Wow! That's quite the history. Thanks for sharing it, new as I am to your substack. I do hope you're loving Mantel's Cromwell trilogy - I love it, and think she was a genius (a great loss when she died last year). Interesting on the financial vs intellectual capital - I was never focused enough to get into something that generated financial capital. I was musing on this the other year with a friend of mine from university who had made financial capital, and he said "But you were never interested by or moved by money. And that's what I always liked about you." I found that kind of odd but reaffirming, although it discounts money as a hygiene factor - a hygiene factor I've never had, and which probably goes a long way to explaining my own digestive battles! Look forward to reading more, and applaud your openness and your donation of paid subs to Robin Hood Foundation. R
Part of my drive to accumulate intellectual capital is that it makes me feel safe. Sometimes this is literal.
In 1971, My sister, my cousin, and myself, aged 21, 15, and 20 went on a 6-week bike ride from Seattle WA to South Dakota. We passed through Glacier Park where there are grizzly bears. To prepare ourselves I read every possible thing I could about grizzly bears.
Grizzly bears have very poor eyesight and mostly rely on smell and hearing. The best way to avoid problems is to make noise as you walk through the wilderness, with a bear rattle, a noisemaker.
Bears mostly don't want you to be there. So, laying down and making yourself obscure is generally a great way to do that. Another good move is to play dead even if you are attacked.
There are only two situations in which bears mount determined attacks: the more common is when a woman is menstruating, which they apparently find quite upsetting. The rarest attack is when they are hungry and actively hunting human food. The first kind of attack doesn't happen every year and the second doesn't happen every decade.
I'm giving this elaborate example of my quest for knowledge, because learning about anything makes me feel safe. Bizarrely, it makes me feel safe even if I'm learning about the Roman Empire, or the American Revolution.
Of course, these latter entities are not likely to come and try to bite me in the butt! 😉😉😉
I dusted off my "learn everything about it strategy" when I rode across the country on a bicycle in the 2000s. I can tell you about rattlesnakes, coyotes, and javilinas, as well as anti-abduction strategies for a single woman alone on a bicycle. Fortunately, no problems to report.
If I am emotionally upset, I take a book out of Internet Archive— almost always about some aspect of history— and have my computer read it aloud to me. Learning is my safe place.
I’ve said this before, but my very favorite part of this platform is it reminds me of the dialogues I used to have in college. I have never felt lit up in my life the way I did when my ideas met someone else’s and sparks flew. Or when I didn’t understand something and had to use serious mental musculature to get there—but when I did, wow. I’m glad to be following you in conversation and I think you’re living out a traditional human path: the first half // second half of life model where part one is worldly work and “householding” and part two is a deeper search for meaning. After all, you earned the time you have to spend here with us. Glad you think it’s worthwhile!
A very interesting post/article/essay (what do we call it on Substack?). I'm new here after joining for WolfCrawl following a fantastic year reading War and Peace on IG. Perhaps with this great literature I'm accumulating intellectual capital which is a concept I've not thought about before. It certainly makes me feel better that there are different types of wealth.
-- Through meaningful mentorship and by emulating exemplary role models, it’s possible to enhance our intellectual capital, empowering ourselves to make impactful and palpable contributions to any field, community, and society. I value the enrichment they bring to my life. Thanks for the insightful words, David.
My adviser in college, where I was an English major, was the late great Karl Kroeber (I got an A in his class, which is relevant to this story). When I went to ask him whether I should pursue an English lit PhD, he asked if there was anything else I might consider doing. I said I also had an interest in law, and he immediately exclaimed “Do that!” It was one of the two or three best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten.
Having two Harvard graduates (PHD and design school) I grew up in a family where words and knowledge had ALL the capital with the pursuit of wealth just something other people did. Most of my life I have been grateful but there were times I wondered if more practical concerns could have been addressed.
Bourdieu totally rocked my world in grad school and gave me an entirely new perspective. I love the way you used him here to highlight all the different kinds of capital in your own life. And, it was cool to learn a bit more about your time in grad school! Loneliness and a precarious job market are pretty apt descriptions of ph.d. program life. For some of us, it worked out. #blessed
I love this piece of writing! You are funny and engaging and I can definitely concur with you about loving to learn new and interesting facts. I say that I have a head full of randomalia, a word of my own design that I think is quite apt. Thank you for writing. 😊
Thanks for this, David. It is so insightful. In some senses, we are opposites, since I love ambiguity, as opposed to precision. which is probably why I do what I do. But I must say that you have made good use of your intellectual time: your essays are always full of ideas and interest. Of course, one problem with living this “life of the mind” for so many decades is that I don’t know if I will ever be able to afford to retire—so sometimes I wish that I had gone into finance! 😉 (Actually, that’s not true; I would have had no talent for it and probably would have burned out.)
