PESANAN DARI USTAZ TUAN HJ MAHZAN MOIN.........

Izinkan saya untuk menggunakan jaringan ini bagi perkongsian ilmu Allah.
Sama samalah kita ingat mengingati amalan amalan mulia yang penuh berkat ini..........
BULAN REJAB
Pada  22 May 2012(Selasa) kita memasuki bulan Rejab. Bulan Rejab adalah bulan Allah swt. Mari kita singkap semula ada apa di sebalik bulan Rejab itu.
Diriwayatkan bahwa Rasulullah saw telah bersabda, "Ketahuilah bahwa bln Rejab itu adalah bulan ALLAH swt, maka:"
1. Barang siapa yang berpuasa 1 hari dalam bulan ini dengan ikhlas, maka pasti ia mendapat keredhaan yang besar dari ALLAH swt
2. Dan barang siapa berpuasa pada tanggal 27 Rejab /Isra Mi'raj (Ahad, 17 June 2012) akan mendapat pahala seperti 5 tahun berpuasa
3. Barang siapa yang berpuasa 2 hari di bulan Rejab akan mendapat kemuliaan di sisi ALLAH swt
4. Barang siapa yang berpuasa 3 hari yaitu pada tanggal 1, 2, dan 3 Rejab (22,23,24 May 2012) maka ALLAH swt akan memberikan pahala seperti 900 tahun berpuasa dan menyelamatkannya dari bahaya dunia dan seksa akhirat
5. Barang siapa berpuasa 5 hari dalam bulan ini, insyaallah permintaannya akan dimakbulkan Allah swt..InsyaAllah
6. Barang siapa berpuasa 7 hari dalam bulan ini, maka ditutupkan 7 pintu neraka Jahanam dan barang siapa berpuasa delapan hari maka akan dibukakan 8 pintu syurga
7. Barang siapa berpuasa 15 hari dalam bulan ini, maka ALLAH swt akan mengampuni dosa-dosanya yang telah lalu dan menggantikan kesemua kejahatannya dengan kebaikan, dan barang siapa yang menambah (hari-hari puasa) maka ALLAH swt akan menambahkan pahalanya."
Sabda Rasulullah saw lagi :"Pada malam Mi'raj, saya melihat sebuah sungai yang airnya lebih manis dari madu, lebih sejuk dari air batu dan lebih harum dari minyak wan gi, lalu saya bertanya pada Jibril as "Wahai Jibril untuk siapakah sungai ini?"
Maka berkata Jibrilb as "Ya Muhammad sungai ini adalah untuk orang yang memb ac a selawat untuk engkau dibulan Rejab i ni."
Dalam sebuah riwayat Tsauban bercerita :"Ketika kami berjalan bersama-sama Rasulullah saw ke sebuah kubur, lalu Rasulullah saw berhenti dan beliau menangis dengan amat sedih, kemudian beliau berdoa kepada ALLAH swt. Lalu saya bertanya kepada beliau "Ya Rasulullah, mengapakah engkau menangis?" Lalu beliau bersabda "Wahai Tsauban, mereka itu sedang diseksa dalam kuburnya dan saya berdoa kepada ALLAH swt, lalu ALLAH swt meringankan atas mereka."
Sabda beliau lagi "Wahai Tsauban, kalaulah sekiranya mereka ini mahu berpuasa satu hari dan beribadah satu malam saja di bulan Rejab nescaya mereka tidak akan disiksa di dalam kubur." Tsauban bertanya "Ya Rasulullah, apakah hanya berpuasa satu hari dan beribadah satu malam dalam bulan Rejab sudah dapat mengelakkan dari seksa kubur?"
Sabda beliau "Wahai Tsauban, demi ALLAH Zat yang telah mengutus saya sebagai nabi, tiada seorang muslim lelaki dan perempuan yang berpuasa satu hari dan mengerjakan so lat malam sekali dalam bulan Rejab dengan niat karena ALLAH swt, kecuali ALLAH swt mencatatkan baginya seperti berpuasa satu tahun dan mengerjakan so lat malam satu tahun."

p:s Rebutlah 5 perkara sblm dtg 5 perkara , Insya Allah. Sila sebarkan ilmu Allah ini kepada semua sahabat kita yang kita sayangi. InsyaAllah...

