Topic: Books and Reading

On the plane from Madrid to NY, I began reading Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.  The book tells the story of a futuristic world, where the government has banned books, and the new job of firefighters is to burn down any house with books.  The intent is actually to bring about good.  Since books cause stress and confusion, elminating them and encouraging people to live life simply for pleasure, to watch tv, and to not think about anything intelligent, will create a happy society.

While there is no ban on books in real life like descirbed in the book, it seems to me that there is an unintended consequence (maybe it is intended) that college students, and subsequently people in there 20′s and older, are not reading books, nor are they able to critically read the books that they do read. 

Anyways…the question.  It seems there are no books that are widely read anymore.  What are books you read in school that you consider must reads for people to understand the world they live in?  What effect did the grind of school have on your ability to read books that you could relate to?  Do you think there should be preference given to certain books inside the classroom than others?  Should the curriculum of schools be current with the popular writings of the day?  Should Michael Moore’s books, (ones I love to talk about, but in the end have not questioned as all books should be) be critically examined in school?  I haven’t really grasped this concept that i’m writing about…but maybe you guys can get a feel for wht i’m getting at.

Thanks for the posts so far.  Dara, good point about taking a step back about Michael Moore.  I’ve actually been intending to acknowledge that his negativity isn’t role modeling behavior either.  Recently, Kerry began attacking Bush’s policies in Iraq, but that naturally got thrown back at him, since his stance on most issues is apparently similar to Bush’s. 

I have this philosohpy that people should not criticize others, but promote their own ideas.  I realize, I do criticize college a lot, but I always try to recognize that the people who run schools are most likely good people.  I just believe the product of their work isn’t the best for our nation’s young adults.  And, I go ahead and propose my ideas, rather than just bashing others.  Who is John Kerry, except for the alternative to Bush?  That’s a great question.  My response to that, is John Kerry is a person who has not upset the rest of the world through words and actions, while George W. Bush has.  It appears Kerry is taking the stance that he wants to restore America’s appearance around the world, and to me, as a person who has spent the last 6 months abroad in Africa, that’s become an important issue to me.  It would be nice if the election was one of Kerry vs. Bush, instead of Bush, vs. No-Bush.  However, the no-bush vote isn’t merely a judgement on Bush, it is supporting something.  It is supporting liberal policies, even if they aren’t the policies that Kerry will bring about.  Voting no-Bush, even if Kerry isn’t much better, is still a vote that we want to take care of the environment, the homeless, the unemployed, the uneducated, the elderly, and re-gain our respect around the world.  Although Michael Moore’s 100% anti-Bush tone merely encourages judgement, I believe, as a marketing tool, that’s what Americans respond to, and therefor, it is necessary.  Perhaps, once Bush is out of office, Moore will ease off the Republicans, and he most likely will turn his fury to the Democrats.  In that respect, he is no being judgemental on partisan lines, or, he is not just promoting anti-Bush because it’s the cool thing to do, he’s promoting the fierce questioning of all who are in charge, something that the media does not do with as much tenacity as Moore.

In politics, we’ve come to deal with people not really being people.  Most of us have never met a politician, so we throw around this heavy language of hatred towards politicians.  Until politicians begin to sound like people, and acknowledge their imperfections, we may continue to see the unfortunate products of uncontrolled criticism.

Topic: For my effort to change college education, I try to make my criticism controlled.  I blame nobody for the poor products of a college education.  What I do say, is that the products of college (students who are apathetic, jaded, depressed, confused, frustrated, etc.) are merely unintended consequences of a traditional form of education.  While the origins of college were probably innovative for the time, and made sense for the time, college in the year 2004, (where the average freshman hasn’t developed the internal-motivation for learning, and the average graduate has no real world understanding of the world because they’ve spent the past 4 years in the college bubble,) is in serious need of remodeling.  We need to look at what purpose college should have today. 

