Pinboard (robertogreco)
https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/public/
recent bookmarks from robertogrecoThe Retweeting Class2026-06-23T09:58:59+00:00
https://berjon.com/rt/
robertogrecohowwewrite twitter thinking howwethink robinberjon criticalthinking timothymorton conversation llms automation friction debate seriousness nicolashénin elonmusk retweeting socialmedia internet web online substance blocklists tedunderwood blueskyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f36105a0af1c/How talking to strangers can make us happier - The Washington Post2026-05-28T07:08:56+00:00
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/05/19/how-talking-strangers-can-make-us-happier/
robertogrecosocialconnection 2026 strangers talktostrangers conversation maggiepenman nickepley talking social socializinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:faef0794da3a/Faro Cafe2026-05-05T15:48:33+00:00
https://thefarocafe.com/
robertogrecocambridge cafes coffeeshops slow leisure artleisure leisurearts productivity resistance connection attention presence consumerism repair community art deliberateness conversation local neighborhoods laptop-freecafes thoreauhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:68bbabae0edd/Welcoming the Shadow Brother - Front Porch Republic2026-03-10T07:24:27+00:00
https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/03/welcoming-the-shadow-brother/
robertogrecomellivatino introversion introverts extroversion extroverts small slow 2026 travel relationships living life howwelive timothyferris humanity beauty listening looking seeing observation local waltwhitman emilydickinson josefkoudelka renémagritte art photography jamiewyeth georgiao'keefe writing howwewrite attention conversation bertrandrussell josephconradhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f0f299548bf8/AI isn’t merely bad at writing. It does not and cannot write | Aeon Videos2026-02-20T05:40:29+00:00
https://aeon.co/videos/ai-isnt-merely-bad-at-writing-it-does-not-and-cannot-write
robertogrecoai artificialintelligence llms chatgpt writing howwewrite videoessays gertrudestein stephenking teaching howweteach edtech technology maxteeth language communication policy joshwithparenthesis modernism ernesthemingway fscottfitzgerald sinclairlewis thorntonwilder jamesjoyce ezrapound nonsense poetry poems decoding keatonpatti lingusitics meaning meaningmaking understanding titosantana autocomplete linguistics tenderbuttons connection human humanism humans openai literature humanexperience consciousness perception experience subjectivity humansubjectivity plagiarism mashups recombinance remixing milesdavis lcdsoundsystem media mediamixing kleptones dangermouse macglocky cubism lasmeninas picasso velázquez recombination variation thinking howwethink education humanunderstanding criticalthinking context confusion playfulness 2025 notice turingtest personhood senses sensoryperception feeling feelings logic algortihms victorhugo lesmisérables damienowens onelsaymore brainrot intention conversation barbaraehhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:906a8da3152e/Seeing Deeply Being Deeply Seen - by Scott Paterson2026-02-16T03:21:03+00:00
https://possibilityhours.substack.com/p/seeing-deeply-being-seen
robertogrecoscottpaterson 2026 seeing waysofseeing attention davidbrooks anaisnin anaïsnin perception conversation listening interestedness empathyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b6841bef3cb1/👀🌷📼 Something beautiful is happening with old YouTube videos2026-02-16T01:44:16+00:00
https://newpublic.substack.com/p/something-beautiful-is-happening
robertogrecoyoutube comments commenting conversation 2026 jessicafurseth memory bulletinboards joshkramer nostalgia music socialmedia enshittification platforms bigtech kylechayka brendangahan internet web online howwewrite writing nilaypatel messages messaging anonymoud disinhibition disinhibitioneffect meanness shitposting 2023 algorithms chiaamisola alexandraciufudean self-expression storytelling curiosity interest beautyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:82f1af69eeb2/Achieving independence for the sake of mutual interdependence2026-02-16T01:37:22+00:00
https://connectivetissue.substack.com/p/achieving-independence-for-the-sake
robertogreco2026 conviviality ivanillich society lewismumford hanaharendt jacquesellul technology institutions convivialtools freedom modernity hospitality humanism scale imagination autonomy independence interdependence mutualaid burial death dying deschoolingsociety deschooling education schools schooling unschooling competency tools gps navigation place local scalability memory flourishing celebration conversation life living craiggray values neilpostman marshallmcluhan walterong agency existence simoneweil philosophy witness thomashughes ai artificialintelligence generativeai inevitability efficiency optimization productivity josephweizenbaum amish ecosystems luddism neoluddism luddites neoluddites community individualism communitarianism gkchesterson turingtest humans human humannature skill depth capacity douglasrushkoff neigborliness trust lmsacasas genaihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2dcf68a54905/Long Walks2026-01-25T21:51:43+00:00
https://www.artforum.com/features/long-walks-208841/
robertogreco1980 art walking nancyfoote ideas abstraction senses aimlessness expediency chatting conversation consciousness richardlong williamhazlitt hilairebelloc flanno'brien thoreau robertlouisstevenson artforum nature temporary experience installations peterhurchinson foraging cycles time slow spirals circles samueljohnson pilgrimage landscape 1970shttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:40a33c6c7688/Against Babel: Or, How to Talk to Strangers - Public Books2026-01-17T04:26:25+00:00
https://www.publicbooks.org/against-babel-or-how-to-talk-to-strangers/
robertogrecoNeedless to say, the language of a People conceived as monolith needs to disavow the ineluctably shared histories and futures of speech and writing, which deposit themselves in linguistic resources representing a treasury of exchange impossible to shut down: a perpetual transmutation taking place in the ungovernable work of ears, mouths, and hands absorbing and passing on difference.
