Random Ramblings.

• Author: KREYCHE, GERALD F.
• Position: Thoughts on various topics - Brief Article - Column

THERE ARE few absolutes. Truth may be one of them, but, because we are humans, our participation in truth is necessarily finite, relative, and historical. As the wisdom of the Talmud has it, "We do not see things the way they are; we see them the way we are."

Immaturity tends to absolutize our own culture, and we judge others by it. For example, American children ask why the English drive their vehicles on the wrong side of the street. We can't fathom why Hebraic and Arabic read right to left instead of left to right. We are even more surprised to learn that Egyptian hieroglyphics read up and down. We think Japanese music is disharmonious when, in fact, it has a different tonal scale. We look upon belching as impolite, but in many other societies, it is seen as a compliment to the host.

Nothing compares to that sinking feeling when one leaves a rest stop on a superhighway and sees an antifreeze and/or oil stain beneath the engine. The question always asserts itself, "Did it come from my car, or was it there before I parked?" We resolve to look at the pavement at the next rest stop before we park, but forget to do so. Again we observe a stain beneath the car's engine. Next time, we'll take care of it, we tell ourselves!

If the environmentalists had been around at the time of the American Revolution, there probably wouldn't have been a revolution, as they would have condemned dumping tea into Boston Harbor. It's a pollutant, they would say.

Do teenagers reflect psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's view on Civilization and Its Discontents? Many seem opposed to anything that disciplines their instincts and desires for pleasure and they resent institutional rules for the common good. Manifesting antisocial behavior, they seem opposed to work, neat dress, and organized bedrooms. (By the way, they were always busy as young children, but as teenagers "have nothing to do." What happened in the subsequent years?)

The meaning of a smile

We need someone to explore the meaning of a smile. Smiles can be disarming. It is hard to stay angry at a person who gives one a friendly smile. There is a drawing of a smiling face on a water tower off of Highway 80 in friendly Iowa. Everyone smiles when they pass it, since smiles, like laughter, are contagious. Of course, there are different types of smiles. There is the sad smile which seemed perpetual on the face of former First Lady Pat Nixon. Art lovers still discuss that puzzling and mysterious wisp of a smile on...