And, that’s my question for everyone.  What is the purpose of college in the year 2004.  What should the purpose of college be in the year 2004?  What are the products of college in the year 2004?  What should the products of college be in the year 2004?  Your thoughts, please…

Oh…and by the way…for those of you new to my site…I’m leaving South Africa this evening.  It’s 1:20am as i write this, i fly out of Cape Town at 3pm to Johannesburg, then from there to Madrid, and by 3pm on Monday, Eastern Standard Time, I will be at JFK airport, back home, Long Island, New York.  This culminates my 6 wonderful months in South Africa, and essentially rounds up my first year after college.  I still remember blogging back in Nov. about the topics I’m still writing about, and about the excitement I had for going abroad.  It seems like it could have been a few days ago, as it always does, however, I have grown a lot.  I do not even wish to try right now to see how I have changed, and to recount all the things I have done

(world’s highest bungy jump, 21-day backpacking trip w/ underprivilaged township kids, leanred to sail, rode an ostrich, went microlighting, lived in Cape Town, went kayak surfing in January, kissed girls from 3 countries (Belfast Ireland, England, and South Africa), went cliff diving, haggled for crafts and painting in African markets, helped a 78-year old woman feed 500 hungry township dogs, spent a day with a gay hypnotic therapist who had his own tv show in Australia, instructed a 7-day Lovelife program (the largest Aids awareness program in S. Africa, possibly the world), learned to lead-rock climb and went bouldering, went to a wine and cheese tasting and got driven home by the kindness of a stranger more sober than I, stayed at a game park where I saw many zebras and giraffes up close and personal and went quad biking around the park, pet a cheetah,  began to follow rugby, learned about the human rights atrocities in Zimbabwe, witnessed some of the most spectacular beaches i have ever seen in my 22 years, learned to roll a kayak, saw penguins, saw traditional Zulu and Xhosa dancing, ate all sorts of traditional South African foods, evacuated a dead man from the mountains, went to my friend’s grandmothers 90th birthday party (just tonight!) and, last but certainly not least, almost completed a book about the need for higher education reform).

ok…well, there was a small taste of some of the things i’ve done.  i guess, the point is, while the world never seems to change all that much, as a person, time changes us all.  and i’m proud to say, i haven’t wavered one bit on my life’s philosophy of making the most of every day, and to push the limits of what one person can do.  i’m both scared and excited of where the next 6 months will lead me.

anyways…for no charge, (except hopefully about $15 once my book is done and published) i want to offer my services as a “teacher.”  I have no qualifications, except my recent experiences.  You don’t have to pay tuition, but any questions you have about anything, from South Africa culture, to Outward Bound, from backpacking culture, to writing, don’t hesitate to ask.  And keep in mind, any answer I give is only based no my experience, just as the teachings of any teacher are based on their experience alone.  So, I formally begin this class, Thoughts on Life and the World 101, professor Dan Lilienthal.  No grades, no tests, no assignments.  Just the exchanging of ideas between self-motivated learners, where I too am a student, as much as a teacher.

Topic: The day after tom.

I just saw this movie, and it’s all about the possible environmental disasters caused by ignoring environmental concerns in favor of economic conerns.  It paints America in a pretty pathetic light.  It shows our ignorance of the environment, our ignorance of foreign countries which we may one day come to need, as well as our inability to admit, “we don’t know, we’ve made a mistake.”

I’m sure most people checking out my site are liberals, but, is there any reason to support George W. Bush for another term.  Is there anything to be optimistic about, as an American citizen.  The world dislikes us, we are still a threat of terrorism, education is as it was 4 years ago, the environment is at is was 4 years ago.  I hope there’s some conservatives who visit my site who can tell me, “Why should we give bush 4 more years and not give the democrats a shot?”

