KNOWING and Knowing. [huh?]

We do not have to know everything about something in order to understand it; too many facts are often as much of an obstacle to understanding as too few. There is a sense in which we moderns are inundated with facts to the detriment of understanding.
     --Mortimer J. Adler

And then I gotta ask, is "understanding" the same as "wisdom"? [Pls note, unless the query or exclamation is a part of the quote, one closes the quotes before applying those two punctuation marks, ditto colon and semicolon. NOT true for periods and commas, which fall inside of the quotes. And, DO NOT get Dr. Grammar-police started on "its" versus "it's"; my local loca newspaper makes me loco!]

Okay, back to understanding and wisdom, whattaya think? More pointedly, what did Solomon think? Something to the tune of, "It ain't whatcha know, it's what ya do!" [taken from The Not-King David's Version of Proverbs 1: 1-7.]

"...do not be weary in well-doing." 2 Thess. 3: 12 (RSV), as dear old Paul said.

So, when you're reading or when I'm writing, what on earth does that have to do with knowing, understanding, grammar-policing, or well-doing?

I dunno, I'm just full of good questions this aft...good questions w/o good answers. More, later.

Okay, after a day to mull (so many things improve with slight aging...especially ideas!) I'm thinking more about knowing what we know. I'm going to go down that olde English road, the King's English, and assert that truly knowing something means we've spent time with it, invested emotion and intellect in it, have gone beyond factual knowledge to profound acquaintance--as in Genesis 2, "...and Adam knew his wife, Eve..." Leaving aside the issue of sexual intercourse, as difficult as that may be to set aside as that's one of my favorite parts of the goodness of God's creation, Adam was the first (and last) man to truly understand his wife! Okay, all joking temporarily aside, Adam knew Eve the way an artists knows his palette, the way a pianist knows her keyboard, the way a dog knows its favorite toy--profoundly, intuitively, experientially. Ahh, and that brings me to a good closing point, with a quote from Denis Diderot, French guy...hah, you guessed! He was a philosopher, art critic, and writer.

"There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation."

I submit that not only writers and artists, not only scientists and scholars, but every last human being has these three capacities. I would also suggest that traditional schooling does a rather good job of squelching the innate eagerness to learn that we see in every normal little kid. Alas...but, it's never too late. You, yes you, today, can go forth and see, touch, think, wonder, and do--remembering that creativity is a part of human nature that is a reflection of the divine.

Unusual? Ordinary? Or, just plain stupid?

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.
   --Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.

=-- -= ---= -- =-- ---==--=----

      Do you agree with Mr. Rohn? Think fast--aye or nay?

      Now, ask yourself if the answer might depend on the context...still aye? Nay?

      Thinking about context--gee, now I feel like a politician...or, a philosopher...or, an English teacher....or, perhaps, an author?

      Characters cannot, any more than you or me, exist without any context. Sure, there are things that need no context...truths like the laws of thermodynamics or gravity or arithmetic...but how much richer when they're inserted into a particular context. The young physics professor who is brilliant but tends to mess up simple math problems because they're too simple because he's already thinking about something else...so he adds when he should multiply, takes 7 from 13 and gets 8*, and whose students all love the fact that he reheats his morning coffee with one of the lasers that he "borrowed" from the optics division. And, every day, holds his coffee cup up, wrinkles his brow, and intones some blend of physics and metaphysics along the lines of, "Gravity--the key to keeping hot liquids safely inside an open-ended container."

See? Thermodynamics, gravity, and math--fine by themselves...but, a particular context makes those ideas come alive!

So, back to the lead-in quote: do you go for the unusual, or for the ordinary? In writing, I think itsa combo of both...if all I aim for is uniqueness, so what have I achieved? Sure, it's off-beat, but it needs to be set in the context of the ordinary for the true oddness to stand out. In life, I think trying to be outstanding is an admirable goal, but if you cannot also be happy with the many ordinary things all around, then yer gonna be outstandingly unhappy. Too many superstars burn out (Michael Jackson, anyone?); geniuses crash (really, look at Bobby Fischer of chess fame); and lotsa great athletes end up in jail with DUI/drug/reckless-endangerment charges.

The way I see it--if you feel called to pursue something outstanding, great, go for it--but stay rooted in who you are and where you come from. Surround yrself with folks who are willing to deliver the necessary quantity of dope-slaps to keep you humble! (Thnx, Tommy and Ray, for that vivid imagery--whatsa brother for, eh?) Or, be stupid: shake off those who'd keep you humble, and soar with the eagles...for awhile.

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*if you have no problem with this, please close this web page, walk slowly to the nearest doorframe, and rapidly decelerate your skull thereupon repeatedly until I feel better!

Dr. Seuss, such a goose, was loose.

The more that you read
     the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
     the more places you'll go.

--Theodore Geisel...a.k.a., Dr. Seuss.

