Just remembering

A comment by Curt Bonk about my Legends and Legacies video got me thinking about so many impressive scholars I have had the pleasure of knowing … and I am thinking about one trait they all shared … namely, a willingness to listen and accept the views of others without ever showing an ounce of arrogance or self-importance … I am specifically recalling many meetings with Bob Gagné, Bob Tennyson, Dave Merrill, Charlie Reigeluth, O. K. Bouwsma, Ed Allaire, Stuart Spicker, Walt Davis, Rich Mayer, Bob Kozma, Dick Clark, Paal Davidsen, Norbert Seel, Sanne Dijkstra, Ton de Jong, and so many others whose names escape my aging mind … and then I think about so many others I have met who are into self-promoting and boasting about their accomplishments so much of the time … I am too much like the latter group and too little like the former … so I am now wondering if humility is an indicator of wisdom … and, I should add that two of those luminaries called me stupid in front of others for something I said … of course both Gagné and Spicker were right … I had said something stupid … but their words and guidance helped me through the fog of my arrogance …

Shallowness and superficiality are pervasive

I am finally stopping. No more listening to empty-headed news reports. With the exception of Rachel Maddow, the reporters and interviewers seem to be aiming for headlines – some simple-minded thing to put out to the equally mindless public. The obsession with headlines, deadlines, redlines, and battlelines is disturbing … no, meaningless … no, just plain mean … with so little emphasis and analysis given to foodlines and lifelines. Where is the humanity lost in information ... in misinformation ... where is that voice that spoke to Job and asked where Job was when the mountains and rivers were created? Where is the humility?