Curling Up With a Good Book

Curling up with a good book is something I have done waaaay too little of over the past year. I suppose between school and work and my specific situation it may be excusable. Perhaps it's the type or difficulty of the books I've had "coming across my shelf" recently. Or maybe it's the changing priorities which have altered the time & space with which I had previously associated my reading.

Either way, I've finally found my New Year's Resolution for 2009--to make time for "curling up with a good book".

As a supplemental, it should be noted that I am a firm denier of the idea that reading is something we must find time for; reading is something we need to make time for!

(NOTE: The inspiration for this post was my one-sitting reading of Gary Paulsen's The Tent this evening).

Brain Infantilization or Biased Neuroscience?

David Derbyshire of the UK's Daily Mail has written an article on the topic of possible harm caused to childrens' brains by social websites. Following are some highlighted quotes from the mentioned article.

Baroness Greenfield, Oxford University neuroscientist says of social media:

My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.

The Baroness furthers:

I often wonder whether real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitised and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf...

David Derbyshire of the UK's Daily Mail makes the larger point that:

Psychologists have also argued that digital technology is changing the way we think. They point out that students no longer need to plan essays before starting to write - thanks to word processors they can edit as they go along. Satellite navigation systems have negated the need to decipher maps.

A closing thought from Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood:

'I'm not against technology and computers. But before they start social networking, they need to learn to make real relationships with people.' 

As with anything, I personally think it is a matter of restraint. We should and will use social media technologies to our human advantage, even in the pursuit of developing and maintaining healthy human relationships. Using or depending on a "plugged-in" solution for all things though surely would be an excessive behavior resulting in an affected person, to whatever degree.

What do YOU think?

References

Derbyshire, D. (2009, February) Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist. The Daily Mail: Mail Online. Retrieved 24 February 2009 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153583/Social-websites-harm-childrens-brains-Chilling-warning-parents-neuroscientist.html

George Will's Law PLUS

At some point in the past columnist George F. Will figuratively proposed the law that no company gaining assistance from the Federal Government shall pay its executives any more than a GS-15 employee, which from the 2009 base pay scale has an upper limit toward $125,000. On 9 Feb 09, Will paraphrases by saying that "if you want to be a civil servant, live like a civil servant" and one of the others present in the ABC News: This Week Green Room says this:

The banks and financial institutions are like Iraq was before the invasion: they exist so that their leaders can hold power and make money, as Saddam in Iraq did...

Is there truth to that?

Green Room: George Will's Law 02/09/2009

Norwegian Wood

In a recent instance of the GeezerMail which arrives in my inbox on a nearly daily basis, one Geezer (of the Winston Dobbins Old Geezer Network) referenced the Beatles song "Norwegian Wood" in association with the Lyons, New York graduating Class of 1965.

I never cease to be amazed by Beatles lyrics (VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kar0pIIjK9U
LYRICS: http://www.mp3lyrics.org/b/beatles/norwegian-wood/print.htm). And it's said of my generation (Gen Y) that we behave strangely?!?!?

Break the Cycle

On Monday 9 February, President Obama held a prime-time press conference issuing a call to action regarding his Economic Recovery Plan.



President Obama's message - direct video link for those of you poor souls still browsing the Web with Internet Explorer. Try a real browser, like Google Chrome.

The Prez challenges us--leaders and citizens--to embrace a plan that is big enough, and bold enough, to make a difference. Now I am not a big government fan at heart, yet I do believe in big ideas. So scratch at me all you want, weak of mind! My official side of the house remains with those whose names are preceded with an (R)--so many of whom I have come to discover seem to be no different than mimicking parrots. And that includes family members, and community members. God knows I love them. The trite acknowledgement is that I find little to admire when opinions and stances are adopted blindly without any transferral of energy between the ears.

President Obama states plainly that the Economic Recovery Plan today is not perfect, and also that no plan is perfect. A favorite quote of mine of GEN George S. Patton reads: "A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week". Our American President warns of the failure to act, of doing little or nothing at all. On track with Pres. Obama's message, let's break the cycle! And hey, maybe we might even risk talking to our neighbors along the way...

The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose. - President Barack H. Obama

Conversationally Yours,

(R) Seth C. Burgess
Huron, NY

Unemployment

As of 20 Feb 2009, I will be officially joining the ranks of the unemployed.

What will be next? Well, I plan to start building a job search agenda. I'll be looking for something within commuting distance from central Wayne County. I have no specific field I'm looking for. My BS in Information Technology and expected MBA in Management and Leadership are broadly-qualifying. Not to mention the array of work experience I've accumulated from my most recent job.

So for the next few months I'm going to turn my focus to finishing grad school and re-addressing some self-employment projects, while attempting to line up another job. Any suggestions or leads are welcome and appreciated!