Comments for Eccentric Eclectica @ ToddSuomela.com http://toddsuomela.com Todd Suomela's Internet Home Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:49:08 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on I Feel Like I’ve Been Here Before – On The Social Network by Todd http://toddsuomela.com/2010/10/02/i_feel_like_ive_been_here_befo/#comment-55 Todd Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:49:08 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/i_feel_like_ive_been_here_befo/#comment-55 <p>I assume that there must be some non-white or non-male billionaire stories that Hollywood has overlooked because there are so many things that Hollywood overlooks and the "real" world is much more diverse than the world of our individual or collective imaginations. Off hand I can only think of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina as non-male stories that could be told. If one considers the number of potential stories that could be told about non-billionaires then Hollywood cliches seem even more vapid. I expect Hollywood to be quite vapid so I'm not really as disappointed in their fixation on wealthy, white males. I think the real disappointment is the journalistic media which could tell many different stories with a small expenditure of more effort. I do think that our culture focuses too much on rich people. The personal computer revolution seems to pushed the focus to even younger, male billionaires. If I had the time I'd investigate whether the focus by the media on wealth has changed over time. My guess is that the media has always been fixated on the activities of the wealthy but the only evidence of that I have at hand are the stories I linked to above. So I do think there are stories that Hollywood has overlooked and that our culture focuses too much on rich people. The hard question is sorting out which of those effects caused the other, or if there is any causal relationship at all.</p> I assume that there must be some non-white or non-male billionaire stories that Hollywood has overlooked because there are so many things that Hollywood overlooks and the “real” world is much more diverse than the world of our individual or collective imaginations. Off hand I can only think of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina as non-male stories that could be told. If one considers the number of potential stories that could be told about non-billionaires then Hollywood cliches seem even more vapid. I expect Hollywood to be quite vapid so I’m not really as disappointed in their fixation on wealthy, white males. I think the real disappointment is the journalistic media which could tell many different stories with a small expenditure of more effort. I do think that our culture focuses too much on rich people. The personal computer revolution seems to pushed the focus to even younger, male billionaires. If I had the time I’d investigate whether the focus by the media on wealth has changed over time. My guess is that the media has always been fixated on the activities of the wealthy but the only evidence of that I have at hand are the stories I linked to above. So I do think there are stories that Hollywood has overlooked and that our culture focuses too much on rich people. The hard question is sorting out which of those effects caused the other, or if there is any causal relationship at all.

]]> Comment on I Feel Like I’ve Been Here Before – On The Social Network by Tim Lee http://toddsuomela.com/2010/10/02/i_feel_like_ive_been_here_befo/#comment-54 Tim Lee Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:30:20 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/i_feel_like_ive_been_here_befo/#comment-54 <p>Are there non-white or non-male billionaires with good stories that Hollywood has overlooked? Or is your point that our culture focuses too much on rich people?</p> Are there non-white or non-male billionaires with good stories that Hollywood has overlooked? Or is your point that our culture focuses too much on rich people?

]]> Comment on Creativity Crises by https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawna2aQ5VsUi27WsiWYFA9msUjzkjKr1QwY http://toddsuomela.com/2010/09/14/creativity_crises/#comment-53 https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawna2aQ5VsUi27WsiWYFA9msUjzkjKr1QwY Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:38:15 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/creativity_crises/#comment-53 <p>Interesting - this decline in innovation is referenced in three other - completely unrelated - sources: The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History by Harry S. Dent (economics), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (environmental), and The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon (energy). I'm sure complexity - ever changing OS and technology - is partly responsible for the dramatic decline in western world productivity. As our society spends more and more time in front of the TV, internet, blogs, video games, and iPhone - getting fatter and fatter - becoming less and less productive (not to mention less creative) how are we going to innovate?</p> Interesting – this decline in innovation is referenced in three other – completely unrelated – sources: The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History by Harry S. Dent (economics), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (environmental), and The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon (energy). I’m sure complexity – ever changing OS and technology – is partly responsible for the dramatic decline in western world productivity. As our society spends more and more time in front of the TV, internet, blogs, video games, and iPhone – getting fatter and fatter – becoming less and less productive (not to mention less creative) how are we going to innovate?

]]> Comment on Remembering Apollo – 40 Years Later by Dudy Bug, Sr. http://toddsuomela.com/2009/07/20/remembering_apollo_-_40_years/#comment-52 Dudy Bug, Sr. Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:55:16 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/remembering_apollo_-_40_years/#comment-52 <p>I was alive & stoned immaculate as Jimi liked to sing and perhaps even jailed. Dad, however, was in the program pre-NASA and on through-out the first unmanned inerplanetary probes. He was principle investigator with a cosmic dust group etc. Me, I was, like I said... Many more than just one decade can go backward. Thanks for allowing me the pointless post.</p> I was alive & stoned immaculate as Jimi liked to sing and perhaps even jailed. Dad, however, was in the program pre-NASA and on through-out the first unmanned inerplanetary probes. He was principle investigator with a cosmic dust group etc. Me, I was, like I said… Many more than just one decade can go backward. Thanks for allowing me the pointless post.

