Lessons of Leonardo

Picture of Slave Castle in Cape Coast

This last Christmas I had an opportunity to visit my family currently living in Accra, Ghana. While there we had the sobering opportunity to visit a slave castle located in the city of Cape Coast. This year, 2019, marks 400 years since the first slaves were forcibly removed from Western Africa and transported to the United States of America. Coincidentally, this year also marks 500 years since the death of Leonardo Da Vinci. Now, I know that the events surrounding those two dates are not correlated in any way, but I started thinking about what messages did Da Vinci try to share in his lifetime that were not understood not only 100 years after his death but also 500 years after his death - today? 

Da Vinci was widely known for his intrepid experiments in engineering, but he also preached the need to create structures that complement the environment around us, as opposed to ones that impede the world. Also, as a true humanist, he desired the betterment of his fellow men and detested unnecessary suffering. In his painting, "The Last Supper" you see the emotion on the faces of each apostle, and their value as humans is communicated through the unique emotions.

East Coast of Atlantic Ocean 

There are still many in the world who do not understand what Da Vinci understood. Needless suffering, abuse, human trafficking, and slavery are still running rampant in the world. The need to protect the environment and work with the environment is lost on seemingly all governments. As I sat at the foot of the slave castle looking out into the Atlantic Ocean I saw mounds of garbage and plastic floating near the shore.

It struck me that one lesson was lost in this very spot several hundred years ago - the value of the human soul and that another important lesson is being lost - the value of the world we live in. If we each took the time to be just a little more learned about a few more things, could we leave a better world than we found?

Leonardo Da Vinci is the ultimate example of the "Renaissance Man". As more people seek a greater breadth of understanding of the world around us, as he did, we can all better embrace ideas that were realized by him more than 500 years ago. By doing so we can avoid mistakes both 400 years old, and those unique to our time.

The Instant Gratification Cliff

We live in a day where instant gratification has become more "the norm" than ever before. Are we missing out on a bigger and better way of living?



"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained in sudden flight but, they while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night" (Longfellow, Good Poems for Hard Times). The core values of determination, hard work, and stick-to-it-iveness are responsible for the creation of most (if not all) of the modern comforts we enjoy and for the abundance of valuable knowledge. Unfortunately, some of our most useful creations have the potential to train us to exclusively pursue instant gratification and leave stick-to-it-iveness and determination behind in the dust.

This week, I had the unique opportunity to experience life without a cellphone after mine unexpectedly retired itself. I won't lie, life without a cellphone is logistically difficult for a college student, but being without a phone has taught me an important lesson: my cellphone may have been using me as much as I was using it.

"Think Outside the Search Box": 10 Starting Points for Self-Directed Learning

When I invite my students to do self-directed learning, they sometimes default to a Wikipedia or Google search, or they go to some standard notes or homework-help type sources like Shmoop.

Those are not wrong things to do, per se, but they are not the only things that can be done. So, I'd like to encourage my students to "think outside the search box."

Assuming you've selected or been assigned a specific topic about which to learn, how could you then go about doing so in an interesting way?

Here are 10 suggested starting points for autodidacts (self-directed learners):

What need have we for the Bible?

"Religion aside, the Bible revolutionized modern language and influences the way people communicate today."

The translation of the Bible is one of the most seminal moments in history because it expanded human thought and continues to influence the world. This event was the culmination of several hundred years of events and spans multiple languages.

A little bit of history

It all started with Jerome, a Catholic priest, in the 4th century A.D. when he made the Vulgate by translating the bible from its original text to Latin which was the predominant language at the time. The Vulgate became the source material used for every mass for hundreds of years. When the clergy read scripture to the congregation, it was from the Vulgate.

Now, fast forward a few hundred years with me to the Renaissance where classic Greek and Roman culture were reborn. While it was heavily marked by progressive thought, it also was a revolutionary era in which artists, politicians, and laypersons challenged the status quo. This included monks like Martin Luther and devout member of the congregation such as John Wycliffe and John Calvin.

For years, the Catholic church outlawed the Bible in common languages. Eventually, after years of smuggling illegal copies of translations into peoples homes, there was a schism between the king of England and the pope. In retaliation, the king of England formed the church of England and authorized its members to have the Bible in English.

Who cares? (you should more than you do)

Any non-christian reader might be thinking "woopdy-doo. So what?" To which I would say, "consider how difficult it is to translate something." William Tyndale performed an English translation of the New Testament from Greek and the committee commissioned by King Henry VIII also relied on Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic source material. While translating, the translators kept the syntax and poetic structure of these languages to best reflect the style of the language they were originally written in. As a result, the English language was rebranded in a way that was never done before.

What this means for us

The dissemination of the English Bible throughout the world meant everyone could read and experience the language in a new undiscovered way. Religion aside, the Bible revolutionized modern language and influences the way people communicate today. In our storytelling, many people reference classic works which reference the Bible. When the United States was founded, many of the principles espoused by the founding fathers were based in Biblical literature. And finally, it can affect you and the way you communicate. Things we say like "turn the other cheek," "go the extra mile," or "by the skin of your teeth" all come biblical passages.

In conclusion, the translation of the Bible led to the evolution of the English language and influences literature, storytelling, and how we communicate today.

New Worlds in Nuclear Physics

One of the primary reasons of maritime exploration during the 15^th-16^th centuries was to advance the commercial interests of nations such as Spain and Portugal. Indeed, Christopher Columbus searched for a westward route to the rich islands of East Asia. Ferdinand Magellan expanded this objective and reached the Spice Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

Scientific exploration also seeks for treasure, but this treasure is the treasure of knowledge. As scientific experiments build our knowledge, we increasingly have a better idea of what the unknown is like.