SATURDAY NIGHTS WILL NOT BE TOO FEVERISH ANYMORE...........

"RIP Robin. I grew up listening to the Bee Gees. Their songs somehow have a real nostalgic feeling, which can take you back to the exact time and distinct memory recollection. Their strong bond as brothers were admirable."

Robin Gibb, whose soaring vocals formed part of the unique Bee Gees sound, has died at the age of 62, leaving Barry as the sole surviving member from the band of brothers.

The high-pitched close harmonies, sharp songwriting and disco-defining sound of elder brother Barry, Robin and his twin brother Maurice made them one of the biggest-selling groups of all time.

Robin lost his battle against cancer of the colon and the liver yesterday, a month after confounding doctors by emerging from a coma after suffering pneumonia.

He underwent surgery in August 2010 for a blocked intestine – the same condition that killed Maurice in 2003 – but a tumour was found and he was diagnosed with cancer.

The singer looked gaunt in his last few months as he struggled against the relentless disease.

Andy Gibb, their younger brother who was not in the Bee Gees, died in 1988 from cocaine addiction.

“I sometimes wonder if all the tragedies my family has suffered – like Andy and Maurice dying so young and everything that’s happened to me recently – is a kind of karmic price we are paying for all the fame and fortune we’ve had,” he told The Sun newspaper in March.

Robin enjoyed a musical career spanning six decades, from humble beginnings in the 1950s singing with his brothers in cinemas, to his recent first classical venture, “The Titanic Requiem”, penned with his son Robin-John.

Gibb was too ill to attend the April 10 premiere, where he had been due to perform the song “Don’t Cry Alone”.

“It’s not about how complicated music is; it’s about how simple and relative to the human spirit it is,” Gibb said on his new composition.

The singer and his wife-to-be Molly Hullis survived the 1967 Hither Green rail crash in southeast London that killed 49 people.

“I do think it is easier for me to walk in the shoes of the people who were on the Titanic,” he wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper in January.

“I know what it is to live through a mass disaster… it haunts me to this day.”

Child stars

Robin Hugh Gibb was born on Dec 22, 1949 on the Isle of Man, the British crown dependency, about half an hour before Maurice.

Soon after the twins were born, the Gibb family moved to Manchester, northwest England, and then to Brisbane in Australia in 1958.

The Bee Gees soon became child stars and had their first hit in 1963, “The Battle of the Blue and Grey”, performed on national television.

“We used to say that we were one soul in three bodies. We worked with such spirit between us, able to read each other’s thoughts when we wrote together,” Robin said.

The trio returned to Britain in 1967 where they soon had several more successes, including the UK number one “Massachusetts”.

“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, the group’s first US number one, along with “Jive Talkin’”, “Nights on Broadway” and “You Should be Dancing” established them as big stars.

But the disco soundtrack “Saturday Night Fever” (1977), which sold more than 40 million copies, was their biggest success. One of the best-selling albums of all time, its songs included perennial favourites “Stayin’ Alive”, “Night Fever” and “How Deep Is Your Love”.

They wrote hit songs for others including Diana Ross (“Chain Reaction”), Barbra Streisand (“Woman In Love”), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (“Islands In The Stream”) Dione Warwick (“Heartbreaker”) and Frankie Valli (“Grease”).

Their last studio album was the 2001 record “This Is Where I Came In” and the group has notched up more than 200 million record sales.

Robin mostly sang lead in the 1960s, while Barry’s falsetto took the foreground in their 1970s disco period.

The Bee Gees were made Commanders in the Order of the British Empire – one step below a knighthood -  in 2004.

Robin Gibb was a friend of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who was criticised for taking “freebie” breaks with celebrity pals after holidaying at the singer’s Miami mansion in 2006.

He appeared on a charity version of “Islands In The Stream” which topped the British charts in 2009, making the Gibbs the first songwriters to pen number UK ones in five successive decades.

Gibb was president of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, which works towards increased protection of creators’ rights.

He is survived by his wife Dwina and three children.

Gibb married Hullis in 1968 and the couple had two children: Spencer, born in 1972, and Melissa in 1974. They divorced in 1980. Robin-John was born to second wife Dwina in 1983.

