> "Minds made out of the soft wax are good at learning, > but apt to forget; and those employing the hard wax > are the reverse." > > Platon, Theaetetus http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/3963/books/theaetet.htm [Soc.] But when the heart of any one is shaggy-a quality which the all-wise poet commends, or muddy and of impure wax, or very soft, or very hard, then there is a corresponding defect in the mind -the soft are good at learning, but apt to forget; and the hard are the reverse; the shaggy and rugged and gritty, or those who have an admixture of earth or dung in their composition, have the impressions indistinct, as also the hard, for there is no depth in them; and the soft too are indistinct, for their impressions are easily confused and effaced. Yet greater is the indistinctness when they are all jostled together in a little soul, which has no room. These are the natures which have false opinion; for when they see or hear or think of anything, they are slow in assigning the right objects to the right impressions-in their stupidity they confuse them, and are apt to see and hear and think amiss-and such men are said to be deceived in their knowledge of objects, and ignorant. Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?" "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techiniques - visualization, association - it made a huge difference for me." "That's great! What was the name of the clinic?" Fred went blank He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?" "You mean a rose?" "Yes, that's it!" He turned to his wife. . ."Rose, what was the name of that clinic?" "In a time of rapid change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." -Eric Hoffer The task of thinking is based upon selection and weeding out; Remembering everything is weirdly similar to forgetting everything. Most things people do shouldn't be remembered. Maybe forgetting is good. -Gary Wol,