Whether civilization began for the reliable sustenance of bread or the unpredictable epiphanies of booze<\/a>, for me the debate extends into all walks of life. I see this tug-of-war between the sensible<\/em> and the sensational<\/em> in the flickering images of film and art<\/a>, in other writers’ work<\/a>, in effective marketing strategy, in music<\/a>, and in just about anything thoughtful humans wrap their minds around.<\/p>\n Without care, the debate can become an endless chicken-and-egg game. Or as Tom Robbins wrote:<\/p>\n Ambivalence is a bigger nuisance than schizophrenia. When you’re schizoid each of your two personalities is blissfully ignorant of the other, but when you’re ambivalent each half of you is painfully aware of the conflicting half, and if you aren’t careful your whole life can turn into a taffy pull. <\/em> \u2014 Another Roadside Attraction (1971)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Me, I’m seeking a New Ambivalence, one not about good and evil, but about sustenance and<\/em> transcendence. Let us eat our bread and drink our beer, too. Thanks for reading. Cheers,<\/p>\n I’ve heard my field of anthropology called the ultimate liberal art. It’s the study of people: everything we are and everything we do. Yeah, that’s pretty broad. In the years since I earned my degree, I’ve discovered that it’s something everyone does: we all talk about people. But there is a point to all this. … Continue reading Origins of Civilization… and this Blog<\/span> ![\"Greg\"](\"http:\/\/gihamilton.com\/blog\/images\/greg_signed72.jpg\" "\\"Greg\\"")
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