Becoming Supergenius Series

Becoming Supergenius has grown on the scorched earth that is the current state of learning, teaching, and education.   I asked thirty-five people, with over 1,600 years of accumulated experience, how and why they learned. From their answers I resolved 328 learning secrets that are part of any person's journey to find their full potential.   Learning requires us to explore where our thinking comes from. Thinking is a complicated process. There is truth to every thought and some context in which every thought makes sense. We can't examine every idea, as many are unimportant, but we don't want to focus only on the important few. We need alternatives. We need directions.   Break the process down. There are places we learn in, people we learn from, situations we are subjected to, and resources we learn with. These books are a map through this chaos of possibilities.   Each of the 328 learning secrets open a world of its own. Some of these will nourish you, some may poison you, and others can heal you. They are spices and medicines. Don't use them all at once.   These secrets don't lead to paradise, they are training in the skills of the hero's journey. They are preparation for the real world, which is where you must go to learn, not to hallowed and protected halls.   These books map the territory of the real world. They tells you how to rig and trim your sails. No matter how glorious or miserable you feel about your journey, it's your journey, and you were made for it. The object is not happiness, it's more than that.   The first volume addresses the environment in which we find ourselves. We consider the attitudes people have about learning, the actors and agents we encounter in our attempts to learn, where we find these people, and how they behave. These are the practical issues.   The second volume considers the how, what, and why of our inner thoughts and feelings. The goal is to understand ourselves. The focus is on what we're doing, how we think, and why.   We associate genius with aptitude, skill, intelligence, and success. I've invented the term "supergenius" to refer to something deeper. If geniuses blaze the trails we follow, supergeniuses blaze trails that we're not yet ready to. Genius stands out; supergenius often does not.   The supergenius is someone who not only sees all sides, but also conceives of there being no side, the reality of the ambiguous, and even in this finds direction. Supergeniuses are inspired. _______________ "This piece of work is as profound as it is elegant. With this work as a guide, the education landscape could be irrevocably changed for the better."—Lewis Ames, Director—Children of the Forest "These books immediately—no fooling around—help you understand if you are learning anything at all! Here are the most useful questions you will ever ask yourself; crucially important for self-inquiry, self-understanding, and self-esteem."—Ann Hallock, MSW, LCSW, ACSW "After reading Becoming Supergenius I think I have found my inner voice! It has been sleeping for a long time. I judge a book by how it grabs me emotionally and intellectually and, indeed, Becoming Supergenius locked me in and opened my thinking. Life may never find its 'normal' for a very long time."—Rose. L. Colby, author of Competency-Based Education "On exceptional occasions at best, a work is produced that gives the world a glimpse at an explanation of it all, some grand analysis in an otherwise incomprehensible world. Stoller has done just that."—Alexander Khost, Founder of Voice of the Children NYC

