
A New Biography of Benjamin Franklin's Early Life - evilsimon
https://www.newcriterion.com/issues/2018/10/finding-franklin
======
RobertSmith
Franklin created a daily schedule and followed the routine as per the
schedule. This article explains about his daily schedule
[https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/how-did-ben-
franklin-g...](https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/how-did-ben-franklin-got-
so-much-done-his-daily-schedule-explained)

~~~
projectileboy
FWIW, the article also mentions that in his autobiography he goes on to
explain that he was able to stick to his schedule for only a very short time
before he abandoned it.

~~~
madcaptenor
He also had thirteen virtues
([http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page38.htm](http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page38.htm))
which he cycled through week by week, concentrating particularly on one of
them each week. I always figured this was a bit tongue-in-cheek, though,
because his definition of "humility" is "imitate Jesus and Socrates".

~~~
fhood
Man, I really can't choose between him and Twain for Most Sarcastic American
Historical Figure.

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bediger4000
I don't know what to make of this description of Franklin.

He apparently lied about his religious upbringing, claiming a Presbyterian
youth, when in fact, he'd been raised Congregationalist. Sounds like this was
a bigger thing in the 1700s than it would be today, but still...

Today, Franklin would probably be a Redditor, with a side of Anonymous
hacktivism.

~~~
thoughtexplorer
It's interesting to think about what it'd be like if we could read the tweets
or Reddit posts of historical figures from the past.

And how that would change people's impression of them, especially considering
how social norms have changed.

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olivermarks
[http://freemasoninformation.com/2015/01/illustrious-
brother-...](http://freemasoninformation.com/2015/01/illustrious-brother-ben-
franklin-and-freemasonry/)

~~~
spking
I recently attended a non-masons meeting that was hosted at a turn of the
century Masonic Temple. The building itself was incredible, if not just a bit
spooky. There were photos of members from the early 1900s to present day, but
it was very apparent that the average age of the men in the photos has
continually increased over time. In other words it looks like today only much
older men continue their involvement and new member recruitment likewise skews
55+. My guess is their membership has dwindled significantly in the last 30+
years, at least in the US.

~~~
Zelphyr
It has dwindled significantly from "the golden age" of Freemasonry which was
the 1950's and 60's. That's in part because Baby Boomer men weren't joiners in
their youth compared to their fathers. Their fathers had just fought WWII and
wanted to continue the sense of brotherhood they found in the military.

But also, Freemasonry has always been cyclic for various reasons. It
experienced a huge decrease in membership in the 1800's because of an anti-
Masonic thread that was going through the country at the time (there was even
a whole political party--the first third party in the US in fact--whose
platform was to banish Freemasonry). This is where most of the conspiracy
theories about Freemasonry come from.

It has started to cycle back a little in the past 8-10 years. I'm seeing more
and more younger guys interested in joining.

~~~
olivermarks
Interesting. Assuming you are a mason do you find being a member
useful/meaningful in 2018?

~~~
runjake
Yes, if you like the arts, sciences, mystery, and fellowship.

