|
Welcome to |
|
Sink
or Swim |
|
Reflections in the Sun |
|
An Autobiography in Verse by Jesse Yoder |
|
 |
This page contains a short summary of my life. It
started out as an autobiography in verse. However, after I finished
writing it, I realized that it would mostly make sense only to me. This is
because the allusions in the rhyming verse would be undecipherable by
anyone who wasn't familiar with my life.
So I decided to write annotations that explain the
meaning of the rhyming verse. The rhyming verse appears in the left
column, and the annotation appears to the right. |
 |
I wrote this partly because I find that writing about
my life is a very integrating experience. Somehow it takes all those
isolated experiences and weaves them into a meaningful pattern.
My life has been a series of incredible experiences. I count among my blessings that I have learned to know
well a very diverse and amazing range of people. Whether it is from the
world of politics, business, or academia, I have come to know and love a
large number of very accomplished and hard-working people. I feel that
many of these people love me back, and I count my self to be very
fortunate to be so honored.
Many people may know me only from my articles or
studies, or simply from having a business relationship. What I am trying
to convey in this brief autobiography is that there is a person with
feelings behind the mask. I have also tried to be as honest as
possible, even though things are hard to admit. All in all, I have had a
wonderful life so far, and I have even greater things to look forward to. |
|
|
| Like to run |
Pre-school days |
| Lots of fun |
Playing with my cousin |
|
|
| Move away |
Move to Virginia at the age of five |
| No more play |
|
|
|
| Start first grade |
|
| Feelings fade |
|
|
|
| In a shell |
I go into a shell for all of grade
school and high school. I can't be myself and feel like I'm putting on an
act. |
| But I won't tell |
|
|
|
| Math is fun |
I loved math and science |
| Got it done |
|
|
|
| High school cheers |
I star in the high school senior
play, playing Father Gilbreth in Cheaper by the Dozen. I decide I
want to have lots of children. |
| Plus some fears |
|
|
|
| Make a move |
Moved with my parents to Washington,
DC, then to Maryland. |
| In a groove |
|
|
|
| Worked for Gene |
Worked for McCarthy for President -
1968 |
| Nice and clean |
Office manager, national
headquarters |
|
|
| Research king |
I get a patronage job running
elevators in the US Senate. |
| Senate wing |
Also worked on Sen. McCarthy's staff
as research assistant |
|
|
| Go to school |
Start at the U of MD. I decide
to major either in history or drama. |
| Feeling cool |
|
|
I took my first philosophy course
from Peter Goldstone. I immediately fall in love with philosophy. |
|
|
| Love a girl |
I meet my college girlfriend Desiree. She is an anthropology major who has a pet monkey. We have many
wonderful experiences together. |
| What a whirl |
This was great while it lasted,
which was throughout college. |
|
I become the star undergraduate
philosophy student. I take graduate seminars while an undergraduate. |
|
|
| Learn a lot |
I attend the Univ. of Maryland for 4
1/2 years and take 67 hours out of 120 of philosophy courses. |
| Smoke some pot |
|
|
|
|
I apply to ten graduate schools, and
get into eight. I am rejected by Harvard, but accepted by
Rockefeller University. I am one of two philosophy students accepted
at Rockefeller, along with Jonathan Lear. |
|
|
| Piece of the rock |
I am admitted to Rockefeller
University PhD program with a full fellowship |
| That's a lock |
I figure my career is set |
|
|
| Study mind |
Studied philosophy of mind with
Donald Davidson and Saul Kripke. Attended courses at Princeton. Had
weekly tutorials where I read papers I wrote that week. |
| Drink some wine |
Went to Uncle Tai's for dinner after
speakers. |
|
I study Descartes with Harry
Frankfurt. I have a major disagreement with him over the solution to the
problem of circularity in Descartes. I ask to borrow his French books on
Descartes. I find that the pages are uncut, meaning they were never read. |
|
I study political philosophy with
Joel Feinberg, and we discuss his book Social Philosophy. |
|
I attend Saul Kripke's lectures on
Naming and Necessity at Princeton University. Kripke is a very
eccentric person, but I hit it off with him. He paces the halls at night
for hours at a time. He does not have a PhD but went directly from college
into teaching and research. He is a mathematical genius who made major
discoveries at the age of sixteen. |
|
I am in charge of bringing speakers
into the department for a year. I meet dozens of famous names in
philosophy, including Gilbert Harman, Tom Nagel, Joseph Raz, Hilary
Putnam, etc. There is a group of people we refer to as the "hanger's
on" who are always hanging around Rockefeller University to try to be
a part of this group. The most unbearable of these was David Rosenthal. |
|
I become friends with Alan Berger.
Unfortunately, Alan does not like Jonathan Lear, who was also admitted the
year I was. I like Jonathan very much, but find it difficult to be friends
with both simultaneously. Alan and I have a great time making fun of
Donald Davidson and mostly imitating other people. Alan went on to teach
at Brandeis University. His specialty was logic. |
|
I take set theory from Leslie Tharp.
