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recent bookmarks from robertogrecoScott Nearing - Wikipedia2024-01-04T00:26:31+00:00
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Nearing
robertogreco... economists part company with the ominous pictures of an overpopulated, starving world, prostrate before the throne of "competition," "individual initiative," "private property," or some other pseudo-god, and tell men in simple, straightforward language how they may combine, re-shape, or overcome the laws and utilize them as a blessing instead of enduring them as a burden and a curse.[13]
Much as Karl Marx drew radical implications from the ideas of the conservative Hegel, Nearing took the economic logic of his department head, Simon Patten, and made radical inferences about wealth and the distribution of income that his mentor had hesitated to draw.[14] He believed that unfettered wealth stifled initiative and impeded economic advancement, and hoped that progressive thinkers among the ownership class would come to realize the negative impact of economic parasitism and accept their civic duty of enlightened leadership.[15] Nearing outlined an economic republicanism based on "four basic democratic concepts—equality of opportunity, civic obligation, popular government, and human rights."[16]
While living in Arden in 1910, Nearing learned about The Landlord's Game, the forerunner of Monopoly, and taught it to his students. This use of the game as an instructional device led to its spread among colleges.[17]
But Nearing's aggressive social activism in the classroom and through the printed word brought him into conflict with his employers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, resulting in his dismissal and his emergence as a cause célèbre of the American radical movement during the next decade. On the morning of June 16, 1915, Nearing's secretary telephoned him to report that a letter from the provost had arrived, saying that "as the term of your appointment as assistant professor of economics for 1914–1915 is about to expire, I am directed by the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to inform you that it will not be renewed."[18] Penn's board of trustees was heavily stacked with bankers, corporation lawyers, financiers, and corporation executives, and Nearing's writing had not gone unnoticed.[19] His tenuous situation had been exacerbated by an open letter to The North American in which he challenged the right wing evangelist Billy Sunday to apply the Gospel to the conditions of industrial capitalism, including "the railroad interests ... the traction company ... the manufacturers ... the vested interests."[20] Reaction to Nearing's dismissal from the academy was swift, with department head Patten and others issuing statements condemning the decision. Progressives in the Wharton School quickly compiled a summary of the facts of the case and sent it to 1500 newspapers, journals, and academics around the country.[21] Even conservatives in the faculty were deeply troubled since, as one Wharton professor observed, "the moment Nearing went, any conservative statement became but the spoken word of a 'kept' professor."[21] Conversely, some radicals felt vindicated in their belief in the conservative nature of the American academy. Socialist writer Upton Sinclair told Nearing in an open letter that "You do not belong in a university. You belong with us Socialists and free lances . ... Instead of addressing small numbers of college boys, you will be able to address large audiences of men."[22] Nearing's dismissal was retrospectively called by one historian "the most famous breach of academic freedom" of the era.[23]"]]>scottnearing history simpleliving economics academia academicfreedom politics socialism communism marxism activism highered highereducation upenn wharton pacifists vegetarians farming homesteading simplicity voluntarysimplicity radicalism radicalization asceticism rural dissidents dissidence thoreau us gandhi jesus christ karlmarx animals philosophy economists competition growth degrowth backtotheland backtothelandmovement coldwar left leftism ussr sovietunion palmerraids property markets marketfundamentalists belief ideology simonnelsonpatten ralphwaldoemerson tolstoy self-reliance society labor capitalismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4b7b26fe6482/Ivan Illich/David Cayley Book Club #3 of 6 - YouTube2023-10-25T17:04:17+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCYH95t768
robertogrecomarcusrempel davidcayley ivanillich 2021 jenszimmermann brucehindmarsh deschooling church catholicism schooling repetition indoctrination liberation resistance disestablishment privilege schools education discourse inserviceeducation continuingeducation training georgegrant technology tools ownership control scale society balance zoominginandout local convivial heidegger science politics agesegregation belief religion vernacular midwifery informal informality childbirth healthcare medicine socialization formalism excellence authority professionalization social regulation centralization mistakes rights credentials credentialization accreditation state community communities conflicts conflict knowledge understanding subsistence influence openmindedness openness interestedness puertorico cybernetics surprise dropouts adventure formalsystem systems teaching howweteach obstacles friendship pundits prophesy politicians credentialism pedagogy intellect howwethink thinking multisensory seeing sensing clairvoyance kathttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6f6769e7a955/O, Death! - YouTube2023-09-26T15:38:28+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDjrTkssZmE
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https://blog.ayjay.org/the-child-of-nature-and-the-citizen/
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https://thedigradio.com/podcast/the-dig-presents-alien-jerky-sold-here/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdOrz4E2UH4
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2Sjs8zyKStg
robertogrecochristianity spirituality identity religion 2023 belief learrning notknowing via:lukeneff beddhism daoism taoism albertcamus stoics atheism alanwatts seneca marcusaurelius philosophy meaning meaningmaking zen buddhism zenbuddhism nothing taoteching laozi idenity understanding abrahampiper cvhttps://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:60974fcf82cf/The Ezra Klein Show: How ‘Being Animal’ Could Help Us Be Better Humans on Apple Podcasts2023-06-27T21:01:36+00:00
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-being-animal-could-help-us-be-better-humans/id1548604447?i=1000618460588
robertogrecomelaniechallenger multispecies morethanhuman animals 2023 ezraklein relationships behavior attraction love pregancy childbirth climatechange sustainability intelligence human humans gillianrose daniellecelermajer terrancehayes human-animalrelations human-animalrelationships nature technology ecology environment ai artificialintelligence farming philosophy society waysofbeing psychology howwwelive humansupremacy politics morality predators food diet pathogens predation scarcity evolution competition cooperation friendship change armsraces survival community communities kinship persistence beauty goodness communism communal groups alliances intimacy goodsamaritans help mutualaid exchange assistance trust bodies cavepaintings altamira caveart cognition culture agriculture civilization foodsources hunter-gatherers domination humanism secularhumanism posthumanism worth dualism religion belief exceptionalism theology wildlife spirituality exploitation soul superiority rationality freewill science scientism rationalhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8e21c90f21d8/Opinion | What Communes and Other Radical Experiments in Living Together Reveal - The New York Times2023-06-14T23:21:17+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/opinion/ezra-klein-kristen-ghodsee.html
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyV1FIkosZ4
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https://tricycle.org/magazine/buddhism-without-beliefs/
robertogreco "This is not a process of self- or world-transcendence, but one of self- and world-creation."
