JL;DR SUMMARY Reflecting on his journey from a passive student during the 1960s at Brandeis University to becoming an active participant in life, Dr. Michael S. Lewis contrasts his early life with lessons learned from figures like Bruno Bettelheim and baseball player Harold Baines. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.