1. Several decades ago, you archived all of your documents, books, etc. in their native formats (i.e. printed paper). This had been the paradigm for centuries. Now, especially with the advent of eReaders, and with most of the business and legal world deeply enmeshed in computer technology, what are the ideal ways to archive documents and books? Relatively common applications such as: PDF, .doc (or .docx), HTML, .rtf, or even .txt all have their major drawbacks. The fact is (if only as a thought experiment), imagine that you are an archeologist digging up the ruins of what would be something from our present day…when presented with intact hard-drives, Cd’s, or DVD’s, when you could gain access to the actual media…you would see these (apparently) archaic data formats… My questions would be: how would you ‘decode’ something like Microsoft’s proprietary binary MS Word formats (they change every upgrade…). How quickly could you find a way to look at ‘old’ data formats in a native manner (using, let’s say…1994 programs) now?
2. It is something of a wonder when you realize that North and South (especially as used in maps) are arbitrary, especially with regard to what seems to be some sort of Northern preeminence on maps…
The Upside-down Map Page
http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap
I have always wondered why so few people take the time to break out of some of these commonplace molds…
3. Considering that some of the great generalists and renaissance men in history are given so much coverage in the popular media and schools (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, most early scientists, travelers, and inventors, etc.) it seems rather strange that we have created an education system specifically (and solely) to create specialists…
To replicate Leonardo’s background in a modern college, which would be the classes to take? Anatomy, mechanical engineering, studio art classes, military technology, architecture, aerodynamics, and a bit of cryptography create a curriculum far too broad to fit into a college campus…
