Tuesday 11 January 2011

Old beginnings and new endings, renewed.


Last year, shortly after catching breath after an enthusiastic “Happy New Year” - shouted randomly to an innocent passerby - I had what I thought was a bright idea for this blog.

I could add a post that started: -“Old beginnings and new endings”

Clearly I was thinking that as the New Year starts the old one fades and that resolute anticipation of the future could also be a time of resonant reflection on the past.

I was thinking dichotomy.

Even if I had no idea either how to spell it (necessitating spell checker if I wrote it) or what it really means (necessitating Wikipedia to check I had written the correct word.)

Wikipedi confirms “A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts, or in half. It is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets) that are:

jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and
mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simultaneously to both parts.

The two parts thus formed are complements. In logic, the partitions are opposites if there exists a proposition such that it holds over one and not the other.
In the community of philosophers and scholars, many believe that "unless a distinction can be made rigorous and precise it isn't really a distinction."

Exactly!

Anyway, my humble dichotomous post (I used google for that) went pretty much un-noticed amongst the rabble of what I usually write until yesterday when I looked at it again. (you can too, here).

Despite the fairly tenuous link to philosophical dichotomy I deemed it worthy of a reprieve.

Of course these are new, old beginnings and new, new endings.

Here, without further to do, three ends from Bitsnbobs 2010.

1. The end of questions.
2. The end of the road.
3. The end of a life.

And here are three beginnings.

1. The beginning of the holiday.
2. The beginning of the end (of waiting).
3. The beginning of my book.

6 comments:

Mary said...

Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

[What a question, I should think not.]

And never brought to mind?

[Never? Would this be kind?]

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne?

[Just like ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’?]

For auld lang syne, my dear,

[Cheers to old times there ‘n here!]

For auld lang syne,

[Makes me feel fine.]

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

[And toast to all whom we have met]

For auld lang syne!

[Life ‘n Love -- sublime!]

Mx

PS -- you've once again inspired me to create mediocre poetry. My new year's resolution is contained within the poem, twice. Happy New Year everyone!

Janet Bianchini said...

I can't for the life of me remember when I said "There are a few gaps", as quoted in the sidebar. I really don't know which gaps, unless it was for the errrm, the 2010 quiz? Maybe you could jog my memory? :)

popps said...

Yes Janet -i am quoting you outrageously out of context, in the hope it makes the blog lighter and more humorous.
You were saying there are a few gaps in your knowledge in relation to that horrible quiz of the year.
Is it ok, i have used a few other out of context quotes?

popps said...

Mary,
Never say never.
And never say mediocre!

Mary said...

True and kind words. Tx.

Janet Bianchini said...

Yes, no problem, I don't mind at all, but it may confuse some of your newer readers? On the other hand, it does add a touch of intrigue, n'est-pas?