Why is there not a movie about this guy? Amazing line...and true! Pick whichever thread of his life you want, and you'd tell a fantastic story.
My Jesuit teacher at college, Fr Schall, told us we'd be lucky to get true wisdom by the age of 50. I thought of that often as I deemed myself truly wise at 19, 20, 25, 30 and 32. This wisdom thing ain't all that hard, Father. Come on.
Since then, I've had the sneaking suspicion I may need a few years beyond 50 to get there -- and maybe more than a few years.
50 years, half a century. By tradition, 2 generations. Surely those are wild numbers too.
Loving this reflection, Russell. I also am in agreement with you & Jesse here, that there absolutely needs to be a movie about this guy. I'd choose one that ends with him not crossing the bean field. 😂🤣
Your reflection makes me think about how much love the idea of aging and how much I wish it was more appreciated in our society today. I'm not a fan of "anti-aging" products like creams and supplements. I think anything that can physically show wisdom in years on the body is just absolutely beautiful.
Russell, I love that reflection of "true wisdom by the age of 50"—that kind of patience feels like the most decisive virtue in our anything-but-patient present. And 😂😂 indeed, wisdom hubris is a very familiar feeling—respect if you've kept it at bay since 32 😎 "life wisdom" maybe takes a whole life to get? And certainly takes the acceptance and grace of aging that you talk of Azalea.
Azalea, I like imagining the final scene of 400 Blows, but instead of the ocean Pythagoras meets the fava bean field, close up on his sad bearded face 😭😂 (spoiler alert https://youtu.be/a4jGNoag_1g?t=195).
I had a similar experience to numbers in late teen/early adult years. I would count everything I did in my head and add it all up - number of steps I took inbetween cracks on sidewalks, number of times my jaw moved up and down when I chewed food, etc. For some reason, I always tried to end on even numbers and even find myself doing this sometimes today. Math was my favorite subject and the subject I excelled in at school, so for me, the random counting made sense.
I love the idea of early mathematicians being mystical. Math and science, to me, are extremely mystical. I love how they explain our natural world and how it works. I also find myself thinking deeply about epistemology. I always say to people that ideas never came from books -- they always came from people. People putting their pants on one foot at a time like the rest of us and just trying to figure out how the world works.
I feel that so much of our modern day understandings (especially in the worlds of math and science) come from books. And science feels like a cult sometimes - many just accept what the books and doctors say without any questions. I want to see more people thinking for themselves and finding new ways to learn, new ways to explore our brains, new ways to explore this existence.
Yes! Books create the illusion that there's this corpus of solidified knowledge that exists outside and over us, objectively, describing a world apart from and independent of us. But if not for the observer, what is the observed? And vice versa? And the more we learn observe in new ways... mmmm yes!
Just wonderful, Jesse. Loved this essay. I did something similar with music in my head when I was a kid -- there was always a rhythm banging in there, and it pattern matched stuff going on outside of me. I'm not a musical at all — at least not yet? — so I've often wondered what to make of it. Thanks for a thought provoking essay.
Thanks Sara 😊 man I totally resonate with that sense of "what to make of it". The mind does such interesting things that aren't under our conscious deliberation. I for my part sing and hum and talk rhythmically to myself in the comforts of my own apartment, and would be absolutely mortified if anyone else saw this "proto-musicality" 😅 but there's clearly something of that trying to get out or express itself whatever way it can.
Why is there not a movie about this guy? Amazing line...and true! Pick whichever thread of his life you want, and you'd tell a fantastic story.
My Jesuit teacher at college, Fr Schall, told us we'd be lucky to get true wisdom by the age of 50. I thought of that often as I deemed myself truly wise at 19, 20, 25, 30 and 32. This wisdom thing ain't all that hard, Father. Come on.
Since then, I've had the sneaking suspicion I may need a few years beyond 50 to get there -- and maybe more than a few years.
50 years, half a century. By tradition, 2 generations. Surely those are wild numbers too.
Stunning essay, JG! Loved every word!
Loving this reflection, Russell. I also am in agreement with you & Jesse here, that there absolutely needs to be a movie about this guy. I'd choose one that ends with him not crossing the bean field. 😂🤣
Your reflection makes me think about how much love the idea of aging and how much I wish it was more appreciated in our society today. I'm not a fan of "anti-aging" products like creams and supplements. I think anything that can physically show wisdom in years on the body is just absolutely beautiful.
Thank you both!!
Russell, I love that reflection of "true wisdom by the age of 50"—that kind of patience feels like the most decisive virtue in our anything-but-patient present. And 😂😂 indeed, wisdom hubris is a very familiar feeling—respect if you've kept it at bay since 32 😎 "life wisdom" maybe takes a whole life to get? And certainly takes the acceptance and grace of aging that you talk of Azalea.
Azalea, I like imagining the final scene of 400 Blows, but instead of the ocean Pythagoras meets the fava bean field, close up on his sad bearded face 😭😂 (spoiler alert https://youtu.be/a4jGNoag_1g?t=195).
I had a similar experience to numbers in late teen/early adult years. I would count everything I did in my head and add it all up - number of steps I took inbetween cracks on sidewalks, number of times my jaw moved up and down when I chewed food, etc. For some reason, I always tried to end on even numbers and even find myself doing this sometimes today. Math was my favorite subject and the subject I excelled in at school, so for me, the random counting made sense.
I love the idea of early mathematicians being mystical. Math and science, to me, are extremely mystical. I love how they explain our natural world and how it works. I also find myself thinking deeply about epistemology. I always say to people that ideas never came from books -- they always came from people. People putting their pants on one foot at a time like the rest of us and just trying to figure out how the world works.
I feel that so much of our modern day understandings (especially in the worlds of math and science) come from books. And science feels like a cult sometimes - many just accept what the books and doctors say without any questions. I want to see more people thinking for themselves and finding new ways to learn, new ways to explore our brains, new ways to explore this existence.
🤸🏽♀️
Yes! Books create the illusion that there's this corpus of solidified knowledge that exists outside and over us, objectively, describing a world apart from and independent of us. But if not for the observer, what is the observed? And vice versa? And the more we learn observe in new ways... mmmm yes!
Just wonderful, Jesse. Loved this essay. I did something similar with music in my head when I was a kid -- there was always a rhythm banging in there, and it pattern matched stuff going on outside of me. I'm not a musical at all — at least not yet? — so I've often wondered what to make of it. Thanks for a thought provoking essay.
Thanks Sara 😊 man I totally resonate with that sense of "what to make of it". The mind does such interesting things that aren't under our conscious deliberation. I for my part sing and hum and talk rhythmically to myself in the comforts of my own apartment, and would be absolutely mortified if anyone else saw this "proto-musicality" 😅 but there's clearly something of that trying to get out or express itself whatever way it can.
Haha that's a good way to think of it! Something inside that wants to get let out!