Welcome to Trogholm, a planet all its own, a little bit homey, a little bit alien. Anything that catches my interest might appear here, but most of it will have to do with history and with the ways in which our collective reality changes through time.
My Blog I never wanted a blog, but my younger son told me I had to have one and said he'd set it up and let me share his web hosting. So how could I refuse? The shorter stuff I write will mostly go up there and then be linked here -- so it's an easy way to find out what's new.
The Cycles: Recurrent Patterns in Cultural Evolution For many years, I've been working on a theory of history as a sequence of recurring cultural phases. This theory is not an elegant one. It sprawls all over the place, has a bunch of areas marked "get back to this later," and bites off far more than it can chew. But family and friends assure me they've found it illuminating even in its incomplete state, so I'm putting it online a little at a time.
Departments:
Worlds of Wonder The more I learn about the past, the more convinced I become that our own world and its history are as strange and magical as anything to be found in fantasy or science fiction. It is only the stubborn insistence of us moderns on being rational and skeptical that blinds us to the marvels around us. Here are explorations of a variety of historical topics which offer an opportunity to peel back the facade of hip skepticism and reveal the wonders that lies beneath.
The Convolutions of Philosophy Philosophers ask a lot of questions, but there are two that keep coming up over and over: "What is real?" and "How do we know what we know?" As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I might also add a third: "What is the value of 'knowing' things that clearly aren't so?" Is knowledge of imaginary people, places, beings, and events different in kind from knowledge of real things? And if it is, what is its special value?
The Secret History of the Twentieth Century When viewed from the proper angle, even very recent history can appear just as full of dark corners and unplumbed mysteries as the remote past. Some of these mysteries may reflect the difficulty we have in acknowledging how downright alien our own parents and grandparents once were in their ways of thinking and acting. Others can arise because it is hard to take the true measure of events that we were involved in personally. And there are also matters that certain individuals may deliberately aim to keep hidden. But we are living in the Twenty-first Century now, and it is more than time for the secrets of the Twentieth Century to be revealed.
The Geek History of the Universe Long before there was civilization, there were already geeks, laying the groundwork for the world we know today. Paleolithic proto-geeks began making tools and using fire. Neolithic geeks domesticated plants and animals, invented pottery and metallurgy, and learned how to set a course by the stars. Geeks designed the pyramids and the great cathedrals. Their engineering made possible the Roman Empire and the repeated discoveries of America. Geeks have revolutionized the world over and over again, and the Internet is only the latest of their many gifts to the human enterprise.
Genealogy This is where I started my first attempt at a a website, back in the 90s. It's a little out of date in places -- watch out for dead links! -- but is quite comprehensive and as accurate as I can make it. It includes ancestors from many colonial New England, New York, and Pennsylvania families along with studies of the descendents of John and Hannah Padgett of Oxford, NY and John and Agnis Scott of Blandford, MA.
The Abyss of Wonder The website of my husband, Alexei Panshin. Reflections on story, personal narratives, songs and artwork.Occidental Bodega My son Tobiah Panshin's blog. Entries on social transformation, the deep structure of role-playing games, and miscellaneous interesting and head-bending links.
Please send any comments to Cory Panshin
Photograph by Thomas Edge
Background courtesy of FreeLance
