The importance of failure and imagination

[Rob]

I remember Thomas Moore having something to say about the need for so many Americans to cling to the fantasy world of Harry Potter. I hope I've got that right in memory. I don't think it was an outright call for people to stop reading Harry Potter books though. Whatever the case, it so happens that J.K. Rowling spoke at the 2008 Harvard graduation ceremony about 'The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination'.

Her words resonated with me; maybe you'll find something soulful in them, too.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91232541

Rob

[Ann]

Very nice. I sent it to my children who grew up with HP. I don't understand why people would not think she was an appropriate speaker. How are her achievements so much less than Bill Gate's, who was a speaker in the past?

Ann

[Rob]

Laura, I had a similar reaction to the speech transcript. It seems to touch on themes of Original Self (one of my favorite books to just pick up and start reading) and some of what that Thomas Moore has to say about imagination.

Ann, I think the reaction has a lot to do with too much rational thinking in our society; another of Thomas Moore's themes.

Rob