Author: Paul Greer

A Liberal Decalogue: Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments of Teaching

Link | | Paul Greer

“Perhaps the essence of the Liberal outlook could be summed up in a new decalogue, not intended to replace the old one but only to supplement it. The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:
1.  Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2.  Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3.  Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4.  When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8.  Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9.  Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10.  Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.”

— via BrainPickings

The Importance of Keeping a Journal: Anaïs Nin

Aside | | Paul Greer


Anais Nin

reblogging amandaonwriting:

“This diary is my kief, hashish, and opium pipe. This is my drug and my vice. Instead of writing a novel, I lie back with this book and a pen, and dream, and indulge in refractions and defractions… I must relive my life in the dream. The dream is my only life. I see in the echoes and reverberations, the transfigurations which alone keep wonder pure. Otherwise all magic is lost. Otherwise life shows its deformities and the homeliness becomes rust… All matter must be fused this way through the lens of my vice or the rust of living would slow down my rhythm to a sob.”
~From The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volume 1.

“The diary taught me that it is in the moments of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately. I learned to choose the heightened moments because they are the moments of revelation.”
~From Nin’s essay On Writing, 1947.

From Flavorwire

On Mind Maps and Dyslexia

Aside | | Paul Greer

Why do I need mind-maps?

“There are a few things you need to know:

First, I am lucky enough to have a number of positive impacts of dyslexia. One of those is that once I have acquired new information I can process it very rapidly and often have multiple thoughts at once. That often means that I can solve the most complex problems faster than others.

Second, I have a problem writing and thinking at the same time. I believe it is to do with short-term memory. However, the bottom line is that I keep forgetting where I am in the overall flow of the thing that I am writing. As a result, my writing meanders and needs to be edited (by me) again and again until it finally expresses what I mean.

Thirdly, I see patterns in things – often before others. I use that to form and then set out compelling arguments and explanations that become very clear to readers.

Finally, I have a fairly precise use of language and so – whilst not finding it easy to write – am a fierce critic of my own work. So that means the editing can take a very long time.”

from MindMaps are the answer…. what’s the question?