An Education

I miss school. Perhaps not so much the deadlines, the seemingly pointless essays and assignments, or the self-important lectures of arrogant professors (of whom, thankfully, I had very few), but I miss the free discussion of ideas, that in all honesty have little practical application but were still fascinating.

Most of the conversations I have at work are about Microsoft Excel, our perpetually challenged digital asset management system, or our beleaguered website. To be honest, conversation may be a generous term. Long strings of obscenities exchanged back and forth may be a more accurate assessment. It leaves a lot to be desired.

So it is with great wistfulness that I look back on discussions about abstract theories and ideas. Does the language we use really shape the way in which we perceive the world? By using 'phallocentric' language, do we really reinforce the already dominant patriarchal bias in our culture? Could one invention, the printing press, really spark a revolution of thought or were there other factors involved? Why has Western civilization played such a dominant role in the world to this point? How do we reconcile the different understandings of God without denigrating our own? 

To ask some of these questions in normal conversations seems absurd. Outside a traditional academic setting, most anyone I know would stare at me a moment after I asked and return to talking about the latest episode of "Dancing With the Stars." (Which then sparks the question "what is it about today's society that supports/encourages us to indulge in this kind of voyeurism; to elevate people from a certain field as being worthy of celebration and support?") And really, outside of satisfying my random curiosity, I admit these questions have no real practical application. Within the microcosm of academia, though, it makes sense.

Granted, I am idealizing the experience of education. I talk here in its truest form...where discourse is encouraged to test, to challenge previously held understandings in order to gain a better understanding of the world around us. With that understanding would hopefully come a desire to extend what we know to those around us. For knowledge gained and not shared is a waste, and as some might say, an immoral act. (My knowledge of philosophy is tenuous...as is much of the 'knowledge' I possess, so please forgive any overgeneralizations.) I just wish that I gave myself more opportunity to learn because as it stands, my mind feels stagnant, my ability to learn stifled.

Books

I went to the library again today. I picked up four new books while I was there. This is in addition to the other four books I picked up on Saturday. And after I visited Barnes and Noble on Sunday. Note: Barnes and Noble was merely for browsing purposes--I used it to add several more future reads to my list. As if I don't have enough...I might just have a problem.

So, sitting in my room are eight books recently acquired from the library. As always, I overestimated just how much I can read in a three week period.  To my credit, I am about 100 pages into one of them, "Started Early, Took My Dog" by Kate Atkinson. It is the fourth book in a quirky British series that is sort of a mystery novel but a little something more as well. I have always enjoyed this kind of novel, and I am always looking for new ones that fall into the genre. Next up, I think I will read "The Tiger's Wife" by Tea Obreht because I have read such good things about it. Then, I am not sure what I will go. It will depend on my mood at the time--perhaps it will be "Here's Looking at Euclid" (a book about math of all things...don't ask me what possessed me to check this out, but I am trying to expand my horizons, I guess) or maybe "Balkan Ghosts" a history of the Balkan countries about which I am sadly ignorant. (I am reading this in preparation for my next great trip in June...I like to know a little of a place's history before going)

Can you tell I kind of like to read? I jokingly say that much of my youth was misspent reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. Strangely, though, it is my gluttonous appetite for books that has left me with a surprising amount of trivial knowledge that one day may help me win on Jeopardy. (Or poison someone without detection, commit arson without leaving the tell-tale trace of accelerants, infiltrate secret government systems...)

While television may provide some information for the casual viewer, books teach you so much more. I would argue even some of the most insubstantial books (of which I have read more than my fair share) teach something, if nothing more than a few new euphemisms for human anatomy...perhaps all of this is why I earned my master's in library science. Granted, there is so much more to the degree than just reading books.  But one day when I want to bore the audience, I can go more in depth about information storage and retrieval, best research practices, and information literacy. I digress, though. Books have always been my primary form of entertainment, my true pleasure in academic study, my path to escape, and my way to greater knowledge. And I am grateful that Kansas City and the surrounding area have such a wonderful library system.  Otherwise, I would be thousands of dollars poorer. I really do not think that is an exaggeration!

So, here I am going to ask what kinds of things you enjoy reading and what you would recommend to someone who reads just about everything?  Also, just out of curiosity, how often do you get to read and how much?  (I tend to read a minimum of one book a week, but if I have a few late nights, that number easily reaches 3-4)