Becoming Supergenius has grown on the scorched earth that is the current state of learning, teaching, and education.   I asked thirty-five people, with over 1,600 years of accumulated experience, how and why they learned. From their answers I resolved 328 learning secrets that are part of any person's journey to find their full potential.   Learning requires us to explore where our thinking comes from. Thinking is a complicated process. There is truth to every thought and some context in which every thought makes sense. We can't examine every idea, as many are unimportant, but we don't want to focus only on the important few. We need alternatives. We need directions.   Break the process down. There are places we learn in, people we learn from, situations we are subjected to, and resources we learn with. These books are a map through this chaos of possibilities.   Each of the 328 learning secrets open a world of its own. Some of these will nourish you, some may poison you, and others can heal you. They are spices and medicines. Don't use them all at once.   These secrets don't lead to paradise, they are training in the skills of the hero's journey. They are preparation for the real world, which is where you must go to learn, not to hallowed and protected halls.   These books map the territory of the real world. They tells you how to rig and trim your sails. No matter how glorious or miserable you feel about your journey, it's your journey, and you were made for it. The object is not happiness, it's more than that.   The first volume addresses the environment in which we find ourselves. We consider the attitudes people have about learning, the actors and agents we encounter in our attempts to learn, where we find these people, and how they behave. These are the practical issues.   The second volume considers the how, what, and why of our inner thoughts and feelings. The goal is to understand ourselves. The focus is on what we're doing, how we think, and why.   We associate genius with aptitude, skill, intelligence, and success. I've invented the term "supergenius" to refer to something deeper. If geniuses blaze the trails we follow, supergeniuses blaze trails that we're not yet ready to. Genius stands out; supergenius often does not.   The supergenius is someone who not only sees all sides, but also conceives of there being no side, the reality of the ambiguous, and even in this finds direction. Supergeniuses are inspired. _______________ "This piece of work is as profound as it is elegant. With this work as a guide, the education landscape could be irrevocably changed for the better."—Lewis Ames, Director—Children of the Forest "These books immediately—no fooling around—help you understand if you are learning anything at all! Here are the most useful questions you will ever ask yourself; crucially important for self-inquiry, self-understanding, and self-esteem."—Ann Hallock, MSW, LCSW, ACSW "After reading Becoming Supergenius I think I have found my inner voice! It has been sleeping for a long time. I judge a book by how it grabs me emotionally and intellectually and, indeed, Becoming Supergenius locked me in and opened my thinking. Life may never find its 'normal' for a very long time."—Rose. L. Colby, author of Competency-Based Education "On exceptional occasions at best, a work is produced that gives the world a glimpse at an explanation of it all, some grand analysis in an otherwise incomprehensible world. Stoller has done just that."—Alexander Khost, Founder of Voice of the Children NYC

The central question in all of our lives is how to live, and—one way or another—we find ourselves on this path, on a journey toward an answer. Here, thirty-five exceptional survivors who are either starting, in the middle, or nearing the end of their life's path tell of the secrets they've found. Nothing prepares you for life. No schooling asks the big questions, and you will find no direction outside yourself. Some of us look for meaning in the mind, others in nature, family, community, or work, but the only place you'll really find it is in your heart. The heart can only be lived; it can't be explained. When you reach the end of your life—and all of us will at some point—what things you've picked up have given your life meaning? All of the people, through these rites of passage, are being drawn toward, are now immersed, or have spent their lives working more deeply toward a greater appreciation of themselves. The first love of your life can only be yourself: who you are, what you've been given, what you can offer, and what you are becoming. These are not sanitized versions, self-help aphorisms, pigeonholed people, or bedtime stories. These are authentic rites of passage, unfiltered, and unfolded by layers. Lives like yours: confusing, complex, uncertain, and in the process of finding their roots. Some will guide you toward all you want, others explore horrors you can only hope will never call. Some have changed our world, others are doing so now or will in the future, and still others tell secrets you'll never learn unless you join them here, in The Learning Project. "In a society deeply committed to time-wasting, Lincoln Stoller has given us something of a miracle in his Learning Project, a window out of our claustrophobic darkness into the consciousness of others, a momentary intimacy with the essences which animate flesh." — John Taylor Gatto, twice New York State Teacher of the Year, recipient of the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement for Educational Freedom. "The Learning Project provides a Rosetta Stone for living a self-made, satisfied life; an intuitive understanding worth more than its weight in gold… I highly recommend this book to anyone in the process of pursuing their dreams—that should mean everyone." — Alexander Khost, founder, and facilitator of Voice of the Children NYC "This is a wonderful collection of choices, risks, doubts, struggles, failures, and triumphs from widely differing backgrounds, personalities, chosen paths, and ages—from 15 to 93—of remarkable, adventurous lives… I recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people thinking about how they themselves might leave a well-worn path for something new and heartfelt." — Peter Grey, PhD, President of Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Author of Free To Learn. "I have never read a book like this. The author allows the individuals interviewed to explain their learning/cognitive processes. The result is profoundly intimate and illuminating. As an 'educator', traditionally trained, I appreciate this unique format… A wonderfully humane book!" — from an Amazon Reader Review "I absolutely love this book!… It helped me appreciate the choices I've made, the directions I've taken, and how unique and individual each of our lives truly are, yet how similar… I can't even describe all the ways I have benefited from this book." — from an Amazon Reader Review