I’m taking a university course on Asian Wisdom, which I’m really enjoying. My prof told a story about Buddha that concludes that we should only tell others of a better way to live if we’re asked for advice; otherwise, we should never impose our morals on others because our moral purpose
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Scripturient: The Book of Knowledge: 1
When I was growing up in the Fifties and Sixties, having an encyclopedia in your home was the bee’s knees, to use my grandmother’s phrase. It was a sign of sophistication and learning, of culture and wisdom. And being reasonably well-off, because encyclopedias were not inexpensive. I can still hear
Continue readingThings Are Good: Learn Faster by Knowing Less
People learn when they can experiment with whatever they are working with, be it something physical like carpentry or something mental like philosophy. Teachers can even encourage faster learning by letting students essentially play with what they have and stepping back. Providing too much instruction means students don’t need to
Continue readingScripturient: Bring Back the Salons
Today if someone mentions a “salon” you probably think about a haircut or manicure. But in the 18th century, prior to the French Revolution, salons were the focus of civil debate, intellectual curiosity, and culture. They were centres of discussion on everything from manners to literature to philosophy to science.
Continue readingScripturient: WTF is wrong with people these days?
Into everyone’s life comes the realization that we are not young and in between the time when we were, the world has changed. Not always for the better, either. In fact, it’s hard not to conclude the whole world has gone to shit since the internet arrived. Aging is not
Continue readingScripturient: Dictionary vs Dictionary.com
Did you know that doxastic is a philosophical adjective relating to an individual’s beliefs? Or that doxorubicin was an antibiotic used in treating leukemia? Or that doxy is a 16th century word for mistress and prostitute? That drack is Australian slang for unattractive or dreary? Drabble means to make wet
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The University Process – A Moral Purpose?
My undergraduate University days were nothing like what is routinely described as the ‘University Experience’. It was a much more utilitarian experience – go to class, take notes, and then rinse and repeat the next day. Add review said notes and study as test time rolled around. The social aspect
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A New Year’s Resolution That’s Actually Fun!
I am so pleased to host this guest post by writer, Karen Weeks. Karen perfectly captures why the arts are so important to us all – at any age! I’ve witnessed the healing power of music in my own life and in the lives of everyone I love. So why
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Get Used to It!
Sometimes there are things you shouldn’t get used too… http://socialuprooting.tumblr.com/post/15149510298 Filed under: Culture Tagged: Get used to it!, Learning, Matriarchy
Continue readingScripturient: Kanile’a Islander GL6
What a difference two strings make. Late last week, I traded my Jupiter Creek steel-stringed baritone, solid-body uke for one of these Kanile’a nylon-stringed GL6 “guitar-leles” which the company calls a “guilele.” ItR…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: John Bowlby – A Secure Base – Five Therapeutic Tasks
To be honest, I could excerpt most of Bowlby’s book. It is that good. However, little things like time and copyright concerns limit me to providing some of the highlights of attachment theory and how big a change it was from traditional psychoanalysis. “The first is to provide the
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Ukulele Workshop Today
I just returned from Orangeville where Broadway Music hosted a two-and-a-half hour musical workshop this Saturday by Manitoba Hal today (which will be followed by his concert tonight from 8-11 p.m. – try to attend, if you can: he’s very talented). Very informative and well worth attending. Interestingly, at least
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Reading music and music theory
I write about reading a lot, because I read a lot of books. There are other kinds of reading – other languages, too – that I don’t write much about. Reading music is one of them. It’s a different language; a symbolic language with its own grammar, punctuation and rules.
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Amo, Amas, Amat…. and what?
My well-thumbed copy of Eugene Ehrlich’s book, Amo, Amas, Amat and More, is dated 1985. It’s amusingly subtitled “How to Use Latin to Your Own Advantage and to the Astonishment of Others.” It’s still in print, it seems, or was as recently as 2006. I’ve read my copy on and
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On Education – how it ‘werks’.
Go read The Bowl, the Ram and the Folded Map:Navigating the Complicated world by Elodie Under Glass. It is fine narrative post with plenty of interesting bits and sheep! It is wool worth your while. However, these paragraphs in particular, caught my educational eye as they articulate not only what
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Zero-tolerance No-Touching Rule… for Kindergarteners?
I’ll never forget the first day I got called in to teach a Kindergarten class. It was probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life to see 30 […]
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: The sum of all knowledge
In his 2004 book, The Know-It-All, A. J. Jacobs tells of his quest to become “the smartest person in the world” by reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover. Right away, you can see the fly in this intellectual ointment: knowledge doesn’t equal intelligence. Jared Diamond, in his introduction
Continue readingThings Are Good: Online Sex Ed Course Decreases STI Risk in Teens
A lack of education around sex can lead to a lot of unwanted things like sexually transmitted infections and diseases to pregnancies. For many people sex is a taboo subject so delivering worthwhile information to teens can be difficult due to parent’s attitudes. One way to get directly to teens is through the internet and, […]
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: A Short-Term Blog Hiadus
Thoughtful, inquisitive Paul… So, in case you haven’t already noticed, this space has been pretty quiet for the past month or, hmmm, maybe even longer. Over time, I have gone from posting a few times a day (like at the beginning), to once a day, to a few times a
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Tips for Barack Obama on How to NOT Suck in the Next Debate
Fight Night! (GIF from GifWich) So, ummmm, the Obama VS. Romney rumble in the mountains (it was in Colorado…get it?) was less a debate than it was two Economics professors arguing about which shade of grey was better. Oh, and one hate’s Big Bird…seriously. Clearly, Prof. Romney won the debate
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