The Whodunit Drive

 

I can't say this statement is genetically verifiable, but it's obvious many humans have a "whodunit" drive embedded in their DNA. We need to find out who did it, get to the punch line, discover the answer. We can't abide the vacuum of uncertainty.

I watched a brief video positioned at the end of a recent blog post by Seth Godin. The video took all of about three and a half minutes—yes, I said minutes, not hours—and the ending made me literally laugh out loud.

The introductory blog post—brief, in quintessential Godin style—was about choosing to learn and why we choose not to learn. The end of the post segued nicely into the YouTube video, an unedited version of his talk given at TED2014.

The talk (spoiler alert here) asked, "It is a note worth playing?" As Seth Godin began his monologue, he pulled a clarinet out of its case and assembled it, all the while discussing a mindset of determining that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing exceptionally. Clarinet in hand—and almost before the audience realized it was over—he concluded his remarks as he turned his back on the audience and exited the stage, never once having played a single note on his now at-the-ready instrument.

I laughed because I just witnessed a brilliant object lesson. He had our attention because we were waiting for his demonstration. 

The demonstration never came.

The other shoe never dropped.

He left us in mid-sentence, thought-wise, waiting to hear what should have happened next.

And with that disequilibrium, our only resolution is to fill in the blank. Finish the sentence for ourselves.

That's not education. That's learning.

I just spent an entire day at a genealogy seminar hosted by a D.A.R. chapter in an ocean town I often enjoy visiting. The many speakers presented useful material—I focused here mostly on technology tools and techniques—but if I don't go home and put that newfound knowledge to use on my own research projects, I will really have learned nothing.

Right now, we have entered a genealogical season of learning. Of worldwide attention right now is the approaching annual RootsTech conference in early March. Following on the heels of that event, another virtual family history seminar hosted by the African American Genealogy Society will feature Renate Yarborough Sanders. Just over a week later, the Jewish Genealogical Society at our state's capital—Sacramento—will feature a case study by Steve Morse. And rumor has it that another genealogical society in that same city—Root Cellar—has two notable guest speakers on their spring lineup: Daniel Horowitz from MyHeritage in March, and Judy Russell ("The Legal Genealogist") in May.

Some season of learning opportunities—but only if we put the education we've gained to personal use.