How much can one person absorb or be involved in? I don't think that has a quantifiable answer. Each of us has a capacity. Some grow that capacity to become so open ended that it goes in many directions and just grows and grows. Others are finite and set limits as to what or to what extent they are open to new learning. They prefer to have this little niche that becomes their specialty. We see them as the experts in that precise segment of knowledge. Personally--however, I don't see the more generalist style of learners any less knowledgeable and tend to believe they may have more of knowledge tied into the real pulse of the universe. What I am trying to say is still not absolutely clear to me and am still struggling to understand it. I just feel this when I read the works of great writers of say the 19Th c. or early 20Th c. such as Joyce and Dostoevsky just to mention a few. What they wrote still rocks the cradle of the mind and changes the direction of our thoughts. I guess that is why I enjoy periodically visiting these old friends and keep their works near by.
Mature thought. Ever give thought to what that might mean? Is it old and stinky? Is it based on experience? Not everyone has significant experiences and not all thought is archaic and one step removed from dust. When I lived in Asia I was not taken totally serious until my hair started to gray. Although most of my friends and colleagues dyed their hair--they knew each other since childhood and knew how they had developed. I was the new kid no one knew about and the only measure of maturity came irrespective of experiences but rather on the occasion of my gray hair.
I have been giving much thought as to how I filter people that I come in contact with. Do I have this mental paradigm that programs me to ask certain questions in that attempt to gain comfort or better yet to see who has the better Gong fu. Man, woman it makes no difference. If you are going to be in my life are you going to share or just take? No, I don't just blurt that out but somehow that process that isolates me when it should only be insulating me by allowing this new warmth to reach me. I sort of listen to me ask questions but I really listen to the responses coming back to me. This person challenges me that person agrees with me. But why? I don't even know if I am right. It is best to stay on topics that are historically recorded and discussions that revolve around minute interpretations. Heaven forbid it was some way out philosophical discussion that Kant or Nietzsche left open ended. Did they ever leave anything open for further discussion?
Mature thought. Ever give thought to what that might mean? Is it old and stinky? Is it based on experience? Not everyone has significant experiences and not all thought is archaic and one step removed from dust. When I lived in Asia I was not taken totally serious until my hair started to gray. Although most of my friends and colleagues dyed their hair--they knew each other since childhood and knew how they had developed. I was the new kid no one knew about and the only measure of maturity came irrespective of experiences but rather on the occasion of my gray hair.
I have been giving much thought as to how I filter people that I come in contact with. Do I have this mental paradigm that programs me to ask certain questions in that attempt to gain comfort or better yet to see who has the better Gong fu. Man, woman it makes no difference. If you are going to be in my life are you going to share or just take? No, I don't just blurt that out but somehow that process that isolates me when it should only be insulating me by allowing this new warmth to reach me. I sort of listen to me ask questions but I really listen to the responses coming back to me. This person challenges me that person agrees with me. But why? I don't even know if I am right. It is best to stay on topics that are historically recorded and discussions that revolve around minute interpretations. Heaven forbid it was some way out philosophical discussion that Kant or Nietzsche left open ended. Did they ever leave anything open for further discussion?
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