Posts

Image
CENTAUR Cory Doctorow (2026). The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life after AI. Doctorow has no formal degrees, but has 2 honorary doctrates in computer science and law, and serves as visiting professor at several universities. Centaur is a person assisted by a machine--the person is in charge of the work, whereas the reverse centaur is a person in servitude to the machine--forced (imposed from the outside) to work at the rate of the machine.  If we use AI (artifical intelligence) as a centaur, it can be a useful supplement to our work, however, if we are forced to use AI by someone (like our boss), then we've become the reverse centaur. In viewing tech like AI, Dorcorow recommends we not only ask what the tec does, but more importantly, ask who it does it to, and who it does it for (for what purpose). The surprising thing to me is that most of the AI narratives are targeted to attract investors (not users). AI demos and stories excite our imagination, many of which turn out to b...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
POSSIBILITIES & ART Nora Roberts (1985). All the Possibilities, & One Man's Art. These are books 4 & 5 of Roberts' Mac Gregor saga.  All the Possibilities is the story of Alan (serious politician) and Shelby (creative potter). "With Shelby, sometimes watching was enough." (1991) One Man's Art is the story of Grant (comic strip artist) and Gennie (painter artist)...both are famous but Grant secretly lives in a lighthouse in Maine with only his initials attached to his daily published comic, and Gennie's art is shown internationally, her home base in bustle of downtown New Orleans. "...summer...it always seems to end before you're finished with it." practices: spend time watching/observing someone perform a simple task requiring movement that takes at least 5 mins (e.g., doing dishes, ironing, sweeping the floor, cooking a meal)...notice body movement, especially the hands...what feelings are elicited by careful observation? this summ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
MEDJUGORJE Wayne Weible (1989). Medjugorje: The Message. Weible has a bachelors degree in journalism and was a newspaper publisher and columnist before traveling to Medjugore in Yogoslavia in 1985...Weible was a Lutheran and eventually became a Catholic in 1991...he writes of his experiences in Medjugorje and his life in the US in the first person, eventually authoring several books and touring as an international speaker on Medjugore. According to Weible, the Blessed Mother appeared to 6 teenagers in 1981 in a village in Medjugore, and 3 of them continue to have daily apparitions (vision and auditory) of the Blessed Mother as of September 2026 (ongoing daily for 45 years!) while the others have yearly apparitions (some on their birthday, some at Christmas). The visionaries have been studied by a number of groups, including scientists and psychiatrists, testifying that they are not mentally ill, and in the early years, that they were "normal" healthy teenagers. The Vatican (...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
OPT OUT Erin Loechner (2024). The Opt-Out Family:  How to Give Your Kids                                                                                              What Technology Can't Loechner has an undergraduate degree from Ball State University, and public records don't indicate a field of study, nor any graduate degree. Writing online since 2001, 10 years later she had 1.4 million followers and a 6 figure influencer income...she gave it all up to start "opt out family.com"--this is her story. Loechner takes the tec principles she used as an online influencer and flips them on their head by applying them to tec free family living...each chapter starts with a succient tech playbook principle turned in...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
DIGITAL WELLNESS Caitlin Krause (2025). Digital Wellbeing. Krause has an MFA in Fine Arts and has presented/consulted/collaborated on digital wellbeing projects for over a decade. The book is a conversation about digital wellbeing that includes interviews with experts in the field, lots of questions for consideration, and novel ideas for exploring. Overall, the writing is short on practice and pragmatics...i kept writing "HOW?" in the margins...there is also an underlying assumption that people have access to the software and hardware for these new technologies like VR, AR, MR...there are many exaggerated claims that need qualification (the long term benefits of digital wellbeing remain to be tested)  parts were surprisingly hard for me to read, i kept asking, "SO WHAT?"...most/many of the digital wellbeing outcomes can be had for FREE without digital devices, e.g., noticing walk, actively notice new things to increase mindfulness--i don't need an app or virtual...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
PLAYING THE ODDS Nora Roberts (1985). Serena: Playing the Odds, &                                             Caine: Tempting Fate. Roberts is a high school graduate (having attended Catholic school with nuns prior to that) with no formal college education. She worked as a secretary and clerk before raising 2 sons. With this background, she became one of the most prolific and famous women novelists of all time.  These two novels are part of Robert's MacGregor series rooted in the war for Scottish freedom...these novels are set in modern day America. Justin Blake (casino owner) meets Serena MacGregor (from a wealthy family, working as a card dealer on a cruise ship)..."love, she realized, was the ultimate adventure"...poker, odds, betting, gambling are themes...in love, you risk it all. Diana Blade (Justin's younger sister--a Harvard lawyer) meet...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
PRAGMATIC William James (1907). Pragmatism. James earned an MD in 1869, yet he is most well known for his writtings in psychology, philosophy, and religion. The book is a compilation of 8 lectures on pragmatism which are highly philosophical and intellectual--ironically (given the title "pragmatism"), the lectures have little concrete practical advice for everyday living which i found disappointing...i was so frustrated part way through reading the book that i took to reading only topic sentences...his book, Principles of Psychology , may have been a better choice for finding something pragmatic...i was fooled by the title. i turned to ChatGPT to extract something practical from the lectures and came up with (edited from chat): if two different beliefs have no important/meaningful differences in the actions they imply, then cease debating about which belief is better! for any advice or belief, ask: what changes in how i would live if i would enact this advice/belief? if nothi...
Post a Comment
Read more