Comments (4)

...written by Clement, May 21, 2012 14:34:26

Bee Gees will be forever in my memory. Robin, RIP.

·        

...
written by malsia1206, May 21, 2012 14:07:45

I have this comforting thought Robin shall continue to sing with the angels from this point onwards. The world truly lose a legend who sang with his universal langauge.

...
written by ronptson, May 21, 2012 14:02:40

RIP Robin. I grew up listening to the Bee Gees. Their songs somehow have a real nostalgic feeling, which can take you back to the exact time and distinct memory recollection. Their strong bond as brothers were admirable.

·        

...
written by Revolution, May 21, 2012 13:58:29

In the late 70's . there was not one hour without one of their song on radios ... RIP Mr Gibb .

The entertainment world has led tributes to Robin Gibb after the Bee Gees singer died from cancer at the age of 62.

Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said the performer and songwriter was "talented beyond even his own understanding" and described him as one of the important figures in the history of British music.

Stars including rock star Bryan Adams and singer songwriter Mick Hucknall also paid emotional tributes.

Gambaccini said: "Everyone should be aware that the Bee Gees are second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music.

"Their accomplishments have been monumental. Not only have they written their own number one hits, but they wrote huge hit records for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion, Destiny's Child, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, the list goes on and on.

"What must also be said is Robin had one of the best white soul voices ever. He was singing lead on his first number one when he was 17, that was Massachusetts."

Many people took to Twitter to pay their respects.

A statement posted by Sony Music said: "Rest in peace, Robin Gibb. Thanks for the music."

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott wrote: "Just heard about Robin Gibb.

"A good friend, a brilliant musician and a man who turned all of us into wannabe Travoltas!

"Rest in peace Robin."

Canadian rocker Adams was also among the stars paying tribute, saying: "Robin Gibb RIP. Very sad to hear about yet another great singer dying too young."

While British singer songwriter Mick Hucknall wrote: "RIP Robin Gibb. A musical giant," while former X Factor judge Dannii Minogue said: "We start believin' now that we can be who we are - Grease is the word... RIP Robin Gibb."

Duran Duran also posted on their feed: "Sorry to hear about the passing of Robin Gibb of the BeeGees. Our condolences to his friends and family."

Former BBC Radio One DJ Mike Read, who was a family friend, said the singer had an "incredible voice".

"Robin had the voice, the pathos, and he was a great writer," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He had a gift for melody and a gift for lyrics and left a phenomenal legacy, a phenomenal catalogue."

Referring to the Bee Gees, Read said: "They had every accolade under the sun. They were able to write great commercial songs that touched people over a very long period of time. They had every award, every gold disc, every platinum disc, the Grammys, the lot and had been doing it so long but were still so good at it."

For those going to visit China, caution! ????

This can happen Anywhere so BEWARE …esp. for those travelling alone or in twos … so make sure U travel in a big group n don’t ALL smell/taste at the same time !!!   Public Security Bureau reminds: Please spread the Public Security Bureau to remind: If someone close to you on the road, to sell you the Fujian Tie Guan Yin (a type of tea) and makes you smell, you must be careful . This is not the Iron Goddess of Mercy. It is white clay to ease, an Ecstasy. A sniff & it turns to crime. They will either rob you or kill you, then sell your organs. Very cruel. It is appearing in cities - Guangdong, Hebei, Tianjin, Heilongjiang provinces. Please forward immediately to tell your friends & relatives. Emergency Notification: If someone approaches you, to sell you dried seafood products such as garlic, but also suggest that you smell the smell or taste it, take note "This is not garlic! It is ether garlic!"
When you smell it, you will faint, and then they'll take your wallet, your body organs.

From DrIAJ

Asian Cultures vs Western Logics......

This method of comparison is neat. Quite close to the fact.

Somebody should do similar ones on Men-Women, Democrats-Republicans, You-Me, etc. Great analysis and reflections between Asian Culture and Western Logic.

Key:   Blue --> Westerners      Red --> Asians

(1) Opinion

Westerners: Talk to the point

Asians: Talk around the circle, especially if opinions are different

(2) Way of Life

Westerners: individualism, think of himself or herself.

Asians: enjoy gathering with family and friends, solving their problems, and know each other's business.

(3) Punctuality

Westerners: on time.

