Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior

Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior

Share this post

Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior
Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior
The 'Thing' is afoot.

The 'Thing' is afoot.

Sensations, Reflexes and Learned Associations

Gary Wilkes's avatar
Gary Wilkes
Jul 06, 2025
∙ Paid
1

Share this post

Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior
Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior
The 'Thing' is afoot.
1
Share

You are probably familiar with the phrase, afoot. In the most basic sense, it means what Sherlock Holmes meant when he sometimes said, “The game is afoot, Watson”. Why? Because Sherlock literally meant they must leave his upstairs apartment, afoot. The time for thinking was done for the moment and travel was necessary. Webster’s dictionary has both of these definitions - literally afoot and that some event is just starting or already in play. S.I. Hayakawa, the great semanticist said this about definitions.

”Definitions, contrary to popular opinion, tell us nothing about things. They only describe people's linguistic habits; that is, they tell us what noises people make under what conditions.”

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Gary Wilkes Training and Behavior to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Gary Wilkes
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share