Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Becoming Genius : Seminar on Cultivating Genius through an Individual/Interpersonal Paradigm of Human Development Inspired by the Work of Omnivorous Scholar Toyin Falola

Great thanks, Cornelius.

Thanks, to, to Olayinka for his sensitivity to the dynamism of  the teacher/learner dialectic.

On Integrity of Identity

Responding to Cornelius speculations, I hereby state  that Falola and I dont agree on particular strategic issues.

But to each his own, is his motto, given his actions.

He has reached out privately to me on this subject, copying some others on this group and expressing people's concerns and i have responded by the modifications I have made in my seminar proposal.

But some people are insisting on painting Adepoju as a fraud who purports to guide people to achieving genius even though he is not one although I have explained that genius may be  understood as a vision one may aspire to rather than a definitive state, after all, for every great achievement, there is often a greater one and even the greatest achievements can be qualified.

Since these people made it clear they were not interested in a middle ground on a subject relating to the ceaseless drive towards actualization of human achievement I had to then inform them that Adepoju is indeed a genius and gave my reasons, presenting the conditions on account of which I will respond to rejoinders to this self assessment.

Going forward, in developing this project, I shall be highlighting my own achievements so as to make clear my understanding of how I have adapted the suggestions I am making about cultivating genius and how they are working for me. 

I had preferred something more subtle, more like the creation of a collective vision anchored on a range of admirable persons  which people may collectively strive towards emulating, in the spirit of Paul's great exhortation in Hebrews 11, invoking the names of the great Hebrew ancestors in faith, declaring 'since we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith'',the same Jesus who declared 'what I have done you can do and more', but when people want to trivialize a vision of such magnitude then its time to ''open your eyes for them'' as it is stated in Nigerian pidgin.

Between Academic and Non-Academic Platforms

I also suspect that a good no of respondents are taking aback by the way I am framing the interpretation of Falola. They know Falola only as a scholar. To some extent, also a semi-public intellectual who makes comments from time to time on Nigerian affairs.

"How does that translate to discussions of a value that transcends the carefully guarded protocols of academia?", they might instinctively recoil in response.

They also might be inadequately appreciative of the ongoing shift in academia, from  restriction to the classroom, the academic journal, academic book and academic conference to greater expansion into public platforms, a progression that COVID-19 is likely to accelerate.

The Next Stage in Falola Studies

They also might be inadequately sensitive to the role of the project I am developing to the cycle of development of  fields of study, represented, in this instance, by  Falola Studies.

Articles and books have been published and are still being published on Falola, even as the annual Toyin Falola conference proceeds.

These initiatives  most continue in being central to the foundations of knowledge constituting Falola Studies, but for this field of knowledge to move to the necessary next stage of development in the world of knowledge, it has to be translated from the book, article and even conference presentation to becoming a course or courses of study with its/their own dynamic, constantly  developing methods of exploration.

My own approach, in this context, is to contribute to building Falola Studies into a system of knowledge, one combining theory and practice, demonstrated in both pedagogical and research procedures and applications in the lives of individuals and groups.

 Thus, the seminars I am proposing would explore the significance of Falola's achievement within and beyond academia,  within and beyond the various disciplines and genres in which he has engaged, and explore what relevance his work as historian, as humanities scholar, as student of almost all aspects of African societies and a good part of African Diaspora societies, as autobiographer, biographer , poet, interpersonal cultivator and institution builder  have to people who might never have come across his name and have little or no interest in the various subjects he address, from African history to African politics to various inspiring figures or even his own life.

Distilling such understanding, one is better positioned to map a style of individual  and interpersonal development and institution building applicable across various contexts, illuminating the specificities of Falola's disciplinary achievements as well as distilling their unifying dynamic, in ways applicable to the more general idea of cultivating genius and the more specific  concept of a dynamic unifying various cognitive systems and expressions, a form of what, generating a  German neologism, may be known as ''Geistwissenschaft'','spirit of knowledge', suggesting a creative dynamism running across a diverse but ultimately unified cognitive whole, expressed in different ways at different points but exploding into a collective efflorescence.

