Pabulum

Have you ever encountered a word of which you could not begin to guess the meaning? Is the word for this week one such word for you? It was for me.

This is a very nice and not too old of a word - it was first used in 1733.

What does it mean? Food. Specifically, a suspension or solution of nutrients in a state suitable for absorption. It can also be intellectual sustenance. Or, it can be something (as writing or speech) that is insipid, simplistic, or bland.

Theses are the type of things I visualize about when I think about intellectual sustenance.

Books. Old books with yellowing paper are what I specifically think about. All that knowledge just sitting there waiting to be discovered. Delicious.

This week my Advanced Composition class has been discussing the future of these icons of knowledge. Will the book one day become a relic like scrolls? Will everything be digital? The knowledge is still the same, of course. However, the experience is different. There is something much less personal about my iPad than my 1865 edition of Longfellow poetry.

Beyond the structure, are the books being produced really intellectually nourishing? Nutritionists will tell you that you are made of what you eat - literally. So what about your thoughts? How much about what you think and who you are is effected by what you read? Are you what you read?

So are you nourishing your mind? Is the "food" good? What will you be like after the next "meal" you eat?

I hope this blog was pabulum (definition 2) and not pabulum (definition 3).