I just finished “How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day” by Michael J. Gelb.This is a fantastic book, one that all should read. The information is useful no matter who or what you are. Leonardo’s life lessons are timeless and learning about how he looked at life how he saw life was fascinating. I will be looking up more books concerning his life. Managers, Teachers, Parents and everyone else needs to read this book, we need to return to being renaissance men and woman once again.
So what is a renaissance man? And why do we need them again?
As to the first question, what is it:
The common term Renaissance man is used to describe a person who is well educated or who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields.[3] The concept emerged from the numerous great thinkers of that era who excelled in multiple fields of the arts and science, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Copernicus and Francis Bacon; the emergence of these thinkers was likewise attributed to the then rising notion in Renaissance Italy expressed by one of its most accomplished representatives, Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472): that “a man can do all things if he will.” It embodied the basic tenets of Renaissance humanism, which considered humans empowered, limitless in their capacities for development, and led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. Thus the gifted people of the Renaissance sought to develop skills in all areas of knowledge, in physical development, in social accomplishments, and in the arts. The term has since expanded from original usage and has been applied to other great thinkers before and after the Renaissance such as Aristotle, Johann Goethe, and Isaac Newton. (source)
Basically, it is a person well versed on many fields of study, what we would call today, a well rounded education. But really it is more than that. It is more than just getting your Liberal Arts degree.Well at least how we in modern times view it:
The phrase liberal arts (Latin: artes liberales) refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects (called the Trivium) were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy (which included the study of astrology). This extended curriculum was called the Quadrivium. Together the Trivium and Quadrivium constituted the seven liberal arts of the medieval university curriculum.
In modern times liberal arts is a term which can be interpreted in different ways. It can refer to certain areas of literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science.[1] It can also refer to studies on a liberal arts degree program. For example, Harvard University offers a degree of Master of Liberal Arts, which covers biological and social sciences as well as the humanities.[2] For both interpretations, the term generally refers to matters not relating to the professional, vocational, or technical curricula. (source)
The classical Liberal Arts is the definition of a Renaissance man, it is the study of Leonardo and many others. It is the study we need to return to, it is the study the will teach us to think. Modern-day Liberal Arts, modern-day education is not setup to teach thinking, it is set up to teach remembering. Students are not encouraged to think freely, but rather to retain what was told to them. The modern-day education system is one based on indoctrination not liberation. Leonardo’s education was geared towards discovery, experimentation and liberation. His disciplines ran across many areas of study, but he, as many renaissance men, had the ability to see the connections. The lines between art and science are blurred as are the lines between religion and science. The cross training and encouragement to push the envelope was the hallmark of renaissance training.
So why do we need a Renaissance man today? We have people who specialize in areas of study, so why should a rocket scientist care about the science of art? Why should an artist care about religion? Why would someone need to know about logic and rhetoric when they push a broom for a living?
Because life is connected, because the betterment of all starts with the betterment of one. Because life is more than what you do, it is who you are. And who you are is shaped by what you know. One of the main principles of Leonardo is connectedness, Leonardo saw the connections between seemingly non-connected objects. For example do you see the connection between a frog and the internet? Think about it… There is a connection. The frog has webbed feet and the internet is also called the World Wide Web. So both frog and internet have some sort of web. It is this connection, relationship that Leonardo saw, and it is this connectedness that we are missing in our lives.
Leonard saw the world not separate from humanity, but just a part of it. He saw the flow of the rivers to be the same as the flow of blood, the grass as the skin and the rock as the bones, he was a oneness between humanity and nature. Leonardo understood the connectedness of the clouds to the rain to the oceans, he saw the dependence of one upon the other. Leonardo is considered a great artiste, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper among the greatest art works in all of humanity. Yet he was much more than that, he was a scientist and inventor, a caterer and party planner. Leonardo used his talents to enlighten and entertain, he was known for a beautiful singing voice and accomplished musician. He understood that a holistic lifestyle was a healthy life style. Leonardo understood the body and mind connectedness, he was physically and mentally fit, because Leonardo knew that one could not be truly whole if a part of him was left to waste.
The Renaissance man of antiquity needs to be restored. We need to nurture and grow our children with a desire and fascination for learning. To question and explore their surroundings and to see the world, the universe with the eyes of openness and wonder.
We need more Leonardo’s’ in todays world, we need men and woman who are willing to expand their horizons, to cross over disciplines and to not fear failure, for through failure comes discovery. We need to foster the exploration of connectedness, we need to discover the universe anew.
Leonardo, where are you? Where have you gone. When did we decide that men such as Leonard are obsolete? Why did we decide they are of no use? the enlighten of man has many casualties, and this is one. But all is not lost, we can return, we can learn to think like Leonardo, we can create a new Renaissance, we just have to try.
God Bless
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
42.303780
-83.378959
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Last night I watched the South Carolina debates on Fox News. What stuck me was the fact that the questions were not designed as “sound bites” and that they were fair. What a concept… It was refreshing to hear, for the most part, intelligent questions from the media. No “So if states want to ban birth control” type questions. In truth they all sounded good, except Ron Paul, for some reason he always sounds like he is disorganized and scattered. Newt, as always was right on and put the media in there place. His little spat with Juan Williams, who was trying to bring up the race card.
It seems to me that the race card is going to be the mode of operation this election season. If you state the truth, and dislike Obama, you must be a raciest. How sad is that, how low is that, I for one, am insulted! I dislike Obama because he is, in my opinion, the worst president EVER, He makes Carter look good, and that’s pretty bad. I would have thought that the fact that the current president won by a land slide would have dispelled the notion that America is raciest. But I guess that something are just to easy to fall back on.