Topic: Programmed by society

Most people don’t say, “grades are important,” yet most would agree that we treat them as if they are.  Most people don’t say, “your worth in life is determined by the title of your school, your job, your position, or your company,” but most would agree that psychologically, it makes a big difference whether you went to a state school or an Ivy, you work in business, or as a camp counselor, you’re a consultant, or just travelling around.  Most people don’t say, “I believe money will buy me happiness,” yet most people will still consider money as a leading factor in choosing a job, even at the expense of a job more suited to their interests, or a job that would allow them to spend more time with family and friends.

The question is, what sort of things in your life have you been led to believe are important, but you either have left them behind because you know they’re not, or you’re still valuing them, even though you don’t believe them to be inherently important.  How deeply affected have you been by these false beliefs?  What sort of beliefs do you hold to be inherently true, but find nearly impossible to pursue because you’re strangled by the norms of society?

Topic: In response to a comment by lettersat3am, i was wondering how practical it is to not go to college, to not pay for someone to educate you and to educate yourself.  It seems every job says, “bachelors degree” required.  Is a bachelors degree really as required as we’re led to believe, or can non-academic experience make up for the lack of a degree?

Topic: Grades

What effect have grades had in your life?  What would education and life be if there were no grades?

Topic: Starting over

Now that my xanga is my leading marketing tool, I need to revamp my posts.  I originally started my xanga as a way to begin discussions on important issues that seem to not get discussed on a regular basis.  That format seemed to attract people, and in an effort to both attract people to the beginning of this movement to help america’s colleges and universities develop innovative educational reforms, as well as to gain more people’s thoughts on the issue, I will get back to my xanga roots.

Topic:  The Million dollar question.  If you could change one (or 100) things about your college experience, what would it be, and why?

TOPIC: COPYRIGHT LAW

So, I did a little homework about copyright law.  Turns out, there are certain “fair use” exceptions where you can use copyright law.  Although the law has gray areas, based on the 4 criteria, I should have no problem quoting from such books as Dude, Where’s My Country, Stupid White Men, Tuesday’s With Morrie, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanance, and the New York Times.

The issues are:

1) purpose of use – if you’re using something for education or the general benefit of others, versus trying to get rich off of someone elses copyrighted work, then you should be ok

2) nature of the work used – if the work is intended to spark conversation, versus a piece of creative writing, or art, then you should be ok

3) amount of the use – if you’re not taking the essence of the piece of work, or, you’re not making your work highly resemble the work of a copyrighted piece of work, you should be ok

4) effect on the potential market for or value of the original – if by taking someone’s copyrighted work and using it with your own, you are not in essence stealing customers from that person, you should be ok.

This is from Stanford University Libraries, and offers another look at copyright law and fair use:

A. What Is Fair Use? PREVIOUS NEXT

In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. Another way of putting this is that fair use is a defense against infringement. If your use qualifies under the definition above, and as defined more specifically later in this chapter, then your use would not be considered an illegal infringement. So what is a “transformative” use? If this definition seems ambiguous or vague, be aware that millions of dollars in legal fees have been spent attempting to define what qualifies as a fair use. There are no hard-and-fast rules, only general rules and varying court decisions. That’s because the judges and lawmakers who created the fair use exception did not want to limit the definition of fair use. They wanted it–like free speech–to have an expansive meaning that could be open to interpretation. Most fair use analysis falls into two categories: commentary and criticism; or parody. 1. Comment and Criticism If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work–for instance, writing a book review — fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve your purposes. Some examples of commentary and criticism include: quoting a few lines from a Bob Dylan song in a music review summarizing and quoting from a medical article on prostate cancer in a news report copying a few paragraphs from a news article for use by a teacher or student in a lesson, or copying a portion of a Sports Illustrated magazine article for use in a related court case. The underlying rationale of this rule is that the public benefits from your review, which is enhanced by including some of the copyrighted material. Additional examples of commentary or criticism are provided in the examples of fair use cases in Section C. 2. Parody A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way. Judges understand that by its nature, parody demands some taking from the original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to “conjure up” the original. For more information on copyright law, check out: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/

