TITLE: "The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge"
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: May 07, 2023  8:36 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:
 I just started reading Joshua Kendall's <em>The Man Who Made
 Lists</em>, a story about Peter Mark Roget.  Long before
 compiling his namesake thesaurus, Roget was a medical doctor
 with a local practice.  After a family tragedy, though, he
 returned to teaching and became a science writer:

 <blockquote><em>
 In the 1820s and 1830s, Roget would publish three hundred
 thousand words in the <b>Encyclopaedia Brittanica</b> and
 also several lengthy review articles for the Society for the
 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the organization affiliated
 with the new University of London, which sought to enable
 the British working class to educate itself.
 </em></blockquote>

 What a noble goal, enabling the working class to educate itself.
 And what a cool name: The Society for the Diffusion of Useful
 Knowledge!

 For many years, my university has provided a series of talks
 for retirees, on topics from various departments on campus.
 This is a fine public service, though without the grand vision
 -- or the wonderful name -- of the Society for the Diffusion
 of Useful Knowledge.  I suspect that most universities depend
 too much on tuition and lower costs these days to mount an
 ambitious effort to enable the working class to educate itself.

 Mental illness ran in Roget's family.  Kendall wonders if
 Roget's "lifelong desire to bring order to the world" --
 through his lecturing, his writing, and ultimately his
 thesaurus, which attempted to classify every word and concept
 -- may have "insulated him from his turbulent emotions" and
 helped him stave off the depression that afflicted several of
 his family members.

 Academics often live an obsessive connection with the disciplines
 they practice and study.  Certainly that sort of focus can can be
 bad for a person when taken too far.  (Is it possible for an
 obsession not to go too far?)  For me, though, the focus of
 studying something deeply, organizing its parts, and trying to
 communicate it to others through my courses and writing has
 always felt like a gift.  The activity has healing properties
 all its own.

 In any case, the name "The Society for the Diffusion of Useful
 Knowledge" made me smile.  Reading has the power to heal, too.
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