individualism for the masses

BK Marcus is an amateur political economist with no formal education in the subject.

He works from Charlottesville, Virginia, as an editorial consultant for the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

He is no longer a house husband, nor a faculty spouse, but he is still a dilettante, and a layabout, at least in spirit.

search new blog

search old blog

categories

archives

"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance."

Murray Rothbard

Benjamin Tucker Marcus
June 18, 2008

unlearning sports history

January 26th, 2008 by bkmarcus

I learned a lot during the first 35 years of my life. I've spent most of the past 5 years doing a lot of unlearning.

Here's a historical corrective worth passing along:

On January 26, 1893, Abner Doubleday died in Mendham, New Jersey. In 1905, Albert J. Spalding, a former player turned sporting goods manufacturer, established a commission to investigate the origins of baseball. After two years of questionable study (and primarily on the basis of unsubstantiated testimony from an elderly man of doubtful sanity), the commission concluded that Abner Doubleday formulated the essential rules of baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York (the current home of the Baseball Hall of Fame). Even though scholars have totally discredited the claim (Doubleday's own obituary says he disliked outdoor sports), the myth lives on. In his 1973 book "The Man Who Invented Baseball," Harold Peterson expressed it all in a beautiful example of chiasmus:

"Abner Doubleday didn't invent baseball,
baseball invented Abner Doubleday."

That's from the weekly newsletter I get from www.DrMardy.com, a website "for lovers of wit and wordplay," which was recommended to me by a lover of chiasmus.

Posted in history, language, schooling |

One Response

  1. Kamekish Says:

    Unlearning is the key to human growth. No amount of financial support is going to make individula self sustainable without unlearning faulty way of life style.

    In the last century whoever has become rich has unlearn things fast. Evebn today, if anybody want to grow, he or she has to unlearn fast.

    Unlearn old way of thinking, working, old and ridiculous traditions and syetm. We have to unlearn old way of creating wisdom.

    kamekish


Leave a Comment

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.