What interests you? This is a question I have by mulling over (with one of my best friends) during our annual November retreat. And just today, we also introduced the notion of (grammatical) subjects and objects of attention into the mix of ideas. He is fully aware of what has been not only fully but… Continue reading Interesting Things
Tag: manipulation
Voiding and Avoiding the Void
I have been writing about this stuff for decades, yet I have never (as far as I know) put it quite that way. Why do I put it that way now? It’s actually not me — it’s other people. Every day I see people saying they are putting this or that or whatever “out into… Continue reading Voiding and Avoiding the Void
Weird
Weird seems to be one of those “Words of the Day”. Last night, something occurred to me along those lines. Often, when I warn people about the propaganda they consume regularly via Google, they mention something peculiar (or weird?) — that if they click on something, or type something into Google’s search box, that the… Continue reading Weird
Some Reflections on the Relationships Between Influence and Rationality
I have spent a lot of time with the exact formulation of that title. What is a lot? What is a little? Somehow this line of thinking reminds me of the Pensees / Blaise Pascal, and the title itself seems situated nearby to Descartes’ Meditations yet perhaps even closer to Edmund Burke’s flowery view from… Continue reading Some Reflections on the Relationships Between Influence and Rationality
Dumb Americans
I sometimes have a way of saying things that people find awkward or even inappropriate, and I have a hunch the title I have chosen here is at high risk of becoming one of those situations. There is a lot to unpack here, and I don’t know if I will be able to unpack all… Continue reading Dumb Americans
Cleansing Democracy
I think maybe democracy and cleansing have never been quite as closely associated as in this title, yet I also think that maybe it’s about time they are. This past week or so, populations worldwide have been not only generally alarmed, but have indeed become bombarded with somewhat of a political frenzy. Hardly any of… Continue reading Cleansing Democracy
Trustworthy + Distrustworthy
I’ve experienced a few fascinating experiences recently, one of them reminding me of the song “Thin Ice” (by Pink Floyd, from the album “The Wall”). As a teenager, I was very much “into” Pink Floyd — for example, I might have said something like “I am inspired by Floydian ideas”. I decided to watch the… Continue reading Trustworthy + Distrustworthy
Literacy + Publicacy, School + Society
Today I was reminded of an article I wrote probably well over a decade ago, but for which my language at the time had not developed enough vocabulary to talk about the topic in a way that made sense to most people. It made sense to a few, but a few people do not make… Continue reading Literacy + Publicacy, School + Society
The Communities Involved in Common Knowledge
I have long since been fascinated by the concept of “common knowledge“. People often appeal to this concept, but that doesn’t make it any more clear what is actually meant by the term. This week, two examples of how such “common knowledge” interferes with publicacy appeared on my radar. First, on another blog, I wrote… Continue reading The Communities Involved in Common Knowledge
The Whole World is Sleeping
If you (like I) grew up in the United States, or if you have lived a somewhat “mediated” life, then you are probably familiar with the chant “The Whole World is Watching”. You may not know that this chant is older than the popularized Internet, which only really took off once Tim Berners-Lee more or… Continue reading The Whole World is Sleeping
Socio Business blog 