Not too long ago I started an online conversation with Pun-Arj Chairatana, Director of Thailand’s National Innovation Agency. Pun-Arj is an alumnus of Chiang Mai University, where he is working with math and science faculty to create a hub for helping students develop their research into entrepreneurial ventures. 

Pun-Arj introduced me to his colleagues at CMU and our exchange gained momentum. In late October I flew to Chiang Mai. I have never met a friendlier, more welcoming group of academics and professionals.

I was reminded for the nth time that sharing meaning and trust are best served by connecting in person. Eating a meal together is so much more fun than sitting on Zoom. After daring me to eat a spicy dish, and watching in surprise when I happily did, the dean told me that I have an American face and a Thai stomach. In between talking about organizational vision, interpersonal dynamics, the neurology of understanding, and the interdisciplinary impact of Open-Source Learning, we laughed often, and we laughed hard. The math professor told the shortest, most boring story I’ve ever heard. When we all exchanged glances as he finished, the moment became hilarious, and we became friends.

I’m honored to support a group of people who genuinely care about creating value through learning. Unlike the incubators that have sprung up at American universities, the Chiang Mai University model focuses on creating value by amplifying community values and social good. The first student venture is based on technology designed to address problems caused by hearing loss. 

We need more of this in the world. 

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What happened when you followed an online conversation into real life? Drop me a line – I’m curious!

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Open-Source Learning is yours. Free. Get the white paper here. Use what works and customize whatever you need, however you want. I’m here to help.

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Curiosity is worth practicing. That’s how we get better at it. When it’s done particularly well, curiosity can be elevated to an art form. Curiosity makes life worth living. I am literally Curious AF. And now you can be too! Click HERE to unlock your free membership subscription. 

Here is a taste of what I’m doing, reading, watching, and thinking about.

What I’m Listening To –

I have become fascinated with the music of Ichiko Aoba. You can see her perform live here.

What I’m Reading –

This past few weeks I’m writing more than I’m reading. If you’re interested in becoming an early reader of a book on the history, nature, and future of promises, please reply and let me know.

What I’m Watching –

Pluribus on Apple+.  From The Guardian: “It takes some chutzpah to look at the world in 2025 – especially if you are a non-Maga citizen of the US – and say to yourself, ‘Yes, but wouldn’t it be almost more terrible if everybody just … got along?’ But that is essentially what (Vince) Gilligan (X Files, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) has done with this tale of an alien virus that sweeps the globe, turning everyone happy and content, literally uniting minds (everyone’s thoughts, knowledge and memories are available to all – people no longer refer to themselves but as “this individual” when they speak) and causing them only to be kind to each other. So begins an interrogation of what is lost when everyone is in agreement. When there is but one mind, no variation – are we still human? Pluribus has great lines and blackly funny moments but escapist fluff it is not. It’s almost as bleak as real life.”

Quote I’m pondering –

The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is.

- Marcel Proust in Remembrance of Things Past

Thank you for reading! This publication is a lovingly cultivated, hand-rolled, barrel-aged, ad-free, AI-free, 100% organic, anti-algorithm, zero calorie, high protein, completely reader-supported publication that is not paid to endorse any political party, world religion, sports team, product or service. Please help keep it going by buying my book, hiring me to speak, or becoming a paid subscriber, which will also entitle you to upcoming web events, free consultations, discounted merchandise, and generally being the coolest person your friends know:

Best,

Know someone who is also Curious AF? Please share this edition with them!

David Preston

Educator & Author

​https://davidpreston.net​

Latest book: ACADEMY OF ONE

Header image: Friends at lunch in Chiang Mai. Photo: David Preston