Asians: in time.

(4) Contacts

Westerners: Contact to related person only.

Asians: Contact everyone everywhere, business very successful.

(5) Anger

Westerners: Show that I am angry.

Asians: I am angry, but still smiling... (Beware!)

(6) Queue when Waiting

Westerners: Queuing in an orderly manner.

Asians: Queuing?! What's that?

(7) Sundays on the Road

Westerners: Enjoy weekend relaxing peacefully.

Asians: Enjoy weekend in crowded places, like going to the mall.

(8) Party

Westerners: Only gather with their own group.

Asians: All focus on the one activity that is hosted by the CEO.

(9) In the restaurant

Westerners: Talk softly and gently in the restaurant.

Asians: Talk and laugh loudly like they own the restaurant.

(10) Travelling ( very true la )

Westerners: Love sightseeing and enjoy the scenery.

Asians: Taking picture is the most important; scenery is just for the background.

(11) Handling of Problems

Westerners: Take any steps to solve the problems.

Asians: Try to avoid conflicts, and if can, don't leave any trail..

(12) Three meals a day

Westerners: Good meal for once a day is sufficed.

Asians: At least 3 good meals a day.

(13) Transportation

Westerners: Before drove cars, now cycling for environmental protection.

Asians: Before no money and rode a bike, now got money and drive a car

(14) Elderly in day-to-day life

Westerners: When old, there is snoopy for companionship.

Asians: When old, guarantee will not be lonely, as long as willing to babysit grandkids.

(15) Moods and Weather

Westerners: The logic is: rain is pain.

Asians: More rain, more prosperity

(16) The Boss

Westerners: The boss is part of the team.

Asians: The boss is a fierce god.

(17) What's Trendy

Westerners: Eat healthy Asian cuisine.

Asians: Eat expensive Western cuisine.

(18) The Child

Westerners: The kid is going to be independent and make his/her own living.

Asians: Slog whole life for the kids, the centre of your life.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life . .

My friend’s cousin Tom shares important information about our health and longevity:  

Best article I have seen so far!!! Johns Hopkins Update 

This is an extremely good article.

Everyone should read it.

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However, prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.  Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute

would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in

color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat,

like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in microwave.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave..

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Please share this with your whole email list . . .

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life . . .... now you know.

Don't Trust Raja's Monkeys...​....( especially the male one )

SPECIALISTS versus GENERALISTS.........It's Chicken and Egg..!!???

Specialization is for insects

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a cow, conk a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

-Robert A. Heinlein

As I understand bees, worker bees are selected, at birth to become a queen bee. Several worker bees are fed extra honey, and several queens are produced. Once emerged the first queen goes and kills all the un-emerged queens. If another queen has emerged, they fight to the death to determine a queen.

You said a worker bee will never be more than a worker bee. I merely pointed out queens begin as worker bees. Worker bees can become more than worker bees, if selected, to be specialized. A queen bee won’t lose her stinger, and can give birth.

Any analogy/metaphor/comparison can be picked apart if you really want to. I think you’re missing the forest for the trees though since I keep stressing that the quote/interpretation is about being a human being NOT being your job/career/vocation…

If we were to take the ‘insect hierarchy’ approach to social order/construction we’d have the cast system/feudal system and/or the form of communism that where you are stuck in a cast/class of people. Peasants are peasants and die peasants, nobles are nobles and die nobles (poor, rich, corrupt or otherwise isn’t the point – they are set in their social cast/class). Imperfect as it is, the democratic/capitalist form of social order/structure we have in the U.S. is about the ‘Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness’ and all that jazz. In American the idea is that you can and should be more than your job/career/vocation.

I don’t think your ‘worker bees can become queens’ point really helps the argument for ‘specialization’ personally.

First, the prospective queens are chosen, not voluntary.
Second, the queens are trained to be queen specialists, they’re just fed better than other bees.
Third, the ‘winner’ is the one who hatches first and then kills the rest…
Fourth, it’s not a universal opportunity for any/all worker bees. It’s not like a worker be at any point in her life can say ‘hey I wanna be the queen!’ and run for election.

No, the idea is rather simple. It simply depends on how varied, or how specialized a person wants to be.

