably could not understand what I was saying, even if
>>she was not.
>>
>>After a few minutes of munching, she began running around the chunk of sod
>>-- it was about half her size. Clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then
>>sometimes leaping over it. It was a similar pattern to the one posted
>>about the card-board box, except for the jumping, the box being higher than
>>the sod. And of course she was able to go into the box, but not the sod.
>>After ten minutes or so of running around, she began (repeatedly) digging
>>with her front paws at the dirt and roots of the clump, then rolling in it,
>>forehead first, performing a 360 turn and finishing on her feet. A new
>>behavior, not seen with the introduction of the box into her enclosure --
>>digging and rolling. We were amused. Was she marking the sod with her
>>scent? If so, why the sod and not the box? We continued to dig
>>ourselves, minus the rolling of course, and observed her in parallel. She
>>alternated the digging, rolling and encircling of the sod clump, without
>>apparent design, for over half an hour. I began to wonder about humans'
>>predisposition for gardening in the spring...
>>
>>Since there will be lots of opportunities to drop a chunk of sod into her
>>pen in the future, we're wondering how to go about it next.
>>
>>
>>
>>Bill Barowy, Associate Professor
>>Lesley University, 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790
>>Phone: 617-349-8168 / Fax: 617-349-8169
>>http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/wbarowy/Barowy.html
>>_______________________
>>"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself
>> and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
>>[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]
>>
>>
>
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Bill Barowy, Associate Professor
Lesley University, 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790
Phone: 617-349-8168 / Fax: 617-349-8169
http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/wbarowy/Barowy.html
_______________________
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself
 and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]



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