Hey! Get an Intellectual Hobby

[sharedfastlane]

Coberst there's a lot of truth in what you say. I think there are other factors though. I don't think books alone can fully develop us, perhaps you are not suggesting that anyway. I remember my English teacher telling us the way to develop a good vocabulary was to read, read, read. I am sure it helped and I read plenty but taking a written piece of work into the brain isn't the same as communicating the ideas myself verbally. Although communicating well can also be a double edged sword. I can think of Politicians or " Leaders " ( or should I be thinking speech writers here) who have a silver tongue but nothing behind it - no good-will, just spinning a clever, appealing web - of no substance.

I used to read my childrens' essays when they were at Junior School and found them warm and gently revealing. When they got older and were taught to " write differently" ; although I could see how clever and intelligent their essays were - there was something I missed. Maybe childhood innocence. After University though I would sometimes marvel at a sentence here or there that they would come out with, mentally tip my hat to them. Somewhere along the line a University Education can teach a person how to express themselves well.

I agree with you that "We were born smart enough but we weren’t born intellectually sophisticated enough to handle this high tech world we have invented." I heard someone say that on the Radio a few weeks ago , a Psychologist studying crime possibly. Eek, does this mean those alive now have not much chance - capacity for the Masses will come centuries down the line? (!)

Perhaps I give up too easily when the questions I come up with aren't able to be answered by my research within 1 day. So I WROTE to one Author and didn't get a response, Heigh Ho . Also I guess it is having the mindset that we are on a Journey of Discovery. It can feel we are just earning our crust - that Sunday night feeling of belonging to our job not being able to take a day off just when we feel the need, and battling negativity as displayed in the Media on a daily basis. It would seem pretentious to be sat in the corner with a book , pen in mouth, notepad on knee, when my normal method of having downtime is TV watching or Surfing the Net. T'would be a start though.

What do YOU do when you are stumped? And do you read and then have to sit queitly and think through what you have read? How do you choose books on a subject - as each person writes from a different perspective often. Some books almost cancel each other out.

[sharedfastlane]

Originally Posted by Clodhopper

Agreed.

sharedfastlane, is there a period of history or a historical figure (not just a celeb) you've ever been interested in? Start there.

warning: you are starting a journey which never ends.

Hi Clodhopper.

Here's my problem - if anybody suggests something I will take against that very thing for a month!! I must be a late developer looking to express herself.

I went down the "Autobiography" route a few years back but found eavesdropping on other peoples lives wasn't satisfying my own. Some of the things I read were inspirational, SOME I could have lived happier without knowing thanks, but clearly not enough to make ME change my corner of the World! If I'm even more honest a lot of the books were about men ( great people though they are!) and it just got a bit tiresome, couldn't fully relate in the end.

No, what intersts me at present is here
VillageForum.com

I have been looking for " Community" for a while I guess. ( Realise " Community " is all around me of course) Not getting far with connection to the UK but I live in Social Housing and wouldn't be able to sign up as a Home Buyer. Will raise the issue with the Forum but want to read much more about them first.

Bookwise I flit about quite a lot and the Local Library, God Bless IT, doesn't have a huuuge selection, all those late Returners who won't return'em(!) but I will join a University Library, or there's a swanky Establishment in London called the London(not Briitish) Library. Gotta be honest my eyesight is a bit hap hazard at times - the ole eyes get hot and tired, especially when I've been at work and late evening is the worst time often for my peepers so it does impact on how much text I am comfortable with. A Kindle might be interesting - those notebook computer books?

[Clodhopper]

sharedfastlane: Hi there! I've just finished a Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir, which might fit your requirements more closely. Old Lizzie (the First, not the Second) is a strong candidate for the greatest monarch we've had, certainly since Alfred the Great.

[coberst]

Originally Posted by sharedfastlane

What do YOU do when you are stumped? And do you read and then have to sit queitly and think through what you have read? How do you choose books on a subject - as each person writes from a different perspective often. Some books almost cancel each other out.

Studying disinterested knowledge is like taking off a month every year to visit a strange new land. Curiosity is reinvigorated and new meaning is created.

Disinterested knowledge is the energy bunny; studying disinterested knowledge creates more energy than it consumes. It generates the energy for exploration and for overcoming some of our inhibitions.

Disinterested knowledge is an intrinsic value. Disinterested knowledge is not a means but an end. It is knowledge I seek because I desire to know it. I mean the term 'disinterested knowledge' as similar to 'pure research', as compared to 'applied research'. Pure research seeks to know truth unconnected to any specific application.

Knowledge is like a jigsaw puzzle. We have created many puzzles in coping with reality and when we receive a new piece of knowledge that does not fit our present puzzles we forgetaboutit (Italian word for ‘forget about it’). However, if through disinterested knowledge we have created new puzzles within which the new knowledge might fit we might find a whole new meaning in life.

After we leave school if we want to become a self-learner and to become knowledgeable of new domains we will follow this same procedure but with a significant difference. We will have no teacher to supply us with the pieces of the puzzle. Especially difficult will be gathering the appropriate side pieces so that we can frame our domain. After this we might very well have to imagine the image of the puzzle because we will not have a teacher to help us ‘see’ what the domain ‘looks like’.

When we become a self-learner we will often find pieces of knowledge that do not fit our already constructed frames, when this happens we have two choices. We can throw away the new fragment of knowledge or we can start a journey of discovery in an effort to organize the construction of a new domain. The odd piece of knowledge is either trashed or we must begin a big effort to start construction on a new big puzzle.

I think that knowledge is easily acquired when that knowledge fits easily within one’s accepted ideologies. If we have a ready place to put a new fragment of knowledge we can easily find a place to fit it in. When the knowledge does not fit within our already functioning ideas that fact will be discarded unless a great deal of effort is made to find a home for that fragment of knowledge.

We are unable to move beyond our ideologies unless we exert great effort. No one can give us that type of knowledge; we must go out of our way to stalk it, wrestle it to the ground and then find other pieces that will complete a frame. That is why our schools do not try to take us beyond our narrow world because it is too costly in time and effort. Our schools prepare us to be good workers and strong consumers, anything beyond that we must capture on our own.

No one can give us that kind of knowledge. It can only be presented as an awakening of consciousness and then we can, if we have the energy and curiosity go and capture the knowledge of something totally new and start a new puzzle.

Creativity is the synthesis of the known into a model of the unknown. The value of the unknown is yet to be determined. Creativity requires a comfort with the unknown.

[sharedfastlane]

Thanks C. Guess I'll mull this over for a bit.

[sharedfastlane]

Originally Posted by Clodhopper

sharedfastlane: Hi there! I've just finished a Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir, which might fit your requirements more closely. Old Lizzie (the First, not the Second) is a strong candidate for the greatest monarch we've had, certainly since Alfred the Great.

How thick was the book - you only bought it yesterday didn't you?!

[Clodhopper]

sharedfastlane: Was thinking about your post a bit.

Books are someone's opinion. Yes, they can sort of cancel eachother out, but I find that one argument seems more convincing than another - better researched, more logically expressed, better understanding of human nature, that sort of thing. The more you read the more discriminating (in the best sense of the word) you become.

coberst: Well, you've certainly got me going again! Finished my book on Elizabeth I and now need to read more. The biography I read was very much about Elizabeth as a woman ruling in a male dominated world. Now I want to read modern stuff on the Elizabethan period generally in the light of that recently acquired knowledge. Not to mention that there were many hints that much more about the period has recently been discovered.