Liberal Arts Blog — Full Day, Full Life: Homage to Ben Franklin and Socrates In The Form of Three Questions
Liberal Arts Blog — Monday is the Joy of Math, Statistics, Shapes, and Numbers Day
Today’s Topic: Full Day, Full Life: Homage to Ben Franklin and Socrates in the form of Three Questions
This is a continuation of a series that began on July 19th with a discussion of the 15th-19th century chapbook, continued on July 22nd with a foray into the stories of Ulysses, the Cyclops, and Santa Claus, and now addresses the challenge of how Ben Franklin and Socrates can change how you allocate your precious time more efficiently day to day.
An unexamined life is not worth living, said Socrates, allegedly. But when? and how? Life is so busy these days. Well, Ben Franklin said every day. Just make a little calendar. Days being columns.
Rows being your targets. His targets were his 13 virtues. Wow! Way too many! Come on, Ben.
Get realistic!
My three rows are 1.) Learning something new, 2.) thinking a bit more deeply, 3.) spreading a little joy.
Every day, before dinner, every member of every family, should take a little time, alone, to write down something new they learned that day, something they thought about a little more deeply that day, and at least one instance of joy spreading they did that day.
At dinner, you share what you have written. Writing is of course better if it includes an image or number or two.
Let’s call this alone time “evening focus time” or “nightly focus time.” You can be flexible and make it “morning focus time” for the morning people.
You can think of this time as “Nightly prayer time,” or “Morning Prayers time.” or as “A moment of silence” time. Or “mindfulness time (MT).”
Perhaps as “enhanced” or “advanced” mindfulness time (EMT, or AMT). That is, enhanced with the three tools of critical thinking — words, images, and numbers.
And, remember, continuity is key to depth of thought. And no record, no remember.
And remember, recording without publishing is like sex without a partner. Not bad, but not as good.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE SHUNTING ANALOGY — the asset allocation challenge (time, money, energy, troops) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Learning Something New
1. The body shunts blood to where it is needed most.
2. You should shunt your time to where it is needed most.
3. If you don’t shunt blood to thinking, well, you will not become a thoughtful person
NB: Thinking is a skill like cooking, knitting, and taming a wild animal. It takes time. 10,000 hours is not a bad rule for a basic level of mastery. How’s it going?
THE MYELIN ANALOGY — are you myelinating the axons of joy? (Myelin is a lipid protein substance that coats axons making transmission more efficient)
1. You are your habits.
2. How you do what you do becomes you are.
3. The biochemistry of you is no mystery.
NB: What is your joy calendar? What joy are you focusing on today? How many people did you make smile today? What are you waiting for?
Do you have seven axons of joy? If not, why not. And each one deserves its own day.
How many of the seven are sclerotic? How many of your arteries of wonder are clogged?
A CASE STUDY — A REPORT ON MY YESTERDAY — Recaps matter. Debriefs matter.
Don’t hit the sack without doing one. “Life is a special operation. Are you ready for it?”
1. Yesterday, on my daily walk through Minute Man National Park, I met a group of seven soldiers in fatigues. Four were wearing bright pink T-shirts over their fatigues. They were the candidates for “Warrant Officer.” The other three were their guides — senior Warrant Officers. In charge was a man named “LOVE.” I kid you not. So imagine in the image above “LOVE” in the place of “MYERS.”
2. What is a warrant officer? They are technical experts. They are the glue that holds the armed forces together.
3. They are pilots, and mechanics, and computer scientists. There are 48 specialties.
NB: They are in a gray zone between “Commissioned Officers” and
“Non-Commissioned Officers.” They call themselves “the Quiet Professionals.” I like to think of myself as a Warrant Officer of love, in fact. My expertise is how to maximize love in the world, starting, today, starting now by shunting your precious time to where it is most fruitful. The first step is having a detailed plan. Organization matters. Details matter.
Tell me about your Monday. Your Tuesday, Your Wednesday. Your Thursday. Your Friday. Your Saturday. Your Sunday.
Remember the three questions: #1 Did I learn anything new today and share it with someone I love? #2 Did I think more deeply about something really important and share my thoughts however fuzzy with a community of friends and family? #3 Did I bring a smile to the face of a friend, family member, work colleague, or stranger by making them feel loved and appreciated for who they are?
US Military (All Branches) WARRANT OFFICER RANKS Explained — What is a Chief Warrant Officer?
The importance of the warrant officer
Warrant officer (United States) — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH — Have you made your own Bible yet?
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
Last four years of posts organized thematically:
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to math, statistics, or numbers in general.
Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in your life related to math.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
