Showing posts with label New Deal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Deal. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Random Connections or "The Way My Mind Works"

If there is a reason I call this blog "Random Ruminations," it is because of the way my mind works. When an interesting topic presents itself, I'll often do a quick Google search (sorry Bing) to find out more. As I'm reviewing that topic, another will present itself, and with a quick link, I can find something about that topic. If I'm not careful, this link-and-learn session can last several minutes or even hours. (The hazards of working in a hyper-connected, technology world, I suspect.)

Case in point...The other day I heard it suggested that we needed a new "New Deal." I recalled learning something about the New Deal back in high school, but could not recall which president was responsible for it. (I could recall it occurring as a result of the Great Depression, but that was about it.) A quick search led me to Franklin D. Roosevelt. While reading about Roosevelt, I ran across links to YouTube videos of portions of his inaugural addresses. One of his famous quotes followed his first election: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Now, this is the way my mind works - rather than contemplate the context of the quote (depression, world war, etc.), a question popped into my mind. What do you call the fear of fear? Phobiaphobia? (I attribute this leap to having just watched an episode of Monk.) So, I looked that up. Turns out I wasn't far off; it's phobophobia - defined as "an abnormal fear of developing a phobia".

Where does my mind go next? I find myself hoping that none of you (my readers) have a fear of randomness, for which I'm afraid I could not find a phobia.

Question: Anyone know a name for the fear of randomness?