[via: https://www.robinsloan.com/newsletters/lit-up-like-a-sparkler/ ]]]>buddhism belief unknowing notknowing ignorance 1997 stephenbatchelor agnosticism dharma humility knowledge religion faith learning zen buddha transiency transience science scientism ambiguity worldview change conformism tradition orthodoxy freedom engagement unfinished ongoing absorption exploitation insecurity disorder aimlessness refuge creativity imagination conservatism institutions autonomy greed adaptability flexibility lightnessoftouch canon living life responsibility individualism transcendence nirvana compassion commitment accomplishment praxis consolation confrontation practice skepticism religiosity anguish isms socrates philosophy method reason certainty uncertainty thhuxley consumerism atheism creeds creed secularism worship idols anarchism anarchy elites elitism monks experts expertise history politics autocracies community environment security structure fear aggression changemaking utopia direction totalitarianism action peace peacefulness self-creation mind siddharthagautama awakening problemshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:20b93fa2aeab/· Alan Jacobs2023-03-20T07:32:31+00:00
https://social.ayjay.org/2023/03/15/heres-another-one.html
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKwxKR5-QKU
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https://newbooksnetwork.com/shipwreck-hauntography
robertogreco2022 sararich transdisciplinary multispecies morethanhuman uncanny eerie history hauntography shipwrecks anti-colonialism archaeology maritime imperialism theology philosophy failure finitude via:javierarbona reality liminality liminal theory discovery scholarship realism underwater accretion ownership objects ecosystems growth unesco capitalism science religion god christianity belief liminalzones betweeness culture attribution property geopolitics duality dualities binaryoppositions heritage howwelearn anticolonialismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b2fe2891ff7c/Benjamín Labatut interview: When We Cease to Understand the World - Vox2022-07-14T16:08:20+00:00
https://www.vox.com/culture/23005220/benjamin-labatut-interview-when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world
robertogrecoconstancegrady 2022 science reality philosophy thinking curiosity noamhassenfeld howwewrite writing learning howwelearn perspective uncertainty howwethink understanding wisdom form narrative stories storytelling time space blackholes quantummechanics benjamínlabatut epiphanies physics mathematics math religion belief life living ideas mind bodies body wonder dread psychology being existence context seeing perception whatmatters importance sensemaking reinvention interconnected interconnectedness perceiving mysticism magic esotericism shinichimochizuki alexandergrothendieck františekvláčil annecarson robertocalasso howweread reading juanforn eliotweinberger luissagasti netflix novels structurehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:66dc8e5ab568/A novel by Benjamín Labatut explores the dark side of science — and the color blue - Los Angeles Times2022-07-14T15:55:06+00:00
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/newsletter/2022-07-09/benjamin-labatut-when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world-novel-essential-arts
robertogrecocarolinamiranda benjamínlabatut 2021 books blue color history writing chile poetry howwewrite science singularity blackholes epiphanies quantummechanics physics mathematics math religion belief uncertainty stories narrative storytelling life living ideas mind bodies body wonder dread psychology philosophy being existence context seeing perception whatmatters importance sensemaking reinvention learning howwelearn reality form interconnected interconnectedness perceiving mysticism magic esotericism shinichimochizuki alexandergrothendieckhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7b8f89558b5e/When We Cease to Understand the World – New York Review Books2022-07-14T15:51:11+00:00
https://www.nyrb.com/collections/new-york-review-books/products/when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world?_pos=1&_sid=adc3a07ae&_ss=r&variant=37890166784168
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXadXhP5ew
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usv9o2I_y9o
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https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/understanding-mcluhan-a-conversation
robertogrecolmsacasas 2022 ericmcluhan andrewmcluhan walterong neilpostman howweread howwethink howwewrite media medialiteracy mediastudies screentime children parenting literacy education academia scholarship highered highereducation language deschooling unschooling technology communication religion belief translation humans humanism theory senses allthesenses perception shannonweaver libraries archives catholicism bible dialog discovery conversation rhetoric tools internet web online collaboration footnotes annotation posttheory madiaecology jamesjoyce intertextual intertextuality references enddnotes marginalia normanmailer punk punkrock identity curiosity legacy companionship writing relationsips reading edwincarpenter buckminsterfuller whauden stephaniemcluhan davidstaines poetry form wterrencegordon douglascoupland grayareafoundation synthesis assignments pedagogy marshallmcluhan specialists generalists haroldinni thomasaquinas bodylanguage inevitability techdeterminism techvoluntarism francisbacon responsibility jhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:0619679f2507/The Trap of Climate Optimism | The Nation2021-12-24T15:36:54+00:00
https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/dan-sherrell-warmth-qa/
robertogrecodansherrell aaronbady 2021 climate climatechange optimism hope society politics policy economics multispecies morethanhuman inequality capitalism future present survival activism organizing sunsrisemovement gretathunberg youth andreasmalm ethics morality justicedemocrats us democrats extreamweather weather globalwarming environment race collapse faith belief religion judaism uncertainty urgency fatalism patience despair anxiety pragmatism spirituality worldview climatecrisis crisis neoliberalism discountrate externalities fossilfuels extractivism extraction meat civilization conservatism solidarity agesegregation generations sustainability powerhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:92e2f8b07984/You Can't Optimize For Rest - by L. M. Sacasas2021-12-02T00:24:51+00:00
