High Cognitive Minds

I'm reading The Independent Scholar's Handbook for the first time in two or three years, and I find myself dipping here and there and coming up with provocative quotes. Author Gross tells the story of his first post-college job at the publishing house, Simon and Schuster, in New York. He was called into Max Schuster's office, for what was apparently the standard talk for newbies. Schuster told him: "...to choose some subject, some concept, some great name or idea or event in history on which you can eventually make yourself the world's supreme expert. Start a crash program immediately to qualify yourself for this self-assignment through reading, research, and reflection."

Most intellectually gifted individuals wouldn't have any trouble with the idea of becoming the world's supreme expert on a subject, but I suspect that a lot don't go much further than that, allowing their expertise to enrich their lives as avocation rather than career. The Handbook is about taking an interest to the next level. It can still be an avocation or a lead-in to a career, or something that isn't really either. You don't have to be hampered by the old idea that only a college graduate or a professional in a field can make a worthwhile contribution. The world is full of amateur scholars whose work sometimes provides the basis from which professionals can take off, or even constitutes a new field.

Gross's book was written in the eighties and has never been revised, which is surprising considering that he's still around and writing. The world has gone through immense changes since the original edition, including computers and the internet, both of which tremendously expand the possibilities for independent scholarship. It's an important option for anyone who's felt that they have something to contribute but have let doubts and uncertainties hold them back.

The Independent Scholar's Handbook, Ronald Gross