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SUDBURY VALLEY
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Musings...
Did you know you are an OPSIMATH??
Dr. Goodword's Good Word of the day on Sunday, March 6, 2011 was "Opsimath". What is an opsimath? WE are opsimaths! Dr. Goodword's definintion was:
OPSIMATH: (Literary) A person who undertakes study late in life, a person who learns late in life (an old dog that can learn new tricks).
Yup! Sounds like us, eh? He goes on to say,
Notes: As more and more people return to school and on-line study after retirement, the more we need today's Good Word. We even predict that the growing number of opsimaths will include many polymaths, people who are educated in many subjects.
The activity of opsimaths is 'opSImathy'. Things pertaining to opsimathy and opsimaths are opsimathic.
In Play: The popularity of opsimathy is growing in the US as baby-boomers age and more and more of them return to university after retirement: "Professor Badenoff was surprised to discover that 25% of the students enrolled in his medieval philosophy course were opsimaths." Experience, in fact, enhances learning, so be careful how you speak to older folks these days: "I didn't realize what an opsimath the boss was when I told him that old dogs can't learn new tricks."
Word History: Today's Good Word comes to us from Greek, where opse means "late" and math- means "learning". 'Mathematics' shares the same root, but it comes from the adjective of mathema "science, learning". The original Proto-Indo-European stem that became 'math' in Greek turned into Russian mudry "wise", Avestan mazda "wise", and Sanskrit mantrah "counsel, prayer". It turns up with a FICKLE N (an N that is sometime there, sometimes not) in Latin mens, mentis "mind" that we find in the English borrowing, 'mental', and the common abstract noun suffix '-ment' found in English and Romance languages.
Mario then reported that in Sunday's March 6th Globe Magazine Section there was an article on Careers and why starting over is so hard. ("Careers" by Alan Deutschman page 15 Boston Globe Magazine March 6, 2011)
Mr. Deutschman says that, " 'Learning' means becoming a true beginner in another challenging pursuit, [for example, like playing the trumpet after spending a career doing something else, says Mario!]. [The author] then goes on to say 'You know that you're learning something new and different if it's really hard for a long time and you're constantly making mistakes and feeling like an idiot'.
We understand about that, right?!?!? I guess it goes with being an opsimath. Now, go practice! Hey... want to learn to practice better and more efficiently? Go the the "eLesson" on Practicing
A poem by Steven Swanger who says,
"I wrote the attached as a sort of paean to Klezmer music, which touches my Ukrainian soul and is a big part of what led me to want to play the clarinet. ... The clarinet plays a big role in the Klezmer tradition, though I've come to discover over time that it's a gorgeous instrument in classical music, as well.
I wrote this poem shortly before I decided to take clarinet lessons a few years ago."
(FYI... the clarinet is often called a licorice stick! -dem)
Licorice Harmonies Wedding, funeral, a young man's Bar Mitzvah, Clarinets weave warp to the woof Laughing, sobbing, itinerant harmonics -- Steven Swanger |
(SVNHM Members: Do you have a musing you'd like to add here? Send it to me.)
