If you could have one person as your "dream" mentor, who would it be and what advice would you seek?

Well my first answer (although cliche) would be Jesus, but since that's not really a fair answer since He is supposed to be God haha. But that is a tough question, several people come to mind some fictional, some dead, and other alive and well. Sherlock Holmes, Einstein, Solomon, Samuel Clemens, there are just way too many brilliant people out there to choose from.

But for the sake of the question I will pick someone living. Miyazaki would be my choice. He is a Japanese director responsible for many great films that appeal to all ages and are priceless.

Much like Disney was in it's golden age only more thought provoking. S works include films like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle and many more. Every film he has created has been animated and appears to be a child's film at first but they are all so much more and have all received the highest praises from critics.

He is a man whom is now aging, he is very wise and down to earth and well aware of the world he lives in. He rarely ever agrees to be interviewed (when he does the entire country of Japan listens lol) but he has created do amny wonderful pieces of art and has really experienced life. In one interview he was asked about nostalgia since it is a reoccurring theme in his movies, as always his answers are profound and shed light and many aspects of human nature."I’ve come to realize now that, for us, paradise is memories of our childhood.

In those days, we were protected by our parents and were ly unaware of the many problems around us. Therefore, when we seek paradise, it’s necessary to go back to the memories of childhood." frankly I think Miyazaki is one of the most under appreciated genius' of our time. I would relish a chance just to sit and talk with him But the question I would ask him is, "what is the essence of joy, how would you define happiness and success?

" I strongly recommend reading the few interviews he has had and watching his films they are all works of art and change your perspective on everything and the way in which you view things. He is a modern Da Vinci or Plato or Socrates.

Salvador Minuchin - a psychotherapist who created Structual Family Therapy. Only Minuchin could be Minuchin, but, if you've ever seen him do therapy, it's truely amazing how he was able to think about the structure, become a part of the structure, and then provoke change within the system. It was like a laser.

Truely a gift. I would LOVE to sit with him so I could learn how to think like him. Brilliant!

John Dewey (1859-1952) would most certainly be my dream mentor. Dewey was an American psychologist, philosopher, educator, educational reformer, social critic and political activist. I would like to seek Dewey's advice on how two of his philosophies on education and culture can be synthesized and applied to improve modern thought on education: First philosophy: What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.

This education consists primarily in transmission through communication. Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession. €”Ch.1 "Education as a Necessity of Life" in "Democracy and Education: an introduction to the philosophy of education" 1916 Second Philosophy: Philosophy is criticism; criticism of the influential beliefs that underlie culture; a criticism which traces the beliefs to their generating conditions as far as may be, which tracks them to their results, which considers the mutual compatibility of the elements of the total structure of beliefs.

Such an examination terminates, whether so intended or not, in a projection of them into a new perspective which leads to new surveys of possibilities. €” "Context and Thought” 1931 Based on these two thoughts by Dewey, I would ask him: How can we use communication and education today to empower a generation to critically challenge our underlying cultural beliefs on issues by earnestly reflecting on our failures and the failures of those who have come before us in order to improve and empower society collectively?

Stephen Hawking,I would want him to give me more details on What a Rotating Black Hole Really Is.

General William "Wild Bill" Donovan: 1. Earned the Medal of Honor with the US Army in WWI (as a Lieutenant Colonel). 2.U.S.Attorney in New York before WWII.3.

Ran (and lost) for Governor of New York.4. Served as spymaster for President Franklin D. Roosevelt for a salary of one dollar per year.

The Coordinator of Information, helped bridge the severe differences between the Army and Navy and civilian agency intelligence services.5. In 1942 the Coordinator of Information became the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS. This is the father agency of the CIA.

He was brought back to active duty as a Colonel, and by end of the war he was a Major General.6. When the war ended, he became a special assistant to the Chief Prosecutor of the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal.7. After the Nuremberg trials, he went back to private practice, his firm was arguably one of the most powerful in Wall Street.

I he was still alive I would ask him if he agreed with how General of the Army MacArthur was relieved from command in Korea. MacArthur hated COI and the OSS, and Donovan was not a fan of President Harry S.Truman. It would be interesting to see his point of view on that whole mess.

I didn't know that January is mentoring month. Thanks for providing information in your question. I would like to have venture capitalist Tom Perkins as my mentor.

He been a visionary in silicone valley and creating products. The question that I would ask him is: What do I need to know, before I make the jump from corporate management to becoming a high tech entrepreneur?

I would say The Mahalo Answers question box, Google, or maybe Wikipedia. No single person could ever hold a candle to the collective wisdom in those technologies. I would seek advice on what questions I should be asking (so good question, by the way).

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.