We Haven’t Broken Any Rules
30 Rock was a terrific comedy series.
One of my favorite episodes from Season 1 was “Jack-Tor.”
In the episode, Tracy Morgan’s character pretends to be illiterate to get out of doing work:
“Tracy took advantage of my white guilt, which is to be used only for good: like overtipping and supporting Barack Obama.”
Coincidentally, I’m halfway through a book titled, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading:
“Television, radio, and all the sources of amusement and information that surround us in our daily lives are also artificial props. They can give us the impression that our minds are active because we are required to react to stimuli from the outside. But the power of those external stimuli to keep us going is limited. They are like drugs. We grow used to them, and we continuously need more and more of them. Eventually, they have little or no effect. Then, if we lack resources within ourselves, we cease to grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually. And when we cease to grow, we begin to die.
Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also serves to keep our minds alive and growing.”
Ironically, I am listening to it as an audiobook.
When someone recommended it, I thought it was a joke.
Even though it was published back in 1972, I strongly recommend it.
In the book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, author Nassim Taleb discusses the Lindy Effect on the life expectancy of nonperishables, such as technology and books:
“If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives another decade, then it will be expected to be in print another fifty years. This, simply, as a rule, tells you why things that have been around for a long time are not ‘aging’ like persons, but ‘aging’ in reverse. Every year that passes without extinction doubles the additional life expectancy. This is an indicator of some robustness. The robustness of an item is proportional to its life!”
In the United States, it is Memorial Day weekend, so many will go to the beach or somewhere else Instagrammable.
But if you can, take a couple of hours to support the film Booksmart (2019), playing in theaters now:
Directed by Olivia Wilde, it co-stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever and is 97% fresh:
It is an excellent ensemble of a female-led cast and crew.
Or, at least, take one book to the beach.
