Thursday, December 23, 2010

Making Room Only For Useful Things

It is almost the end of the year, and also the beginning of the festivities. I just got back from an overseas assignment, and while on my flight back I watched a new BBC Television series ‘Sherlock Holmes’. It is a remake and 21st century re-imagination of the character created by the genius writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reviews have been highly positive, so I will be exploring the box-set on Amazon.com.

Like the other medical-based detective, House, M.D. Holmes is an equally fascinating case study of abject psychosis, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), nicotine-addiction, and mad genius. Having watched two episodes (two-and-half, actually, before we had to land), I can attest to its attractive dialogue and characterisations. Holmes’ arch-nemesis/enemy is his brother (sibling rivalry), and the enemy-at-large is Moriarty (which I have yet to determine is a person, or an organization). Dr Watson is a WIA, military doctor who Holme’s has an intellectual fondness for. Both are seduced by the excitement afforded from murder cases that Scotland Yard has difficulty solving – this part stays true to the original stories. Both protagonists have their own blogs’ Holmes’ blog is focused on his deduction theories and methodologies.

Three lines that came out strongly from Holmes in episode two (in response to not knowing what the solar system was): “My brain is my hard-drive. I use it only to store things that are useful. I don’t make room for useless things!’

Can we deliberately make room for only useful things? How often do you reject ideas? How prejudicial are you to new perspectives? How true are you as a learner? How often do you accommodate useless information?

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