It seems Einstein was so focused on physics, he couldn’t be bothered with the trivial. I believe he wore socks that didn’t match and couldn’t tie his own shoes.

Allegedly, Einstein wouldn’t have functioned well alone, in society, or at home. Sad in one way, but amazing in another. The man was a specialized genius.

 Einstein may have “specialized” in Physics in his adult life, but he was educated in Catholic Primary schools as a child (even though his family was Jewish by heritage), he went through his secondary education at a standard European “Gymnasium”, is suspected to have had a speech impediment in his younger days (that he must have overcome – as well as learning German, Italian, French and English along the way), studied at the Polytechnic in Zurich, essentially was a draft dodger by renouncing his German citizenship, worked as a school teacher and later as a patent clerk…. many of his early papers were written and published during his breaks from formal education/study… he was not a specialist. He was guy how was brilliant at connecting the dots between many scientific disciplines in order to become the father of modern physics. That’s not ‘specialization’ by any stretch of the imagination as far as I’m concerned considering that he basically pursued his theories as ‘passion projects’ even when he wasn’t formally studying and/or getting paid to do so.

If it weren’t for his ‘Human being-ness’ as a travelled man, a liberally educated man, and a man who did more than just get a degree and settle into the ‘skill/specialization’ of teaching or being a professional patent clerk by pursuing his ‘hobby’ of science (as in he wasn’t working toward a degree/paycheck during some of his research/publishing periods) then I think what has become a ‘specialized’ field of study (aka Physics, Theoretical Physics, etc) would never exist…

I think for the purposes of this discussion, the ‘Humans are humans because of DNA’ line of discussion is rather moot and pedestrian to be honest. “Nature/Nurture” discussions about human development are going on all the time in the ‘specialist’ world of sciences and there is still no total agreement except for this – we are formed partly by both our DNA AND our experience/education. Personally, I choose to be identified as more than my job/career/vocation… don’t you?  It is entirely possible to be a jack of all trades, master of many. How? Specialists overestimate the time needed to “master” a skill and confuse “master” with “perfect”… Generalists recognize that the 80/20 principle applies to skills: 20% of a language’s vocabulary will enable you to communicate and understand at least 80%, 20% of a dance like tango (lead and footwork) separates the novice from the pro, 20% of the moves in a sport account for 80% of the scoring, etc. Is this settling for mediocre? Not at all. Generalists take the condensed study up to, but not beyond, the point of rapidly diminishing returns. There is perhaps a 5% comprehension difference between the focused generalist who studies Japanese systematically for 2 years vs. the specialist who studies Japanese for 10 with the lack of urgency typical of those who claim that something “takes a lifetime to learn.” Hogwash. Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year. Even the phrase “Jack of all Trades” was considered a good thing when the phrase is believed to have originated. Only later did the phrase “Jack of all trades” also get the tag “master of none” which flipped the meaning to something negative. A “Polymath” is a term for a ‘renaissance man’ (someone well skilled in many areas – e.g. Leonardo Da Vinci). There’s even an extended form of the phrase that pulls it back to positive. “Jack of all trades, master of none, Certainly better than a master of one.” I suspect, personally, that the negative connotation started to g with the rise of power of the middle class as a trade/skilled labor strata of society gained power and influence through successful political and financial control. Like today, people didn’t see the immediate value of a ‘liberal’ or ‘renaissance’ education model because it was VERY expensive (and still is) when a a ‘practically minded’ skill tradesman’s son could be apprenticed off to a ‘specialist’ in a guild-house to learn a specific craft like barrel making/wheelwright, blacksmith, glass blowing, and so on… same was true for more academic fields too. Go to seminary/college to punch your ticket but you better pick a field of study after that OR be willing to go into politics/military service. There is a severe disconnect when the current model for education supports a ‘liberal’ foundation/education (including a level if indoctrination for citizenship as a standard goal of public school education), and there are so many ‘liberal arts’ requirements when pursuing a B.S. or B.A. and yet, the idea that Heinlein’s quote is essentially an encapsulated version of this very model that we all grew up with. .even in my ‘specialized’ training of Ed Media and Design the motto was to educate the ‘whole person’ and not just ‘specialize’ in teaching ‘the brain.’

The fool generalises the particular; the nerd particularises the general; some do both; and the wise does neither..........