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Hi allforcats. I’ve been around …more than I should be.
I’m sure you’re too young to remember the TV show, Ben Casey. I remember watching it in high school. Before each episode there was a black-and-white preface that had a hand drawing with chalk on a board the following symbols and narrative:
“man” ♂
“woman” ♀
“birth” *
“death” †
“INFINITY” ∞
As the last symbol (infinity) was being drawn, there was a split second dramatic pause and the ominous declaration as Sam Jaffe pronounced “INFINITY.” It always used to send a chill down my back. Recently, I was pondering the meaning of the sequence of the symbols and “its” meaning. It prompted me to do some searching on the internet.
Here’s one page I brought up that provided somewhat of an explanation. I don’t know whether I concur or not. More pondering may be necessary. *shrugs shoulders*
HA -- Jeannie! -- I saw the original! Why, that makes me old like scirocco, doesn't it! Hahahahahahaha!!!
I now recall that, at the time the show was airing originally, my sense was that the creative team had settled on the symbols to inject a quasi-scientific atmosphere. I thought this might be to distinguish the show from -- get ready, fellow old folks -- Marcus Welby, M.D. which was all soft and fuzzy with Father Knows Best’s Robert Young and the young James Brolin who would grow up to be Mr. Streisand.
Jeannie, nothing personal, you understand -- each to her own -- about the actor who played Ben Casey. As a high-school girl, I always thought he had about one and a half facial expressions (dumb looking straight ahead, and dumb looking down, up or sideways), and unfortunately, genetically, had a face that seemed to have the IQ of lint, to quote Diane on Cheers. The show also offered Jaffey with his Frankenstein hair. I could find little, therefore, that drew me to the show and rarely watched it. Clearly, I am a superficial snob, swayed entirely by looks. Hahahahaha! What the hell!!
Scir, what is it that you are pondering regarding the symbols? They’re pretty old. What are you musing about? The article you found is intelligently instructive, I think, offering nicely 20-20 hindsight analysis. Nice explanation, no?
Last edited by allforcats; 01-11-2008 at 08:03 PM..
*eh* yeah, after reading that article again, I guess you’re right. I was probably just trying to over-analyze the meaning. That summation at the end serves as a simple and succinctly stated evaluation:
“If we construe infinity as the afterlife, then it must be a path, yet it could still be a cycle of creation of man and woman infinitely coming together to continue to create more men and women who are doomed to birth, death and infinity on their own direct paths.”
Here’s the preface and the theme song …it doesn’t sound as chilling as I remember it from decades ago:
Scir, I just listened to your audio link. Boy does that go back!! Where do you get such things?!
Listen, Elder Of The Tribe, I'm still wondering what prompted you to spend the energy of your being on this in the first place, and I'm thinkin' maybe the Universe is urging you to consider your infinity... I don't agree that we're "doomed", as that author wrote, to do life, death, paths, rebirth. Nothing "doomed" about it, I think. The earth school is a kick! Don't you think this is the place of sensory joy, and that is glorious fun?
In any event, happy ∞ to you :-)
Last edited by allforcats; 01-12-2008 at 12:49 AM..
Me too, Robyn. I guess it does stem from that TV show. Like I’ve said, it was chilling for me to hear the word “infinity” spoken in almost a portentous manner. Consequently, I’ve contemplated the concept of infinity many times in my life since those teen years.
Infinity connotes to me the concept of being unbounded, endlessness, lasting forever, etc. It applies in many circumstances in life …from feelings one might have for another to the spiritual and religious beliefs we may hold. I don’t necessarily want this to turn into a philosophical discussion so I won’t elaborate too much here.
Yeah, allforcats, I think it was part of the ending (hopefully) to my mid-life crisis. Over-analyzing the cycle of “man, woman, birth, death, INFINITY” and especially the infinity part of a lot of things in my life was quite enlightening. The spiritual aspects of infinity actually predate the mathematical concept.
Well, I heard that Chuck Norris counted to infinity-twice! It's a concept that can also be applied to my variations of cooking ground beef. Oh yeah, chicken too.
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So you’re “over-the-hill” too?!
