Wednesday 16 June 1999

When I woke up this morning and came into my living room, the Wheel of Time books had fallen down from the bookshelf and lay on the floor. None of the other books, and not the first one, Eye of the World. Of course, my bookshelf being what it is, they had been perched rather precariously, but then again so had some others. I don't think this is a synchronicity event ... you know, a hint from the Cosmic Consciousness that I should withdraw from rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan. Or something. But you never know.

Recently I read about some research based on the fact that some genes go only from father to son (Y chromosome) and some come only from your mother (mitochondrial DNA). Basically, it seems that the females have been wandering around more than the males. This comes across as highly counter-intuitive. Traditionally, ten out of ten soldiers or sailors have been men. So what happened?
My take on it is that basically, rape and prostitution are not very efficient ways of procreation. If you find your ideal woman and take her home with you, however, chances are much greater for raising healthy kids. This has probably happened a lot through history. As for pre-history, it could be that women wandered off on their own. They certainly seem to do so today.

In my native province (Sogn & Fjordane) there are quite a number of bachelors (in the meaning of unmarried men ... most of them don't even have a bachelor degree, I'm afraid). The young women wander off to the larger cities. Presumably their instincts command them to go to some place where the genetic selection is broader. Or it could be that they just want to get an education. For decades, the province has lagged horribly behind in higher education. This has led to a virtual exodus of bright young people. Some have come back after their education, but many (most) have not. The economy has adjusted, of course, meaning that there are now few milieus where intellectuals would find a suitable work. The province has been set on a runaway process of moronification.

In all honesty, things have been done. There is now a college, and the rasonably new province center has some white collar jobs. For instance my brother the psychologist seems to have no trouble finding enough work ... but overall, the district does seem slightly retarded when viewed from outside. Sorry about that. That's one reason why I would not much want to move back there. Another being the climate, which is generally wet and windy. And communications are unimpressive, from phone lines to highways to trains... hey, anything that counts as communication, you name it, it's bad.

On the bright side: Crime rates are low, life expectancy is high, and government presence is minimal. There are also less religious nuts than here on the south coast, where heresies abound.

Oh yes, for any new readers ... that's the south coast of Norway. We do have our own Bible Belt here too. And Bibles are the least of it. The local newspaper in town is currently writing up and down about a fellow who's going back into politics for the christian democratic party after half a year. He had been forced out after he was exposed as having seduced a woman who used him as a confessor. (He was co-leading some free church, an ideal position for such activity, I dare say.) Now he's back, to the irritation of said woman. (What his wife may think about it, I've nowhere seen). Now, if this isn't "bible belt" stuff, I don't know.