https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/you-cant-optimize-for-rest
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4amMTitO714
robertogrecovoodoo haiti neworleans religion imperialism 2020 france us louisiana joshtoussaint-strauss race racism witchcraft blackmagic williamseabrook kaiamaglover myth robinmeanscoleman zombies misinformation lynnellthomas reconstruction history belief hysteria south jimcrow segregation disenfranchisement vodou voudounhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d2de85a8a814/Thoreau in Good Faith | Public Books2021-07-25T19:24:20+00:00
https://www.publicbooks.org/thoreau-in-good-faith/
robertogrecocalebsmith thoreau 2021 via:javierarbona walden aldabalthrop-lewis nature morethanhuman urban urbanism life living ethics capitalism christianity belief communion relationships privilege attention asceticism simplicity slow small consumption joy pleasure delight quietism complacency oppression society advantage legacy religion canon rebeccasolnit sharoncameron janebennett brankaarsić lauradassowwalls hannaharendt multispecies cities commodification senses sensing ecoterrorism tedkaczynski radicalism vigilance vigilantes us politics activism morality moralism style beauty retreat antiimperialism antiracism abolitionism social sociality care caring compromise anti-imperialismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:da5887b728e0/Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Tressie McMillan Cottom - The New York Times2021-04-29T23:22:50+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/podcasts/ezra-klein-podcast-tressie-mcmillan-cottom-transcript.html
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JhxAnhRNDA
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q9HWqfdutI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0bVNoTR1o0
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http://acountrycalledearth.com/2016/02/08/earl-sweatshirt-ferrari-sheppard
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https://jacobinmag.com/2020/09/joe-biden-imperialism-trump-america
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVTDahs2gFQ
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http://www.the-looking-glass.net/index.php/tlg/article/view/104/100
robertogrecohayaomiyazaki riekookuhara studioghibli myneighbortotoro totoro interpretation nature multispecies morethanhuman children japan society children'sliterature folktales belief fantasy nostalgia childhood psychology storytelling forests symbolism jung life carljunghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:98f9d177fe08/Revolution and American Indians: “Marxism is as Alien to My Culture as Capitalism”2019-11-26T10:58:37+00:00
https://www.filmsforaction.org/news/revolution-and-american-indians-marxism-is-as-alien-to-my-culture-as-capitalism/
robertogrecorussellmeans 1980 writing oraltradition lakota thinking abstraction indigeneity genocide resistance marxism culture outsiders education unschooling deschooling leftism anarchism johnlocke adamsmith descartes physics politics economics christianity religion efficiency spirituality complexity hegel karlmarx materialism isaacnewton dehumanization despiritualization progress development victory freedom loss indoctrination schools schooling scientism rationalism capitalism redistribution truth revolution society industrialization sovietunion china vietnam order indigenous alternative values traditions theory practice praxis westernism europe posthumanism morethanhuman rationality belief ideology nature survival extermination whiteness whitesupremacy community caucasians deathculture isms revolt leaders idols leadership activism words language canon environment sustainability learninghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:83093ba559e4/The Smartest People in the Room? What Silicon Valley’s Supposed Obsession with Tech-Free Private Schools Really Tells Us - Los Angeles Review of Books2019-10-24T19:48:30+00:00
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-smartest-people-in-the-room-what-silicon-valleys-supposed-obsession-with-tech-free-private-schools-really-tells-us/
robertogrecoprivateschools education siliconvalley 2019 waldorf vaccinations elitism intelligence society technology edtech media smartness credibility belief superiority insularity learninghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:29b29362091f/Episode 87: Nate Silver and the Crisis of Pundit Brain by Citations Needed Podcast2019-09-23T01:20:29+00:00
https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-87-nate-silver-and-the-crisis-of-pundit-brain
robertogreconatesilver statistics elections politics 2008 2012 2016 2020 2019 polling data punditry 538 cynicism snark smartpeople joebiden nathanrobinson citationsneeded racism mattyglesias justicedemocrats progressive elizabethwarren barackobama hillaryclinton berniesanders change meaning purpose belief capitalism statusquo ideology morality ethics debates priorities quantification policy horseraces gamification horseracepolitics electibility ideas gaming chicktodd media nytimes abcnews espn donaldtrump datafetishism progressivism values betting observationeffect voting us analysis trolling entertainment probability apathy apoliticalhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cfb186643019/Living With the Land: Four Seasons in Tibet • Lu Nan • Magnum Photos2019-09-09T22:21:45+00:00
https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/nature/living-with-the-land-lu-nan-rural-four-seasons-everyday-life-of-tibet-peasants/
robertogrecotibet lunan photography nature morethanhuman weather time multispecies buddhism religion belief faith animals agriculture farming happiness epicureanism stoicism spinozism goethe spinoza relationships life living peasants machines land landscape geography pleasure pleasures simplicity leisure work seasonshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:56557c608c57/America Without Family, God, or Patriotism - The Atlantic2019-09-06T17:10:59+00:00
