by John Lobell I recall in high school English class reading an essay by Emerson and being asked by my teacher, what I thought. I said that I thought, “What am I doing in high school, I should drop out and get on with my life.” She replied, “That is not what he meant at […]
I notice that my students are today smarter, more attentive, more hard working than in the past. And also less imaginative. When I discuss this with them, it becomes apparent that many faculty do not want students to exercise their imaginations—they want them to be good little sponges and absorb what they are told. […]
by John Lobell Summer is over, and school is restarting. Is it ok to say no to school? Once schools held a monopoly on learning resources—libraries, labs, lectures. Today all of this is free online or open source. In the 1940s and 50s, when boys with unkempt hair were scolded by their mothers and […]
Visionary Creativity: How New Worlds are Born, is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle, and on Barnes & Noble. From the back of the book: These are times of turmoil. But times of turmoil can also be times of creativity as we become aware of new possibilities in our arts, sciences, and industries, and of […]
Our world is no longer what we have thought it to be, and a new world is struggling to be born Visionary Creatives swim in the culture of their day and manifest in their work the spirit of their age. The things they create—in art, design, science, technology, business—embody that spirit. INTRODUCTION Poets are the […]
I open my book on Visionary Creativity with: Visionary Creatives swim in the culture of their day and manifest in their work the spirit of their age. The things they create—in art, design, science, technology, business—embody that spirit. So, what is the “spirit” of our age; what is the nature of our culture; what is […]
Let’s imagine we could ask van Gogh if he would trade his life of suffering for one of feelings of contentment, satisfaction, wellbeing, pleasure; a positive emotional state. We know how Nietzsche would answer. I suspect van Gogh might answer the same way, declaring himself with William Blake: “As I was walking among the fires […]