]]> Comment on Hungry for Leadership? by Leadership Development Program http://toddsuomela.com/2008/12/15/hungry_for_leadership/#comment-51 Leadership Development Program Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:21:54 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/hungry_for_leadership/#comment-51 <p><strong>Leadership Development Program</strong></p> <p>Plato may have dies thousands of years ago, but this quote on Leadership sure seems applicable today: A tyrant is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.</p> Leadership Development Program

Plato may have dies thousands of years ago, but this quote on Leadership sure seems applicable today: A tyrant is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

]]> Comment on Citizen Media Camp by Julia Schrenkler http://toddsuomela.com/2008/07/12/citizen_media_camp/#comment-50 Julia Schrenkler Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:58:44 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/citizen_media_camp/#comment-50 <p>First - and I can't say it enough, Todd - thanks for coming to PublicRadioCamp. I'm really curious about your live-run idea. Do you think the story idea brainstorming needs to happen in person, or do you think it might be an online collaborative done in advance? I'm not advocating one way or the other, I'm trying to get more of your thoughts on it. -Julia Julia Schrenkler Interactive Producer, MPR</p> First – and I can’t say it enough, Todd – thanks for coming to PublicRadioCamp. I’m really curious about your live-run idea. Do you think the story idea brainstorming needs to happen in person, or do you think it might be an online collaborative done in advance? I’m not advocating one way or the other, I’m trying to get more of your thoughts on it. -Julia Julia Schrenkler Interactive Producer, MPR

]]> Comment on Teaching and Emotion by Shelley http://toddsuomela.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-47 Shelley Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:21:47 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-47 <p>I was just googling Roman Borgerding to see if he's still alive. I am so happy to hear that he is. I had him for Poetry and Creative Writing at Hopkins High in the mid-eighties. I do believe that man changed my life. I now have an MFA and I am a college professor in Art and Design. I wouldn't have gotten here if is wasn't for him.</p> I was just googling Roman Borgerding to see if he’s still alive. I am so happy to hear that he is. I had him for Poetry and Creative Writing at Hopkins High in the mid-eighties. I do believe that man changed my life. I now have an MFA and I am a college professor in Art and Design. I wouldn’t have gotten here if is wasn’t for him.

]]> Comment on Teaching and Emotion by Victoria (Vicki) Murad http://toddsuomela.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-46 Victoria (Vicki) Murad Sun, 17 Jun 2007 01:48:09 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-46 <p>Hi Joe, Are you really Roman Borgerding's grandson? I was a student of his in the 70's ...class of 1977. We're getting ready to have our 30th HS renunion. Vicki Murad</p> Hi Joe, Are you really Roman Borgerding’s grandson? I was a student of his in the 70′s …class of 1977. We’re getting ready to have our 30th HS renunion. Vicki Murad

]]> Comment on Puzzles and Mysteries, or How We Think by Peter Butterfield http://toddsuomela.com/2007/01/07/puzzles_and_mysteries_or_how_w/#comment-48 Peter Butterfield Sun, 29 Apr 2007 06:34:36 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2007/01/07/puzzles_and_mysteries_or_how_w/#comment-48 <p>Actually, the interpretation by Gladwell of Treverton's concept is incorrect and I would argue that your interpretation of Gladwell is also incorrect. Puzzles relate to events that have occured. Therefore the facts are knowable. The task is to locate them. Mysteries relate to future events. No-one knows the 'truth' not even the actors due to the dynamics of the situation. In the context of puzzles is not merely collecting more and more - its about making rational decisions about what the facts mean. Mysteries are usually enlighted from the results of puzzles - analogy, inductive reasoning etc.</p> Actually, the interpretation by Gladwell of Treverton’s concept is incorrect and I would argue that your interpretation of Gladwell is also incorrect. Puzzles relate to events that have occured. Therefore the facts are knowable. The task is to locate them. Mysteries relate to future events. No-one knows the ‘truth’ not even the actors due to the dynamics of the situation. In the context of puzzles is not merely collecting more and more – its about making rational decisions about what the facts mean. Mysteries are usually enlighted from the results of puzzles – analogy, inductive reasoning etc.

]]> Comment on Teaching and Emotion by Joe http://toddsuomela.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-45 Joe Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:47:46 +0000 http://tsuomela.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/teaching_and_emotion/#comment-45 <p>Hi my name is Joe and I am Roman Borgerding's grandson. For those who were wondering, he is still alive and he is a very adventurous guy. He loves to snowshoe and go biking almost every day. He lives in the Colorado mountains and still corrects my grammer when I talk to him. Our family has great conversations with him because he still loves to teach and we get to hear all of the great stories about his teaching career.</p> Hi my name is Joe and I am Roman Borgerding’s grandson. For those who were wondering, he is still alive and he is a very adventurous guy. He loves to snowshoe and go biking almost every day. He lives in the Colorado mountains and still corrects my grammer when I talk to him. Our family has great conversations with him because he still loves to teach and we get to hear all of the great stories about his teaching career.

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