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/america-without-family-god-or-patriotism/597382/
robertogrecoderekthompson us culture society economics generations change religion patriotism families 2019 suicide middleage purpose meaning community anxiety malaise collapse vulnerability traditions marriage parenting millennials geny genx generationy generationx generationz gender work labor unemployment hope hopelessness activism skepticism power elitism democrats republicans politics education highered highereducation ronaldreagan reaganism belief diversity voting unions siliconvalley socialjustice justice impotency underemployment spirituality capitalism neoliberalism genz learning zoomershttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:486435b91f0d/Anderson Cooper 360° on Twitter: “You said “what punishment of gods are not gifts. Do you really believe that?” @andersoncooper, choking back tears, asks Stephen Colbert, as they discuss grief. “Yes,” replies the comedian. “It’s a gift to e2019-08-18T21:12:40+00:00
https://twitter.com/ac360/status/1162183695270387712
robertogrecoandersoncooper stephencolvert religion belief suffering catholicism punishment 2019 existence buddhism lifeliving deathhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b83611d38803/My Childhood in a Cult | The New Yorker2019-05-06T21:43:44+00:00
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/06/my-childhood-in-a-cult
robertogrecochildhood cults belief school schooling identity 2019 children guinevereturnerhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b44b2f092b78/Entrevista a Gastón Soublette - Parte I: La Sabiduría Tradicional - YouTube2019-03-30T21:25:37+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac9pat0lrwY
robertogrecogastónsoublette chile history mapuche science education philosophy culture religion civilization future art music tradition oraltradition oral orality diegoportales improvisation wisdom mexico precolumbian inca maya aztec quechua literature epics araucaria aesthetics transcendentalism myths myth arthistory 2015 perú learning belief christianityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e5cdc607bd7e/Reality — Still Processing — Overcast2019-02-02T23:57:57+00:00
https://overcast.fm/+Jm3lo5HCE
robertogrecojennawortham wesleymorris reality perception belief 2019 canonhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:076b7e6224d0/DAVID GRAEBER / The Revolt of the Caring Classes / 2018 - YouTube2018-05-13T04:13:14+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-WWw1wydwI
robertogrecodavidgraeber care caring teaching nursing economics capitalism labor work employment compensation resentment bullshitjobs finance politics policy us uk workingclass intellectuals intellectualism society manufacturing management jobs liberalism values benefits nobility truth beauty charity nonprofit highered highereducation activism humanrights os occupywallstreet opportunity revolution revolt hollywood military misery productivity creation creativity maintenance gender production reproduction socialsciences proletariat wagelabor wage salaries religion belief discipline maintstreamleft hospitals freedom play teachers parenting mothers education learning unions consumption anarchism spontaneity universalbasicincome nonprofits ubihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5732da73b9fb/OCCULTURE: 52. John Michael Greer in “The Polymath” // Druidry, Storytelling & the History of the Occult2018-02-26T04:38:42+00:00
https://45minuteradiohour.libsyn.com/52-john-michael-greer-in-the-polymath-druidry-storytelling-the-history-of-the-occult
robertogreco2017 johnmichaelgreer druidry craft druids polymaths autodidacts learning occulture occult ryanpeverly celts druidrevival history spirituality thedivine nature belief dogma animism practice life living myths mythology stories storytelling wisdom writing howwewrite editing writersblock criticism writer'sblock self-criticism creativity schools schooling television tv coelbrenalphabet 1980s ronaldreagan sustainability environment us politics lies margaretthatcher oraltradition books reading howweread howwelearn unschooling deschooling facetime social socializing cardgames humans human humanism work labor boredom economics society suffering misery trapped progress socialmedia computing smarthphones bullshitjobs shinto talismans amulets sex christianity religion atheism scientism mainstream counterculture magic materialism enlightenment delusion judgement contemplation imitation fundamentalism hate knowledge boardgameshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3c856aa4cd42/OCCULTURE: 66. Gordon White in “Breaking Kayfabe” // Ursula Le Guin, Dragons & the Story Shape of the 21st Century2018-02-25T22:54:48+00:00
https://45minuteradiohour.libsyn.com/66-gordon-white-in-breaking-kayfabe-ursula-le-guin-dragons-the-story-shape-of-the-21st-century
robertogrecogordonwhite fiction fantasy novels art makingart magic myth mythology belief creativity ryanpeverly nonfiction stories storytelling change homer bible truth ursulaleguin 2018 occulture westernthought carljung josephcampbell starwars culture biology nature reality heroesjourney potency archetypes dragons odyssey anthropology ernestodimartino religion christianity flow taoism artmagic artasmagic magicofart permaculture plants housemagic love death jung theodysseyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7c50e51fa545/OCCULTURE: 67. Carl Abrahamsson & Mitch Horowitz in “Occulture (Meta)” // Anton LaVey, Real Magic & the Nature of the Mind2018-02-25T19:40:38+00:00
https://45minuteradiohour.libsyn.com/67-carl-abrahamsson-mitch-horowitz-in-occulture-meta-anton-lavey-spiritual-migration-re-enchanting-the-mind-0