I am inspired in this initiative by such understandings of the German cognitive and artistic tradition in terms of certain overarching concepts of human development and possibility, such as 'bildung', self cultivation'' and 'geist', ''mind/spirit'', ideas vital to understanding the formation of some seminal German scholars and people of letters.

The seminars can be expanded into a course of study.

The dialogical character of seminars and other forms of person to person means of developing knowledge provide a dynamism absent in the more static, individualistic character of books, although such dialogical forms can contribute to the writing of books as  books feed  seminars and courses of study.

The seminars and the course of study are also different from the more tightly structured forms of conference presentations and discussions.

These difference emerge most forcefully in the creation and running of courses of study, examining a subject with a group of people over an extended period of time.

Between Scholarship of the Marketplace and Academic Scholarship

People might also wonder why such a project is not being undertaken in an academic context, either in terms of academic seminars,  a research program or an academic book.

I am a Scholar of the Marketplace, not an academic scholar. 

I admire academia and adapt its approaches, the productions of its members being foundational to my work, but I am not motivated by the idea of absorption  into academic systems. 

I am happy to consider suggestions to construct my projects in terms of such academic programs as a PhD, as has been privately suggested, and for which I am grateful to Toyin Falola and the professor at Babcock university with which he linked me.

I am happy to work in such an academic program  as long as the work is centred on my own completed or ongoing self generated project/s and their  progression in their current public form, although with inputs from an academic context suggesting how they may be improved and adapted  to academic formats.

I am not motivated by the idea of academic recognition and academic positioning  but would be pleased to accept such if offered, as long as it does not disturb my work within my own self generated knowledge platforms, that being the core of my activity, everything else being complementary to it.

I am not motivated by the idea of  academic publication, although I am honoured to receive such offers and am happy to fulfill such requests.

I shall be expanding the publication platforms I am using in my Falola scholarship.

I am happy, however,  to enter into partnership with academia as I continue to develop what amounts to my own system of knowledge, of which Falola scholarship is a part.

I am happy to assist academic institutions develop their own versions of the seminars on genius and the seminar and course on Falola Studies which I am proposing.

Great thanks

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

thanks

toyin

On Fri, 8 May 2020 at 02:34, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

AMENDED :

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,

God dae.

The Almighty is on the side of fair play, equity, perseverance, justice. Forget about anyone who would spit at you.

I also have a very high opinion of your creative abilities in the areas that you have shown us thus far. I totally agree with your subjective and objective assessments.  Pray. Go ahead.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

Bitachon.

Psalm 23

Be confident.

Here's another genius that I admire in quite another area.

Most unfortunately, your interlocutors do not breathe a word about your higher, praiseworthy intention of spreading the light.

But, let's get down to brass tacks and let's take the bull by the horns, as the Fulani herdsman would say, in perfect Fulani…

Since he cannot be accused of being "coy", or indifferent, I think that your namesake (Professor Toyin Falola) is either being unnecessarily ambivalent or is being diplomatically extra-cautious considering that as the moderator cum proprietor-in-chief of this discussion series he is the one who knows exactly what's going on, exactly which post are allowed to surface and those that we shall never see; since it's his precious name and reputation that various interlocutors say is at stake, the question remains, why has he not intervened on this issue up till now – when it's  the advertisement and potential misuse or misappropriation of his name and his genius – some say for monetary gain/ your financial success that is at the centre of the storm ?  

Perhaps, it's because you have "explained that Falola knows nothing about the project, on account of the need to keep the project independent of the figure who inspired it." – perhaps that's enough cause for him to want to interfere one way or the other. Who knows, he is possibly enjoying the back and forth , softly chuckling to himself, and this could go on indefinitely, unless of course someone could  step outta line  and commit the fatal error of what he could perceive as ( God forbid)  some miscreant attempting to drag his good name in the mud at which point you could be sure  he will intervene, maybe viciously with his axe and thus lay the whole issue to rest as some of the interlocutors set t to work – get busy picking up the broken pieces, the debris, as the wind cries Mary

One can only speculate that another possible reason for Professor Falola's non-intervention - especially an intervention of support and encouragement could be that he does not want to be thought of as promoting himself, his name, his brand, his genius, through Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju. But who knows what's in store for you, maybe brilliant future and every great man has had to encounter and overcome or bypass, circumvent some great or little hindrance, setback, frustration, the prophet of Islam, salallahu alaihi wa salaam is no exception…

On Thu, 7 May 2020 at 23:59, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

Great thanks, Cornelius.

