I came home from school today and my dad asks me if I know what "the owl of Minerva" was. Me, being the strange turkey I am, said yes and proceeded to rattle off basic Greek and Roman mythology about how Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and war strategy and that Minerva was her Roman form. I then mentioned that one of Athena's sacred animal was the owl and assuming that also carried over to her Roman form then "the owl of Minerva" could be referring to a special owl of Minerva's. He then read me the two paragraphs to give me context as to how "the owl of Minerva" was used. The paragraphs mentioned the owl flying away and people thinking strategy was no longer needed at the moment, but being wrong later. After he read, I said that I thought that in that context, "the owl of Minerva" was referring to the influence of Minerva. After listening to his protests that we no longer believe in the gods, I then said that it was the symbolism of it, strategy (the influence of Minerva) leaving because it's no longer a key point of focus (the owl flying away).
I walked away from that conversation slightly amazed at how I can remember and rattle off details like that at the drop of a hat, while I struggle to remember how to balance a chem equation or what the unit circle looks like. I chalked it up to my brain being wired for lit and symbolism and all that wonderful jazz. Yes, I realize that most people can do exactly what I did, ergo, it wasn't anything particularly amazing, but it made me think about how something like that came easily to me, as if it were hanging out in the waiting room of my mind waiting to be called on. I looked into it and found the usual Left Brain- Right Brain stuff (which is a little more myth than fact). I came to the conclusion that the mind and brain are mysterious things that we as humans can only hope and dream of someday fully understanding.
Sanders out.
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