Thursday, April 07, 2022
PMT: Wild Kingdoms
A note from management: Yesterday I came down with COVID, and it's kinda bad. Among other things, I have a fever. And.... probably I should not blog with a fever, because my mind gets a little weird. But I have blogged every day since September of 2006, so here goes:
When I was a kid, one of my favorite shows was Wild Kingdom, a nature show. There were two hosts, Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler. Their division of responsibilities was pretty stark-- usually Marlin Parkins stayed behind in the Jeep while Jim was tasked with taking down the hippo. It was so lopsided, that it even became a running bit on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
The thing is, most people I know would want to be Jim, not Marlin Perkins. We want to be in the middle of the action, to make things happen. It's innate in a lot of people (including me).
That can be a very productive instinct when situations arise, since someone is willing to go tackle them. There no doubt is an evolutionary aspect to it.
But it can be problematic when there is not a crisis or challenge-- when things are rolling along ok. In those slack times, the Jim Fowler's of the world sometimes create a situation, and that is often bad.
I wonder if that is part of what we are seeing with Russia invading Ukraine.
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When I was younger, I definitely was a Jim.
As I've gotten older, I am a Marlin more than I thought I ever would be.
And that's ... OK.
As I've gotten older, I am a Marlin more than I thought I ever would be.
And that's ... OK.
I loved that show! I thought I was the only one. It did sort of bother me about the division of labor. It would have been great to see old Marlon wrestle a hyena. Then he would have needed all that insurance from Mutual of Omaha!
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