Small Streams

Look Around You

The azimuth is the horizontal component of a direction. The verticle component is the altitude. Assuming each component is divided into 360 degrees, you can measure the degrees of the azimuth or altitude by holding out your arm: one degree is the width of your pinky finger, five degrees is the width of your boy scout pledge fingers — index, middle, and ring, and ten degrees is the width of your fist. Liz just told me that, in drawing, a good way to imagine the lay of the land is to think of the landscape as a turntable divided as a clock, divided up in twelve segments, each segment representing one hour (each hour then representing 30 degrees).

In such a way we can imagine ourselves within visual spheres. No reason we can't imagine this metaphor to apply to other sensations. We live within aural bubbles, beyond which a bunch of trees are falling. We live in olfactory bubbles, which I imagine to be more blob-shaped than spherical.

We can even apply the concept of bubbles to our reactions, real or imagined, to other natural phenomena. Some obsessive types imagine they live within spheres (bubbles) that are under constant attack by pathogens. But the best way to fight the pathogens is to let others into our bubbles. That is, letting people into our bubbles is good for our us.

Hugs may not be the answer. Hugs may not be all that we need. But considered probabilistically it's a good thing to do.

Posted by mastr at September 12, 2005 07:48 AM