Slow Havamal: 13

In the thirteenth verse, Odin likens inebriation to a “memory-stealing heron” who waits overhead when we drink, and dips down to steal our minds. He says that he’s been trapped in the feathers of this heron when at Gunnlod’s house.

It’s a powerful image: an invisible heron crouches just above my head, and each time I raise the glass to my mouth, he dips to pluck away another bite of my mind. The first half of the verse describes the heron’s food as both “memory” and “mind.” This offers a clue to what happens as we imbibe in our passions. Memory, as best I understand it, is not a complete and static data set stored somewhere and reproduced with perfect fidelity on command. When something happens, we retain a vague impression of it. Even the most significant memories of our lives are absent many of the details. Only what was important to us at the time remains, and it can degrade, or be reproduced with great confidence despite being flat-out wrong. It might help to think of memory as a story we tell ourselves.
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015: Reward and Punishment

It strikes me that one of the reasons it took me so long to understand what generosity really is and why it works from a natural systems perspective is that it’s hard to see how people are rewarded or punished within the system for their actions—especially for a child. If I get a Christmas present, that looks suspiciously like a reward, so I must be doing fine. No need to give, I just lost time and money. Meanwhile all around me, I can see jerks thriving and nice people getting shafted. Blind Luck meddles both ways, and Lady Justice peeks out from under the blindfold.( Read more... )