New Worlds and World Views

Still playing catch-up...

So I have spent quite some time browsing through the musings of other classmates blogs on this subject. My result: emptiness. I suppose it would have been better if I had the opportunity to catch the purpose and focus of this class and had completed my assignments when they were due, but I will do what I can.



What do I put down? What do I say? what is it that I want to learn? I don't want to learn anything... well, to be honest, I'm lazy and I want to learn without giving my opinions and thoughts for review and consideration. I want to be snarky and witty and I'm too tired for that now.

From the reading I understand that the discussion was about the emergency of new ideas and new understanding of the world. The Renaissance and the Renaissance man. Not Danny Devito. Leonardo da Vinci. The slow yielding from an Earth centered universe to a "BIG YELLOW ONE IS THE SUN" centered universe. And how does that correspond to our modern digital age? Concepts change like Lady Ga Ga's performance look. The internet is the globally connected bathroom including the floor where sections of actual worthwhile reading material lay about. I can sit at my computer and learn Persian Farsi while studying Shakespeare, Wikapedia-ing da Vinci, Elf-bowling, downloading i-tunes, and blogging about blogging... I'm not just theorizing here either - I'm living the dream right now, man!

The Utopian thing? Learning for the sake of learning? What is that? I'll tell you what that is... Me living with my wife and kids in my mothers basement Netflixing on my x-box while filling out forms for my Pell Grant to blast my way through my 6th year of college because I'm not ready to move on to the pathway to Masters degree and I certainly haven't a clue on how to enter the working world with my degree in General studies and a minor in Art appreciation. (I haven't lived in my mother's basement since spring - I've really got things together, you know?)

True Utopia exists with people who take learning seriously because they are fired by a cause or at least the goal of bettering themselves. I don't know enough about the famous painter Leo to say that he wanted to better the world or had a noble cause to become a figure of admiration, but I know that he was driven. My 1 year old races the house like a rocket, but not tonight. Tonight he is sick. Tomorrow I have to leave him and go to class, and work, and "side projects." Do I do it for the sake of learning? well, yes actually I do because I'm that self-centered that it's more important that I learn than that my family have a bright future.

Da Vinci wouldn't have been a famous man had he not assessed his life and determined that he needed to move up. What are the options for growth to a 14th century painter? But how about a 14th century engineer of Military defense weapons? So Leo wrote an impressive resume practically ignoring the fact that he was a skilled painter and sculptor. He learned and developed lots of other "talents" to raise his status and thereby raised the appreciation for his original talents.

Perhaps I'm rambling - maybe these blogs should be easier to understand... They're cryptic, and I like that. What it all boils down to is that in our cyber age the rules don't change. Knowledge is power. Wise navigation of that knowledge is key to reaching a better life for yourself, your family, and everyone else. Anything else than that seems to me to be selfishness and churlishness.