One region of discovery in science today is the known isotopes of the chemical elements. These can be plotted by proton and neutron number. As we do a three-dimensional plot of proton number, neutron number, and the logarithm of the lifetime, we obtain what looks like a landmass with a mountain range in the middle. This is what nuclear physicists call the “nuclear landscape”. As each new isotope is discovered, we in a sense discover a new small piece of the nuclear landscape.

My Picture of Orcas Island, WA

A frequent criticism of nuclear physics is that all of the expense of experiments usually results in a small number of atoms of short-lived isotopes. Critics see the enormous cost of experiments as worthless considering the seemingly underwhelming results of fleetingly-lived atoms.

However, the study of nuclear physics has led to enormous technological advancements over the last 100 years. If Henri Becquerel never placed a piece of uranium on a photographic plate in the dark, then we would have never understood the concept of radioactivity. If Ernest Rutherford never bombarded that gold foil with alpha particles, we would have never entered the new world of nuclear physics. If Frederick Soddy never bothered to study the different lifetimes of a substance with the same chemical properties (which would later be known as protactinium), then our knowledge of different isotopes of uranium (fissile vs non-fissile) would never have come to fruition, and nuclear fission would never have become a major power source for the world. Therefore, the study of nuclear physics has given us profound technological advancements and advantages over time.

Likewise, if Christopher Columbus never sailed west to find a new route to the Far East, then our knowledge of the Americas would have been postponed. Instead, the discovery of the Americas eventually led to the creation of the United States of America, a beacon of freedom to the world.

Testament: A Look into Motivations that Spurred the Reformation

In Martin Luther's writing, Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther references the account of the last supper that is given in the Bible. One of the reasons given of the why the existing practices of the Catholic Church were incorrect–particularly selling indulgences–was explained by looking into the meaning of a "testament," more specifically, the "new testament" represented by the cup in the last supper.

Luther stated, "Christ, who is the truth, truly says that this is the new testament in his blood, [...] Thus, if we inquire what a testament is, we shall learn at the same time what the mass is, what its right use and blessing, and what its wrong use." 

The Bible can be viewed as a Will and Testament of Jesus Christ

As I read this, I was struck by the connection made to the word "testament" as it is generally used. A testament states the desires of a person before their death of the distribution of their estate. It usually consists of certain properties being promised to certain individuals; it is also common for these promises to have prerequisites: the heir(s) to the estate must fulfill certain requirements to inherit the promised property. 

The Divine in Schooling

              

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Education and work should fit the higher needs too

As a college student I’ve struggled trying to find out what subjects of study inspire me. I’ve struggled even more trying to keep myself motivated within my studies. Questions like “will this job even matter?” and “Will studying this make a difference for anyone?” haunt me as I try to plan out and pursue my college degree. Perhaps I’m an idealist, but I want to study things that bring me some of Maslow's belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, rather than studying a subject that'll make me enough money to survive. I left accounting this year because I found none of that fulfillment in financial statements.

It was both humanism and religion, traditionally thought as opposing each other, that have helped me find a new passion of study and work.

The Butterfly Effect of the Printing Press

The Butterfly Effect is the theory that everything is conditional upon something else and small occurrences can result in massive occurrences. We may not always know the cause of such massive occurrences, but they're there. The term "the butterfly effect" suggests that something as massive as a tornado or a hurricane could have been started from the smallest wind coming from a butterfly's wings, therefore suggesting that nothing is an accident and everything has a stimulus.

Sacred Things: Literature in Light of the Reformation

The Reformers' Views on Literature

Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash

In 1523, the father of the Protestant Movement, Martin Luther, wrote a letter to a friend to congratulate him on a well-written poem. Luther remarked that the only thing he wanted for the youth of his religious movement was education in literary arts, ultimately vowing “that there should be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see clearly that by no other methods is it possible to train men for the apt understanding . . . and felicitous treatment of sacred things.” Luther believed that art should be used to understand the sacred, rejecting the Catholic church’s tendency to replace the sacred with iconoclastic art pieces. Rhetorically, art's purpose was to bring the audience to a greater understanding of God.

Examples of Faith from the Reformation

The Reformation was a time of religious upheaval all across Europe. When Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the church “bulletin board” in 1517, he could never have foreseen the vast effect his action would have on the whole of Europe, and the entire world. At first the Catholic church reacted by somewhat candidly writing up their “Consilium de Emendanda Ecclesia,” outlining some things they recognized as needing reform. It turned out that it wasn’t enough, and people began breaking away from the Catholic church and practicing Lutheranism and other protestant faiths. Protestants were calling out for a more authentic, personal sort of worship, and a direct learning of the Word of God by individuals. The effects were wide spread and in many cases, like that of one of my ancestors, immensely life changing, as some were forced to choose between their home countries and their faith.

Sola Scriptura: How Reformers’ Emphasis on Scripture is Mirrored Today

Of all the changes that came about during the Reformation, few compare in impact than the transformation of engagement with the Bible. The transformation can be thought of in three main ways.

John Calvin and the Bible

• First, the Bible became more accessible. Before the Reformation, the Bible was only found in Latin, which was primarily studied by priests. Consequently, most Catholics had to rely on their priest to be their middle man with God. However, after Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, scripture study became something common Christians could take part in. Individuals “could now read the Bible in their own language… with features intended to help a person read and interpret the Bible for themselves." (Museumofthebible.org)

Martin Luther – A Clever Leader

Martin Luther

Reform is a critical theme within the Reformation Period. Reform can be defined as to correct, to improve, and to make changes. Such historical restructure could not have survived without Martin Luther, a leader with empowering use of logos and personal virtue of integrity. Many of us can learn from Martin Luther to spark reform within our own lives and leadership.