robertogrecocarlabrahamsson mitchhorowitz occult culture occulture magic belief mind ouijaboard astrology mindfulness buddhism religion academia antonlavey materialism mainstream intellectualism elitism mindbodyspirit 2018 esotericism authority norms nuance change enlightenment popculture science humanities socialsciences medicine conservatism churches newage cosmology migration california hippies meaning psychology siliconvalley ingenuity human humans humannature spirituality openmindedness nature urbanization urban nyc us society santería vodou voodoo voudoun climate light davidlynch innovation population environment meaningmaking mikenesmith californianideology thought thinking philosophy hoodoo blackmetal norway beauty survival wholeperson churchofsatan satanism agency ambition mysticism self stories storytelling mythology humanism beinghuman surrealism cv repetition radicalism myths history renaissance fiction fantasy reenchantment counterculture consciousness highered highereducation cynicism inquiry realitytelehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:692c5cfe217e/How storybook lessons impart scholastic success | University of California2018-01-22T02:25:34+00:00
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-storybook-lessons-impart-scholastic-success
robertogrecous mexico china stories children classideas education parenting society culture 2018 ceciliacheung achievement humility respect belief beliefs motivation behavior literature childrensbooks learning hardwork competence self-esteem books storybooks effort perseverance schools schoolperformance comparison intelligence determination sfsh happiness socialcompetence childrensliteraturehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:a2b1009e4cc8/stabra (I am writing you from the future to remind you to...)2018-01-21T19:32:52+00:00
http://stabra.tumblr.com/post/156611897878/i-am-writing-you-from-the-future-to-remind-you-to
robertogrecovi:fantasylla alexispaulinegumbs socialjustice utopia resistance life living change changemaking belief history sameness difference reality revolution activismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:bb68eb14a956/My Grandmother’s Shroud - The New York Times2017-07-18T20:39:59+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/magazine/my-grandmothers-shroud.html
robertogreco2017 tejucole photography death memory nigeria aging relationships hajj islam purpose grief mourning grieving customs objects textiles immigration us policy connection families tolerance religion acceptance mecca eternity belief spirituality burial life living change transformation talismanshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:65ed6356b37e/Cassandra Plays the Stock Market | Quiet Babylon2017-07-04T03:56:20+00:00
http://quietbabylon.com/2017/cassandra-plays-the-stock-market/
robertogrecotimmaly future futurism speculation cassandra 2017 fraud kazysvarnelis robertsumrell gigurdjieff belief criticalthinking allies persuasion speculativefutures predictionshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1439d98ae08c/Half-Full of Grace - Los Angeles Review of Books2017-06-27T03:30:34+00:00
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/half-full-grace/
robertogreco“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
– James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
I live in Los Angeles. I am a screenwriter.
Being a screenwriter in Los Angeles is like being on a perpetual second date with everyone you know. You strive to be your most charming, delightful, quirky-but-not-damaged self because you never know what will come of the encounter. Maybe it’s just a coffee. Maybe it’s the coffee that leads to a job. Maybe it’s the job that leads to a series. Maybe you’ll get career-married and make career-babies. Who knows! So, you wear flattering jeans and an expensive, casual shirt, and you smile.
This is not such a bad life. Compared to other lives that I have lived, it is, frankly, an awesome one. I am very, very happy being a screenwriter in Los Angeles, particularly in the current age of Peak TV. It’s a marvelous gig that I am grateful for.
But being on a perpetual second date can get exhausting. Constantly feeling that you should be meeting people, impressing people, shocking people (just the right amount) is a strange way to live your life. And one of the reasons that I go to church is that church is the opposite of that.
I do not impress anyone at church. I do not say anything surprising or charming, because the things I say are rote responses that someone else decided on centuries ago. I am not special at church, and this is the point. Because (according to the ridiculous, generous, imperfectly applied rules of my religion) we are all equally beloved children of God. We are all exactly the same amount of special. The things that I feel proud of can’t help me here, and the things that I feel embarrassed by are beside the point. I’m a person but, for 60 minutes, I’m not a personality.
Another thing that I value: When I go to church in Los Angeles, I am a white person in a majority nonwhite space. In a city that’s an oxymoronic 70 percent minority, that shouldn’t be a special occurrence, but it is. Even more special is that I have come with no particular agenda. I have not come to teach or volunteer or try a new (to me) cuisine or inhabit a new (to me) neighborhood. I have not even come to act as an “ally.” I have come to sit next to people, well aware of all we don’t have in common, and face together in the same direction. Halfway through church, I turn to the congregants next to me and share the peace. I wish that they experience peace in their lives. That’s it. They wish the same for me. Our words are identical. Our need for peace is infinite.
Church is a group of broken individuals united only by our brokenness traveling together to ask to be fixed. It’s like a subway car. It’s like the DMV. It’s like The Wizard of Oz: we are each missing something, and there is a man in a flowing robe whom we trust to hand that something over.
(And I know — I know — that the problem with this metaphor is that, in The Wizard of Oz, there wasn’t actually anyone with magical powers behind the curtain. I get it.)
But church is not just about how I feel or whom I’m surrounded by. It’s about faith. This part is harder for me to explain.
¤
“You pray for the hungry, then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.”