* * *

Since I recently made a re-post about the Lorax, I figured Dr. Seuss deserved some more "ink." What's your fav Dr. Seuss book? Or, books? Hmmm.

I just love the thumping, rollicking rhymes of THE CAT IN THE HAT, IF I RAN THE ZOO...oh, gosh, and the number of times I read ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH to our kids, oh my! THE NOSE BOOK was a winner with the kids, too. Perhaps the persistence that finally persuades Sam-I-Am to try green eggs and ham...in a box or with a fox, on a train or in the rain, here or there or anywhere...yup, that's the top of my list.

The rhythm is contagious, like a good kids song or like a Sousa march; the subjects are both prosaic (cats and hats, fish and colors, ham and eggs) and zany...boy, do they tickle the funny-button of kids young and old. My parents weren't fans of Dr. Seuss: too many made-up words, and too preposterous...well, that's what they thought when I was a tyke...certainly, they didn't deplore of those books by the time they were grandparents.

There are good life-lessons in Geisel's books, although he (thankfully) did not attempt to be "educational" or moralistic:
--persistent pushing to try something new, those green eggs and ham.
--everyone's nose is different and that's just hunky-dory (The Nose Book.)
--be careful just who you play with (Cat in Hat.)
--from a writer's perspective, Dr. Seuss was great with his loosely associated ideas...he wasn't stuck on linear/adult logic! If two unrelated things were side-by-side, well, by golly, then there they were, and now they're related, unhated, frustrated, out-dated...here or there, near or far, make them funny, whatever they are!

So, what's your fav, and why?



PS: older posts are accessible in the column on the right, a bit lower down. DS.

The Lorax

re-posting a blog...


Everything I Thneed to Know About Writing and Publishing I Learned from THE LORAX

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 03:00 AM PDT

School is officially out for the summer in my part of the world. For those of us who are parents working mostly from home, this is both a joy and a curse. I love having my son home with me, but it is much more difficult to work. Which is approximately 56 hours of any given day. Living in a single-level, two-bedroom apartment only exacerbates the issue, especially when my son decides to watch his movies at full volume in the room adjacent to my “office”, aka this sad little corner of my kitchen table. There is not even a wall between my work space and the living room.

Despite the insta-migraine this creates, my brain adapts to the situation by attempting to make every bit of data it collects from my environment relevant to my work. A few days ago, my son was watching The Lorax, which is a brilliant movie based on a brilliant book. But it’s very colorful and loud and not very conducive to the quiet time required to get my work done. After I’d downed a shot of Excedrin between jovial exclamations of “Thneedville! Thneedville!” the mind meld began. Everything I saw and heard in the other room was suddenly relevant to what I was doing in my sad little corner of writing and editing.

1. When a story begins with seemingly happy characters in a seemingly perfect world, there had better be Utter Doom ahead.

2. According to O’Hare Air, people will buy anything in a plastic bottle. So put your books in plastic bottles and watch your sales soar!

3. Don’t let anything stand in the way of your author dreams. Unless those dreams require deforestation. In that case, eBooks!
4. When the going gets tough, the tough eat marshmallows.
5. The Once-ler repeatedly cut his story short and told Ted that if he wanted the rest of the story he’d have to come back another day. Give the reader what they want, but not all at once. Holding back the juicy bits until just the right moment can draw out the tension.
6. The Once-ler: “How nice to see someone so undeterred by things like, reality.”
Author, defined.
7. The Lorax: “Nobody’s gonna buy that thing.”
The Once-ler: “Well, fortunately, you’re not the target market. Weirdo.”
Ignore the haters. You aren’t writing for those weirdos.

8. The success of the Once-ler’s Thneed comes out of nowhere.
No one knows why certain books take off and others don’t. But when a book does skyrocket, people are going to notice, and then they have to see what all the fuss is about. And then everyone thinks they need to read that book, even if they know they won’t like it, just so they can have an opinion on it. This can work in your favor. It can also not work for you at all. As was the case with the Once-ler, a jolt of unexplained success is not always good for the long run.
9. Ted’s main goal is to get a tree for Audrey. Half-way through the movie, when Grammy asks if the Once-ler has told him how to get a tree yet, his answer is no. In fact, Ted doesn’t get that tree for her until the very end.
Here’s the thing about main plot goals–they require the entire length of the story to achieve. Whatever the main goal of the plot that’s presented at the outset, this will be resolved at the climax. No sooner. Every minor goal along the way is a building block toward completing the major goal. Conflicts must arise that cause setbacks. New goals must be made to overcome those hurdles, all with an eye toward crossing the finish line.
You must know what your protagonist’s main plot goal is so you can keep him from reaching it until the very end. If the main conflict is resolved too soon, the tension is lost. At best, the ending falls flat. At worst, you lose the reader before they even get to the end.
10. The Once-ler’s family is all-too ready to help. After his invention is in demand. When you are successful, everyone you’ve ever known will claim to have been in support of you all along. This is an inevitable sack of lies. Be prepared for it.
11. The Once-ler’s mother: “You have to do what’s best for the company. And your mama.”
Actually you have to do what’s best for you and your stories, that’s it. I’ve heard this can mean displeasing your mother from time to time. ~whistles innocently~

12. Every villain is a hero in his own mind. The Once-ler truly believed his destruction of the forest was a good thing in the big picture because he was providing something people wanted.

