Read Reading notes #15 yesterday.... printed it out so that I could read again at leisure and to think about my response. As I have not read Contact, the book, nor seen Contact, the movie, I probably shouldn't comment. But this is me ! Lacking knowledge has rarely stopped me ! LoL However, as this IS me, I am sure I am taking the quotes, and possibly your intent, out of context or re-working the quotes to be about other things. Ah, but it feels good to say something, doesn't it ?
Movies are rarely better than the book, and always change things. Leaving out a lot is the "norm"... but you know that so I won't beleaguer this point.
What excellent quotes you have taken from the story ! I love finding meaningful quotes in books. Quotes that speak of human lives in so many way; that express what we feel about something, but either don't take the time to stop and think about it or can't find the right words of expression if we do think about it. Often, such meaningful words can be attached to other aspects of our lives when taken away from the original story. I have, somewhere, a hard cover note book I used to keep handy just for the purpose of writing those quotes down in ( I should find that notebook.... keep it close and handy again ).
“Humans are good, she knew, at discerning subtle patterns that are really there, but equally so at imagining them when they are altogether absent.” .... I am sure my response is far out in left field not having to do with the story of "Contact" ( movie or book ) at all, but.... I suspect people are better at imagining subtle patterns than discerning them. This is because many "see patterns" that really are based on their own experience and emotions. We take our own emotions/thoughts/etc and project them onto other situations and people, totally forgetting that we are not being mindful of the fact that others do not view a situation or another person as having their own emotions/thoughts/etc that could be ( and probably are ) very different from our own. That's what the "imagining" is.... projection of ourselves onto others and situations, etc. I know, I know.... what I am saying has nothing to do with interpreting any possible signal from outer space. Left field !!! LoL
“Don’t you ever feel . . . lost in your universe? How do you know what to do, how to behave, if there’s no God? Just obey the law or get arrested?” .... This is food for serious thought ! Our human laws are basically based on God's Law. What laws did humans have before God's laws were known to everyone or before the Bible was written ? Do we have the ability to figure out what laws we should have if not for His laws ? But that's presuming that humans came from evolution, not created by the Lord's hands. That's also not taking into consideration that our Father's Son expanded on those laws a bit.... added the softer touch of love and kindness.
“You’re not worried about being lost, Palmer. You’re worried about not being central, not the reason the universe was created.”.... No, no, no.... this can not be ! The universe WAS created for each of us individually. ( Joking !!! I am guilty of forgetting I am not the reason either !!! LoL )
“There are far too many non-fiction books that make their case in the introduction or first chapter, then spend the next 300 pages belaboring a point concisely and completely made in the first 25.”.... this is very true... even in fiction !!!! I have read many authors who tell it all in that first chapter, and the rest is just a lot of belaboring ! Even a few of my favorite authors do this, but I still read the entire novel. Why ? Because reading isn't just about the story line, the solved mystery, the ending. I read Jonathan Kellerman, not just because he writes well and writes crime mysteries that are intriguing, but because I enjoy the interaction between his characters ( especially his two main characters ). I have long ago lost the desire for Stephen King to scare me more than real life does, and read his books because he writes his characters in a way that brings them to life.... it's very much like meeting real people. I read Dean Koontz because so many of his characters are good and kind. ( Okay, King is not a good example of telling all in the first chapter.... adding him was just showing that one can read for other reasons than having the end at the end ! ) Ah, but non-fiction.... that's another story ! Yep, they are mostly filler !!! A couple of years ago, I read a book about neural plasticity....the filler was SO repetitive that it prompted me to not even remember the title of the book or the authors name !!!
Emotional Resilience sounds interesting..... my kind of non-fiction reading. Glad to have the warning regarding the last third of the book ! I'm not sure I agree with the quote from it.... it isn't setting well with me, but I don't know yet why that is. Maybe I just have not yet accepted my humanness and vulnerability ? :-)
My last thoughts on this: Connecting the dots happens as we grown, learn, live, because not all of the dots aren't viewable very early in life, and sometimes the dots don't even appear until one views through hindsight. However, finally seeing them is its own form of change.... the only change that absolutely can not happen is changing the past, and only leaves awareness and acceptance.... or an nonacceptance that is pure strife !!!
This... this is an excellent quote: "And sometimes the patterns aren’t patterns but inventions, layers of logic we arrange carefully to cover a chaos too random and bright and scary to live with." For some people ( me, specifically, because the universe was created solely for me... heh heh heh ), it is important to realize the inventions and what they cover !
“Much of what goes wrong in your life is supposed to go wrong. There are no mistakes.” Absolutely !!!!
