World's smartest person wrote a book (video)

Toby Hendy/Tibees, July 16, 2022; Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

World's smartest person wrote this one mysterious book

(Tibees) The Animate and the Inanimate (PDF from sidis.net) is an interesting book available as a physical book (amazon.com).

The Animate and... (sidis.net)

The child prodigy William James Sidis' father, Boris Sidis, together with the famous psychologist/philosopher William James, developed the idea that people only use 10% of their brains, a small fraction of their full mental potential.

William Sidis had a high IQ and chose to live a private and independent life (almost like a Buddhist ascetic), which some saw as a waste of his potential. This video aims to show that he continued to be a lifelong learner and thinker.

The Animate and the Inanimate is one book he wrote under his own name (as he authored others with pseudonyms). It tackles interesting ideas in physics and the reversibility of the second law of thermodynamics.

Some images and articles from sidis.net. Support Tibees with a monthly donation on Patreon and receive a gift: patreon.com/Tibees or buy her a coffee (one-off donation) at ko-fi.com/tibees, website: tobyhendy.com, tiktok.com/@tibees, twitter.com/TobyHendy. Second channel: youtube.com/channel/UCOZE... The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/tibees07221. Subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this: youtube.com/user/tibees.

Mountain Man (Bigfoot) terrorizes wilderness

MSNBC.msn.com

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - He has eluded authorities for more than five years, a mountain man who roams the wilderness of southern Utah, close to Zion National Park, breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol, and coffee, stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods. His fingerprints match no one, and investigators are always a step behind the mysterious recluse. But the man who authorities say is armed and dangerous and responsible for more than two dozen burglaries has continued to outrun the law across a swath of mountains. Like a yeti (rakshasa) or Bigfoot, he has roamed across 1,000 square miles of rugged wilderness where snow can pile 10 feet deep in winter. More

The Wayfaring Life

E.M. Hare (Rhinoceros Sutra, "Woven Cadences," PTS)

Put by the rod for all that lives,
Nor harm thou anyone thereof;
Long not for son — how then for friend?
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Love cometh from companionship;
In wake of love upsurges ill;
Seeing the bane that comes of love,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

In ruth for all his bosom friends,
A man, heart-chained, neglects the goal;
Seeing this fear in fellowship,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Tangled as crowding bamboo boughs
Is fond regard for sons and wife:
As the tall tops are tangle-free,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The deer untethered roams the wild
Whithersoe'er it lists for food:
Seeing the liberty, wise man,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Casting aside the household gear,
As sheds the coral-tree its leaves,
With home-ties cut, and vigorous,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Seek for thy friend the deeply learned,
Dharma-endued, lucid and great;
Knowing the needs, expelling doubt,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The heat and cold, and hunger, thirst,
Wind, sun-beat, sting of gadfly, snake:
Surmounting one and all of these,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Crave not for tastes, but free of greed,
Moving with measured step from house
To house, support of none, none's thrall,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Free everywhere, at odds with none,
And well content with this and that:
Enduring dangers undismayed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Snap thou the fetters as the snare
By river denizen is broke:
As fire to waste comes back no more,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

And turn thy back on joys and pains,
Delights and sorrows known of old;
And gaining poise and calm, and cleansed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Neglect thou not to muse apart,
'Mid things by Dharma-faring aye;
Alive to all becomings' bane,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

As lion, mighty-jawed and king
Of beasts, fares conquering, so thou,
Taking thy bed and seat remote,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Poise, amity, ruth and release
Pursue, and timely sympathy;
At odds with none in all the world,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

"I know! No other is my guide!"
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
Leaving the vanities of view,
Right method won, the Way

— Selected verses of the Rhinoceros Sutra from the Sutta Nipata, translated by E. M. Hare, published in Sacred Books of the Buddhists Series, Pali Text Society, excerpted in With Robes and Bowl (BPS) by Bhikkhu Khantipalo.