You are doing great things for me.

Your descriptions of spirituality are also deeply moving. 

I'm puzzled about these nay saying responses.

Are we to forever rest on descriptions of the likes of Leonardo da Vinci or Albert Einstein in descriptions of genius?

Falola's example is more relevant to the average person than those two figures, for example, they being arch individualists while Falola combines the individualistic and the communal.

Some people are so twisted up about Adepoju's self assessment.

I have a very high opinion of my creative abilities.

I would be foolish not to given my level of investment in those abilities , including and going far beyond intellectual and academic exposure,  and what I achieve with those abilities, achievements open to assessment by all.

If I were to describe myself as a genius, I would be justified in doing that given the quality, volume and consistency of my work.

I have done things not done in the centuries of existence of the systems of knowledge I engage with. 

Ifa, Ogboni, Olokun, I have introduced profoundly creative,  new orientations to these systems. 

I am one of the most broadly multi-cultural writers in history, covering Africa, the West and Asia.

The kind of people I aspire to be like are the greatest in history, from Jesus to Buddha,  from Plato to Aristotle, to Soyinka, to Falola, and many more.

In making progress in that journey, should I not be able to recognize, to some degree, my own progress?

If anyone disagrees with Adepoju's self classification as a genius, and you wish to declare your stance, make the effort to state why you disagree, stating your definition of genius and why you think Adepoju's work does not fall within that category, giving examples from that work.

If you do that, I will respond.

If you dont I will not respond.

I am not interested in arm wrestling with anybody. 

In presenting my seminar, I shall be integrating my own creative strategies with those of Falola. 

I am privy to Falola's creativity as an external observer but privy to my own creativity from within my own inwardness.

In discussing how to access one's indwelling spirit, whose experience can I best draw on, if not mine?

At the same time, one needs to learn from a person like Falola how to harness and direct one's creative fires, he being a master of order, of planning, of institutional organisation, of interpersonal development, a balance to the often solitary journey required to engage one's deepest self.

I am prepared to discuss these issues at the level of serious discourse, of self knowledge, of knowledge of others, of how to assess oneself in relation to various heights of achievement and of how to motivate oneself through examples of great achievers.

Any discourse that is not at that level will not attract my attention.

thanks

toyin

On Thu, 7 May 2020 at 01:19, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

AMENDED:

 Baba Kadiri,

 Re- You say that you are "not aware of anytime that Toyin Falola, professor of history, claimed to be a great teacher and much less claiming to have disciples and a large following as if he were a religious leader. Even if Professor Falola had, in private discursion disclosed to Cornelius about his desire to have Moses Ochonu as his successor, it would be unfair or perhaps unethical to disclose that in this connection"

Why do you have to be so pedantic? Or is fastidious a better word?  Professor Falola did not himself  claim to be a great teacher or historian, neither did Hugh Trevor-Roper, but that does not disqualify public adulation,  the Ubuntu definition of who they are  in terms of discipleship or any number of Mister and Miss  Follow-Follow or that Falolaism is a new word in the Oxford Dictionary. Isn't that what this new book is all about?

 Oga Falola made certain definitive statements a few years ago about the new crop of Nigerian historians and he spoke (wrote) so positively about Moses Ochonu that since then I (Cornelius) am in no doubt that Ochonu is his crown prince. Of course, he did not write it in stone.

 In this post  written on Nigeria's Impudence Day in 2017,  Oga Falola recounts an amicable meeting with Toyin Adepoju : WE are to normally assume ( I assume) that since then the brotherhood/  relationship between them had grown  from strength to strength and  to the point where Adepoju was feeling confident enough to propose the  genius training.

