It is unlikely that the calamity will ever be fully measured. When chaos strikes, all the normal avenues of existence are blocked, and the suffering of people becomes terrible. And when order is finally restored, many weeks, months, or even years later, the specifics of the catastrophe have combined into one incomprehensible mass of suffering. There hasn't been any natural violence since the western hemisphere was discovered that even comes close to the catastrophic intensity of what the Pacific coast experienced. The only other catastrophe even close to matching or exceeding it was the Civil War, which was caused by man's sinful desires driving him to kill his brother when Nature would have preferred he live in peace. The large city of San Francisco is the center of attention, but smaller places have also seen their share of devastation, terror, and suffering. Beyond their bounds, over a large region, the earth's trembling destroyed property, toppled homes, and reduced wealth to destitution. If we think about it, perhaps we can arrive at a useful estimation of our own relative insignificance. There are many ignoble aspects of human life, and the race is weak and insignificant in relation to the physical powers of the cosmos in an almost despicable way. It could be necessary for a Superior Power to intervene directly, even if it causes physical harm, in order to convince us to reassess our direction. The wisest men have been the ones who are most willing to acknowledge the benefits of suffering-based discipline.
American philosopher and semiotician Charles William Morris was born on May 23 in Denver, Colorado. He was the son of Laura (Campbell) and Charles William Morris. Morris briefly attended the University of Wisconsin before moving on to Northwestern University to study engineering and psychology, where he earned a B.S. in 1922. He enrolled at the University of Chicago the following year to pursue a doctorate in philosophy under the guidance of George Herbert Mead. Morris graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1925 after finishing his dissertation on a symbolic theory of mind. For six years, Morris taught philosophy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He taught philosophy as an associate professor at the University of Chicago from 1931 until 1947 after leaving Rice. Morris started giving lectures in Chicago in 1948 and held the job there until 1958. Thomas A. Sebeok, a semiotician, was one of his pupils. Additionally, he contributed to and finished Six Theories of Mind. Morris wed Gertrude E. Thompson in 1925; they had a daughter together named Sally Morris Petrilli. He wed psychologist Ellen Ruth Allen, his second wife, in 1951. Gainesville, Florida's Charles William Morris passed away on January 15, 1979.
