Thoughts on Thinkers

Just because you are doing sports doesn't mean you shouldn't be thinking about and perhaps adopting the advance layout techniques. By this, not just the second-hand folks who interpret theory -- the Layout for Dummies kind of books. Going to the source for the theory instead, and riff on it yourself.

Edward Tufte is the prime example. His stuff is pretty dense at times, but he has some clear visions about human communication. Paper is primary to Tufte, and his theories can lead you to some groundbreaking ways to transcend the two-dimensional world.

Marshal McLuhan might be dated, but his mid-to-late 20th century rantings are seeing some fruition in the internet. Go back and read his thoughts -- not what others said about his thoughts. The medium is the message -- that might be what he's best known for, but The answers are always inside the problem, not outside -- McLuhan or Mr. Miagi?

Neil Postman wrote in the late 1980s and 1990s about the changes in the way we understand and learn, focusing on how television was destroying the written word. In many ways, he was correct, but if one re-reads his work, most notably Amusing Ourselves to Death, and substitute "internet" for "television" and Postman is dead-on.