Ben Franklin and the Art of Virtue

This book is a take on Ben Franklin's philosophy and teachings about virtue by........

 George L. Rogers- Editor (though compiles, commments, and injects enough in the book that he's practically the offer; though definitely based on teachings and references to Ben Franklin.)

The premise is this; suppose Ben Franklin wanted to write a book on virtue (as he pretty much did, given that Ben Franklin was one of history's more notable philosophers).   I am less impressed by (Ben Franklin, even more than Jefferson strikes me as more of a synthesiser of previous thought than an innovative philosopher) Ben Franklin as a philosopher than Jefferson.

George L. Rogers ends chapters with Sonnets about the topic (presumably by him and not Franklin).  Thus, perhaps there is too much Rogers in this book, and not enough Franklin.

Yet another mediocre book.  I am not all that impressed with either Franklin or Rogers as a writer.  Rogers himself relies too much on Ben Franklin' autobiography and does not seem to have known Franklin's aphorisms like the back of his hand; instead trying to summarise an overrall premise (though of course Franklin is frequently quoted), to the point this comes across as more of a rehash of Ben Franklin's biography and a summary of his points than a truly deep understanding of what Franklin had to offer.

Though summarising Franklin's ideas and combing it with is biography seems like a good idea; I think George L. Rogers inserts himself too much in the book when I think the chapters should either have had more refined summaries, or a more interesting elaboration of Franklin's ideas, instead of the "poems" at the end of each chapter.


For a good biographer and history check out Plutarch 

For another book on Ben Franklin check out Autobiography of Ben Franklin on project Gutenberg.

Why college is overrated

Why college is overrated:

Be an adult; not a credential

Clarity (notsomuch credentials?) is power.   Be clear on what you want; clarify your goals and values, and be capable of clarity.

Flunked out college?  Good!  More than make up for it (In terms of detachment or character or experience, vocational training, goal setting, or perhaps other credentials?)

School is basically babysitting for people under 25; if you are over 25, clarify your goals and values.

Because it is a system of indoctrination of the young

College and University as a possible "trap".......

Colleges often geared too much towards STEM research

Perhaps a "rule" that is made to be broken..........

The counselors are bullshit

Not necessarily worth the price it carries (years of time and money, conformity, obedience, and too much faith and obedience in to institutions, subjugation to indoctrination, giving the higher education system too much credit)

Thus to conform to such a flawed system might be unprincipled
 

Most teachers  are not public intellectuals.  They are not mentors, gurus, lifestyle coaches, consultants, or philosophers.  More like beureaucrats and freelancers affecting to be such. 


If you must get your credential; than get an associates degree; unless your college doesn't offer it, in which case we have yet another reason why your college is an overrated POS.  

Drop your excuses (even about credentials)
Overpriced
Formal education is glorified conformity
Detachment (maybe even from credentials.....) is a virtue.  Repeated detachment!
Experience and goal setting make up for (and often a superior form of) credentials
(zen-daoist no-credentials!)

Never look for your work in one place; and your progress in another
The "real" universities care more about research, sports, indoctrination, profits, than they do about class performance

Communities colleges would be good except they suck (due to counselors and pros who couldn't make in the real universities )

A lot of the criticisms geared toward public education (which is a glorified baby-sitter) are actually more true of higher education (due to colleges being either crappy community colleges, bad counselors, overrated professors, research and indoctrination.)

Check Out Noam Chomsky on this issue
Check out John Taylor Gatto on this issue

If you want to do something (like say teach, can always do it online......)you may find a way, if not, you may find an excuse.

College isn't for everyone
The library is probably a lot better than bunch of useless profs.
The United States is clearly using the "necessity" of higher education against people.
What is often considered Happiness shouldn't be too tied to attachments (such as wealth credentials etc.)

No one is going to do a great job of educating but yourself............
Better to get advice and instruction from books and mentors than tenured professors........
 
The ultra-elite universites (like Ivy League) are even bigger bullshit; because anyone smart enough to get in to one doesn't need it or can go to some other college or mode of education.


School is often more about professional training/bearaucratic training, instead of helping you find out what you want to do!   You'll have to find that out for yourself..///

Don't conform to the machine, regardless of what if offers you (be it wealth, credentials, and so on)

 There is even a link between prisons and Universities:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/5-links-between-higher-education-and-the-prison-industry-20140618


 School teachers, taking them by and large, are probably the most ignorant and stupid class of men in the whole group of mental workers.

• H.L. Mencken

 . A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. -Dwight D. Eisenhower
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WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

Carpe Diem! (Seize the day!)

An accurate diagnosis is half the cure......

Meditate.  Meditation as substitute for university......

