I finished reading Chapter 7 (Human Rights) in Fukuyama's book, and my brain shut down completely. I read the last few pages with the same clarity you feel when you stare into the eyes of a chicken. I salvaged some dignity by learning two new words from those pages: oppobrium and noumena, which is the plural of noumenon. It means: a posited object or event as it appears in itself independent of perception by the senses. Whaa-ahh-ahh.....*sniff*. OK, I'm going to stare into the eyes of a chicken now by looking in a mirror.
Then of course, you search these terms online and come up with numerous hits, web sites named Opprobrium (also the name of a death metal band) and Noumena (yes, it's a blog, and features this definition: "the intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself, not as it is known through perception." I am now silently weeping. I wonder if that makes sex, moving to NYC and half-decent salary increases noumena for me, as opposed to my mortgage, which would be reality. (Good grief, there is a metal band from Finland called Noumena. OK, what the hell is going on? Is this coincidence?)
And in the review in Scientific American of this book, there is another new word for Randy: quotidian. Gosh, and there are websites too, including blogs and more blogs.
I have two university degrees, know how to read, and can speak in complete sentences, often using multisyllabic words. Let us see if I can use these three words (or variants thereof) in a sentence: While I am able to satisfy my basic quotidian needs, certain wants continue to be noumena, lest I act in such a way as to lead to conduct that might be considered opprobrius. Whew!
Speaking of words, is there a word that describes this: the frustration you feel when, in the midst of speaking in a conversation, you can't remember the word that describes what it is you need to express, yet you know the word exists, but can't remember it.
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