The best way to climb a mountain is one naïve step-about-the-distance at a time.
- African Proverb
What People Are Saying
Author's Note
Welcome to More Letters—a basic education provided in a minimal amount of time.
This book isn’t for everyone. An understanding of history, politics, and more is certainly useful but not necessary to live a happy life. You only need this sort of education if you enjoy following the news. These are the people I worry about.
Ever wonder why politicians speak down to us? It’s because we’re dumb as cigarettes when it comes to knowing the world. Yes, we have intelligence living among us — and many are doing a fine job — but when it comes to grasping how this planet operates, we’re dumb as rocks. And this situation is becoming a problem.
A number of news trackers seem to be confused. Happy to follow along they lack the background information to understand what’s truly going on. Knowledge one needs to join the conversation. Top this with the fact that most of us wish to hold opinions for psychological reasons and you see why sparks sometimes fly.
Following the news no longer means reading papers. It’s watching videos, taking online courses, reading books, going to abnormal websites, and listening to podcasts. That’s the new format. And though this passion is overly time consuming, it’s also worthwhile. There’s a big world out there and this hobby never ends. So let’s prepare ourselves for such a journey.
More Letters provides a basic education on the topics of history, politics, economics, psychology, philosophy, and some religion. It’s what’s required to play watchdog and determine whether our system is fair. I’m not saying this is the best attempt possible, I’m just saying it’s the best that I can do. And if some scholar comes along to write a better account, I’ll gladly step back. In the meantime, here is how I believe it all works.
Introduction
In order to say something, we must begin with two definitions. One is smart, the other intelligence. Let’s define smart as the ability to learn. It’s no secret that everyone isn’t the same in this regard. Some are adept at following complicated arguments and retaining mountains of information while others are not. But everyone has the ability to learn and we do it our own way. That’s smart. Intelligence is the fact you know something. Whether about job or hobby, everyone gravitates toward certain details. Things we find appealing. So here’s the situation: smart people don’t know enough about public topics and because many of them are discussed at dinner, it sure would be nice to have intelligence sitting at the table. But that’s not what’s happening. Because humans are academically lazy, we take shortcuts. Shortcuts that make us no more intelligent than someone who isn’t considered smart in the first place. Enter this book.
The idea behind More Letters is to provide a basic education in a minimal amount of time. How else can you learn subjects like history and psychology without returning to school for years at a time? So instead of absorbing volumes of information you’ll only forget, this work offers a decent overview that keeps you in the ballpark no matter the conversation. And yes, it’s fun. It’s fun watching speakers deliver their goods while generally getting the point.
We’ll do this in levels. Level I is always a video that takes less than an hour. Level II involves reading 20-30 pages on a subject. And level III is watching and reading supporting material that proves the articles you just read. So III supports II, and II supports I. That’s the system and you’ll be a genius in no time. Then if you finish, level IV says continue reading and watching until you’re never done.
Disclosure
Who am I? Surely a book of this nature requires full disclosure on my part. Your author is a 63-year-old, software entrepreneur, who’s spent time as a stand-up comic. Holding only a BA in business and economics, I was like most educated people—smart but didn’t know anything. That is, until I started this project. Around age 55, once kids and career were settled, I began to study. Using brutal honesty, I identified what I needed to know and set out to get it. First on the list was history and things went from there. These are the results of my work.
This document is intended to provide an education for people like me. One that’s bottom line in nature while written with a light heart. My degree was considered decent back in the day but I have nothing compared to many—at least, in terms of formal education. Worse still, I draw little from old schooling. Most of what you’re about to read comes from self-study and things I’ve figured out. Is it credible that anyone be so bold? Imagine the nerve of writing a document so wide in scope? I don’t care. I was a businessperson in search of answers and these are my findings. Over the past seven years, I’ve read 30,000 pages and watched countless presentations in the fields of history, economics, psychology, and more. This is the best I can do.
No Clothes
Designing and teaching software forces one to dive deep into complicated topics and derive simple explanations. That’s the job I’ve been doing for 40 years. Add a creative side that’s not only been a comic but has written a cookbook and invented a board game, and you see where the different approach comes from. And now that we’re talking disclosure, how about you? Are you as knowledgeable as you imagine? If not, let’s start with a dose of reality—most people are walking around with no clothes.
Just like the king in that story, many of us are imposters when it comes to intellect. Yes, there are smart people among us, and I include myself in that group, but other than your day job what do you really know? Add in the complexity of getting good bottom line information and you see why most of us are walking around in a fog.
