Where did the idea of mentorship and apprenticeship come from? Social scientists tell us it’s based on “reciprocity” – a relatively new term that we hear a lot these days in discussions about human relationships, especially in business. But I can trace it back to a concept that’s a lot older than you might think. Older than companies, ancient kingdoms, or even agriculture.
It probably started with a fish.
(One You Will Almost Certainly Disagree With)
It wasn’t exactly a New Year’s Resolution. It happened circumstantially. But since the beginning of this year, my three brothers and I have been doing something that we did sporadically in 2025: having Zoom conversations after dinner on Sunday evenings.
One Zooms in from California. Another from Massachusetts. The youngest and I take the call from the Swamp House (in Paradise Palms) at 6:00 pm, after the friends and family (and HF, K’s mom, who’s 93) that gather there every week have caught up with one another and gone back to their homesteads, leaving JF and I alone on the porch with our alcohol and smokes.
The most recent conversation was about something we’d talked about before: the idea of virtue.
Here’s how it played out…
She’s completely wrong, but I love Elle Cordova so much that I gave her top honors for this spoof!
Today, I look at “equal rights” in this country and make the argument that some forms of discrimination cannot – or should not – be protected under the law.
I’ve been working late these past several weeks – into the wee hours after midnight. That’s not good, because my best hours are in the morning when I have more energy and a clear head. What is good is that I’m not sleeping late, which is what I would have done in the past. I’m getting up at 5:30 regardless, which gives me the time I need to get some important work done before my quotidian business demands kick in.
To compensate for the lost hours of sleep, I take two half-hour naps during the day. It’s surprising and encouraging to discover that this seems to work.
When I am sleep-deprived, as they say, I have a strong urge to tell my trainers and grappling companions that I’m injured and must postpone exercise until the following day. But these guys know me too well to believe me. “We will start out easy and work up a little sweat,” they say, “then see how we feel.”
After 10 minutes of riding the Airdyne and five minutes of calisthenics, my physical and mental ennui evaporates and I feel – quite miraculously – okay. I then agree to put on a 40-pound weighted vest (to match the 40 pounds of body weight I’ve lost in the last 6 months) and get to the training, which is always some version of brutality… but the sort that leaves you feeling good when you’ve survived.
Today, when I was on the bike, my trainer was listening to some YouTube news channel featuring a young black woman complaining about how she felt victimized by White Privilege, and especially by “Old White Rich Men.” Which left me wondering, “Is she talking about me?”
Another quality of Japanese culture that I admire.
From MH re my Jan. 2 “Predictions” issue: “I’m enjoying your newsletter. I’m glad you took 14 hours to plan your 2026. I started a journal this year with my goals, tasks, and inspirations, and it’s really helpful.”
From RT: “I wanted to share something meaningful with you. I recently translated your English Wikipedia page into Bangla so that people in my country can better understand who you are and learn from your work. Your ideas on business, long-term thinking, and sustainable growth resonate deeply with me. While our contexts may differ, I see a strong alignment in how we both value clarity, realism, and impact over hype. Translating your work felt like a small way of giving back and making thoughtful ideas more accessible to Bangla-speaking readers.”
I’ve been thinking… and I’ve come up with two things that I’d like to run by you. One is an idea about a rating system for the books and movies I review in this blog. The other one, the more important one, is about the future – or non-future – of mainstream media. (Anyone paying attention saw this coming.)