Re-Education

Normally when I read a book it is a quick matter - something that takes other people weeks can sometimes take me a day or even sometimes hours. I attribute that to a familiarity with the underlying concepts of a work; if you understand the general direction that an author is coming from and are familiar with the terrain, comprehensive reading is quick.

Sometimes you run across a book that stretches you. Homo Ludens, by Johan Huizinga, stretched me. Maybe it is because my 'humanity' side of being an autodidact has been weaker throughout my life, though I doubt that is truly the case. The book simply tied together old knowledge in new ways with unexpected results. It was a book that forced me to reassess some of the way I think - my own prejudices, if you will - and forced me to delve deeply into thought for long periods of time. This, for me, is the mark of a great book. Something that stretches the reader. Something that forces some reassessment. Something that makes one look at the past knowledge differently and can have a profound effect on future knowledge.

The sad thing is that books like this aren't considered popular. They're 'too hard', causing people to have to 'think' - and when one considers the effect that has on a global level, it can be quite disturbing. Has mankind always been so intellectually lazy? It is likely that it is so.

How many students graduate college after reading some texts, never to pick up a textbook again? Many, or there would not be 'recertification' or 'continuing education credits'. Both are a reminder of how much we tend to avoid things that challenge us at times- and which are very important on many levels.

I wonder, at times, how much the education system itself could benefit from some re-education. But then, that is like a coffee bean talking about how best to brew tea...