 What I can't understand is your venom. Isn't this forum supposed to be a fraternity, a brotherhood of Pan- Africanists instead of a brood of vipers in which some holier-than- thou and not so clever think that they are better than others, just because some of us originated in the swamp?

 Bro Oluwatoyin made a proposal which he has since modified, and all you can think of is what he said before and not what he has since amended HERE. – in which he explains that" Falola knows nothing about the project, on account of the need to keep the project independent of the figure who inspired it."

Is it illegal for anyone to have "Proposed Paid Seminars on the Creative Style and Work of Baba Kadiri or indeed to write a conscientious or even malicious review of Baba Kperogi's Notes from over the Atlantic?

BTW;  about the latter I  would take my inspiration from Mark Steyn

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Qawwali

 

 

 

On Wednesday, 6 May 2020 23:12:53 UTC+2, ogunlakaiye wrote:

​Wow Cornelius, this one is like a bat, which can neither be classified as a mouse nor as a bird. Responding to Olayinka, you wrote, "There are serious problems with your paragraph two. Yoyin as intellectually curious and inquisitive (investigative?) as he is, has every right to discover anew….." You omitted, either intentionally or mistakenly, to support your submission in that part with what paragraph two contains. However, here follows what your referenced paragraph two contains, "What I dislike is if he (Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju) is doing work on the intellectual property of others e. g. Ogboni, and using cunny, cunny method to say it's different universal Ogboni by trying to turn Black into white because the latter scenario is similar to plagiarism and changing the paragraphing to delude the unwary." Are you Cornelius saying that the intellectually curious and inquisitive Mr. Adepoju has the right to discover anew the Ogboni cult which has been in practice for centuries in Yorubaland and is still being practised  today? It is like someone coming to discover anew Ògún, the muse of creativity, deity of metallurgy and patron of blacksmith. I beg to dis-concur.

"Someone cannot claim to be a great teacher and yet cannot claim to have any disciples or a large following - Cornelius Hamelberg. Who is this someone that claims to be a great teacher but cannot claim to have any disciples or a large following, I wondered as Cornelius danced along far away from the centre of the music. Later he solved the riddle for me thus, "By way of analogy, I daresay that Professor Toyin Falola having raised and still raising *many disciples* and his unofficial appointment of Moses Ochonu as his crown prince is also testimony to his status as a teacher, professor, and a professional dispenser of light."  I am not aware of anytime that Toyin Falola, professor of history, claimed to be a great teacher and much less claiming to have disciples and a large following as if he were a religious leader. Even if Professor Falola had, in private discursion disclosed to Cornelius about his desire to have Moses Ochonu as his successor, it would be unfair or perhaps unethical to disclose that in this connection. "Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju is one of Professor Falola's admirers," says Cornelius Hamelberg. Suddenly, Mr. Adepoju was relegated from a follower and a disciple to ordinary admirer just like anyone of us that have read most of the books authored or co-authored by Professor Falola. Does being an admirer of the learned professor license anyone to exploit his name for pecuniary gains with a dubious seminar of how to become a genius. Professor Toyin Falola has never claimed to be a genius and it sounds fraudulent for someone who is not an acclaimed genius to tout self as a maker of geniuses in exchange for money. If that is not 419, what else is?  

​ ​This case reminds me about some parts of Moses Ochonu's post on this forum, Saturday, 16 December 2017, in which he wrote, "I want to argue that we Nigerians may be the most intellectually gullible people on earth. That may be an exaggeration, but we tend to be drawn to bombastic, self-promoting persons and are thus easy prey for fraudulent claimants to academic genius. We also hunger for heroes, making it possible for dubious persons to fulfil that longing for us." 

S. Kadiri 

---

Från: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> för Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 6 maj 2020 09:44
Till: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Becoming Genius : Seminar on Cultivating Genius through an Individual/Interpersonal Paradigm of Human Development Inspired by the Work of Omnivorous Scholar Toyin Falola

 

Wow.

That's a fine one Cornelius.