I love this, David. Whenever I get caught up in the comparison game with my friends who are more successful than me "objectively" aka financially, I often think of the "capital" I've acquired through deep relationships and various life experiences. In many ways, I do consider my friendships and my relationship with literature and writing as my wealth.
It sounds like you took the right path. As the wife, mother, sister and niece – oh yes, and granddaughter – of academics, it is not something suitable to all personalities. And it certainly isn't lucrative except in rare exceptions. Many people seek out a change of career or focus at your age and I think that's great. And you have plenty of time to pursue it, say I just turned age 82. I haven't stopped learning yet and hope I never do.
Second comment of today. In addition to your newsletter, I also read that of Hanif Kureishi and I thought his post of today might interest you, as it is dealing with some of the same issues from a completely different point of view - he is a well-known writer here in the UK, but had a recent accident and is completely bed-bound: https://hanifkureishi.substack.com/p/money-and-how-it-gets-that-way
Thank you for these very generous words, David. I know I've said before how much I admire your self-exploration in Sparks from Culture and what you also talk about here, your redirecting your life interests now that you feel comfortable to do so. It's a kind of rebirth, a reinvention of the self. It reminds me of another Substacker, @Deerambeau , someone who has lived a different life from you, and from me, but is very open and introspective and remarkably transformative in his commitment, in his case, to recovery. (I'm not suggesting you're a recovering financier! :) That capacity for reinvention is rare.
I enjoyed your thoughts. Query whether there is a higher and better pursuit than financial capital or intellectual capital? While both are desirous, neither can completely (in my view) satisfy the soul, no matter how much of either type of capital is obtained. Familial capital — I like that. Character capital? That could include being a good spouse, a good parent, a good son, a good sibling, a good neighbor, a good provider. Just a thought. You will be successful in pursuing any type of capital.
I enjoyed looking forward to this follow-up to last week's essay. I'm reminded of what Warren Buffet allegedly told shareholders and interviewers: The most important decision anyone can make is to "marry the right person" - a factor that influences every form of capital, not to mention the intangibles like peace of mind and self-esteem. You hint about it here when (humorously now) you allowed yourself to believe that your wife got over her fear of an academic future quickly. :-) I love these little humorous reflections in your essays.
Wow! That's quite the history. Thanks for sharing it, new as I am to your substack. I do hope you're loving Mantel's Cromwell trilogy - I love it, and think she was a genius (a great loss when she died last year). Interesting on the financial vs intellectual capital - I was never focused enough to get into something that generated financial capital. I was musing on this the other year with a friend of mine from university who had made financial capital, and he said "But you were never interested by or moved by money. And that's what I always liked about you." I found that kind of odd but reaffirming, although it discounts money as a hygiene factor - a hygiene factor I've never had, and which probably goes a long way to explaining my own digestive battles! Look forward to reading more, and applaud your openness and your donation of paid subs to Robin Hood Foundation. R
Part of my drive to accumulate intellectual capital is that it makes me feel safe. Sometimes this is literal.
In 1971, My sister, my cousin, and myself, aged 21, 15, and 20 went on a 6-week bike ride from Seattle WA to South Dakota. We passed through Glacier Park where there are grizzly bears. To prepare ourselves I read every possible thing I could about grizzly bears.
Grizzly bears have very poor eyesight and mostly rely on smell and hearing. The best way to avoid problems is to make noise as you walk through the wilderness, with a bear rattle, a noisemaker.
Bears mostly don't want you to be there. So, laying down and making yourself obscure is generally a great way to do that. Another good move is to play dead even if you are attacked.
There are only two situations in which bears mount determined attacks: the more common is when a woman is menstruating, which they apparently find quite upsetting. The rarest attack is when they are hungry and actively hunting human food. The first kind of attack doesn't happen every year and the second doesn't happen every decade.
I'm giving this elaborate example of my quest for knowledge, because learning about anything makes me feel safe. Bizarrely, it makes me feel safe even if I'm learning about the Roman Empire, or the American Revolution.
Of course, these latter entities are not likely to come and try to bite me in the butt! 😉😉😉
I dusted off my "learn everything about it strategy" when I rode across the country on a bicycle in the 2000s. I can tell you about rattlesnakes, coyotes, and javilinas, as well as anti-abduction strategies for a single woman alone on a bicycle. Fortunately, no problems to report.
If I am emotionally upset, I take a book out of Internet Archive— almost always about some aspect of history— and have my computer read it aloud to me. Learning is my safe place.
