In addition, Glimpses of Familiar Japan is an attempt to consolidate some of my thoughts and observations of Japan over the years. I think that the kernel of my philosophy, such as it is, centers around the distinction between mindscape and landscape and the egalitarian implications of the uniquely human ability to perceive that distinction. But I've done a bit of philosophizing in my days on such weird topics as the evolution of copyright , intellectual anarchy in the unmoderated newsgroups , and uses and abuses of computers for learning . The quotes that I consider interesting are very eclectic, so I guess I'll just list them here as links to the more complete discussions. There's no such thing as a self-made failure.
Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.
If your ideas are any good you'll have to ram them down people's throats. The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. For now, all I have to offer is a little speech about cigarettes I prepared in August 1996. I used it as an example in the class I was teaching at that time. Back in the States, I was a contract programmer and consultant for some years after graduating from the computer science department of an enormous but supposedly well regarded state university .