Educated people are expected to know certain details and they just don’t. Take history for example. Can you give a presentation on the past? The logistics, the progressions, why some countries have money while others don’t? Probably not. But once you become familiar with the basics, a new world appears. One that’s stimulating in a number of ways. In addition to history, we’ll be discussing politics, economics, psychology, a little philosophy, the basics of faith, and more. You’ll be getting an earful. And though your writer is not a bona fide expert in any of these fields, this book is a decent attempt at bringing it all together.
Format
The format is unique. More Letters was initially developed as a website. The site stores articles no more than three pages in length and many provide hyperlinks to get more. The idea is to keep everything in a repository so you never have to remember. And this information is kept alive through updates. So as my knowledge expands, yours does too.
Every section presents an introduction, reprints of articles, and a summary. As we go along, we’ll combine summaries to make additional points. That’s the catch to this program, it’s learning in levels. One needs to know the basics before proceeding to conclusions. Core concepts that can’t be explained in a bar or around the kitchen table. Building upon basics is the key to higher education and that’s the problem with today’s conversations, we’re missing the essentials. So let’s get started. We’ll begin with a few articles about education in general then away we go.
Gifts
P.S. Just in case you don’t finish let’s give out the gifts now. First You Steal a Chicken, is a nice Italian cookbook and Funny You Should Ask is a fun online board game. Enjoy them no matter what 🙂
Education Principles
Smart is the ability to learn and intelligence is the fact that you know something. Everyone is smart to some degree and we learn in our own way, but that doesn’t mean you know anything. Intelligence comes by way of study. It doesn’t transfer through the air like some form of osmosis. It takes a lot of effort and small discoveries build on top of each other. Below are four articles about learning in general.
- Book of Knowledge says it’s impossible to remember all that you’ve been taught. It suggests carrying around a special book of knowledge. Not a bad idea.
- Getting to One suggests one admit their ignorance, mainly over six subjects, and try to learn the basics.
- What You Don’t Know says the structure of knowledge belongs in four categories: basic understandings, bits and pieces you find lying around, a deep dive into the topic’s specific details, and then recognizing what you can’t and don’t know.
- The Vase says we can only communicate and move forward when equipped with similar knowledge.
Book of Knowledge
I feel people today are poorly educated. I’m not talking about the kids, and I’m not saying people in the past were any better educated. I’m just saying that no matter what schools have taught you, you can’t remember it all. And herein lies the problem.
I think every person, whether formally educated or not, should carry around with them a book of knowledge. Their very own, with summarized information they’ve attained throughout the years. And this book should be reviewed from time to time.
Other than your day job, what do you really know? Take the subjects of history, political science, and economics. Are you qualified to teach or debate any of the three? Probably not. But I’m sure you’re capable of learning and summarizing exactly what you’d like to know. And of reviewing this from time to time, just to keep up your intellect.
Most of us see a task of this nature as daunting. We don’t like the idea of re-reading old textbooks or spending hours on the web, so I’ll give you a push. Here is my book, which I’m happy to share. Take it and move forward as you wish.
Why is this notion so beneficial? Have you ever tried arguing with someone on something like politics? It’s impossible since few of us stand on the same foundation. What we need is each other’s basic understandings. For example, what do you feel is the difference between a liberal and a conservative? What have you read and been taught? And what have you figured out for yourself? All fundamental data I need in order to understand your position. So give it to me.
Everyone needs their own personal book of knowledge. Here’s a preview of mine. It looks at history, politics, economics, psychology, philosophy, and some religion. What you’re about to read won’t make you an expert on any of these topics but it’ll provide a decent working knowledge that takes you to the next level.
Getting to One
Let’s start with a question, how’s your level of intelligence? Everyone knows their occupation—just look at the time we put in. And we know all about hobbies. But what of general knowledge? How do we score on something like this? Using the scale of one-to-ten, assign yourself a grade on the following subjects? Can you deliver a 30-minute lecture on any of these? If not, our mission is getting you to one.
Attaining the first level doesn’t make you an expert on any topic, it simply gets you in the game. Allowing you to follow the conversation without feeling lost.
Listen to any intellectual and they’ll assume you know the basics. What happened in WWII, who were these Romans, and what’s with this Magna Carta? But where would this information have come from and how did it pop into our heads? In general, doctors and businesspeople needn’t memorize every battle or a vast number of quotes. All they need is the gist. For it’s gist that takes us to the next level. Acquiring knowledge is like playing a video game. Knowing the basics is getting to one. Then you move up from there.
