Jack’s Winning Words 11/20/13
“I’m not a genius.  I’m just a tremendous bundle of energy.”  (R. Buckminster Fuller)  Futurist (and genius) Bucky Fuller was always a non-conformist.  He was expelled from Harvard twice.  He had trouble with geometry, and yet was able to invent the geodesic dome   He coined the word, ephemeralization, meaning: to do more with less.  Unrelated -- Quarterback Joe Theisman said, “A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Genius is currently based on the subjective concepts of what is necessary to test "objectively" and then compare with a standard of "normal" (which is such an impoverished standard for such an evaluation). I would rather use "ephemeralization" as the standard of genius. It is so much more significant!====JACK:  I wonder if a measure of "common sense" should be factored into the determination  of who is a genius...if common sense can be measured.====RAY:  Unfortunately not...because "normal" is as fluid as the sickness of the everyday, and it is determined through the general malaise of the conformed, the politically correct, and the multitude of those who remain asleep (to too much of an extent as critical thinking has seemed to be long past), and this leads to a common sense that has also become something dictated to those who await word as to how and what they are to think and say by those who provide the menu. I particularly love the line, "if you aren't at the table, you're on the menu". That seems to be a good example of common sense.====JACK:  Can a test be the judge of "genius"?  Or is it the maker of the test?  Even Congress can't agree on who should be judges?

 FROM TARMART REV:  You are the genius in coming up with some of the most interesting phrases of thought each morning . . . I look for them everyday during the week!! Be blessed, Jack!!====JACK:  I like what Aristotle said..."There is no great genius without a mixture of madness."====REV:  "The swan glides do smoothly and easily atop the water, while its feet is moving to beat the band underneath to get to its next destination."

 FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  I think Fuller once conceived a plan to put a dome over St. Louis, back in the 1960s.====JACK:  Walt Disney, the master-creator, said: "If you can dream it, you can do it."  The optimist is a person who dreams.  Or, going back to BCE, Archimedes said, "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."  You learned that in Physics 101, didn't you?

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  I had the unique experience of working with Bucky Fuller during my architectural studies at the university.  He truly was a phenomenal thinker, and seemed to be inexhaustible when talking about exploring ideas of all sorts.  During the period he was working with us at the university, he also gave a couple evening lectures which were open to the public.  They attracted a lot of people who had heard about this "genius".  After speaking from 8 to 10 p.m. Bucky would suggest a time-out ("Perhaps some of you want to call it an evening") and after a contingent of visitors would leave, Bucky would pick up where he left off, and go on speaking for another hour.  The thing is, so much of what he said was fresh thinking, and it captured your attention.  BTW, Hawkeye George is correct...In the late '50's Bucky did elaborate about putting a dome over St. Louis, to manage air quality and climate control.  A group of architectural students at Washington University, at that time working with Bucky, built a scaled-down dome on the university campus to examine the characteristics of such a structure.  St. Louis now has a sizable dome in one of the city parks called the Climatron, a permanent home for a large botanical exhibition.====JACK:  You were indeed privileged to be able to be "touched" a couple of geniuses, Bucky and Yama, to name just a couple.  Of course, they also had the opportunity "to walk with you," as well.====RI:  Both those men were small in stature but giants in creative thinking.=====JACK:  I've read that St. Paul was small in stature, too.  BTW, how tall do you think that Jesus was?===RI:  I've read that Jesus was not tall by today's standards.  Unless you are asking about the Jesus who towers over Rio de Janeiro...that's tall.

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  Have read a lot of Bucky over the years and heard him speak at Harper College when I was a kid. A most amazing man.  They just had a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art . It was wonderful for me to revisit some of his ideas.  Had no idea he was expelled twice.  That’s kind of funny.  Another of his words, “Dymaxion” – Dynamic – Maximum – Action (I think) ====JACK:  I like manufactured words.  Lake Superior State Univ in Michigan makes a list every year of words that should be removed from use and of others that should be added to the dictionary.  I wonder if dymaxion is now an approved word.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Actually, Norman Einstein was Al's older brother, but his folks could not afford college for him. They sent Al instead. Norm went about his business quietly and is not given credit for his many accomplishments. How to make a football hold air was one of them. That's why Theisman remembers him and thinks him a genius. Read the book "Norm and Me." You will be enlightened, as Thomas Edition would say.====JACK:  I'm positive that you must be thinking of Norman Vincent, Al Peale's grandson.  Dr. Peale would offer prayers for the players before every NY pro football game.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  What a fascinating man!   Anyone who is Pres. of Mensa ("74-83) has  to be near-genius....His wife of 66 years must have been pretty unflappable!!  They died within 36 hours of one another: He had a heart attack while visiting her, when she was dying  of cancer in the hospital, and pre-deceased her!  Their  daughter Allegra was no slouch either, she was "Honoree of the Year" in 1992 of Dance Guild of America, and Prof. of Dance Dep't. of UCLA, and wrote several books about her dad.  Allegra's husband, Robert won an Academy Award for his documentary on Micheal Angelo.  Seemed to be a brainy bunch on the "Spaceship Earth". I looked up why he was expelled from Harvard :-): 1.) for spending all his money partying with a vaudeville troupe; 2.) for irresponsibility and lack of interest!!   His accomplishments and reputation speak for themselves...I guess he truly "grew up"!====JACK:  If my parents were alive, I could explain my grades at Augustana by telling them about Bucky and his grades at Harvard.  I'm surprised that one of the TV networks didn't make a show, starring the Fuller family and calling it The Brainy Bunch.

FROM RI: IN BOSTON:    The comments from Blazing Oaks regarding the final days of Bucky Fuller and his wife were quite revealing to me.  I never heard about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.  Reflecting on Bucky's occasional comments while we were privileged to be with him, about his wife's support, I feel certain the two of them were very close.  On a couple occasions when he was lecturing publicly, his wife was in the front row, and he identified her to the audience.  He joked that the ideal way to theorize and have the means to explore those theories as necessary, was to marry a woman of wealth.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:   The Fullers lost  their older daughter Alexandra at age four (older than Allegra) due to Meningitis, and Bucky  questioned whether it was because of the drafty old house they were living in, in Chicago, and blamed himself for possibly causing her death. It was a dark time for he and  his wife....Allegra named her own daughter Alexandra, after her deceased sister. A lot  of times we have no idea what these "public figures" go through.

 FROM DB IN MICHIGAN:  Buckminsterfullerene: a recently discovered allotrope of carbon, noted for its exquisite shape and design, composed of 60 molecules. The soccer-ball-like structure contains five and six member rings reminiscent of the structure of "geodesic domes" suggested by the late industrial designer Buckminster Fuller.  Great name! --kind of like Flash Gordon!====JACK:  The more I hear about Fuller, the more impressed I am.  Thanks for adding to the lore.