Re: The Well - Part XXVII: Cue the double bass (arco) and the tuba ...
What would you consider your strongest ability/talent?
as if i havent been skating on the thin ice of pretentiousness this entire episode of 'the well', this question drops 16 tons onto my shoulders, no?
... if i have to answer something, i'll say that i am grateful to have a predisposition inclined to taking serious things seriously and not serious things not seriously most of the time ... and to usually have the wisdom to sort the two piles correctly ...
What do you regret the most in your life, that you would like to correct if you had the chance to?
well, i hope that you'll understand that i will not divulge my biggest regret - it is too personal and involves others who i must protect ...
i will be happy to offer a few of the lesser - but still substantial - regrets ... as i have alluded to, i regret not having had the skills or ability to forge a better, more genuine, relationship with my father before his death .. clearly i could only change my side of the bargain, but i wish i had done more/better/something in this regard ...
another regret is that i did not get marriage counseling sooner .. too long working too hard doing things that were probably making things worse ... couldve gotten much better much sooner with less collateral damage ... especially with regards to how marital strife has a strong negative impact on parenting .. so this one is a twofer regret ...
i also regret having let myself fall into such poor physical shape .... when i got married at age 23, i was in reasonable shape and should've done even a LITTLE something to maintain it ...
what do you value the most with the American society? And what would you rather see be improved?
first part - IMO, there is much to value ... despite what i will say in part two, the US (and my state and county) commitment to public education is among the things i value most ... without it, we'd be in much much worse shape ... i also value that there are so many people still devoted to improving our nation by trying hard to get it to live up to the promises - so many yet unkept - written on our birth certificate in the city of my birth some 232 years ago ... i also kinda like that i can complain about it without getting tossed in jail or worse
second part - and i will set this boundary condition for my answer - i am going to answer in the abstract,
not in terms of advocacy for a public policy initiative ... in fact, as i will explain, i think that there is little that can be done in terms of laws, regulations, etc that could bring about the improvement ... specifically, i think that the level of education and overall 'critical thinking' / 'practical intelligence' of americans is abysmally lower than i wish it were ... and i think it gives rise to extremism and exploitation and general decay of the public order ... i guess i am still an optimist who believes that if people could only be made to really 'get it' they'd stop doing so many terrible things or electing people to do terrible things for them ... as strognly as i would like to see meaningful education reform/support, i am too much a realist to know that it is not sufficient to making progress in the area i am describing .... it has to start in the hearts and minds of the big people who vote and pay taxes and send their kids and work in schools ...
t4d
ps - you know, guys ... i answer simple questions too
