It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question — John Stuart Mill

It seems to me that the above quote reflects society’s myopic view of reality. There seems to be no far-sighted view of the consequences of positions taken, causes pushed, and laws passed. People see only one side of the issue.

Of course, you know that potpourri means a mixture of things or a miscellaneous collection. I have been away from this blog for many months because of health issues and moving from Córdoba to Santander. During that time, I collected some miscellaneous things from the news and the internet that struck me as being preposterous (utterly absurd or ridiculous, contrary to nature, reason, or sense). Here are a few.

I will start with some preposterous perfumes. The first one is right here in Spain. Have you ever wanted to smell like a poor neighborhood in Spain? If you have, now you can have at it. An El Pais headline in January read, “French perfumer ‘distils’ the scent of one of Seville’s poorest neighborhoods.” According to this perfumer, “a good perfume has the capacity to take you on a journey.” If this is where you want to go, you can get one of the limited edition bottles for a “donation” of €50 to 100 ($60–120).

On this from The Mail on Sunday of February 21, “The £72 ($100) perfume that smells of…nothing. Molecule 01 flies off the shelves…” According to the article, Molecule 01 has become the best-selling fragrance ever at luxury department store Harvey Nichols. Now, there are all kinds of possibilities for this. If you have ever been around people with body odor for any length of time, it might be worth 100 bucks to have them smell like nothing. Here in Spain, some people reek of garlic. This would make a nice gift. Anyway, sales have been so good they were going to make more fragrances with no fragrance. And many fools will buy it.

The next preposterous bit has to do with a potentially smelly subject—men’s shoes. Nicole Nation a medical doctor in Jamaica wrote about this in the Jamaica Observer, “The shoes on a man’s feet is one of the most worn pieces from his wardrobe and yet it can tell so much about him. Lace-up or loafers, trainers or boots, dress shoes or Brogues, a man’s shoes reveals his taste—whether he is high maintenance, what he values – essentially, his masculinity can be conveyed by his footwear.” She goes on to quote what other women say about men’s shoes. A sample:

Brands are my thing. Timberlake, Clark, Kickers, Air Jordans, Converse, Hush Puppies, you wear it, I like it. I mean a man who is willing to spend and buy brands for himself more than likely will spend and buy brands for his woman. [Do you see the narcissism behind this way of looking at men’s shoes; to look at a man’s shoes and wonder what is in it for me? News Flash!—the only thing in a man’s shoes is the man.]

I like a man who spends time to clean his own shoes. To me that is a respectable man. It shows that he will spend time with you as well, to build your relationship.

Being a man, I know it is a bit of a stretch to go from what is on a man’s feet to what is in his heart and mind. Knowing men as I do, I would say that 99% of the men who shine their shoes do it out of pride. They care what they look like to other people. Not so they can please other people or build relationships, but because they want something that they think a shiny appearance will help them get (a good impression on the boss; impress a woman they want to pick up). Such foolishness!

Did you know that the human body has 78 organs? Or maybe not. Bones and teeth are considered as one organ each rather than considering each bone and tooth as a separate organ. But just like the number of planets in our solar system (remember Pluto?) the number of organs may not be fixed. A recent article in the journal Scientific Reports reports  “researchers concluded that a network of fluid-filled spaces that is located under the skin and surrounds our blood vessels and muscles and organs, is in fact its own organ called the interstitium.” My first problem with this idea is calling it “fluid-filled spaces.” The general definition of space is a continuous area or expanse which is free or unoccupied. Can something be unoccupied and at the same time be fluid-filled? According to one of Aristotle’s laws of logic, the answer is “no!” The law is called the Law of the Non-Contradiction. It says things cannot be one thing and its opposite thing at the same time and in the same space. One’s misuse of words to make a pointless point shows the foolishness of the argument. Therefore, I will stick with 78.

Finally, this is from the Los Angeles Times. Jody Rosen is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. Last year, he published a commentary in the L.A. Times titled, “It’s time to cancel ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’” His suggested replacement is “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. After lauding the tearing down of the monument to Francis Scott Key, Rosen “canceled” Key because he was a slave owner. Being of the liberal left, Rosen had this to say,

Of course, the biggest difference between “Lean on Me” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” is obvious to all who have ears. It’s there in the tolling gospel piano chords and in the bluesy bend of Wither’s vocals. “Lean on Me” is a great piece of popular music, to be specific, a supreme piece of African American pop music—which is to say, it represents the very best of this country. Not only is Black music the finest American thing, the greatest gift that the United States has given to world culture, it is one of the deepest, most truthful repositories of American history.

Where is the foolishness in all this? First is the perspective. Josh Rosen was born in 1969. That means he was three years old when Bill Withers recorded “Lean on Me.” He can know nothing for sure of the problems and struggles of the 1960s or 1970s except what he reads or has been taught. He is not Black. But he is myopic in his view of American history. He says that Black music is the finest American thing; the greatest gift that the United States has given to world culture; and, the most truthful repositories of American history. I was thinking that maybe the automobile, or airplane, or industrial revolution, or computers, their effects on world culture might be valued more than Black music in the world. That is not to say that Black music is not good or that it has not had an impact on the music world. It has. But the superlatives are out of place.

Second is the proportion. The view espoused by Rosen is that slavery and the plight of Blacks captures and epitomizes the whole of American history. Slavery happened and it was, and still is, wrong. Do the research. At the time of the Civil War, only about 5% of Americans owned slaves. It was already illegal in many states and would become illegal in all. What is often overlooked is the fact that some Black people owned Black slaves. Today, Blacks make up only 14.3% of the U.S. population (it was 12.7% in 1860). Should what happened 150 years ago, by 5% of the population to 12.7% of the population define the history of America? Josh Rosen says yes; I say it is foolishness. It is as foolish as burning your own house down because many years ago a toilet stopped up. It has been fixed. It still may not work perfectly, but at least you have a house with an indoor toilet (which 60% of the world does not have) to live in. Why destroy it? Foolishness!

The things going on in this world today and what parades itself as wisdom only serve to strengthen my appreciation of the Bible. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” (1 Corinthians 3:19)…and with me.