It’s a no brainer to say it must be race, not policy, it makes good head lines to say White America is racist. By the way, as a side note, I hate when we Americans are described as:
- White Americans
- Black Americans
- African Americans
Are we not all just Americans? Is that not part of the issue, we keep a divide between us when we do that. And to me it is simply stupid and counter productive. Yes I know there are still some whites that dislike blacks, just like there are some blacks that dislike some whites. It will, sadly, always be that way. There will always be ignorant people in this world. There is not much we can do about that. But there is much we can do about the divided we create when we refer to each other by our race. How about just American? What’s wrong with that?
Well back to the topic at hand…
Newt has a way of responding that just makes the questioner take a step back, his simple “No” to Juan was brilliant, the follow up from Newt with the why, in simple terms and no concerned about political correctness, what a beautiful thing to see and hear from a politician!
With Newt as our President we would always know were we stand, what he thinks and how he is going to deal with any issue. What a refreshing thought….
As for Dr. Ron Paul… Not sure why, but I just get an uneasy feeling about him, the feeling that one night he is just going to wake up and decide to run nude through the White House, just a feeling that he is just a tad bit off center. Not nuts, just a one or two cards short of a full deck. Don’t know why I get that feeling, but I do…
Romney, well what can I say about him, I would vote for him if he was the republican, but that’s about it. I just am not drawn to him.
Perry, he looks like he is always stiff, almost like a Ken doll…
Santorum, I like him, he is my second in line, if not Newt, than Santorum. Why not my first, I just like Newt, always have.
This election year promises to be exciting and revealing. I think we will see what America is made of this election. The American fabric will be stretched to its limits, and we will see what she can stand. If we fail, if the fabric rips we will be headed down a long, steep and slippery road to socialism. A road we are currently on, a road that not just liberals have put us on, but, sad to say, so have many conservatives. It is time, this election is the election to decide what road we want, socialism or the road the Founding Fathers forged for us, the road carved out of the wilderness with the blood of our sons. The road of Liberty and freedom, the road of personal responsibility and sacrifice. The process will not be easy, and we will have a hard climb back up to the top of this current hill, a lot of back tracking to do, freedoms to restore and liberties to reinstate. But we are Americans, we can do it, if only we try and work hard. Something our history as a nation has show we are not afraid to do, hard work was what this nation was built on, and hard work is what will restore this nation.
God willing, we will do just that, we will restore this great nation back to is former glory!
God Bless
Guided Insight Life Coach
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The moral compass of America is lost, we live is a nation that allows the murder of the unborn, elderly and sick. We live in a nation that allows our youth to get abortions on demand but need a parent to sign a waiver to get ear piercings. The morning after pill is available to all to take “care” of that little issue and now they want to allow youth of any age access to this drug that murders innocent life. Yet we feel compelled to regulate the Happy Meal… Can someone please help me out here, I am at a lost to understand this logic… Oh, wait, I get it not, logic has nothing to do with it….
We have a generation of youth that have grown up with the twisted notion that abortion on demand is normal, part of our Constitutional rights and something our Founding Fathers (if they even know who they are) intended. We have young girls that feel murder is a choice. We have young men who know there one-night-stands can be “taken care” of without any repercussions.
You tell me how this is liberating, how this is, in any way, shape or form, woman’s liberation! We have grown accustom to murder happening daily in our lives, and yet we fail to see anything wrong with it. But the wrath of God will come down upon you if you even think about offending a minority, unless, of course, that minority is Christianity, the source and summit of all evil in the world, according to the media.
We have children’s books depicting sexual acts, yet we have to remove words from Mark Twain’s classic Huck Finn… We teach 5 year olds about gay sex, yet we fail to teach them morality for fear of imposing our own views upon them.
We allow artist to depict Christ, Mary the mother of God and other Saints and Holy People in sexual acts, but the political cartoonist who dares to draw Muhammad has a price upon their head and the liberal media swarm in to attack them.
The moral compass that created this great nation of ours, that guided us for over 200 years has been lost. We have a President that devalues life and embraces the world radicals and dictators over the freedoms of democracy.
You tell me… Am I wrong, what am I missing…..
I pray that God will continue to bless this great Nation of ours, that the United States of America will once again be the light on the hill for all to see, that we once again will be the protectors of freedom and we will reclaim our morality. God willing America will shine once more. But we, the American people, have to stand tall and take back what is ours, we have to reclaim the government and demand a moral stance.
We are not powerless unless we allow ourselves to be. This is our Country, one that can once again be what she once was, the envy of the world. Not for our material wealth, but for our moral fiber, for our convictions and our leadership in freedom.
The fight is just begun, and we have an uphill battle, but America was founded upon the reality of an uphill battle, we have always had to fight our way to the top, and we can do it again… If we want. And we truly have to want it, we have to fight, we have to take back what is ours. America does not belong to the government, but rather she belongs to the people.
God Bless
Paul
42.303780
-83.378959
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Leonard saw the world not separate from humanity, but just a part of it. He saw the flow of the rivers to be the same as the flow of blood, the grass as the skin and the rock as the bones, he was a oneness between humanity and nature. Leonardo understood the connectedness of the clouds to the rain to the oceans, he saw the dependence of one upon the other. Leonardo is considered a great artiste, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper among the greatest art works in all of humanity. Yet he was much more than that, he was a scientist and inventor, a caterer and party planner. Leonardo used his talents to enlighten and entertain, he was known for a beautiful singing voice and accomplished musician. He understood that a holistic lifestyle was a healthy life style. Leonardo understood the body and mind connectedness, he was physically and mentally fit, because Leonardo knew that one could not be truly whole if a part of him was left to waste.
