A very profound statement

[Barbara Branden]

"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

                       ---  Alvin Toffler

[BaalChatzaf]

"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

--- Alvin Toffler

That remark has much wu.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[9thdoctor]

"those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

Makes me think of Yoda:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnzATwViX0g

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Barbara,

"Illiterate" in Toffler's meaning is a perfect description of a bigot.

I'm going to mull this one over.

When we add the ADD plague on modern attention span caused by the massive constant information dump that people can access by remote control, it's hard to see where this will lead.

I think many people cling to their dogmas because dogma is the only certainty they know how to get. They're otherwise too busy changing channels to find any intellectual anchors they can think through--deeply and at length--on their own.

Michael

[Barbara Branden]

Barbara,

"Illiterate" in Toffler's meaning is a perfect description of a bigot.

I'm going to mull this one over.

When we add the ADD plague on modern attention span caused by the massive constant information dump that people can access by remote control, it's hard to see where this will lead.

I think many people cling to their dogmas because dogma is the only certainty they know how to get. They're otherwise too busy changing channels to find any intellectual anchors they can think through--deeply and at length--on their own.

Michael

I love the fact that so much today -- especially in the world of science -- requires absolutely new thinking if it is to be understood and built upon. So many of the old stupid certainties are gone and need to be replaced. It never seemed more the case than now, in this brand new century, that "there are more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in {our} philosophy."

Barbara

[Dennis Hardin]

I owe a huge debt to Alvin Toffler.

At the age of 16, I was a mixed-up, bewildered, lost soul desperately searching for answers, and the only world I knew was the Bible Belt and the cynical, nightmare universe of hoodlums and brain-dead cretins that inhabited the high school where I was forced to spend most of my waking hours. The only thing I could find that made life worth living was a beautiful young girl named Carol who seemed as disgusted by that universe as I was. One day I happened to mention to her that my father had a subscription to PLAYBOY. She asked me if I could possibly bring the current issue to school the next day, because there was something in it she desperately wanted to read. Somehow I managed to sneak the magazine into my schoolwork binder, and I proudly presented it to her the next day. She was thrilled! Then she showed me the article she was so eager to read: Alvin Toffler's PLAYBOY interview with Ayn Rand. She made me promise to read it when I got the chance, and I did. Over and over again. Soon after that, I discovered the sunlit universe of ATLAS SHRUGGED.

For a long time, I was convinced that Ayn Rand was going to save the world. I suppose that still could happen. But today, looking back on that incredibly life-changing moment, all that really matters to me is that she saved my life.

And some of the credit for that has to go to Mr. Toffler (and, of course, Carol--thank you, wherever you are).

[Dennis Edwall]

Dennis: What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing.

[BaalChatzaf]

Barbara,

"Illiterate" in Toffler's meaning is a perfect description of a bigot.

I'm going to mull this one over.

When we add the ADD plague on modern attention span caused by the massive constant information dump that people can access by remote control, it's hard to see where this will lead.

I think many people cling to their dogmas because dogma is the only certainty they know how to get. They're otherwise too busy changing channels to find any intellectual anchors they can think through--deeply and at length--on their own.

Michael

I love the fact that so much today -- especially in the world of science -- requires absolutely new thinking if it is to be understood and built upon. So many of the old stupid certainties are gone and need to be replaced. It never seemed more the case than now, in this brand new century, that "there are more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in {our} philosophy."

Barbara

I forget who said/wrote this: The universe is not only stranger than we knew, it is stranger than we can know.

This is primarily because the "common sense" or intuition we develop at man size scales is simply not what exists at subatomic scales. The subatomic world is nothing like the world we comprehend at scales comparable to our body size and the resolution of our unaided senses. We can only comprehend the world of the very, very, very small indirectly and inferentially.

Richard Feynman made this point several times in his lectures.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited September 2, 2010 by BaalChatzaf

[Dennis Hardin]

Dennis: What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing.

Dennis to Dennis: Thank you very much for the validation and the kind words!

Barbara: My apologies for the slight detour, but I couldn't resist.

[Barbara Branden]

Dennis: What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing.

Dennis to Dennis: Thank you very much for the validation and the kind words!

Barbara: My apologies for the slight detour, but I couldn't resist.

Dennis H, I'm glad you didn't resist.

Barbara