Les is a very nice and cheerful person who commutes several hours from
upstate New York. He has a very large family. Sadly, he takes his own life
in 1978. I also have some contact with Hao Wang and Tony Martin, who were
two of the most famous logicians at the time. |
|
I study philosophy of mind with
Donald Davidson and Saul Kripke. I plan a these committee with at least
those two people. I plan to write about the mind-body problem. |
|
I have a defining experience in
which all my ideas seem to come together in some kind of synthesis. I
furiously write down ideas, even though I don't fully comprehend what I am
writing at the time. This experience lasts for two hours.
When It is over, I feel that I have created a new philosophical system. |
|
|
| Solve a riddle |
I do not yet have a solution to the
mind-body problem. However, I believe that I have solved the continuum hypothesis and discovered the
meaning of life, which is self-expression. (Self-expression is the meaning
of life.). I discover a method of drawing distinctions that resolves
some of the traditional philosophical dichotomies. |
| Play the fiddle |
|
| Hit the wall |
I am ecstatic. I present my ideas to
my professors at Rockefeller. They don't buy that I have created a new
philosophical system, and decide that I need to take a break from graduate
school. I take a leave of absence from the university. |
| Take a fall |
I return home to Maryland, my life
in pieces. I am forced to do manual labor for my father in order to
survive. |
|
Later I use the ideas developed at
Rockefeller to
later create a new philosophical system I call viewpoint pluralism.
I would spend the rest of my life trying to understand and articulate the ideas
I arrived at while at Rockefeller University. |
|
|
|
In June 1976, I apply for
readmission to Rockefeller. My petition is denied. I find that the
department is being dismantled, and everyone is leaving. However, my
friend Jonathan Lear is allowed to complete his PhD. |
|
|
|
|
| Catch a break |
I transfer to the U. of Michigan for
one semester, beginning in September 1976. I have a full teaching
assistantship. I like this very much, but get caught up in the 1976
presidential election. This proves to be a very unwise decision, as I
missed some crucial classes. I lose my financial aid and my position at U.
of Michigan. |
| Near a lake |
|
|
|
|
|
| Hit the wall |
I
return home to Maryland. I am forced once again to regroup. I work for
Maryland Action doing fundraising for lower utility rates. I attend the Computer Learning Center for six
months where I learn computer programming. |
| Take a fall |
|
|
|
| Go to mass |
I transfer to the Univ. of Mass.
in September 1978. |
| Have to pass |
I figure I have to make it this
time. I do not have financial aid the first semester, but get it after one
semester. |
|
I rent a room in Springfield,
Mass., where I am mugged. |
| Do or die |
My stay there is full of controversy. I have
a major disagreement with Fred Feldman over the interpretation of
Descartes' problem of circularity. Fred and I don't hit it off at all,
although he is still fairly nice to me. Also, I don't really feel that
this school or the faculty compares at all the the previous schools I attended
(Rockefeller and Michigan), and perhaps this attitude shows. But I stick with it and complete my PhD course
work in two years. |
| Truth or lie |
I have a disagreement with a
professor I am assisting over some comments I wrote about
existentialism on a student paper. |
|
|
|
In 1980 I move to Boston to work as
a technical writer for Commercial Union Insurance Cos. My life begins
to improve substantially. |
|
I meet Feroline and we live together
for six years. She remains a good friend today. |
|
I write my dissertation in three
years while working fulltime. It's on the mind-body problem. |
| Win the war |
I get my PhD in 1984. |
| Start to soar |
|
| I start Idea Network in 1986. |
I want to wear jeans to work. |
|
|
| Teaching school |
I start teaching philosophy at U. of
Lowell in 1986 |
| Feeling cool |
|
|
|
|
I start Idea Network in 1986. |
|
|
| Writing books |
I spend 3 1/2 years working for
Siemens writing manuals. |
| Stealing looks |
Here I mainly refer to my female
students |
|
I party with my friends Steve
and Barbara at my house in Reading, Massachusetts. |
|
Belinda
works for me for a
year, writing newsletters, in 1990 and 1991. |
|
I fall in love with Bobbie
(a girl), who just wants to be "friends". |
| Birds and bees |
I meet my ex-wife Vicki through an
ad in the Boston Phoenix |
| Pretty please |
|
| You're a tease |
She likes to play games, which is
sort of OK |
|
|
| Go to bed |
No mystery here |
| Date and wed |
We marry in October 1992 |
| Lots of bliss |
We are very happy for several years.