I’ve said this before, but my very favorite part of this platform is it reminds me of the dialogues I used to have in college. I have never felt lit up in my life the way I did when my ideas met someone else’s and sparks flew. Or when I didn’t understand something and had to use serious mental musculature to get there—but when I did, wow. I’m glad to be following you in conversation and I think you’re living out a traditional human path: the first half // second half of life model where part one is worldly work and “householding” and part two is a deeper search for meaning. After all, you earned the time you have to spend here with us. Glad you think it’s worthwhile!
A very interesting post/article/essay (what do we call it on Substack?). I'm new here after joining for WolfCrawl following a fantastic year reading War and Peace on IG. Perhaps with this great literature I'm accumulating intellectual capital which is a concept I've not thought about before. It certainly makes me feel better that there are different types of wealth.
-- Through meaningful mentorship and by emulating exemplary role models, it’s possible to enhance our intellectual capital, empowering ourselves to make impactful and palpable contributions to any field, community, and society. I value the enrichment they bring to my life. Thanks for the insightful words, David.
My adviser in college, where I was an English major, was the late great Karl Kroeber (I got an A in his class, which is relevant to this story). When I went to ask him whether I should pursue an English lit PhD, he asked if there was anything else I might consider doing. I said I also had an interest in law, and he immediately exclaimed “Do that!” It was one of the two or three best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten.
Having two Harvard graduates (PHD and design school) I grew up in a family where words and knowledge had ALL the capital with the pursuit of wealth just something other people did. Most of my life I have been grateful but there were times I wondered if more practical concerns could have been addressed.
Bourdieu totally rocked my world in grad school and gave me an entirely new perspective. I love the way you used him here to highlight all the different kinds of capital in your own life. And, it was cool to learn a bit more about your time in grad school! Loneliness and a precarious job market are pretty apt descriptions of ph.d. program life. For some of us, it worked out. #blessed
I love this piece of writing! You are funny and engaging and I can definitely concur with you about loving to learn new and interesting facts. I say that I have a head full of randomalia, a word of my own design that I think is quite apt. Thank you for writing. 😊
Thanks for this, David. It is so insightful. In some senses, we are opposites, since I love ambiguity, as opposed to precision. which is probably why I do what I do. But I must say that you have made good use of your intellectual time: your essays are always full of ideas and interest. Of course, one problem with living this “life of the mind” for so many decades is that I don’t know if I will ever be able to afford to retire—so sometimes I wish that I had gone into finance! 😉 (Actually, that’s not true; I would have had no talent for it and probably would have burned out.)
I love this, David. Whenever I get caught up in the comparison game with my friends who are more successful than me "objectively" aka financially, I often think of the "capital" I've acquired through deep relationships and various life experiences. In many ways, I do consider my friendships and my relationship with literature and writing as my wealth.
It sounds like you took the right path. As the wife, mother, sister and niece – oh yes, and granddaughter – of academics, it is not something suitable to all personalities. And it certainly isn't lucrative except in rare exceptions. Many people seek out a change of career or focus at your age and I think that's great. And you have plenty of time to pursue it, say I just turned age 82. I haven't stopped learning yet and hope I never do.
Second comment of today. In addition to your newsletter, I also read that of Hanif Kureishi and I thought his post of today might interest you, as it is dealing with some of the same issues from a completely different point of view - he is a well-known writer here in the UK, but had a recent accident and is completely bed-bound: https://hanifkureishi.substack.com/p/money-and-how-it-gets-that-way
Thank you for these very generous words, David. I know I've said before how much I admire your self-exploration in Sparks from Culture and what you also talk about here, your redirecting your life interests now that you feel comfortable to do so. It's a kind of rebirth, a reinvention of the self. It reminds me of another Substacker, @Deerambeau , someone who has lived a different life from you, and from me, but is very open and introspective and remarkably transformative in his commitment, in his case, to recovery. (I'm not suggesting you're a recovering financier! :) That capacity for reinvention is rare.
I enjoyed your thoughts. Query whether there is a higher and better pursuit than financial capital or intellectual capital? While both are desirous, neither can completely (in my view) satisfy the soul, no matter how much of either type of capital is obtained. Familial capital — I like that. Character capital? That could include being a good spouse, a good parent, a good son, a good sibling, a good neighbor, a good provider. Just a thought. You will be successful in pursuing any type of capital.
I enjoyed looking forward to this follow-up to last week's essay. I'm reminded of what Warren Buffet allegedly told shareholders and interviewers: The most important decision anyone can make is to "marry the right person" - a factor that influences every form of capital, not to mention the intangibles like peace of mind and self-esteem. You hint about it here when (humorously now) you allowed yourself to believe that your wife got over her fear of an academic future quickly. :-) I love these little humorous reflections in your essays.