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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kid Rock who wrote (22754)	6/8/1998 2:43:00 AM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Tom, in my opinion you should not feel bad simply because you do not read books. I used to read tons of them, but lost my attention span when I had a baby, and have never had the inclination to get it back. In the meantime, I have found that by being an avid reader of magazines and newspapers and National Public Radio for information, and poetry for pleasure and love of words, film for general art and love of plot and drama, and using the net to keep up on the future and stay stimulated, I feel very literate. I think that professor was correct. While it is possible to read books and be very literate, it is also possible to read books and live totally in the dark. It really depends upon what books you choose, and how intellectually curious you are in general.

To: Kid Rock who wrote (22754)	6/8/1998 6:09:00 PM
From: Father Terrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Tom: I may not answer everything fully. I did go to the highly interesting URL you provided. You must realize, of course, much of this is my opinion and subjective. 1) How would you rank this site for historical fact? (1-10) From what I can remember from my past readings of the subject (some of which goes back decades!) it seemed accurate. I am no expert and did not compare it to other historical accounts, but I'll go for it and rate it an (8). 2) How would you rank this site for scientific fact? (1-10) It left out some details I think are important, but again, being no expert on this particular subject I would rank it at least a (7), maybe higher. It would've been nice if the author had included references to some evidence that points to Santorini being the basis for the Great Flood mentioned in the bible since there is evidence it created a giant sunami. Also, some historians have concluded (perhaps erroneously) that the Minoan civilization was the basis for Plato's descriptions of Atlantis. I visited many of the Greek Isles in 1987 among them Rhodes and Santorini. Fascinating. 3) How would you rank this site for accuracy of the political and social factors provided as reasons for the changes that occurred within the civilization? (1-10) The reasons given are the author's own "Monday morning quarterbacking". I decline to rank it because I do not have enough of the facts at hand. Sorry. (no ranking) 4) How would you rank this site overall? (1-10) I found it interesting and thank you for pointing it out to me. (8) 5) How would you explain the differences between Japan and Crete from the standpoint of cultural/global success considering equivalent land mass and "island" isolation? Their original feudal political system, and WWII and the American business professor who went there after WWII and taught them management and marketing techniques that American corporations turned their back on. Plus the Japanese culture has a vastly different life philosophy than that of the people indigenous to Crete. 6) If one reads only periodicals and has a perceptive mind, can knowledge and intellect accumulate without prejudice? If the individual is aware of slanting, revisionism, etc. Yes. 7) What advantages do thick books have over "thin" web-pages? None, inherently. The content and ideas are what counts. 8) What advantages do universities have over self-study, other than social interaction of young people? If you have some exceptional professors, they can make a subject come truly alive for you and offer a fresh perspective that printed or audio/video educational materials cannot offer. But the main purpose of a university is to teach the individual how to study for the rest of their life. Unfortunately, most fall far short of that worthy goal nowadays. 9) At what point in time, if ever, will we start to see major effects or paradigm shifts on our societies and cultures, because of free-flow, unlimited, information exchange? It's already begun to happen. That's why the more astute governments around the world are beginning to run scared. 10) What would your top 10 list of books be if you were required to submit a list to the Public school system for "required" reading? (Assume no moron common denominator factor needed) I cannot answer this the way you intend it because I advocate the complete elimination of all public, government-run schools. Father Terrence