– Pope Francis (at least, according to Pinterest)
I like being Catholic because long ago, people who were smarter than me and thought about it much longer than I have time to figured out what I’m supposed to believe. All I have to do is show up and recite a long list that starts with “I believe” and ends with the title of a Mountain Goats album. Whether I actually believe all the stuff about Jesus and Mary and Light from Light, true God from true God varies. Most of the time, I do, I think. Sometimes I don’t.
The single most annoying thing a nonreligious person can say, in my opinion, isn’t that religion is oppressive or that religious people are brainwashed. It’s the kind, patronizing way that nonreligious people have of saying, “You know, sometimes I wish I were religious. I wish I could have that certainty. It just seems so comforting never to doubt things.”
Well, sometimes I wish I had the certainty of an atheist. I wish I could be positive that there was no God and that Sundays were for brunch. That dead people stayed dead and prayer was useless and Jesus was nothing more than a really great teacher.
But I believe too much, at least sometimes, to be certain about that. Sometimes I feel like I believe almost everything the church teaches and sometimes I feel like I believe almost nothing, but if I’m anywhere from one to 99 percent on the belief scale, my response is the same. If it’s more than zero, I should go to church.
I do not find religion to be comforting in the way that I think nonreligious people mean it. I do not believe that everything in my life will necessarily be all right and I certainly do not believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that whatever kind of God exists is the kind of God who can’t or won’t interfere every time humans decide to do horrible things to each other, because humans are clearly doing terrible things to each other every day and show very few signs of stopping.
It is not comforting to know quite as much as I do about how weaselly and weak-willed I am when it comes to being as generous as Jesus demands. Thanks to church, I have a much stronger sense of the sort of person I would like to be, and I am forced to confront all the ways in which I fail, daily. Nothing promotes self-awareness like turning down an opportunity to bring children to visit their incarcerated parents. Or avoiding shifts at the food bank. Or calculating just how much I will put in the collection basket. Thanks to church, I have looked deeply into my own heart and found it to be of merely small-to-medium size. None of this is particularly comforting.
Which is not to say there aren’t parts of church that are comforting. It is comforting, for instance, to sing songs in a group. Singing alongside other people is a basic human pleasure that extends back across time and culture, and it’s a shame to me that many adult Americans only experience it before baseball games. The songs that we sing in church are many of the same post-Vatican II songs I grew up singing. They sound like they should be on Sesame Street circa 1970, and I unabashedly adore them. It is comforting to loudly sing something that has little to no redeeming aesthetic value.
It is comforting to pray. Even without full knowledge or understanding of how the prayer will be received, it is comforting to offer up one’s wishes for the world. In a time of stress and anxiety and distrust, it is comforting to be direct about what a possible alternative would look like. Someone leads the prayers every week at church and the kinds of things we pray for are both straightforward (an end to the death penalty; a living wage for all workers; safe homes for refugees; care for the planet and its climate) and very difficult to achieve, which makes them ideal subjects for prayer.
When I think about any of these things outside of church, my blood pressure skyrockets and I go into a mild panic attack. When I pray about them in church, I feel like I am doing a tiny bit to help.
Thought about with even a smidgen of rationality, prayer makes no sense. If you asked me point blank what I believe about how God picks and chooses among petitions ranging from new sneakers to the stopping of genocide, I would stammer incoherently. I would tell you, I suppose, that God has some sort of triage system that I can’t figure out, but also that anyone who wants to should pray for anything they want — why not? It seems presumptuous to self-censor our prayers for fear they are not worthy of His time. If anyone is able to structure His time efficiently, it ought to be God.
I would also tell you that, when facing a medical difficulty in one of my pregnancies to which doctors responded, “wait and see,” I asked the priest at church to put his hands on my belly and pray. I would tell you that my best friend asked her church in Indiana to pray for my pregnancy, too, and the thought of a bunch of people sending their wishes for my potential child into the air still moves me more than I know what to do with.
I don’t know if the feeling I get when I think about this is God.
I do know that I want it to be.
¤
“We say
pinhole.
A pin hole
of light. We
can’t imagine
how bright
more of it
could be,
the way
this much
defeats night.
It almost
isn’t fair,
whoever
poked this,
with such
a small act
to vanquish
blackness.”
– Kay Ryan, “Pinhole”
Church isn’t an escape from the world. It’s a continuation of it. My family and I don’t go to church to deny the existence of the darkness. We to go to look so hard at the light that our eyes water."]]>dorothyfortenberry religion belief tradition ritual 2017 church catholicism jamesbaldwin popefrancisescape existence life livinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:64737e109286/Second Sight - The New Yorker2017-06-14T03:55:31+00:00
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/second-sight
robertogrecotejucole 2017 margins edges attention regularity everyday irregularity visibility invisibility acceptance belief vision photography borders liminalspaces perception brevity ephemerality adjustment adaptability disability stability mobility verticality body bodies contingency sign pictures ads images advertising between betweenness stimuli liminality ephemeral disabilitieshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ac2d7d207af9/Mookie Wilson’s Logic About Getting Out Of A Slump By Believing In Dinosaurs Is The Best Advice Ever Given - Barstool Sports2017-05-30T01:01:36+00:00
http://www.barstoolsports.com/newyork/mookie-wilsons-logic-about-getting-out-of-a-slump-by-believing-in-dinosaurs-is-the-best-advice-ever-given/
robertogrecodinosaurs baseball mookiewilson 1986 beliefhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cf7b74f7d8c3/The Snarling Girl | Hazlitt2017-04-09T19:36:06+00:00
http://hazlitt.net/longreads/snarling-girl
robertogrecoelisaalbert writing belief 2017 literature purpose books notebooks care caring emotionallabor whatmatters feminism audience small slow ambition standardization mayaangelou patriarchy liberation recognition success mastery accomplishment sideeffects unintendedconsequences striving humility winninghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d62f447ca74c/Once a fearsome murderer invaded a Zen master’s home2017-01-21T19:12:09+00:00
http://seanmichaelmorris.com/once-a-fearsome-murderer-invaded-a-zen-masters-home/
robertogrecoI am convinced that no education intending to be at the service of the beauty of the human presence in the world, at the service of seriousness and ethical rigor, of justice, of firmness of character, of respect for differences...can fulfill itself in the absence of the dramatic relationship between authority and freedom. It is a tense and dramatic relationship in which both authority and freedom, while fully living out their limits and possibilities, learn, almost without respite, to take responsibility for themselves as authority and freedom...
