Renaissance People

This category of persons were called 'Rennaisance Men', but it seems going against modern sensibilities to use that term.  It means people who are interested and involved in everything, and can, ideally, speak knowledgeably on every area of human interest and activity.  Benjamin Franklin, a national treasure, was such a person; he was interested in history, politics, and science, we know, as well as literature and journalism.  But I think I remember that he was widely read, and wrote about a variety of subjects.  Thomas Jefferson was another founding father who was revered for how wide his interests were, and his knowledge was.

It's important to be a Renaissance person.  There seem to be people who are slightly acquainted with every subject, but whose opinion can't be relied on on any matter.  There are also people who have focused on just one thing, to the exclusion of everything else, and their opinion, too, is distorted by being too close to that one subject.  This is why I urge everyone to keep an interest in a variety of things.

Oh well; that covers what I wanted to say. 

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Great Explainers

I thought I'd write a post about these well-known personalities who have taken on the responsibility of speaking to the public on behalf of their colleagues or their avocation.

Leonard Bernstein.  This post was triggered by my feeling that Bernstein did so much to explain some really useful approaches to appreciating music; and I wondered whether there were other disciplines that had their own spokesperson.

Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke.  Of course, Albert Einstein did his part, by speaking to the Press about advances in science.  But Sagan and Clarke were greatly influential by addressing laymen.

Richard Feynman, Neil de Grasse Tyson.  Everybody knows who Neil deGrasse Tyson is—his name is just a little too short for true fame—but few people today would have heard of Richard Feynman.  Physics students even today, however, revere Feynman for making Quantum Mechanics a little more understandable. 

David Attenborough should be recognized for bringing us the sights and sounds of some of the hidden worlds of nature.

Richard Leakey was probably one of the most visible—and audible—members of the Leakey family, many of whom were deeply involved with physical anthropology, and the origin of man.  There were many others, including Donald Johansson, who is associated with the discovery of the fossil Lucy, and related fossils.

Noam Chomsky.  This man is well known among those who have an interest in politics, as well as culture and morals.  He has generally been critical of Republicans, but often not as critical as others tend to be; and he is also critical of Democrats.  A very insightful commentator. 

In the realm of mathematics, physics andastronomy, a fabulous explainer is Roger Penrose.  He and Ezra (Ted) Newman were mainly responsible for the complexification of spacetime, a crazy plan that uses complex variables to solve Einstein's equations for General Relativity, which gives unexpected insight into some of the things we've been getting from the JWST telescope.  Also, my doctorate research focused on—an essentially trivial—result that fell out of this project.

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MBAs Looking for Work

I don't have a lot of sympathy for MBA- holders, at the best of times.  Their training is all about maximizing profits for businesses at the cost of quality for consumers.  So many of our complaints about modern life can be laid at the feet (can be blamed, that is, in case you were wondering what laying at the feet meant) on some MBA: "Shrinkflation", the proliferation of commercials on pay-TV, the pestilence of junk-mail—and direct- mail advertising, the weird billing practices of supposedly not-for-profit organizations; MBAs are the engines driving all of these.

Musk may as well be an MBA; I don't think he has any applicable knowledge of any commodity, except investment.  The Real Estate driven market crash of 2007-2008  was a result of MBAs gambling on mortgage insurance. 

The rash of corporate takeovers, sophisticated cheating on taxes; in fact any screwy business practices are all blameable on MBAs.  It's my belief that what MBAs learn in MBA School is nothing but screwy business practices. 

Why the business world has stopped hiring MBAs is difficult to see, but an obvious reason could be that they've priced themselves out of being hireable.  They've been well known for commanding huge salaries; now business executives are leery of making that kind of ongoing salary commitment, when a $15 an hour minimum wage is impending.  At least the minimum wage folks are flipping essential burgers, while the MBAs would look like parasites most of the time, even if they're brilliant at ripping off senior citizens online!

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Basic Knowledge

I'm just responding to a question that is puzzling people: can Robert Kennedy III (or whatever) handle the Department of Health (or whatever)?  

Why would anyone refuse to accept vaccinations as a helpful prophylactic (disease preventative), and give credence to stories about the dangers of vaccine—for instance—and advocate not using them?  The eradication (disappearing) of Polio, and Malaria, and Smallpox, and the careful control of childhood diseases (Chickenpox, Whooping Cough, Measles, etc.) are evidence of the success of vaccinations, but the suspicions persist. 

Autism.  Belief that the Moon Landing was staged.  The Earth is flat, etc, etc.  Some things are obviously taken at face value, e.g. smart phones. 

One componentof this deep-rooted suspicion is, I believe, the belief—or the desireto believe, or the desire to show support for those who believe—that the Government is not to be trusted.  This is clearly expected and reasonable for those in opposition to the present government; the rejection of vaccination is theatre, as the Republicans have so often accused the Democrats of.

But after  decades of theatre, old Bob probably can't distinguish between his beliefs, and the rôle that he's playing.  He needs to know the basics of microbiology, and public health, and pharmacology, just in order to understand how the FDA works.

There's a famous quote that there are none so blind as those who will not see, so that it is far easier to convince ordinary people who don't believe in the efficacy of vaccinations, than it is to explain to someone like Robert Kennedy, whose disbelief was initially pretended for demogogical reasons.