non fiction
As I sit here with responsibilities mounting, time slipping, and enthusiasm temporarily dipping, the last thing I should be technically doing is writing in this white space ahead of me. But, I've committed. A few lines is all we ever need.
Love,
Process
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
This is a quote from science fiction GRAND MASTER, Robert Heinlein, possibly & ironically most famous for in recent pop culture, as the original source of the Hollywood dud, STARSHIP TROOPERS, a book he penned in 1959. (this is also one hell of a dud sentence, but it's my fucking website, so kindly deal with it)
Most people react to the last sentence in Heinlein's quote, which forgoes context. Given at face value, its a cry against our Western ideal of mastery, and an endorsement of the "Jake of All Trades" pejorative . But in context, both as a quote and in the world we are living in, I think it's a very critical thought. Specialization is an industrial desire, and in our idea centric world, a sure way to be locked into a pivot-less occupation, when the world is accelerating exponentially.
I am a propionate of mastery. But, mastery in it, and only of itself is akin to obsessive compulsiveness. It's a limit of human potential, and of living an interesting and fulfilling life. We should all master one thing, but we should all carry that curiosity and drive into other things that are deserving of our attention. This well rounded pursuit is not to be at the top 5%, or 1% best at all things, but to be capable human beings well suited for adaption. Human beings with ability, empathy, & drive.
So, learn how to code, play an instrument, build a table, or pick up a chemistry book because it is through these other things that you can become indispensable on a higher level at the one thing that really gets your blood boiling. Ultimately, learning is the great human gift.
How many times do you hear the phrase, "they don't make em like they used too"? We like what we become accustomed too.
Back in prehistoric times (everything before 1999), our cultural cycles tended to move a bit slower and our economy was largely top down. Everything sat around a bit longer on the shelf. And the farther back you go, the longer these movements sat around.
A musical movement like GRUNGE had time to birth itself, and kill itself within a relatively stable time frame. People on the fringes sowed the seeds, and as it grew larger, the corps swooped in and made it readily available to all. And in those top down days, ALL really meant ALL.
These days, cycles don't work the same way. They have two distinct patterns. One is the giant explosion (VIRAL) and the other is the STATIC but constant feed. Things tend to move extremely quickly, or, they stay extremely stable as long as the feed is consistently updated.
Viral is like a big bang moment. Out of nothing, everything. A huge burning moment of glory, but just as quickly, fading away, burdened by its inability to scale. Novelty is incredibly difficult to manufacture to a fickle audience always wanting something new. But some people learn to turn this situation into the second situation.
The STATIC feed is the other cultural movement. This one is based on confirmation bias and preferences built over time. Much of these where probably built many years ago. And sometimes, with consistency, you can turn viral into this.
The STATIC feed doesn't have to worry about capturing the entire market share. If you got a podcast, and people listen, you can keep a good portion of your audience for the long term, as long as you never neglect it. However, if you step off the throttle, the audience lost will probably never return.
STATIC is all about comfort. STATIC is the same reason people get stuck into the "they don't make em like they used too" motif. Most people just grown out of cultural items unfortunately, and are stuck with what they know.
The interesting thing is that these days, STATIC can be beneficial for a creative. If your an aging rockstar, or a TV actor long behind your sticom glory, you can actually reconnect with that same group that loved you then.. People are looking back, just as much as they are enthralled with the shiny new toy.
These are the last few non-fiction books I've read:
Now, I'm not going to review them nor rate them. They all have some very useful information, and by doing a quick search, you can see if you want to add any of them to your library. All three come highly rated over at Derek Sivers site, which was actually how I found 2/3.
His estimation is higher than mine on average when it comes to these three, but they are all worthwhile reads. The most practical one being THE TIME PARADOX. This has to do with the fact that Phil Zimbardo is a very well respected psychologist in the field. I first learned about him during my time at UCLA.
A couple observations in the last month. I prefer to read non-fiction on my IPAD AIR as opposed to fiction in analog. The highlighting and notes function in the ibooks app are incredibly practical and useful tools. I send these notes to my evernote and have access to them at all times. Second, most non-fiction "motivational" (in quotes since this is not technically the genre of these books, but really, it is) books are very closely tied to their specific zeitgeist of cultural thinking; meaning, they share ideas freely from each other. These books start to bleed the same names, the same studies and the same stories. It's like one continuous TED TALK, with the same people feeding of one another.
This is not a bad thing, just the nature of the game. It's what's in, and ultimately, it's whats working. Or, to put it more bluntly, it's whats in their blogs in the first place.
The same situation arises in true motivation style books written by lets say, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn or Zig Ziglar. And for the most part, you are better of reading them, then before. The greatest value might just be in releasing a cynic from his/her own self imposed prison. To give hope to the idea that we can all change, at the moment we decide to. And it's greatest fault might be the dependency they create, much in the same way therapist keep clients for years. It becomes a feel good drug. Hardly a negative but you have to move away from just the good feeling these books give off..
So, get the information, and move forward. Take the knowledge, and then, take action. Don't just buy another book.
the image of that pure black horse lingered for days
and Tanya couldn't do a damn thing about it
except, ponder that animals perfection
and the gaping whole between IT and her life
I'm always surprised to learn a great majority of people I come across only devote scattered time to reading short form articles or magazines. I'm even more surprised (stupefied) to learn that individuals who are capable, do not read period.
Even professionals; from nice suit and tie wearing lawyers, to some physicians, to a couple of sales execs, and from my side of it, people who do art as a "hobby", only commit to reading short form (web, magazine articles, etc). You know, things that are easily skimmed, that do not require any of that analytical processing shit.
I say, art as "hobby", because I've yet to find a “full time” artist who doesn't commit to reading as a habit. Mostly fiction I might add. Same goes for the entrepreneurs I've come across. They however, are strictly tied to non-fiction. That’s just how they role.
People who I know, and whom amaze me most often, are also the ones who are avid readers. And, they’re diverse readers. They swallow up books, and they take notes, and they apply concepts into their own existence (if the particular type of book demands it).
Look around yourself. Find any correlation? If not, go outside your circle a little. Maybe being the average of your 5 closest friends is blinding you from others?