Monthly Archives: April 2006

After smelling Viennas I have never been able to make myself actually taste them but my children love them. Anyway, I thought this poem was rather humorous. Go read it now!

I know you are wondering, “What are Corpora?” The word “corpora” is the plural form of “corpus’ which literally means body. In this context it refers to five aspects of a human being. It could also be called the five me’s, but “me” is never used in the plural in English. “We” are not schizophrenic! And for those who are concerned, I am not talking about the same concept referred to by the term Trinity.

The concept of corpora refers to the distinction between the hardware and multiple types of software that make up a human being. I am aware the lines between corpora can be and have been drawn differently. I am not going to discuss all of the philosophical and religious aspects of my chosen categories. I am not claiming my grouping is the only or even the best way or that there are definite lines between corpora, although that is quite possible. I chose the lines that I did simply because they work.

Here is a list of the five corpora with computer analogies that might help with understanding. I have also listed some sub-categories. These are still in the process of development. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Physical – Hardware

• Supportive (skeletal, digestive, circulatory)
• Productive (neural, muscular)
• Defensive (skin, immune)

Mental – Software

• Math (arithmetic, logic, geometry, trig, stats, accounting)
• Science (life, physics, geology)
• Language (reading, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, multilingual)
• Memory (short term, long term, structural,

Spiritual – The user

• Decision module (logic, values)
• Loyalty (to persons, to ideas)
• Priorities (primary, secondary)

Emotional – User data

• Character (self-image, respect, kindness)
• Art (visual, aural, tactile, gustatory, verbal)
• Entertainment (participatory/games, spectator)

Social – Network connection

• Circles of influence (family, friends, acquaintances, public)
• Social Sciences (history, economics, geography)
• People Skills (speech, writing, appearance, names, networking)

Well it has finally happened. And it seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Not one forward thinking person, not one forecaster or prophet, thought this day would ever come, but it has. The future is obsolete. All those who made a name for themselves, or just a living, by peering into the murky future and projecting things to come are no longer needed.

We should have seen it coming. Based on historical trends it was obvious that this would happen soon. Early in the 20th century, many started treating anything more than a few centuries old as ancient and insignificant. Then in the 1960’s students decided no one over 30 could be trusted. By the 1990’s products were obsolete by the time they made it to the store, if not before. With the ever shortening window of time that was considered relevant, it is obvious that the next step would be to declare the future to be irrelevant.

Many will object that the present has yet to become irrelevant. However, since these arguments have not yet been raised and future arguments no longer have any bearing on the present, I will not bother to fully explain why that logic does not work. Suffice it to say that the present does not exist, as it appears, between the past and the future. As a matter of fact, many would argue that the present does not exist at all, but I think anyone who comes to that conclusion simply does not understand the true meaning of existence.

But back to my point, if the historical trend was so obvious, and the future so clear, how is it that no one knew that this was about to happen. I think that this may have happened, because forecasters ignored what has, for thousand of years, been one of their most powerful tools. Historical trends cannot be used as an absolute predictor of the future. Past performance is not indicative of future results. But, historical trends are very helpful in getting some idea of what might happen even if they do not predict what will happen. If they had simply looked at the past they would have seen that the future would soon be irrelevant and given up forecasting long ago.

But who am I to judge. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and I do not remember predicting this either. As for the present, it will very likely be relevant for a long time. Although, based on historical trends, it does appear possible that it too could become obsolete at some point in the future.