The freedom that derives from learning, early on, how to build internal authority by introjecting the external one, is the freedom that lives out its possibility fully. Possibility derives from lucidly and ethically assuming limits, not from fearfully and blindly obeying them." (p.9-10) [emphases mine]
In other words, agency doesn’t so much exert itself upon others as it does float within the intersection of freedom and authority. Enacting one’s agency is always a balancing act between doing what is within your understanding of your own power and working with the boundaries of others’ understandings of theirs. It is a cooperative, chemical interaction. Freedom delimited by others’ freedoms delimited by yours.
In a classroom, this means that authority remains present. Sometimes, the authority of the teacher; but in the best situation, the shared authority of the group of learners (and the teacher). In the theatre of national politics, the agency of the president is limited by the needs of the people. This is not a system of checks and balances, though. A system of checks and balances assumes certain people have power over other certain people in specific circumstances. That’s a relationship of negotiation at best, manipulation at worst; and it’s a relationship of power.
Donald Trump doesn’t understand agency. He doesn’t understand that his will should be limited by the freedoms of others. He is not humane. He is not considerate. He is not wise. These are not the qualifications of every president, but they are the aspiration. No, they are the expectation. Yet no one expects consideration, humanity, or wisdom from Donald Trump. On both sides of the voting population, we expect rudeness, cruelty, and anti-intellectualism. This would mystify me if I didn’t recognize at least one source for this disappointing position.
For many reasons, I openly blame our current education system for the result of the election and the demise of the American president. To start, I am a critic of education, working within and outside the system to draw attention to its flaws; and therefore, the failings of the system are almost always foremost in my mind. Additionally, I have seen an alarming (deeply alarming, like finding out your child has run away from home alarming) reduction in the value of critical thinking in schools. This reduction runs parallel to an increasing emphasis on retention of information as a measure of “mastery.” I have met more than one college student and college graduate who love teachers who tell them what will be on the test, who ply rubrics to narrow the deviation from the norm, and who lecture, asking very little in the way of participation from students in the suscitation of their own education.
Education today assesses student knowledge based on their ability to repeat back. Questioning, criticizing, looking for wisdom past the usual authority—these are rare activities indeed. Even a class on creative writing—presumably a subject that grows from a student’s own subjectivity—can have rubrics, right and wrong answers, multiple choice tests.
We should want and demand more. This is not what education is meant to be. As John Holt reminds us:
Next to the right to life itself, the most fundamental of all human rights is the right to control our own minds and thoughts. That means the right to decide for ourselves how we will explore the world around us, think about our own and other persons’ experiences, and find and make the meaning of our own lives. (4)
This is the right of agency. It does not give us power over another, but it gives us mastery over ourselves. And an education that does not encourage or facilitate this agency is not an education. An education that convinces us of what needs to be known, what is important versus what is frivolous, is not an education. It’s training at best, conscription at worst. And all it prepares us to do is to believe what we’re told.
American education has worked tirelessly since the time of Skinner to make the American mind into a cipher. And when the American mind became a cipher, the Kardashians became model citizens, and Donald Trump rising up to silence the American presidency became an inevitability.