Cross disciplines
Why is this notion beneficial? In the beginning, when people hung around devising knowledge, they came up with everything we knew up to that point. Then, after the expansion of information, Aristotle decided subjects needed to be split. So rather than have everyone act as generalists, we began to specialize. And sure, there are benefits coming from specialization but we lost something because certain subjects require breadth.
Second, all teaching was initially rooted in philosophy. Before the field of economics was devised, Adam Smith lectured in the department of ethics. That’s why he knew capitalism required a soul. Same goes for science. Yes, it’s great we’ve made so many advancements but old-time educators left room for the mystics (the unexplained). And this practice should remain.
Learning paths
It’s natural not to know things. Not knowing doesn’t make you a dummy. Spilling ketchup on your pants while dancing with a sandwich makes you a dummy. Our question is, how do I become proficient? Like someone who’s lost in a forest you need a path. High schools use curriculums but adults don’t have time for drawn-out lectures and tests. We prefer paths that take us straight to the heart. That’s our method of learning and More Letters does just this. It’s 90 Days to brilliance and you’ll be a genius in no time. Then if you wish, read on.
What You Don’t Know
Ever heard the expression “all I know,” as in “all I know is this.” All too often statements like these represent the proclaimer’s true position. Instead of always assuming we hold sufficient amounts of information, maybe it’s time to recognize the true structure behind knowledge and humble ourselves just a bit.
In general, knowledge can be broken into four categories: core understanding around the topic, bits and pieces you find lying around (say, in a newspaper), details you gain through a deep dive, and that which isn’t available or can’t be known. Recognizing these four areas is essential for any adult conversation.
The problem with social issues is few approach the table with basic understandings, even less do a deep dive, and almost no one acknowledges the world we don’t know. As a result, we mostly fly with bits and pieces, which isn’t much for knowledge.
So why don’t we respect these complexities and act like we do in business? My guess is we’re so desperate for opinions in an overloaded world that we’ll grab onto anything just to close a few loops. That, and most people aren’t used to dealing with reams of information.
50 Questions
When faced with an issue that requires serious amounts of consideration, researchers often tackle the question by asking 50 more. For example, should we open a plant in Buffalo? In business, the initial response is to determine what you need to know. Veterans do this by asking 50 or so questions before analyzing any results.
What are rents like in Buffalo? Is plant or warehouse space available? What about staffing? How much do people earn in and around the area? What’s the cost of living? How about the market? Are customers being underserved or over? And how good is the competition? These sorts of queries are just the beginning. So it goes without saying that business investment insists upon serious analysis and even in personal life consumers put more time into buying a home than a shirt.
Summary
The problem isn’t that people aren’t smart. Everyone learns in their own way. What makes so many issues complicated is the knowledge and understanding they require. And with so many surrounding us on a daily basis we naturally wish to simplify just to maintain sanity. As a result, we often come to poorly researched conclusions.
The next time you’re faced with selecting a stance over politics or what to do in the stock market ask yourself this: do I have a basic education around the topic, have I done a deep dive, and am I realistically taking into account all that I don’t know. Because in life, it’s usually about more than just bits and pieces.
The Vase
Sometimes I think God only invented other countries so we could hear really cool expressions. Like the other day, I was walking in Zambia arguing with a street kid. He used the phrase, “Bro, we’re not coming from the same vase.” I said what do you mean vase? He explained.
In Zambia, homes often display fresh cut flowers. People there make a distinction between the part standing inside the glass and what grows above it. Let’s call them stem and bud. Partway through, I figured his point was there’s a difference between buds coming from the same vase and those growing in dirt 5,000 miles away, but in the end we’re all flowers. He said, “No” and “stop interrupting.”
It means you can’t see my point because you don’t hold the same basic understandings. The vase is what’s shared by many and parts above it are individual interpretations. So flowers coming from the same vase totally get each other. Those coming from a crack in the wall, don’t. You’re allowed to think differently, that’s why all buds don’t point the same way, but those differences should be coming from the same sources.
I’m taking this back to CanAmerica with me because most of our arguments originate from above the glass. He’s right, including common understandings is a better way to fight. Smart kid.
With that you’re now ready to get your basic education on history, politics, economics, psychology, philosophy and religion – click below to get started.