There’s a free legal lesson, and for me, a very useful one.  Experiential education at work.

went for a jol last night with eugene

got smashed

snogged a cute capetonian girl

been watching a sweet dave matthews dvd

playing with the cat, Sam

cooked Toad in the Hole for dinner last night (similar to yorkshire puddnig)

submissions editor of a major publisher wants to meet me for a beer in San Fran at some point

one of the heads of NYC outward bound is interested in talking to me, and i’m trying to work my way into getting involved in the starting of 8 new expeditionary learning outward bound high school in NYC

9 more days till i’m back in America

book is gonna be really cool!!!

saw the most amazing sports awards program today…seriously, i almost cried, some of the scenes were so emotional.  and it was different because it wasn’t made for americans, it was made for the world, so there was as much baseball and hockey as rugby, cricket, soccer, and all the other sports that the world watches.  they showed a clip of nelson mandela saying how sports can heal the world, and showed some scenes of “sports for good” programs, that create opportunities to bring india and pakistan together, or to uplift poor african communities.  it was amazing really…all the biggest name athletes, and actors like morgan freeman and michael douglass.  and it was so completely inspiring to me because everyone there was the best at something, and accomplished something.  all regular people like myself, and i realized that accomplishing things does take a lot of work, but that the rewards are more than worth it.  and i realized how good it is that i’m travelling, that i can relate to all the world’s sport, and when i saw even these celebrities crying because even they were inspired by such tales as people climbing all the tallest peaks in the world, and people losing legs but going on to set world records, i realized that there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about the world and to feel hope.  slowly…good will triumph over evil, and this world we live in, which when you read the papers it feels just like we’re living in a storybook, yes, this world will have a happy ending.  thank you, and goodnight.

-dan

Just an average day,

slept till 2pm

had a pepper steak pie, and mutton currie pie, with ghost pop chips for lunch

went bouldering with eugene

made omelletes for dinner

watched France and Brazil play soccer to a 0-0 tie

made it past page 100 on my book

still up till 4am

It’s just one man, holding a bunch of words he wrote.
Soon, I will be holding a book, with my name on the front.

Topic: pure fucki’ venting, nothing but venting, comment if you want, but this blog is for me.

I’m writnig a fuckin’ book.  I’ve got all these ideas that are good, but they’re stuck in my head.  And i love writer, so i’m doing my best to craft those ideas into words on the page.  but i have to keep considering what i want from this book. 

and i have to play w/ microsoft word to make it look like a book, because i don’t have an editor to do that for me.  and i have to make sure the company i’m using to do print-on-demand books is ok, because i don’t have the time to search every friggi’ company.  and i need to keep brainstorming a marketing plan, and a travel plan.  and i need to figure out what to do if the book goes well and if it doesn’t.

I’m doing the work of 5 people, and in a few months time, i’ll look back and smile.  because this is what i have to do.  one day, i’ll be a writer and will have others to take care of some of the load, but right now, this is what i have to do to make it.  and that’s fuckin’ hilarious, being the 22 year old scrub who’s giving it all to make it big.  and this is what anyone who wants to make a difference has to go through.  i don’t know where else to turn, i need to find people with similar interests as me, because i’m gonna burn myself out, and waste a lot of energy.  i’ve got some great fuckin’ ideas, and why o why is it so damn hard to get the ball rolling. 

this is what the real world does, if i was in college, i could find support all over the place, in one year’s time, i’m gonna get myself into a position where when i speak, there’s a list of people who are listening and ready to do something.  i can’t fuckin’ blog, only dara reads this anyway, hi dara,

i need to get connected w/ people w/ power to do things, someone who will recognize my energy, and my creativity. 

and i just spent the past hour going through photos of people from college online, and fuck, i could really use some emotional support from them.  but i need to dig deep, and find my own support, my own motivation.  one last push to the summit, this book will be done soon, things will be great soon, just now i must focus.