Change the way you teach."]]>seanmichaelmorris agency power control johnholt paulofreire choice criticalthinking authority rubrics creativity questioning criticism education learning teaching howweteach sfsh obedience freedom community cooperation collaboration checksandbalances government donaldtrump us relationships rotelearning humanism canon humanrights thinking unschooling deschooling cv beliefhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7062fb71ce96/Can religion be based on ritual practice without belief? | Aeon Essays2016-09-20T06:12:29+00:00
https://aeon.co/essays/can-religion-be-based-on-ritual-practice-without-belief
robertogrecojapan religion secularism tradition philosophy belief 2016 religiosity buddhism shintoism christopherkavanaghhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:01ddb7d5d0c9/Cornel West on state of race in the U.S.: "We're in bad shape" - CBS News2016-03-21T18:05:31+00:00
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-cornel-west-on-race-in-the-u-s/
robertogrecocornelwest barackobama race 2016 via:ablerism love activism socialjustice blacklivesmatter generations inequality values nylefort jamesbrown cliftonwest eddieglaude decency virtue callousness indifference greed avarice jazz suffering humanism abrahamjoshuaheschel life living legacy religion belief ferguson racialjustice racism civildisobedience wallstreet intellectualism intellect curiosity poverty policy language malcolmx frederickdouglass rage indignation civilrights johncoltrane wisdom smartness sacrifice conformism sarahvaughanhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:dcc46d45100e/The Meming of Life » Santa Claus – The Ultimate Dry Run Parenting Beyond Belief on secular parenting and other natural wonders2015-10-21T13:13:11+00:00
http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/blog/?p=3507
robertogreco2007 dalemcgowan parenting belief santaclaus skepticism inquiry children criticalthinkinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:31e60c677961/How Will We Live? | NEXT Network2015-10-04T07:51:40+00:00
http://nextconf.eu/2015/10/keynote-how-will-we-live/
robertogrecoanabjain superflux 2015 future surveillance amazon mortality selfies death futures futurism speculativefiction designfiction confirmationbias news selectiveexposure sensemaking belief information filterbubbles cognitivedissonance officesupplies globalwarming justification trends trendwatching shopping social amazonprime socialization habits feedbackloops chunking routines patents algorithms siri agency internetofthings iot tracking datacollection data behavior humans smarthomes ethics empowerment drones business disruption china bigdata power systemsthinking policing lawenforcement socialmedia stereotypes static99 politics government prediction anonymity forgetting archives datakarma dystopia technology ideals marketing affordances society culture refugees syria whatsapp messaging communication facebook internet web online worldchanging inclusion inclusivity diversity plurality hope values climatechange inlcusivityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5b21a03111aa/more than 95 theses - frequently unobserved distinctions2015-06-27T17:13:37+00:00
http://ayjay.tumblr.com/post/122595740803/frequently-unobserved-distinctions
robertogrecoalanjacobs law legal constitution courts christianity belief religion society legislation 2015https://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:026b12bccb46/True Myth: A Conversation With Sufjan Stevens | Pitchfork2015-03-28T10:45:12+00:00
http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9595-true-myth-a-conversation-with-sufjan-stevens/
robertogrecosufjanstevens music belief christianity religion 2015 via:nicolefenton faithhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6718a78a87fc/The friendly atheists next door - CNN.com2015-03-25T08:24:49+00:00
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/03/living/friendly-atheists-next-door/
robertogrecoreligion atheism us 2015 catholicism secularism beliefhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3672d4d11e1b/What scares the new atheists | John Gray | World news | The Guardian2015-03-12T05:33:32+00:00
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists
robertogrecojohngray atheism culture 2015 via:anne religion belief values liberalism christianityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6a9955c8e65a/Experts and the corruption of truth! | Metaquestions2015-03-06T04:56:52+00:00
http://metaquestions.me/2014/10/12/experts-and-the-corruption-of-truth/
robertogrecoexperts via:Taryn 2015 truth math science mathematics scientificmethod unlearning learning certainty uncertainty understanding belief unknowns limits davidirvinehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2a9375263e4e/Mary Oliver — Listening to the World | On Being2015-02-10T20:01:45+00:00
http://onbeing.org/program/mary-oliver-listening-to-the-world/7267
robertogrecomaryoliver onbeing wisdom poetry 2015 poems writing place religion rumi spirituality life living howwewrite discipline creativity language process staugustine attention reporting empathy fieldguides clarity death god belief cancer kindness goodness nature prayer loneliness imagination geese animals slow posthumanismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:83de14de7517/what what. (Science is much closer to myth than a scientific...)2015-02-09T22:37:29+00:00
http://plsj.tumblr.com/post/106472887098/science-is-much-closer-to-myth-than-a-scientific
robertogrecooaulfeyerabend method science scientism myth philosophy ideology religion beliefhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5fde28f3437b/Believing that life is fair makes you a terrible person | Oliver Burkeman | Comment is free | The Guardian2015-02-05T20:08:39+00:00
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/feb/03/believing-that-life-is-fair-might-make-you-a-terrible-person
robertogrecopsychology oliverburkeman via:anne fairness injustice victimblaming violence poverty discrimination suffering policy politics individualism religion libertarianism belief nicholashune-brown melvynlerner carolynsimmonshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8590cb10f979/Icelandic Author Sjón on Myths and Crackpot Theories - Publishing Perspectives2014-12-25T22:11:22+00:00
http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/10/icelandic-author-sjon-on-myths-and-crackpot-theories/
robertogrecosjón narrative iceland myths mythology literature storytelling belief myth 2011https://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f93bd01170f5/Sjón & Hari Kunzru — Work in Progress — Medium2014-12-25T17:46:10+00:00
https://medium.com/work-in-progress/sjon-hari-kunzru-3e3f40e2a6b5
robertogrecosjón iceland harikunzru 2013 interviews literature poetry davidbowie surrealism writing escapism punk reality björk fantasy fiction nature myth mythology trickster greekmyths obsessions ideas cosmologies perspective science learning unlearning relearning collaboration translation howwewrite language icelandic loki faith belief anthropology hunting geology animals folklore folktales precarity life living mythshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:364091108ce3/Time After Time | Lapham’s Quarterly2014-10-19T05:42:57+00:00
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/time/time-after-time
robertogrecotime atemporality 2014 johncrowley staugustine presentism present future past calendars eternalism memory sacredtime relgion beliefhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:643df5b607f9/I Believe in the After-Life — Medium2014-10-07T09:31:17+00:00
https://medium.com/@kesterbrewin/i-believe-in-the-after-life-cd5ab947b231
robertogrecodeath belief afterlife 2014 simoncritchley nichughes grace self simoneweil decreation love mortality resurrection memory existence kesterbrewinhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6e43bfb55bdd/