Thanks

toyin

On Tue, 5 May 2020 at 23:59, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:

Lord Agbetuyi,

Please permit my little ramble.

We are in essential agreement about your paragraph one. There are serious problems with your paragraph two. Toyin as intellectually curious and inquisitive (investigative?) as he is, has every right to discover anew….

 Someone cannot claim to be a great teacher and yet cannot claim to have any disciples or a large following. For instance, the simplest way of bringing a schizophrenic or one possessed by an evil spirit/inferiority complex/ superiority complex or what's called  "a Messiah complex " , one who actually believes that he is Jesus or the Messiah, the easiest way of bringing him safely down back to earth is to ask him, " OK Mr. Messiah, so you are Jesus but where are your disciples?"

 In the case of Sabbatai Zevi of Izmir who had a large following, when he finally got to the court of the Sultan in Istanbul which is in Turkey, the  Sultan thus greeted him welcome:  " OK Mr Messiah, now that you are finally here, I only have one thing to say to you : Either you accept Islam, or I execute you! "

To the dismay of his disciples, Sabbatai Zevi accepted Islam. It was explained by some of his most faithful disciples that in accordance with some fanciful Kabbalistic doctrine, he has to accept Islam in order to travel to the very depths of hell, to redeem some sparks down there.

More seriously, this is the opening paragraph of  Pirkei Avot- Ethics of the Fathers :

"Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly.  They said three things: Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah."  

Rabbi Akiva had many disciples

The exhortation to "raise up many disciples" testifies to the importance of knowledge, or right knowledge and of the teacher. By way of analogy, I daresay that Professor Toyin Falola having raised and still raising "many disciples" and his unofficial appointment of Moses Ochonu as his crown prince is also testimony to his status as a teacher, professor, and a professional dispenser of light.  

 Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju is one of Professor Falola's admirers.  We have among many others. Count me in and that makes at least two – and let me hasten to add that I am no historian (by any stretch of the imagination - the sometimes-self- aggrandising imagination), but I am also a humble admirer of his literary output (including Etches On Fresh Waters).  Where am I going with all this?

A very long time ago, Job - the proverbially most patient one says in Book of Job 19:25, "But I know that my Redeemer lives, and the last on earth, He will endure"

Today, there are believers who say from their own hearts and not necessarily quoting Job, they say with some confidence, "My Redeemer liveth!" – and by "Redeemer" they mean Jesus, . We cannot disprove their sincerity or their faith in who or what they believe is the source of their sustenance. 

Today, there are the genius Nigerian mega pastors who are not holding seminars on how to  become a genius, or how to produce mere electricity or how to construct a spacecraft that can transport you all the way to Mars  or  beyond Mars or how to walk on water, they are going several steps further than that: They are  teaching, preaching, holding seminars and workshops on How to go to Heaven!

Not only Nigerian pastors are doing that – in Sweden for example we have someone I have met several times and had lots of cups of coffee and long chats  with him,  his name is Christer Roshamn – nice guy, very effective in his preaching, even uses music to communicate what he feels….

 So – what's wrong if our gifted Brother Oluwtoyin Vincent Adepoju – a student of Oga Falola's research methods etc.  wants to spread the light, wants to use his role model Oga Falola or indeed Abiola Irele  or  William Shakespeare or Spinoza  or the Chair of Poetry at Oxford or Vincent Van Gogh  or our Brer Kperogi  as the illustrious means or vehicle how to get there?

The Ramblers

Ras Kitchen

On Tuesday, 5 May 2020 19:06:12 UTC+2, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Great, greater, very great, greatest. Birds of the same feather flock together. True or false? Toyin and Oluwatoyin together, why not? 

Both are Nigerians and both are intellectuals, unlike Jesus's disciples Peter and his brother Andrew who were mere fishermen - 

until Jesus taught them to be "fishers of men" and indeed they, later on, became great apostles.