Live every hour as if it were your last.......

Gain work experience
Learn goal setting (and as more importantly, goal review)
Find purpose
Follow your bliss
clarify your dreams
 Be patient (he that can have patience; can have what he will)

Establish good reading habits on your own
Learn informally via youtube channels such as Crash course.  Or public intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky.

Form your own values; not the values you are pressured to have
Write your own script
 Consolations; write consolations that you may console yourself of anything!  If you want to be consoled, write consolations!

Make sure that you value your own principles and values over the privelages university supposedly provides.

Learn from and carefully review your mistakes ; and don't be afraid to draw your own conclusions
Meditate

 When you drop out; drop out carefully.  Or, just learn from it!

TEFL is bullshit; but that's one way to study abroad; or some other vocational training for a credential.


If you want to be diligent, be diligent!

If you want to be educated, read
IF you want to be wise, study philosophy
If you want to improve yourself, study self improvement
If you want credentials; gain dilligence, patience, experience, expertise and detachment (From credentials!)
If you want a magic piece of paper, write down and review your goals!  (thus, even goals are your credential.....)

Earl Nightingale said many years ago that one hour per day of study in your chosen field was all it takes. One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.



Find a way or make one!

If you didn't go to college, learn from that mistake
If you dropped out of college, learn from that mistake
If you droned on in college (like some boring office drone or some submissive tofu eating Asian boy!), you sire, have made a mistake.  Now learn from it!

You don't have to be success-oriented, but learn from your mistakes as carefully as if you were.

Check out azquotes.com and wikiquotes.org to study quotes from famous wise men.

Check out Peter Thiel.... the Peter Thiel fellowship.  Get paid to drop out of college!

http://thielfellowship.org/
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QUOTES:

  “Is it any wonder that Socrates was outraged at the accusation he took money to teach? Even then, philosophers saw clearly the inevitable direction the professionalization of teaching would take, that of pre-empting the teaching function, which, in a healthy community, belongs to everyone.”
― John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Education

Grades don't measure anything other than your relevant obedience to a manager.

John Taylor Gatto

 

You either learn your way towards writing your own script in life, or you unwittingly become an actor in someone else's script.

John Taylor Gatto

 

You need experience, adventure, and explorations more than you need algebra!

John Taylor Gatto

The economy schoolchildren currently expect to live under and serve would not survive a generation of young people trained to think critically.

John Taylor Gatto

Nobody gives you an education. If you want one, you have to take it.

John Taylor Gatto

  "As a writer, politician, scientist, and businessman, [Ben] Franklin had few equals among the educated of his day-though he left school at ten. (...)Boys like Andrew Carnegie who begged his mother not to send him to school and was well on his way to immortality and fortune at the age of thirteen, would be referred today for psychological counseling; Thomas Edison would find himself in Special Ed until his peculiar genius had been sufficiently tamed." - John Taylor Gatto

Usually when you ask somebody in college why they are there, they'll tell you it's to get an education. The truth of it is, they are there to get the degree so that they can get ahead in the rat race. Too many college radicals are two-timing punks. The only reason you should be in college is to destroy it.

Abbie Hoffman

“You are who you choose to be.”

― Ted Hughes, The Iron Man
 

"Nobody Can Educate You, Except Yourself"

 

 

 

 "We are taught for the schoolroom, not for life." ~ Seneca the Younger

 

 A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. The library is the university.

• Shelby Foote quoted in: North Carolina Libraries, Vol. 51-54 (1993), p. 162

If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.

Jim Rohn

Book Review: Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules of Life: An andidote to Chaos

Here, I review a book by the noted Clinical Psychologist (you may see plenty of lectures of his on youtube), Jordan Peterson.

Although I somewhat like Jordan Peterson, I am not sure what to think of the book..  It is too good to dismiss; but even for Jordan Peterson, this book isn't all that enlightening.

Jordan Peterson's most useful advice is the concept of "processing"  (ie typing out a journal in 7 epochs and detailing them so as to process your life.  Psychological procession as a means of healing is one of Jordan Peterson's many useful concepts; and shows that Jordan Peterson is in fact a useful thinker, even if he comes across as slightly too shallow of one.)

   Though such concepts are perhaps mentioned in this book; the real meat of the book is his personal experiences in life and in therapy, some flawed precepts about the exceptionalism of Judeo-Christianity, and an overview of 12 rules which I did not find useful.   And some detailing of how human and animal hierarchy and comradery operate.  By far the books best chapter is the first one.

