Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Intellectual Devotional; Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class.

If you are anything like me, and I hope you are, you have often said to yourself, ‘self, I wish there were a way to study all things brainy the way that most people study religion’. Well, your scholarly prayers have been answered. David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have put together a volume of daily lessons from seven fields of knowledge that follow a weekly regiment. Monday is History, Tuesday is Literature, Wednesday is Visual Arts, Thursday is Science, Friday is Music, Saturday is Philosophy, and Sunday is, of course, Religion. It is, in essence, a quick course in things your really ought to know like the education and reign of Alexander The Great.

David S. Kidder is an entrepreneur that has founded many cutting edge companies in the information age and served as Vice-President of THINK New Ideas. Oppenheim has a well-established career as a journalist in print and television and is currently the senior producer of NBC’s Today show.

The layout and construction of this book is such that it allows the reader to take in these facts as well as take time to let them sink in. For example, when you read about melody and the structure of music Friday morning, you have the whole day to think about it and at a single page per day it doesn’t bog you down with too much to remember, then the information will be well absorbed into the gray matter until it is needed at a cocktail party where you can wow the bosses wife or bore the obnoxious guy from sales. This makes for a wonderful experience in learning that will take even the most tired of minds and revive them with the power of ammonium carbonate. In addition to the body of the daily essay there are footnotes that are sometimes humorous and always supportive of the main idea. If my high-school English teacher judged it, an A+ would be emblazoned on the cover.

The Intellectual Devotional is perfect for everyone. You don’t have to be a Ph. D. to want to read this book; you just have to like learning.
David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim biographical information courtesy of www.intellectualdevotional.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great book; does it have anything in it about learning how to WANT to read? Oh, wait, that's an oxymoron; which, by the way, is the same word that describes an idiot who breathes too much. Somewhat like myself. Great blog, Ben. Fascinating stuff. I'm glad to see you releasing your creativity.

I'll be watching you. (Let THAT thought keep you up at night!)

Scott Rosema

Poet said...

Thank you Obi Wan, or was the "I'll be watching you" thing more Palpatine? Oh no, my geek is hanging out again. Sorry about that.

Thanks Scot, I really appreciate it.

Jack Snider said...

There are a lot of cranks out here on the web. You might have to start moderating your posts-Oh hi Scott! (Ben, consider the moderation thing...)

Please write more stories.

Poet said...

Hehehe...