What I’m Hoping
I wrote Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar for several reasons. The principle reason was to impress my dad. But right after that is another important one: I want to talk with people, argue with people, and work with people on the subject of self-education and how to brand ourselves and invent ourselves as thinkers.
My father is quite reclusive. I’m the opposite– though I guess if the book is very successful I will have to reconsider that. Anyway, for the moment, I’m very accessible, and I hope people will write me and tell me how they react to the ideas. I hope my follow-on to Secrets will be something about how these principles work for different people.
Several hundred folks have gotten the free download. So, read it and talk to me!
If it’s successful enough, I expect to get hit with a lot of criticism for my attacks on school. I say: bring it on.
I’m about halfway through with it now. I was reading bits and pieces of it to my wife on Sunday and we were talking about other people we know who seem to fit this model.
I’m a little giddy because I don’t feel quite so much like an irresponsible worker or crap academic any more. I have a technology job, but I don’t want to read about technology topics all the time; I have an academic BA, but I haven’t been able to settle down on one topic long enough to pick an MA.
I’ve been trying to pick an MA since I graduated thirteen years ago, and have been convinced I wanted a degree in economics, political science, history, sociology, English literature. I’m currently obsessed with postmodernism, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of science. Six months ago it was how to make my own ice cream.
Reading your book I’m beginning to see how that approach can be useful and how I can work with that kind of mind rather than attempt to force focus. I’ve always thought being successful would mean buckling down on one subject and ignoring all the other distractions, but now I’m thinking about ways to do the opposite.
I really appreciate the book. I’ve already sent links to a few of my friends and I’ll review it on Amazon when I finish it.
[James' Reply: Thank you for writing. You seem to be exactly the sort of person I wrote the book for. We passionate learners must reclaim our own methods, and stop buying into the myths about specialization and focusing and above all that we need a teacher to learn things.]
Comment by Thud — July 21, 2009 @ 2:29 am
Hi James,
I did not have the means to e-read your book but really wanted to read it after reading a few pages on my screen, so I printed a lot of screenprints.
I have to admit I really like your book. Maybe I am not fully understanding everything (a lot of English words I have never heard about, being from the Netherlands), but I like reading it (about half way through now).
A couple of days ago I downloaded a tool which happened to be yours, wrote a question wrote a question to you about a problem I had with it and was pleasantly surprised with your answer.
After that I started reading your book.
I like what you say about your portfolio.
Thanks for writing it.
By the way, is there really a second part about “Video About Analysis and Learning” or were you only joking?
Regards,
Fred
(slowreader)
[James' Reply: Thank you. The book will be out in paper form, in a little more than a month. It won't cost much, too.
There is a part 2 to the Stone video. But I'm not finished with it, yet. My research has gone deep and I'm still puzzling about how to show what I've done.]
Comment by Fred Steenbergen — July 22, 2009 @ 9:56 am
Nice book. Here’s my review – My thoughts on the Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar.
Comment by Danny Faught — July 23, 2009 @ 12:41 am
I was one of the readers who got a free download for The Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar. I finished reading a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say: Bravo! You’ve summed up my thoughts and feelings on formal education and independent learning exactly while reinforcing techniques I’ve unconsciously (and guiltily) been using all along.
I am, however, apprehensive about adopting one MAJOR point you make: The complete rejection of formal education.
[James' Reply: I don't make that point. That's not a position that I take. The book is not about rejecting school, but rather rejecting schoolism. It's as if I am rejecting the idea that everyone MUST eat peanuts. It's not that peanuts are bad, but they aren't necessary, either, and some people are allergic to them.]
Okay, so formal education is fundamentally flawed. I get that. School has ALWAYS made me hate whatever subject I have attempted to study in it; however, universities (and even elementary schools) are great for connecting with peers, research groups, projects, and everything else that does not involve a classroom but does involve a community of driven learners with money to spare (and universities have money to spare).
[James' Reply: They may have many benefits and uses. But they also cost a lot of money and put a lot of restrictions on how you use your time and energy. And all I'm saying is you don't need them. You might like them. That's fine. You can like them. You can even love them. But your life does not require them. Don't go through your life thinking "O universities I would be nothing without you!"]
In addition, degrees are not always dispensable. Sure, someone can build a fulfilling career without obtaining a degree, but not all careers are accessible without a degree. Degrees open doors. They open doors by cheating, but they nonetheless open doors.
[James' Reply: No matter what degree you get, you will not get all degrees. Therefore no matter what door you unlock, you will not unlock every door. Fortunately, we don't need to unlock every door. If your heart demands that you join a particular community, and the community requires you to worship Ahura Mazda, or swear allegiance to the flag, or get a degree or license of some kind, then you will do that.
My blessings upon you.
Meanwhile there are a great many doors that are locked against people who are uninteresting, unimaginative, and have nothing to offer. These are the doors that I can get through, in my domain, because my education is freewheeling and relentless and unique.
So, it depends on what locks you want to get through.]
My question is: Why can’t a child go through school (to keep doors open and learn from the experience of it) AND become a buccaneer scholar at the same time? Is dropping out of school is absolutely necessary?
[James' Reply: Perhaps you raced through the early chapters (I think it was chapter 2) and missed this: you can be a buccaneer and be in school. In fact, you can be a professor and still be a buccaneer. Being a buccaneer doesn't mean that you must cut yourself off. What it means is that you don't accept anyone else's authority over your own education.
I mean my message to be additive, not subtractive. There are other possibilities. Enjoy them. Don't let yourself be trapped by OTHER people's lack of imagination and courage.]
Comment by Urvi — June 26, 2010 @ 3:23 am