Curious

The guy sat waiting for the barber to take him next. He did not read a magazine or paper at hand. He didn’t scan his phone. He just sat there. Staring ahead. Blank faced.


I wondered what he was thinking about. I was reading a book to fill any time while waiting. I got used to this while living in Wheaton and frequently sat at train crossings for slow freights! It was my practice to always have reading material on hand.


Even now in retirement I read journals, scan internet news feeds, and read books, both Kindle and those with real pages. This keeps my brain engaged. It fills my curiosity, too. I am reminded of the Facebook meme that shows t-shirt and book images with the declaration – “I read books. I know things.”


And I do know things. not an expert, mind you, but a person who appreciates life’s complexities and how things fit together; or don’t!


This weekend a neighbor and I attended Northwestern University’s Day University. It was an event with three lectures by renowned researchers, teachers and authors. The event was packed, sold out in record time. About 1200 attended at Northwestern’s Law School in Chicago. Topics included:


The Presidency: Changing Role of America’s Highest Office; Jeremy Suri, University of Texas

The Human Brain: What We Know (and what we don’t); Heather Berlin, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Four Memorable Musicals That Changed Broadway; Sean Hartley, Kaufman Music Center


Liberal Arts, Science and Arts. All topics that intersect with one another in strange and wonderful ways.


The invention of the American Presidency is decidedly not monarchical, not defined in the Constitution, but created by George Washington. It later was expanded in law, policy and protocol by other presidents, most notably Abraham Lincoln (subscription of military forces, expansion of education for the masses via land grant colleges and universities, expansion of voting rights, emancipation of slaves, and much more. Then Franklin Roosevelt with the intervention of government to support quality of life for the suffering poor and depression families; social security; global responsibility and military action to preserve the free world; diplomacy to build a self-sustaining global village. And then several recent incumbents of the White House. All have gathered more power by overshadowing Congress while shaping the courts. Has this gone too far? Yes. It is time for the public to redesign the office to better fit with the checks and balances first envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. The public holds the power to do this and will sooner or later.


The brain is intricate and expansive in its function and capabilities. We know so much more about how it works, but with each advance in that understanding we learn even more of the capabilities of the shrouded brain. Will we connect individuals to computers and Artificial Intelligence? Could be, but should we? What are the ethical limitations versus freedom to explore and discover? So much more lies ahead in the head!


And then there is music and its many art forms. This day we focused only on Broadway Musicals and its future. We toured the history of the musical form and how it became rooted on Broadway. What might this become in a technological world? Will we continue to focus on the physical place of Broadway, or spread to many sites throughout the nation and globe? Will large entertainment conglomerates control the artistic karma of creation, or will individual genius still prevail in speaking the human condition in music and dramatic action? Time will tell, won’t it?


And thus the power of politics and the people, the capabilities of the brain and the expressive power of art come together.


Pretty neat day. Several hours well spent I think. Plenty to think about at the barber shop waiting room.


March 9, 2020