Thus, though decently written, with some interesting research and experience, this is not that great of a book.  The 12 rules are hardly a grandiose guidelines; Jordan Peterson is usually a shallow yet helpful thinker; but some of Jordan Peterson's most helpful advice takes a back seat to the 12 rules, some shallow points about Judeo-Christianity,  and somehwat interesting but ultimately superficial personal anecdores and experiences, and a bit of scientific research to back 12 piss poor rules.

   An interesting, possibly good,  but very flawed book.   Despite being somewhat worth reading; the book fails in it's premise, and is IMO not quite as useful as Jordan Peterson's lectures on youtube.  

And there are much better books out there (such as Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, though this book is undoubtedly influenced by Frankl among other Pyschologists)

As for a better self improvement book, check out Tim Ferris' Tools of Titans

6/10

Basic Life Tips

Here are some basic life tips; to summarise what I have learned earlier.

You are who you chose to be


Be an adult, not a credential (or, practice detachment, even from credentials)
If you want a magic piece of paper, write down your goals (and more importantly, review them)
Drop your excuses
Follow your heart
Keep dreaming
Be a hero
Have a concept of virtue, character, wisdom, courage, discipline, freedom, prudence, culture, class, honor, or even detachment
If you want to do something, you may find a way; if not,you may find an excuse
Meditate twice per day
Logically analyse "why", not just "how"
Learn from your mistakes!   (this is such an obvious yet important tip.  It becomes less of a mistake if you learn from it?)
Be accountable!  Everyone has standards; and perhaps ought to hold themselves more accountable to them
Principles above privelages.
an accurate diagnosis is half the cure
Wisdom outweighs any wealth

Upgrade your coping mechanisms
Write your own script
Be yourself.......but beware of your own excuses!

The key to discipline is to see ways in which discipline and freedom go together.

 A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Things I would tell my 20 year old self

Here is a list of ideas I would tell my 20 year old self:

 1.  be yourself
2.  Follow your bliss
3.  The virtues (particularly of virtue, wisdom and prudence and courage and character and identity  and culture)
4.  Listen to ocean and water sounds (reference Zuangzi)
5.  Keep dreaming
6.  Find purpose
7.  Study Joseph Campbell, Viktor Frankl, Balthasar Gracian, Epicurus, Noam Chomsky
8.  Your interest in history might be a good thing; try some philosophy too
9.  Study quotes and maxims
10.  Write down and review your goals and dreams
11.  Address Limiting Beliefs.  Have a concept of a Limiting belief and how to address them.
12.  Take cold showers
13.  Drink plenty of water
14.  Analyze "why", not just "how and what"
15.  Review and write down your dreams, thoughts, and goals.  Review them casually so as not to try too hard.   Use goal-setting skills as your libertarian "degree".
16.  Keep journals, either online, on your computer, or physically
17.  Don't subordinate yourself to institutions of obedience and indoctrination (be it churches, schools, corporations)
18.  Study freedom
19.  Have an exercise routine (and review it to improve it).  Use bodyweight exercises so you don't have to drive to the gym.
20.  Follow your heart, intuition, instincts.   As for reason; consider substittutes such as ethics and prudence.
21. Register for a free trial at some genealogy site; or consider that there are free ones.  Get to know your routes a bit better
22.  The Islamic golden age as an intellectual epic in history
23.  Travel, history, philosophy, self improvement
24.  How to mindstorm (and/or read Brian Tracy?)
25.  Monitor your excuses
26.  Own it and fix it
27.  Be a man; not a credential.   If a piece of paper is that important to you; then write down your goals and learn goal setting.
20.  Brainstorm 20 ideas at a time.
21.  Be yourself, but beware of excuses!
22.  Raise your standards!
23.  Write a routine and subroutine for the sake of exercises and/or fastidiousness
24.  Continute doing bodyweight exercises (that way you don't have to spend time and money going to the gym!)
25.  IF you want to do something; you may find a way.  If not, you may find an excuse
26.  Even compare standards
27.  Raise your standards of honesty, honor, and accountability.  

BOOK REVIEW: EXTREME OWNERSHIP By Jocko Willink

Here we have some leadership tenets of noted Navy Seal Commander Jocko Willink about his experiences as a leader and as a commander at the battle of Ramadi; and leadership tips not only in his experience but as to how to apply it to the leadership sector.

I believe the book is in audible.  Jocko Willink has a podcast availabe on youtube (and a subscription is recommended) and he was interviewed by Tim Ferris in the book "Tools of Titans"


We will cover the book chapter by chapter; with a quick summary of each. 





While the book is not quite as important to self development as Tim Ferris Tools of Titans, or Brian Tracy's "Reinvention", this book is nevertheless heartily reccomended to those who wish to further their understanding of leadership, accountability, and self improvement.  9/10. 

Thoughts and Insights

Thoughts and insights..........