Tag Archives: University of Autodidactica

Some ‘Splainin to Do

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I’ve been putting up regular content here at the JBE since 2012 when I first launched this site. The primary purpose of creating this WordPress platform (my first time designing my own website, btw) was launching my personal brand. At the time, given what was happening—basically, getting down-sized—plus, I was reading Seth Godin, Daniel Pink, and others; personal branding seemed to be the proper exit ramp to free agent nation.

The most important aspect of the JBE now looks like it’s been centralizing where I blog. That’s one reason why I chose to include one as part of the website in the first place. At the time, my plan was to write about reinvention and other things central to my personal brand.

With all that’s transpired over the past three years, the blog remains the primary reason I keep the site up and running. My efforts the past year to reinvigorate my own freelance writing is the reason why I also maintain another site where I post my freelance writing clips and keep my online portfolio up-to-date—something that seems like it would be a requisite for a free agent writer these days. The personal brand thing—I’m not as bullish on that anymore. Continue reading →

Brain Shrinkage

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According to this report, all our multitasking, especially on social media, is shrinking our brains. This lends new meaning to the phrase, “dumbing down.”

Given that we live in a 21st century world that demands that we attend to multiple things at once—how do we at least keep some of this at an arm’s length, or at least fortify ourselves and temper some of this “shrinkage”?

While it might be grand (or overly dramatic) to demand that you “kill your TV,” I’m guessing that solution isn’t one that most people are going to opt for. However, you might cut your television viewing—I’ve been working at it for the last month and it’s really not that bad. After 29 days of no television, Miss Mary and I watched a classic movie starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert Sunday night. I think we might limit our viewing to TCM on Sunday nights. Continue reading →

The Quest for Education

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Don't take my education!!

Don’t take my education!!

In the southern part of the state and mainly greater-Portland, events at the University of Southern Maine have highlighted for me (and maybe a small cadre of others) the challenges inherent in maintaining the status quo relative to higher education.

Is it possible and even feasible given the current landscape of diminishing public resources for taxpayers to be on the hook for what some consider an outdated education model? Along those same lines, is the current statewide higher education complex and namely, the University of Maine system, viable and more important, sustainable? Continue reading →

2013 Booklist

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Another year, another 32 books.

Another year, another 32 books.

There was a public service campaign using the acronym, RIF; Reading Is Fundamental. The purpose of that effort was to promote reading, especially among poor children. I remember seeing their public service announcements on television, most likely during the 1970s.

Reading was a central components of my own reinvention. It was reading, and books like Gregg LeVoy’s, Po Bronson’s, and Scott Peck’s that got me up and out of my corporate prison at Moscow Mutual. If I wasn’t a reader, I’d still be stuck, probably not there, but someplace just like it, if not worse. Continue reading →

Check Your Technology

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Technology is ubiquitous in our lives as Americans, and pretty much the norm throughout the western world. Some believe that it has the capacity to cure all that ails us; others harbor sentiments about it akin to Martin Luther’s feeling for the devil, when he turned and threw his inkwell at him. Whether you love, hate, or are ambivalent about technology, it’s here to stay. Complaining about it won’t change anything. Continue reading →

The University of Autodidactica

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Ben Franklin was an autodidact.

Ben Franklin was an autodidact.

An autodidact is someone who is self-taught. In today’s parlance we might call them a “self-directed learner.”

Autodidacts were common in Colonial America. Many of our founding fathers were autodidacts as well as polymaths. Ben Franklin might be one of our nation’s most famous autodidacts. Franklin abandoned formal education at age 10 and we all know how that turned out. Continue reading →

What I can do

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One day last week, after wrapping up some end-of-the day work tasks, I sat down, put my feet up and flicked on MSNBC while waiting for Mary to come home. I’m comfortable saying that I lean leftward, so MSNBC is often a mainstream news choice. If you tilt rightward, you most likely prefer your talking heads, Fox-flavored.

Left or right, much of what now passes as “news” is nothing more than a bunch of people screaming back and forth, or engaging in some form of fear-fogging. During this particular dinner hour, the topic was gun control. On another day, or week, it could have been the fiscal cliff, why Republicans (or Democrats) are such idiots, or some other item from a list of meaningless topic fodder that runs like a tape loop on all the networks, lacking intellectual girth, and not much variation, depth, or nuance. Continue reading →

Becoming contrary

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How do you know that what you hold dear and true is in fact so? What are you using as your own personal fact-checker? Merely going along to get along might make you popular (it might also make you a doormat) but it doesn’t guarantee veracity. Following the masses could find you stepping off a cliff with a group of your fellow lemmings. Continue reading →