Sherlocked... Yes, but I would like to point out...

that Sherlock Holmes does NOT use deductive reasoning to solve crimes.

How is this? You may ask.

Well, there are three main types of reasoning, inductive, deductive and abductive.

Deductive reasoning reaches a conclusion from observable premises. However, this conclusion is absolute. No other conclusion is rational, such as.

Premise 1: All humans are mortal.
Premise2: Socrates is a human.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Inductive reasoning uses previously observable phenomenon to inference a proposition based on what usually happens:

Premise: The sun has risen in the east every morning up until now.
Conclusion: The sun will also rise in the east tomorrow.

Finally, abductive reasoning, the type Sherlock actually uses, takes a series of observable and unobservable data and creates a "best fit" scenario. There are other possible conclusions, but the conclusion reached, is the most likely to occur. For example, when a patient displays symptoms, there may be many possible causes, but one is preferred to the others.

One of the reasons Sherlock is so successful is that his divergence thinking is much higher than the other police officers and detectives, meaning that he can think of more possibilities of what could have happened and then use his observed evidence to reason down. It would be similar to trying to find a precise shade of blue in a pack of 8 crayons or a pack of 200.

Amazingly, divergent thinking is something that children do remarkably well. Usually during school-age years, the analytical skills increase and the divergent thinking decreases. Those who hold onto their divergent thinking tend to be considered quirky... but really, they hold a type of intelligence that others seem to "grow out of".

It seems ironic that Sherlock's combined keen eye for observation and ability at divergent thinking and abduction make him much more child-like, not to mention interesting, when the general populace tends to think of him as having a super intelligence. Whether or not that's true, in my mind, it's linked to this...

Enjoy ;) I'm off to read more Holmes.

The Essence of Us

It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone. ~Marilyn Monroe

For a while now scientists have been doing research on tiny "strings" which link things... things across different dimensions... things which don't look like they are linked... and this has been applied in literature and pop psychology for a while. I can't even discuss the amount of damage it's done in The Secret, and everyone remembers The Lake House, with two people across time. Everyone remembers Star Trek and worm holes. (tangent for relevant Gilmore Girls Quotes)

LIZ: You were never in sync.... It's like that space-time-continuum thing. You're on a plane over here, and she's on this plane over there, and you were both never here nor there at the same time.
T.J.: It's like string theory.
LUKE: String Theory, what do you know about string theory?
T.J.: Don't underestimate me, Luke. I read. And I watch "Battlestar Galactica."
LIZ: You were on different planes. It could have worked out if there was a wormhole between your plane and her plane.
LUKE: We didn't need a wormhole...

But what if there are tiny strings linking us all together in an immense web of humanity across all the other dimensions of reality--ones we can see and sense, and the ones we cannot.

There are moments when I feel so connected to people, even if they are so far away. Moments when I suddenly think of a friend and I just know something is wrong, or really right. This has happened many times in my circle of close friends... us DPs, we know what's up. It's as if we're feeling the vibrations of tiny strings across the thousands of miles.

A few years ago I read The God of Small Things, and repeated throughout the novel was the image of "A Sophie Mol shaped hole in the universe." As if when one dies, one falls out of the universe and creates a hole... a hole in the shape of all you were while you inhabited the world. As if we fell out of the web and the flying strands that we linked to us are smarting and need to find other things to link to instead of flapping wildly in the breeze.

And I was reminded of the impressions people leave with us... not funny remarks or a certain way about them, no, none of that. What I mean is the shape of them inhabiting the universe near us. Think of someone you enjoy spending time with. Whilst sitting near them, imagine closing your eyes in a quiet moment and feeling the imprint of them. What do you feel from them? Do they take up a lot of space? Are they solid? Flexible? Have they been made small? Are they in a shape?

This may seem particularly odd since I'm not talking about a personality, but possibly the vibes of their personality that they send out into the atmosphere, whether intentionally or not.

There have been people that have such a lovely feeling, impression, whatever you wish to call it... it draws one in. It can be difficult to perceive it, and the description is much different that how I feel it: warm and remarkably solid, but not harsh, like a sun-warmed quilted mattress propped against a shady tree. It makes no sense, but the feeling of it is particularly strong tonight.

I would just like to say...

that the Birds Eye Polar Bear is super creepy...

The deep voice, the awkward head movements, and the terrified looks of the women in the commercials make him seem like a sex offender in training... SUPER CREEPY...

On the other hand...
I <3 the PG Tips Monkey...

First of all, he's knitted! He knows how to make proper tea. He understands English weather. He isn't rude and doesn't tell you off like the creepy polar bear. He makes tea for you... Basically, he's just all around a superior hand puppet spokesperson... the best one on TV unless Elmo is trying to sell something.

Orienting Myself by the Heavens

I've always been interested (obsessed) with different types of mythology and at a young age became interested in stars, the zodiac, and the stories behind the constellations in the heavens.

Orion, The Hunter

Growing up in New Jersey, the countryside boasts less light pollution than London, and those who know me well, will know if I am out of doors, my eyes are turned upward, regardless of the time of day, finding shapes in clouds, remarking colors, textures, finding birds in trees, and, in the night, seeking my friends in the stars. 

During my teen years I would climb out onto the roof with a blanket and stare straight up. Our house is surrounded by trees, so the sky space seems small, and the roof boasts the best view. Getting out of the car at night, Orion always met me and, in my mind, tipped his hat to me on his hunt. 

He was so easy to find that I'd call him "my man"... and I'd go out on the roof and speak to the heavens, to Orion, the hunter in the trees, silently protecting the house and waiting for me to get home to speak to him (in my wild imagination). Sigh. 

Cassiopeia, The Queen

Now in London, I'm a few degrees north latitudinally, and so, Orion is still in my eyesight, but not directly overhead like before. 

No, my new companion is Cassiopeia, the vain queen, and she is a constant, though less fanciful companion. 

It figures when I traded my country home for the city that I would have to say goodbye to my Hunter. Cassiopeia, though constant, is a proper city girl, just bright enough to make her out on my walk home from the train station. 

But my biggest regret, is how much I miss those whimsical sisters, the Pleiades, who were so easy to find in my Jersey countryside, but are seen only on particularly cloudless and clear nights in London Town. 

These sassy sisters, small and bright in the sky, remind me of family, no matter where I am, seeing them so faintly, so high in the sky, knowing I can see them 5,000 miles away on the Jersey coast, to have them smiling down on me from their sad home in Taurus, is comforting. 

The Pleiades and their Mom, Pleione

After moving to London, I used to say that anywhere where I could find a good book shop and good coffee and where I could tell a joke would be home. Now, I think, I've discovered that this heavenly scope has made a difference in me. While books are constant companions and coffee is always a comforting and jazzy drink, looking up at night and not knowing where I am is a bit disconcerting. Looking up, finding my orientation, finding a friend in the stars I've come to know is something I can't let go of and something that until recently I did unconsciously. Maybe I just need to find a clear night and head out to the countryside to get to know the sky from this angle/latitude and make some new friends in the heavens. 

The Pleiades, Girl Night in the Celestial Party Zone!