Hello, Annie !!! Hello, Hello !!!!
Read Reading notes #15 yesterday.... printed it out so that I could read again at leisure and to think about my response. As I have not read Contact, the book, nor seen Contact, the movie, I probably shouldn't comment. But this is me ! Lacking knowledge has rarely stopped me ! LoL However, as this IS me, I am sure I am taking the quotes, and possibly your intent, out of context or re-working the quotes to be about other things. Ah, but it feels good to say something, doesn't it ?
Movies are rarely better than the book, and always change things. Leaving out a lot is the "norm"... but you know that so I won't beleaguer this point.
What excellent quotes you have taken from the story ! I love finding meaningful quotes in books. Quotes that speak of human lives in so many way; that express what we feel about something, but either don't take the time to stop and think about it or can't find the right words of expression if we do think about it. Often, such meaningful words can be attached to other aspects of our lives when taken away from the original story. I have, somewhere, a hard cover note book I used to keep handy just for the purpose of writing those quotes down in ( I should find that notebook.... keep it close and handy again ).
“Humans are good, she knew, at discerning subtle patterns that are really there, but equally so at imagining them when they are altogether absent.” .... I am sure my response is far out in left field not having to do with the story of "Contact" ( movie or book ) at all, but.... I suspect people are better at imagining subtle patterns than discerning them. This is because many "see patterns" that really are based on their own experience and emotions. We take our own emotions/thoughts/etc and project them onto other situations and people, totally forgetting that we are not being mindful of the fact that others do not view a situation or another person as having their own emotions/thoughts/etc that could be ( and probably are ) very different from our own. That's what the "imagining" is.... projection of ourselves onto others and situations, etc. I know, I know.... what I am saying has nothing to do with interpreting any possible signal from outer space. Left field !!! LoL
“Don’t you ever feel . . . lost in your universe? How do you know what to do, how to behave, if there’s no God? Just obey the law or get arrested?” .... This is food for serious thought ! Our human laws are basically based on God's Law. What laws did humans have before God's laws were known to everyone or before the Bible was written ? Do we have the ability to figure out what laws we should have if not for His laws ? But that's presuming that humans came from evolution, not created by the Lord's hands. That's also not taking into consideration that our Father's Son expanded on those laws a bit.... added the softer touch of love and kindness.
“You’re not worried about being lost, Palmer. You’re worried about not being central, not the reason the universe was created.”.... No, no, no.... this can not be ! The universe WAS created for each of us individually. ( Joking !!! I am guilty of forgetting I am not the reason either !!! LoL )
“There are far too many non-fiction books that make their case in the introduction or first chapter, then spend the next 300 pages belaboring a point concisely and completely made in the first 25.”.... this is very true... even in fiction !!!! I have read many authors who tell it all in that first chapter, and the rest is just a lot of belaboring ! Even a few of my favorite authors do this, but I still read the entire novel. Why ? Because reading isn't just about the story line, the solved mystery, the ending. I read Jonathan Kellerman, not just because he writes well and writes crime mysteries that are intriguing, but because I enjoy the interaction between his characters ( especially his two main characters ). I have long ago lost the desire for Stephen King to scare me more than real life does, and read his books because he writes his characters in a way that brings them to life.... it's very much like meeting real people. I read Dean Koontz because so many of his characters are good and kind. ( Okay, King is not a good example of telling all in the first chapter.... adding him was just showing that one can read for other reasons than having the end at the end ! ) Ah, but non-fiction.... that's another story ! Yep, they are mostly filler !!! A couple of years ago, I read a book about neural plasticity....the filler was SO repetitive that it prompted me to not even remember the title of the book or the authors name !!!
Emotional Resilience sounds interesting..... my kind of non-fiction reading. Glad to have the warning regarding the last third of the book ! I'm not sure I agree with the quote from it.... it isn't setting well with me, but I don't know yet why that is. Maybe I just have not yet accepted my humanness and vulnerability ? :-)
My last thoughts on this: Connecting the dots happens as we grown, learn, live, because not all of the dots aren't viewable very early in life, and sometimes the dots don't even appear until one views through hindsight. However, finally seeing them is its own form of change.... the only change that absolutely can not happen is changing the past, and only leaves awareness and acceptance.... or an nonacceptance that is pure strife !!!
This... this is an excellent quote: "And sometimes the patterns aren’t patterns but inventions, layers of logic we arrange carefully to cover a chaos too random and bright and scary to live with." For some people ( me, specifically, because the universe was created solely for me... heh heh heh ), it is important to realize the inventions and what they cover !
“Much of what goes wrong in your life is supposed to go wrong. There are no mistakes.” Absolutely !!!!