Imitation can be the sincerest form of flattery. It can be a learned style or an homage. Imitation can also take the form of plagiarism. But imitation is also the first step in learning. If we want to learn almost anything, we have imitated.
Is there anyone upon whose life or work you have based your own life or work? Has anyone held you in such regard?
Buddhists compare life to a wave that gathers elements from the sea and builds momentum. A wave builds to a climax as it ages, then tumbles on the shore, only to return to the sea and begin another journey.
How do you experience aging? Ever feel you’re riding the passage of time? Do you fear aging as a prelude to death? Has illness made you more age-aware? When you reflect upon your life do you feel enriched, grateful, experienced, wise? Fearful, regretful? Or a combination of all?
“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world,“ Agatha Christie tells us. “It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.”
Hopefully most mother-child relationships reflect this sentiment, but some — although loving — can be fraught with contention. Likewise, celebrating Mother’s Day can be joyous, stressful, or a mixture of both. What Mother's Day celebrations can you recall? How would you characterize them?
We all remember young Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 film The Graduate) listening to Mr McGuire’s infamous advice to pursue a career in plastics.
Ben rejected it of course and chose to buck the establishment and its hypocrisy. Do you think later he might have had second thoughts?
Remembering your own experiences, like Ben did you struggle with career choices? Did that struggle become intense? How did you handle it? Did you ever have regrets?
IQ is a deeply flawed and problematic concept. Artificial intelligence doesn’t make matters simpler. Successfully navigating our world can involve intelligence, luck or being in the right place at the right time. We all know people we KNOW are smart, others, not so much. But what makes a person intelligent?
In the 1964 Jacobellis v. Ohio case, Justice Potter Stewart admitted that obscenity is hard to pin down but, "I know it when I see it." A similar point might be made about intelligence.
Imitation can be the sincerest form of flattery. It can be a learned style or an homage. Imitation can also take the form of plagiarism. But imitation is also the first step in learning. If we want to learn almost anything, we have imitated.
Buddhists compare life to a wave that gathers elements from the sea and builds momentum. A wave builds to a climax as it ages, then tumbles on the shore, only to return to the sea and begin another journey.
“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world,“ Agatha Christie tells us. “It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.”
We all remember young Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 film The Graduate) listening to Mr McGuire’s infamous advice to pursue a career in plastics.
IQ is a deeply flawed and problematic concept. Artificial intelligence doesn’t make matters simpler. Successfully navigating our world can involve intelligence, luck or being in the right place at the right time. We all know people we KNOW are smart, others, not so much. But what makes a person intelligent?