Personally, I think that you are being a little too harsh, arrogant and disdainful of the very talented being in our midst as 

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju. In like manner the Jews rejected Jesus, they said, "You're not Him!" So what if Professor

 Chicken Wings wants to run a course on "Falolaism" and charges $100 for every twenty minutes, can he be legally prevented

 from doing so?  And what if (and this is a question for the theology department of the new religion) what if Bishop Eagle Feathers

 wants to proselytise Oga Falola as the Messiah or as the Mahdi of musicology (Peace be upon him), should the Bishop be 

arrested along with all of his apostles and praise singers?  In my opinion, apart from performing miracles such as transforming 

darkness into light, the geniuses could be working towards this.

Whilst you are busy with your mega-genius I'm still wrestling ( but not in the mud)  with  this question  asked by Einstein:

  "A question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I or are the others crazy?"

On Tuesday, 5 May 2020 15:57:35 UTC+2, ogunlakaiye wrote:

​On Wednesday, 19 September 2018, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju, posted on this forum what he titled, Scholarship in a World of Poor Electricity : The Nigerian Example. In view of Adepoju's claim to metaphysical power to make people become geniuses, I hereby reproduce the afore-mentioned post of his in full.

​I have been struggling for days in my home in Lagos with trying to meet externally created and self-generated deadlines on a number of essays.

​But there has been a blackout of electricity in our neighbourhood for days.

​I have to fall back on prints of essays since access to electronic copies of essays is challenged by poor electricity. How are Nigerian Scholars coping? This situation has not changed for decades. It is horrible. Is it possible to do ones best in such an environment as a Scholar or other creative who requires electricity? May God help Nigeria, Black people and Africa.

​Toyin

​If naked person promises to make clothes for one to wear, is it not appropriate to ask why the person self is naked? An educated genius that cannot generate and distribute electricity is to me a  genius in parasitism. Towards the end of April 2020, the power generation in Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, dropped down to 2, 900 Megawatts. ​https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-records-electricity-grid-collapse/ ​ 

Nigeria records electricity grid collapseNigeria — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News In what could be described as perennial menace, the electricity grip which powers the entire country collapsed in the early hour of Wednesday, leaving the nation in darkness. The grid recorded ... guardian.ng

​In the wake of this blatant demonstration of gross incompetence in application of knowledge, what Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju can offer Nigerians is pre-paid seminars on how to become a genius. After this deception of transforming people into geniuses might have been executed, the next project by the mega-genius will be seminars, instead of the usual and traditional money ritual, on how to get plenty of money without working for it. Now that the proprietor of Seminar on Cultivating genius wants to teach me how to get to the top of the palm-tree without climbing from the bottom, I remember the warning of my late father that I should always distance myself from intellectual aneurysm.

S. Kadiri  

---

Från: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> för Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 4 maj 2020 16:36
Till: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yoruba Affairs <yoruba...@googlegroups.com>; Politics Naija <naijap...@yahoogroups.com>; Bring Your Baseball Bat <naijao...@yahoogroups.com>
Ämne: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Becoming Genius : Seminar on Cultivating Genius through an Individual/Interpersonal Paradigm of Human Development Inspired by the Work of Omnivorous Scholar Toyin Falola

 

                                         

                                                                       Becoming Genius 

                  Seminar on  Cultivating Genius through an Individual/Interpersonal Paradigm of Human Development  

                                              Inspired by the Work of Omnivorous Scholar Toyin Falola

                                                                                Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

                                                                                            Compcros

                                                                    Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

                                                   Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge

Would you like to be a genius?

 

Would you like to cultivate a level of achievement that can go a long way to shaping humanity?

 

Would you like to actualize a degree of creative power that surprises even you?

 

The origin of the term 'genius' is 'indwelling spirit of a person or a place.'

 

Everyone embodies such a spirit but it is stifled by  conformity to society.

 

The Yoruba concept of ase and the Igbo ike postulate that each person embodies a unique creative potential.

 

Would you like to discover yours?

 

A general view of genius is that it emerges miraculously.

 

The example of Toyin Falola, a scholar, writer, interpersonal builder and institution creator of unprecedented combination of individual/interpersonal  achievement,  makes it clear that genius can be cultivated.

