My beautiful wife Holly in a Block Island state of mind…
From this morning’s walk…
Reading: The Matter with Things by Lane McGilchrist 📚
The more precise anything is, the less content it has: the more certain our knowledge the less we know.
Reading: The Matter with Things by 📚
Our dominant value—sometimes I fear our only value—has very clearly become that of power. This aligns us with a brain system, that of the left hemisphere, the raison d’être of which is to control and manipulate the world.
Only 2% in to a looong book. Already pretty sure it’s important.
Read: Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell 📚
Just finished. An enjoyable read that traces the origins of Humanist thought through the many historical characters who furthered it. Just enough philosophy for grasping the nature of Humanism. It end’s making the case for Humanism in the present day but it’s a bit of a whimper in my opinion. Faced with the decidedly non-humanist churning going on in the world against which it struggles to fight. Perhaps my greatest pleasure in reading it is having it confirmed that , yes, indeed, I am a humanist.
Part 1 of a 5 part series on AI…
Among their concerns were the possible criminal uses of artificial intelligence; the potential for significant job loss as intelligent machines assume increasing amounts of the human workload; the possibility of machines becoming capable of making life and death decisions on their own.
What Intelligent Life Is Made Of, Part 1 Essays On Attention Paid
There wasn’t anything exceptionally noticeable about the way she moved through doors, but when you’ve known someone all their lives, you become familiar with their nuances. You sense them in all manner of ways you are barely aware of.
Reading: Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell 📚
Meanwhile, back in 1941…
Mankind cannot accept the ultimate triumph of evil, untruth, and violence—it simply cannot live with them. The world resulting from a Hitler victory would be not only a world of universal slavery, but also a world of absolute cynicism, a world which would find it impossible to believe in the higher and better in man any longer., a world which would belong completely to evil and be subject to evil. The revolt of humanity against a Hitler world filled with the utmost despair of spirit and good—this revolt is the most certain of certainties. — Thomas Mann
From this morning’s walk…
Reading: Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell 📚
Happiness is the only good The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.
— Robert G. Ingersol
Made it to the Block!
Smooth sailing to point Judith. Waiting to back the car onto the ferry…
Off to Block Island at sunrise…
In the church of secular capitalist society, science is the god. And indeed, there is a lot of pure faith involved in the belief in science. So, if the god of modern capitalist society is in trouble, it suggests that something is afoot.
From my latest long form post:
The present war is not just on women. It is on any community that challenges the white patriarchal structure. It’s a war on race, it’s a war on gender, it’s a war on sexuality. It’s a war on the values of Enlightenment Humanism which are the foundation of democratic government. It’s a war on democracy itself.
PBGV best in show at Westminster! We’ve had two in our dog stewardship lifetime.
Our PBGV Chas is 9 years old. He’s taking it in stride…
Reading: Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell 📚
Thus, in effect, a state that enforces a particular belief is denying people the right to be fully human.
From the past few days….
Replacing Feudalism with Capitalism is a process that took two to three hundred years. In reviewing the history and writing about it, historians identify and describe to us the broad trends unfolding. It is difficult, maybe impossible, to see such trends clearly in the history we live. This is the reason to study history. To get a perspective that gives us some ability to assess our times, identify trends and project those trends into the future.
If you are in or near Wappingers Falls, NY, come hear 12 writers read their original short stories based on the photographs of Margo Kingon! I am one of them…
One of my favorite beach rocks…
From the past few days…
Re: Justice Thomas
Those decisions dramatically undermined our democracy. It now seems imperative to grapple with the fact it appears a key vote on the court that decided those cases was compromised.
I have learned from firsthand experience what women have known for generations. The work of my true potential is enormously undervalued. And yet, it’s important and profoundly satisfying work, at least to me.
Homemaking and art? That’s woman’s work as far as my generation is concerned. Progress is being made on that front by each of the generations that are following me, but art and homemaking? That would have branded me a “pussy.” In fact, it still does with men and women closer to my generation. Being taken care of financially by a woman? Pussy!