Open Yale Courses

OPEN YALE COURSES - I had read about these and then forgot about them, but stumbled across them today. Yale University is putting several of it's class on-line for anyone to watch. Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn. I watched a Philosophy lecture on the fear of death today, it was great. I especially love the quote Professor Kagan ended with, a quote from from Kurt Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle.

"Let me close then with an expression of this thought. This is from Kurt Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle. This is a kind of prayer that one of the characters in the novel says--is supposed to say--at the deathbed."

"God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up."
"See all I've made," said God. "The hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."
And I, with some of the mud, had got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going God!
Nobody but you could have done it God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw [Vonnegut 1963]."