Americans who lose Jobs become Hermits

Jeanna Bryner (LiveScience.com, 9/1/08)

[It's the opposite in Asia; see below.] Layoffs can turn social butterflies into near hermits who shun such outlets as book clubs and even church groups, finds a new study.

Workers who experienced just one layoff or involuntary loss of a job were 35% less likely to be involved in their communities than their always-employed counterparts, according to the survey that will be published in the September issue of the journal Social Forces.

Reciprocity
The researchers suggest the reason could come down to tit for tat, or an attitude of "you don't scratch my back, why should I scratch yours?" "Social engagement often involves an element of social trust and a sense that things are reciprocal -- that you give some support if you get some support, and you benefit from society if society benefits from you," said lead researcher Jennie Brand, a sociologist at UCLA. "When workers are displaced, the tendency is to feel as though the social contract has been violated, and we found that they are less likely to reciprocate."

Dirt on downsizing
The results were based on data on nearly 4,400 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has tracked a group of 1957 Wisconsin high school graduates for more than 45 years. Born between 1939 and 1940, the participants are of an American age group that is inclined to participate in community and social groups, the researchers say.

Of the six forms of involvement, youth and community groups experienced the strongest exodus by displaced workers followed by church and church groups, charitable organizations, and leisurely activities. Professional and political groups remained just as popular on average in displaced and non-displaced workers. "Displaced workers may be more likely to keep up with professional groups than other groups because they're trying to make up for lost ground with respect to their careers," Brand said.

Workers who got flung out of their jobs during their peak earning years, between the ages of 35 and 53, were the most likely to withdraw from the social buzz throughout their lives. Employees who got the boot between 53 and 64 years of age, at the tail end of their careers, were just as likely to participate in social and community groups as their non-displaced counterparts.

"Being laid off doesn't appear to be as socially damaging for older workers as younger ones," Brand said. "The shame factor of downsizing your lifestyle just isn't there, because your peers may be downsizing as well and you can play off your displacement as an early retirement even though it may be forced retirement."

Double whammy
The latest findings have considerable ramifications, Brand said. "Whether citizens participate is important for the effective functioning of neighborhoods, schools, communities, and democracies," Brand said. In addition, such withdrawals from society can cause a vicious cycle of unemployment. "If workers withdraw socially after being laid off, then they're experiencing double-jeopardy," Brand said. "They're losing their jobs, and then they're not participating in society, so they're not keeping up with social contacts that might help them find a new job."

• Escape from Corporate America
• Hermits around the World
• Millions of Americans Work well into their 60s
• Survey Reveals Most Satisfying Jobs
• Original Story: People Who Lose Jobs Become Hermits

Asians with good Jobs were Hermits

Richard Barrow (thaibuddhist.com)

Over a one-month period, Barrow documented the life of a newly ordained hermit. The time for Nattawud's ordination as a bhikkhu ("hermit") has come. Most Thai men do this once they come of age. Nattawud isn't actually 20 yet. However, they are, apparently, allowed to also count the time spent in their mother's womb! [This is customary in Asia, so that one is nine months old pospartum.]

Thai men are not considered mature adults until they have become monastics for a period of time. Thai people call them "unripe." Once they have ordained and disrobed, they are called thit. Thai men in government jobs are legally allowed to take a three month leave of absence to ordain as a hermit.

Most do this during [the Rains Retreat (Vas) the monsoon season in Asia used for intensive practice since the bad weather doesn't allow for much else, sometimes called] "Buddhist lent," which starts in July. During Vas or lent people do not wander but stay in their hermitage. As Nattawud's birthday is in July, his family decided to bring the ceremony forward. More >>

• Bangladesh ordinations (Planet Pilgrim)
• Women fully ordaining (Sri Lanka)
• Cool Himalayan ordination (Nepal)
• A mountain of your own (Bhutan)
• Into the hot zone (Burmese ordination)