This is the first time I have felt that your advice is actually harmful.

Never under-estimate the power of learning from others. Read whatever you can. Every great discovery is built on the backs of other peoples work. Knowledge is power and always has been.

Your comment about Roger Bannister is way off the mark as well. Roger was inspired by Sydney Wooderson's comeback attempts and his competition with John Landy. It wasn't because he was unaware of what was said about running a sub four minute mile, it was because he it was going to happen, either by himself of John Landy. Landy broke Roger's record with a time of 3:57.9 just 46 days after Roger had set it.

Tynan, you are bright young man. But, we all have our stupid moments and this was one of yours. Learn from anyone you can. Just make sure you always believe in yourself and what you can do.

Nice. Sometimes people's ideas control our actions.

Without your musings on RVs I wouldn't even consider them a possibility. It would be great to read fewer posts about "here is what I chose" and more about "here are the options I considered and their tradeoffs", but overall this content raises the bar on trying new things.

Great post Tynan!! I speak from the point of view of music, but it applies to everything. I just soak in as much music as possible, then when writing my own I just try and let it all go. I want the influence and attitude, but not the boundries and limitations.
It seems that as many people age and become "experts" in things, they loose their creativity and spark. The "discovery" is gone. At 49 myself, I have managed to avoid this, and life is way more exciting for it!

In the big picture, human advancement is decidedly not based on everyone reinventing the wheel for himself. To the contrary, what distinguishes us most, in our capabilities for advancement, from other species is our ability to learn from each other and build on the knowledge already discovered by others.

Tynan may have tinkered with the RV, but he sure didn't invent his RV, the roads they drive on, or the computer and Internet he made use of to post his thoughts on doing things on his own.

Still, he makes a good point at least in part...that taking conformity or second-hand thinking too far is counter-productive in practical terms, and is also emotionally and spiritually stifling. Originally, someone did take a step beyond the herd, beyond the conventional, or else we would not have had the wheel or any other advance.

So again, as with most complex issues, wisdom...indeed accuracy...requires that we not oversimplify an issue and present it in one-sided terms.

Also, for those who understand how people differ in innate temperament, it will be obvious how much of one's philosophy--including the radical independent creativity of Tynan--is rooted in the brain-style we're born with. Specifically: Some need independence, change, impulse, variety, "I'm doing it my own brand-new way," while others need more of a sense of security, predictability, standard operating procedure, and so on.

Next is baseball only on the yes ch,.....Sometimes there is late baseball 2!.Am a cool Yankeesfan.

It has been my experience that by reading a ton of blogs and other material, I have been able to make connections between fields that otherwise wouldn't be connected. Tynan, I'm sure that in all of your different pursuits, you've noticed how ideas from one field can add to another field.

Personally, I would agree that sometimes people can let themselves be limited by blogs. However, the opposite can happen as well. People can be exposed to ways of life that are completely different from their own, which can lead to innovations they would never have found on their own.

On another level, the same things you have said about blogs could be said about friends. Some people hang out with friends that limit them artificially. Does this mean that this person should have no friends at all? Of course not, that would be retarded and lonely (double whammy). They should get friends that inspire them to push their limits or at least don't hold them back.

Blogging is a medium for communication. Any other medium for communication could have the same limiting effect. Could listening to a talk radio show be holding you back? How about watching TV? how about reading books? How about just conversing with people in general? Any and all of these could hold you back, but they could also inspire you.

I think it would be better to open yourself up to communication. Then, if you think someone is wrong, take the attitude "what the fuck do you know" instead of "well, if he says you can't, you can't".

I read blogs to learn faster and for the enjoyment of reading what someone else wrote.

I still do things my way but I sometimes will find out about say a new website or technology that I personally think is amazing. It reduces the number of hours or days before I might have stumbled on it on my own. Yes, reading blogs take time but it's also enjoyment to see what other people are doing, how they are doing it and simply reading the narrative.

If I'm not enjoying it in some way, I unsubscribe.

Thanks for the sterling advice. No mas tynan.com for me...