We picked up a lot of new subscribers from my post on Tiny Buddha, so I want to take a quick second and say welcome!
If you are a paid subscriber, this is the first post you will receive from me. Each month follows a theme. This year we are looking at character traits that we can cultivate to have a good life and this month we have been talking about having depth. There is one more post scheduled before June.
If you are a free subscriber, you will see a preview of this post, but you will receive the full Simple Ways to Have a Good Life newsletter on the 1st of every month. In the newsletter we:
Catch up on what's going on for the month.
Set the theme and discuss it (June is about having dignity and integrity).
Layout the journal prompts for the month.
Take a moment to remember that we will all die someday, so what we do each day matters.
As a free subscriber, you will also receive archived newsletters when I edit and upload them. I've had a newsletter for nearly 8 years, so I have a pretty good backlog of old writing. This is a good reminder that it's time to post a new one!
I'm glad you are here! I look forward to getting to know you a little over the next few months. I enjoy hearing from people who read these things I write. The easiest way to do this is to email me: james@jamesscotthenson.com.
Thank you!
James
“Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the boot-maker.”
Mikhail Bakunin
"True expertise is the most potent form of authority."
Victoria Bond
It's good to have a depth of knowledge in a specific field. We need more experts.
We need fewer armchair experts who read headlines and tweets and then talk like they understand a topic.
It is also good to have a general knowledge about life and how it works.
It may actually be better.
I know a bunch of people who are experts in certain fields but cannot seem to understand how to live life. They are the primary reason I did not pursue a career in academia.
Expertise in a given field without knowledge of other fields or about life in general can lead to tunnel vision where theories about the world become the world itself. This is like confusing a map for the area that the map represents.
If your map tells you to take a left, but the trail only goes to the right, you are either in the wrong place or the map is wrong. The reality in front of you is never wrong. People who get too absorbed in theory fail to understand this.
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