Arts

"Wobbling Home" by Jim Atwell

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“I’ve been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. You know, I don’t much like seeing those words in type.  But that’s my status.  I have a progressive, degenerative disease, one that’s incurable. Parkinson’s will share my body and shape my life for the rest of my days. But it won’t become my life.  Not if I can help it.” — from “A Sharp Turn in the Road” in “Wobbling Home”
Life has its ups and downs, twists and turns, which we strive daily to navigate for a journey through our days that will proceed steadily, both mentally and physically.  But when steadiness itself is compromised it may lead to questioning all of  life’s values.  About a million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s disease, a presently incurable neurological disorder that affects coordination, balance and sometimes personal mood and outlook.

Arts

"The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition and the Common Good" by Robert Frank

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The conflict between individual and species arises because reproductive fitness is essentially a relative concept. Under natural selection, the traits that succeed are those that confer relative advantage. To spread, it’s not sufficient that a genetic variant be helpful. It must be more helpful than the other variants with which it’s competing. A trait that evolves because it helps the individual prevail in battles against members of the same species typically constitutes a handicap for the species as a whole.