We shall examine the intersection between Falola's example and those of other creatives across time and space, from Setilu, described as the founder of the multidisciplinary  Yoruba Ifa knowledge system, to the Arab philosopher and doctor Ibn Sina, from Aristotle, founder of the disciplinary organization of Western scholarship,  to Leonardo da Vinci, magically unique artist and scientist,  from Wole Soyinka, great imaginative and spiritual writer, to Albert Einstein, who reconfigured humanity's understanding of space, time and energy,  to such figures of contemporary culture as Tim Berners- Lee, founder of the underlying system of the Web, to Bill Gates, creator of Microsoft, one of the most globally impactful companies in history,  Mark Zuckerbeg, founder of Facebook, the world's most successful social media platform,  and Elon Musk, founder of Space-X and Tesla Motors, pioneer in space travel, electric cars and other technologies shaping humanity's future.

 

Falola is what I describe as a systematic genius, a genius whose achievements are reached through the cultivation of a particular lifestyle, a consistent development of orientations and habits that results in genius.

 

Falola's creative development is centred in the correlative  development of self and others.

 

This seminar will introduce you to the manner in which Falola  develops himself and how he develops others and invite you to reflect on how you can apply these observations to yourself.

 

You will be presented with ideas on how to understand yourself and your environment, and work with this understanding in enhancing personal and interpersonal creativity.

 

This understanding is crystallized through my study of Toyin Falola, ongoing since 2018, and integrating my decades long explorations of various streams of knowledge.

 

I have not needed input from Falola nor am I consulting or working with him on this project because the relevant information is in the public domain, only it is inadequately understood by many.  Falola is also hyper-sensitive to the possibility of being seen as self celebrating and so might not be completely comfortable with such a project.

 

The project has to be done anyway, so we may take better advantage of this unique example of creativity. 

 

I have studied Falola's  CV and been following his development since I began close study of him in 2018. I have read a cross-section of his work, examined some of the studies of that work and written and published on various aspects of his productivity. I have spoken with him on a number of occasions. I have compared what I have learnt with what I know of other creatives and filtered what I have understood  through the intimacy represented by my own efforts at self actualization.

 A pattern of orientation and action emerges for me through these engagements. It is that pattern I wish to share with you. 

We shall examine how to apply this knowledge in your own life.

 

All who are interested should contact me using this email address.

 

I am working on deciding the cost and length of time of the seminar and look forward to exploring these parameters with interested participants.

 

Some might want to take the seminar as part of a group or in a private one-on-one session, or both, at different times.

 

Group participation enables sharing ideas with various people.

 

Some people might find a  one-on-one session particularly congenial for  closer examination of their individual needs.

 

The seminar will employ Whatsapp, for smaller groups and one-on-one sessions and Zoom for larger groups.

 

I am an Independent Scholar part of whose work is centred in the comparative exploration of diverse approaches to knowledge. 

 

My latest project in the development of systems of knowledge is the ongoing construction of a philosophy and spirituality inspired by the Yoruba origin Ogboni esoteric order, accessible through the compilation " My Journey in Developing  Universal Ogboni Philosophy and Spirituality, a New School of the Ogboni Esoteric Order."

 

My work across various disciplines, employing varied expressive forms, may be reached through my central website Compcros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafric...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTTNPPdFhu6kQ4%2BzJVY0V9fc-wYfYfSfHRgSQfz6f_qC0w%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafric...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/bb6be05a-3f7e-4b5a-8fc5-6d73d596113f%40googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafric...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTRiU9yitZQLeH90J_NPVGHgmbaP%3Dz6VEsBJipSTXqUOUg%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/b8bf75f2-ee2e-42c1-ac56-1d4fcf53a001%40googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTSfoqnLf2E1ZaFvDMDJr5fYdUOGtHt6mwwear6PCndHjQ%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAFYPD-SJh0fp2iw4J6pzEoEccVRm%3DR1X6ubGdnodwYEfM3jWBQ%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTS%3D6zkwxGp_e0ZSoBYg3bzYq94Q_L_mwrmaLTbokpNuuA%40mail.gmail.com.