The Bus is about the journey of learning - of how we should celebrate curiosity by stopping off to discover new things along the way.
A fan of research who grew up before the internet, my favourite library resource was the card catalogue. Pulling a drawer from the cabinet and flicking through the well-worn cards revealed worlds of facts and information. Searching for Z, I discovered W, X and Y. Most of this was irrelevant to the topic, but that didn’t matter. The card catalogue was a journey through diversions and distractions. And it was fun.
But one day it was replaced with an online system. Even in the early 1990s, it took only a few keystrokes to get the answer to a question. And today? Google bacteria and in moments we are given around 4.3 billion results. (Do the same for existentialism and the return is merely 141 million). Need to find the optimum temperature for baked salmon?1 Interested in what MK-ULTRA was all about?2 Curious about which star is the oldest?3 No problem. We can find whatever we want to know in moments: questions answered, mysteries solved.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been either a pupil or educator for almost 50 years and often wonder how we did half the things we did before the advantages of the online world. Genuinely, as a source of information it is almost miraculous.
But in my heart I still believe that learning is a journey and - like all good ones - it demands a sense of adventure. Proper tourists know the only way to appreciate the truth of a place is to step off the beaten path and investigate the local sights and hear the local sounds. Walkers walk because they experience things missed if you only stay on the motorway, the interstate, the road. And all those cards uncovered on the way to Z? They were worth looking at, too.
In other words, learning isn’t only about getting from Point A to Point B. While there is purpose in riding a bus to its destination, there’s joy in jumping off and investigating the stops along the way.
This is The Bus:
The Bus is published twice weekly - on Monday and Thursday mornings at 08:00 GMT.
Each newsletter contains five sections:
The Stop is the topic of the day, drawn from a variety of subjects: history, philosophy, science, book reviews, art, food and cooking, popular music …. Links provide opportunities to delve deeper into the subject.
The Detour signposts an unrelated article, webpage, etc. I think is worth checking out.
The Book highlights a particular book I’m interested in sharing. Sometimes these will be banned or challenged texts; other times, just good reads.
The Sounds is a short, curated playlist of songs I’m currently listening to. They may or (more likely) may not be related to the rest of the newsletter.
The Question is a thought-provoking question chosen in order to get the mind working and hopefully bring others to the conversation.
The Bus is an experiment and will be adjusted as it goes. I will eventually open subscriber discussion threads and comments so we can enjoy the journey together.
As you may have noticed, footnotes are an essential component. All sources will be cited and links will be provided for further information.
To be honest, I don’t know the final destination of this journey - but I’m looking forward to the ride and the many stops as we meander along.
So … if this sounds fun, if you’d like to slow down and discover some new things - and perhaps rediscover some things you’ve forgotten - please subscribe and climb aboard!
The optimum temperature for baked salmon is between 45-50C/110-125F according to bbc.co.uk. Of course, this is only a guideline as appliances vary and you should use a cooking thermometer for accuracy. For more information: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques/how_to_cook_salmon
MK-ULTRA was a highly confidential CIA programme during the 1950s - 1970s in which the US Government investigated potential applications of mind-control, among other contentious matters. There’s a Stop focussed on this in a future issue, but in the meantime: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-we-know-about-cias-midcentury-mind-control-project-180962836/
The oldest known star is Earendel, recently photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Though it no longer exists, its light has been travelling to us for nearly 13 billion years. For more information: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/record-broken-hubble-spots-farthest-star-ever-seen
No paper cuts using your “card catalog”! I cannot wait to see what the next article is about!
What an amazing idea Bryan - I’m definitely on the journey with you! 😁 👏👏👏