See Vicki. |
| Loving this |
|
 |
|
We move to PA to be closer to Find/SVP
(1994) |
|
|
|
I start teaching at Lafayette
College (1994) |
|
|
| Hit the wall |
Idea Network founders on a worldwide
valves study. I can't deal with Lynn Christie, who I feel is on a power
trip (1995). I write Andy Garvin, president of FIND, and ask to be
transferred to work for David Weiss, but he ignores my requests. Lynn is
being very strict about deadlines, but the worldwide valves market is too
complex and large to deal with in an overview form. Eventually, FIND stops
paying me for the study. I have no other source of income. |
|
|
| Take a fall |
Vicki leaves me and goes back to
Boston. |
|
I lose my job at Lafayette College
and move back to Boston. (1996) |
|
|
|
I move to Waltham and rent a room. |
|
I start working at ARC (1996). Here
I learn a whole new way of doing studies, and meet a lot of people who do
this fulltime. This is a very good experience for me. |
|
|
|
I move to Waltham. Vicki moves back
in. This lasts for about eight months. |
|
Vicki moves out. |
|
|
| Hit the wall |
I like ARC and make one good
friend (DC). But I want to write longer studies and only want to write
about flow. I want to start a field device subscription service, but
that's not in the cards at ARC. Also, I get tired of using so much recycled text. I split with
Andy, and decide to go off on my own. (1998) |
| Take a fall. |
|
|
|
| Find a friend |
My ex-girlfriend Feroline |
| Start to mend |
|
|
I decide to start again on my own,
writing only about flow. I start Flow Research in November 1998. Soon
after, I link up with Ducker Research and obtain a partnership agreement
after six months of discussion. |
| Try again |
|
| Count to ten |
|
| Catch a wave |
Flow Research |
| Spend and save |
|
| Jeans at work |
I am very excited to be able to wear
jeans to work again - which is why I started my own business in the first
place |
| What a perk |
|
| Riding high |
I feel very good about my new
venture, but it is fraught with difficulties. As before, I have no capital
and have to make it on my own. |
| Do or die |
|
|
I move to Beverly, Massachusetts,
and start hanging out with my friends Martha
and Joe. |
| Write a line |
My first study, on temperature, is
moderately successful |
| Feeling fine |
|
|
I receive a letter from ARC
threatening to sue me if I write about flow. So I write about infrared
thermometers. This study is a bust. It's a good study, but someone else
covers this market, and Ducker fails to do any promotion for it. |
|
|
| Take a trip |
I take a 12-day trip around the
country to visit suppliers and ask them what they want me to do (2000).
Bill Graber of Rosemount says he would like a study of all flow
technologies, so he can compare their growth rates. He also wants a user
survey to go with it. |
|
|
| Now I'm hip |
I visit Honeywell, CEESI, Southwest
Research, Micro Motion, Dieterich Standard, and Raytek. Everybody likes
the idea of the cross-technology flow study. |
|
|
|
Ducker Research buys into the flow
study. They agree to do the user survey. |
|
|
|
I start to write a worldwide flow
study. I think of it as an update to my 1994 Find/SVP study, which also
was a flow study. |
|
|
|
Since 1994, I have written worldwide
ultrasonic, vortex, and pressure studies. So the amount of data gathered
quickly becomes too large for one a single study. So I decide to split it
into one on the newer types of meters, and one on the older-style
meters. I decide to call the first group the
"new-technology" meters and the second group the
"traditional-technology" meters. I figured they wouldn't like
the term "old-technology meter" (December 2000) |
| Nice and tight |
|
| Get it right |
By March 2001, I realize that I had
far too much data for even a single new-technology study. So I decide to
split the study into six individual studies. Unfortunately, my deadlines
don't change. This is where I put in 80 hours a week for six
months to finish all this work. It ends up being 3220 pages. |
| Fly a kite |
I am very happy when this work is
done, but don't have time to celebrate. Our last study comes out on
September 11, 2001 |
|
|
| Sing a song |
I have a research analyst, Mike
Kirsch, who has his own band. He writes a song about me called King of
Flow. We put it up on our website. |
| Swing along |
|
|
|
| Drum or gong |
Mike Kirsch continues to work for me
while running his own band. |
| Short or long |
|
|
|
| Lose a wife |
My divorce come through after
several years of unnecessary delay by lawyers. |
| Get a life |
I feel a new freedom |
|
|
| Swerve the wall |
I figure out what I did wrong before
and how to avoid hitting the wall |
| Avoid the fall |
|
|
|
| Find the switch |
I become an integrated person |
| Strike it rich |
This is in my future |
|
|
| Play the game |
|
| Keep the name |
Flow Research |
|
|
| Think a lot |
|
| Connect a dot |
|
|
|
| Point of view |
Viewpoint pluralism |
| That's my cue |
|
|
|
| Have a clue |
|
| Brighter hue |
|
|
|
| Seeking shades |
I want to write a book explaining my
idea that experience has many more shades than our language recognizes. |
| Making trades |
|
|
|
| Finding time |
|
| Drinking lime |
A hoped for future vacation |
|
|
| Feeling great |
|
| Seldom late |
|
|
|
| Find a wife |
Still working on this one |
| What a life |
|
|
|
|
Back to
Life |
|
To Jesse's
Homepage |
|
Back
to Flow Research |
|
Back
to the Story of Jesse |
|
Back
to Worldflow Research |
|
Back
to Idea Network |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|