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Ray's avatar

I'm feeling like Gurwinder's teacher's pet after reading this because the last thing I wrote yesterday was a response to a question asking, "Do smart people actually learn anything from all that reading they do?" In a nutshell, I said, no, not unless they engage the material intellectually and write about it. You have to care enough about what you're reading to find the motivation to write about it. Maya Angelou was once asked what she thought about a breaking event concerning a social justice issue and she responded with a comment that went something like this: "I don't know what I think about most things until I write about it, so it has to be something meaningful to me. I'll let you know after I've written something" That happened in the 1980s and it hit my brain and became lodged forever. I could never be at peace with reading thereafter unless it was subject matter I intended to spend time with intellectually. I note that the person who asked the question as to whether "people actually learn anything from all that reading", well, he NEVER engaged ANYONE in conversation about it. Just posted the question in some kind of smug "Don't I look like an intellectual for asking this question?" way, and then abandoned the ENTIRE conversation. He didn't care about the question he was asking. He just want to appear "smart" for asking. My standard reaction when I notice people doing that is to NEVER engage them again. They're junk dealers.

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Sawel's avatar

Great thread. My wife tells me the single most impactful thing I can do is to be non reactive to stimulus from interacting with other people as they may be manipulating you in either a good or bad way. Simply try to not react and and act In a manner that has come from your own self. I tend to put credence on her thoughts as she was a professor in psychology at the grand old age of 27 from Cambridge university. Anyway thanks Gurwinder for your thoughts

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