13. As soon as the Truffula trees are gone, so is everything and everyone else. No more Thneeds, no more need. Then Mr. O’Hare steps in by providing the new thing people need–fresh air. If you chase a trend, you’re replaceable as soon as the next trend rises. And there is no guarantee the trend that brought you “success” will ever rise again.

14. “Let it grow, let it grow!”

True of your imagination, your stories, and your career. Because the only thing that doesn’t change in the world of publishing is that the world of publishing constantly changes.

 

Asking questions.

"The patient has all the answers, they are the expert in their diseases...it's up to the doc to ask the right questions."
--Dr. Larry Weed, MD. Inventor of the "problem-oriented medical record, and guest lecturer at Tufts Medical around 1981.

* * * *

I wish I'd kept track. The number of times per year that I pulled out the above quote from Dr. Weed...probably about 10 or 20. Over my eighteen or so years of part- and full-time teaching, that's a lot of med students and residents whom I hope to have influenced. That one bullet point from a lecture made a huge diff in my practice and my teaching.

Later teachers called it, "Patient-centered medical care." Duh. Except that in the rush in the mid-20th century to specialize and sub-specialize, along with mastering the increasingly predominant lab and technology involved in modern medicine...right, you guessed it (or, you were there)...the patient rather got lost in the weeds out beyond left field, and the old-time GP (general practitioner) was elbowed aside as a curmudgeonly and irrelevant old uncle...oh, and, ignorant, too.

Well, what goes around...in 1969, the GPs decided that riding in the baggage car of the medical train was no fun: the American Academy of Family Practice was formed, in an effort to keep alive the practice of medicine that was indeed patient-focused rather than disease-focused. I just loved being a family doc, with the challenges of knowing a whole lot in both breadth and in depth, and guiding my patients through the congested landscape of modern, technological, specialist-laden medical practice.

The best part was asking questions of my patients. Wide open questions. Questions that you could drive a truck through, such as, "So, tell me more about this problem..."
and, my favorite, "Okay, give me more details....uh-huh, what else?"

Writing is kinda like that, except one part of my brain poses the question, and another part tells the fingers what is the answer.

"Tell me more about how those guys escape. Details, please."
[Sound effect of quill scratching away on parchment.]


Writing...don't try to have all the right answers...but pray to ask the right questions. Hmm, do you suppose that works in other arenas? [Relationships? Religion? An alternative to ranting?]

God wants us to grow and discover

God wants us to grow and discover...and He accompanies us as we pursue deeper knowledge and understanding of Him and His world and His people.
                 --Loyola Press, daily retreats.

*  *  *

"...pursue deeper knowledge and understanding..." I really like that. Reminds me of the mental ferment of college/med school. While I enjoyed learning in high school, much was just factual knowledge, but college was much more analytical. "Why didn't we ever explore the 'whys' like this in high school? I'd have loved US History then!" was one thought that came back rather often. Or, reading stuff like the bio of Ben Franklin or John Adams--that gives a framework on which to hang US history--again, too bad things aren't taught that way.

In my senior yr of college, taking an economics course, I went to the library and read another book on econ theory. No prof had ever suggested doing anything outside the curric--why didn't this light dawn earlier? Regardless, I cite it as an example of the pursuit of deeper and wider understanding of God's world.

Pursuing a plot line that is populated by characters of my own devising--now that's a pursuit that would be almost too much fun to call work! Except, of course, that it is hard work. What are my biggest challenges?

--the tyranny of the urgent: there's always some other little project here or there that is slightly higher on the perceived priority list

--distractions

--writing too much detail, getting bogged down...shoot, if I think it's boring, it's gonna be even worse for a reader...and then, I'm tempted to spend time editing/fixing/re-writing that problem ppgh rather than just plowing forward. Right, like a snowplow in winter--just make your first pass and get the road open, don't try to get the road perfectly clean and cleared all the way to the edge! Besides, if the plow comes to a stop, it may have a hard time getting restarted if the grade is steep and the heavy snow is deep. (THIS IS HILARIOUS! It's high 90s out right now, here in the Arizona desert!!!)

--distractions.

--did I mention distractions, I was just thinking about something else, right after I Googled an idea, oh, and then had to write it in an email to myself as a reminder...?

Okay, in all seriousness, how am I doing with the pursuit of knowledge of God, his people, and his world?

Let's run with this question...I'll be back later, after reflecting for a bit. Meanwhile, hop on in to the discussion.

Thnx,

David