thinking thursday.
mind :: my brain and yours
Mr Brilliant is on a roll at his history of ideas blog, with a fantastic series about alphabets: occupational alphabets, touch of evil action alphabets, and something he calls Dada alphabet–monument to quiet bits.
Take back your education: "School routines are set up to discourage you from self-discovery. People who know who they are make trouble for schools."(Thanks to Wendy Cook)
Pupils do better at school if teachers are not fixated on test results. No, really? Focusing on learning helps? IMAGINE THAT.
Islam in two Americas: "These two understandings of America, one constitutional and one cultural, have been in tension throughout our history. And they’re in tension again this summer, in the controversy over the Islamic mosque and cultural center scheduled to go up two blocks from ground zero." (Thanks to Sharon A Lewis)
body :: my place and yours
We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.” What is it about 20-somethings moving back home? (Before criticizing any member of a younger generation, I find it helpful to remember they were likely raised by a member of my generation).
Maybe Lou Gehrig didn't have Lou Gehrig's disease?
I love this. This is called going with the flow. Perfect. And what a fantastic wedding story these two will tell for many years to come! (Thanks to Becky Jackson)
I love it when literature comes to life: Camp Half-Blood is no longer just a fictional training ground. At Brownstone Books' Camp Half-Blood in Brooklyn, the campers' adventures come right out of Greek mythology.
soul :: my heart and yours
Can we walk through life without holding on? It is easy to use the notion of letting go as yet another ego-tool. "To learn to let go, it is necessary to understand how averse we are to change, and how attached we are to our idea of a solid, separate self."
Better than caffeine. (Thanks to Kate Flint)
How well do we cope with other people's crises? "True empathy inspires what sociologists call instrumental aid. 'There are any number of tasks to be done, and they’re as personal as your thumbprint,' Dr. Rainer said. If you really want to help a family in crisis, offer to do something specific: drive the carpool, weed the garden, bring a meal, do the laundry, go for a walk."
Compassion makes you happy. "Scientific research has shown that those individuals who often use words such as me, I and mine face a greater risk of a heart attack. If one always thinks of oneself, one’s thinking becomes very narrow; even a small problem appears very significant and unbearable." (Thanks to Curt Rosengren)
A final thought :: If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. -W. Beran Wolfe
[Image from Mr Brilliant's brilliant History of Ideas blog]