Difference, not an anachronistic Eden of similarity, is the indubitable protagonist of Scappettone’s story. Approaching the poetic traditions and artistic practices of fugitives, waywards, and exiles, from Etel Adnan to LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Scappettone retells not the story of Babel but the story of the Pentecost: wherein Christ’s followers, inspired by the divine spirit—“inspired” in the literal sense of “breathed into”—are suddenly able to speak languages foreign to them.
The Pentecost does not repair Babel but redrafts it, placing an antidote for our separation and noncommunication back in the hands of those who believe and care enough to speak beyond sameness: poets. Guided by the potential of xenoglossy—the spontaneous knowledge of an unlearned language—Scappettone’s book gathers near-magical moments of people producing works intelligible to those othered to them. These achievements, Scappettone notes, are not because of a myth of shared descent, but because of the possibility of their shared occupation of a homeland, enacted not through the state but through experience, performance, and poetics.
Thus, Poetry After Barbarism might be an inaugural bid at a philology without Babel. Scappettone’s book embraces Ahmed’s impossible invitation for language study to not repair through shared heritage or reform through shared futurity, but instead to regenerate legibility, refuse the pure, reembrace the gift of the unknown. Our new guiding myth, I take it, must be the Pentecost. We must live not at the moment of our scattering but at the moment of our spontaneous, and earned, remembrance. Importantly, though, Scappettone makes clear her work is not originary but collectivizing: it brings under a shared light generations of language workers before her, including an impressive chapter on the Italian philologist that undrapes a disciplinary tradition of antifascist praxis.
In this, Scappettone offers the ultimate rejoinder to both Auerbach and Said. To her, it is not enough that our philological home is the earth. In fact, our language—our home—must also be planetary and cosmic, escaping the entrapments that make an internationalized earth just another vestige of the state.
We need not see ourselves as scattered halves looking to be made whole by a return to a unified state. Escaping Babel’s haunt, it’s possible to see—xenoglossically—our bodies, our histories, our languages as complete in themselves. The task remains, then, to extend care, humanity, solidarity, and life, to tongues—and people—outside of the trajectories inscribed by our protos; to raze the language tree that dictates our cultural debt and our naturalized nations; and to reinvest in living with, and living for, difference."]]>anthropology religion language languages babel 2026 aditirao philiology linguistics williamjones communication conversation tradition imperialism racescience sirajahmed identity jenniferscappettone lauraspinney humanity ericjauerbach shoah literature edwardsaid mnairesaid antinationalism nationalism humanism humanities lioneltrilling columbia antizionism georgesteiner sheldonpllock daviddamrosch benjaminelman eurocentrism global globalnorth israel yevgenyprigozhin eteladnan latashanevadadiggshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5c78e7889048/The Yale Review | Dan Fox: “What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh”2025-12-30T20:28:24+00:00
https://yalereview.org/article/dan-fox-learning-welsh
robertogrecolanguage welsh wales 2025 languagelearning learning conversation bilingualism england uk history song music lullabies melancholy sound memory memories inheritance culture translation nationalism languages saunderslewis resistance colonialism colonization tradition rhodgilbert duolingo context johnlecarré friendship connection saysomethingin languageacquisiton howwelearn discoveryhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5600d8191a8c/What People Actually Use ChatGPT For With Gerrit De Vynck- Better Offline - Apple Podcasts2025-11-24T19:13:15+00:00
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-people-actually-use-chatgpt-for-with-gerrit-de-vynck/id1730587238?i=1000737541296
robertogrecovia:javierarbona ai artificialintelligence chatgpt openai 2025 edzitron gerritdevynck conspiracytheories pscychologies algorithms psychosis sycophancy chatbots psychology conspiracies behavior search conversation radicalization youtube fringe monstersinc google technology bigtech health healthcare medicine maga donaldtrump trumpism antiwoke moralhazards socialmedia facebook llms livestreaming platforms moderation information seach misinformation delusion falsehoodshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:afe68a5ee6f1/Against Brainrot — how to read & write more online - YouTube2025-11-17T19:36:45+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LnHruJPPsY
robertogrecocelinenguyen jasminesun art literacy literature technooptimism siliconvalley optimism contrarianism ai artificialintelligence progress culture media technology internet web online substack socalmedia literarycriticism humanities philosophy compsci walterbenjamin specialization howweread howwewrite karlmarx dialecticalmaterialism davidharvey reading education learning howwelearn criticaltheory stanford communication access accessibility sensemaking makingsense generalists lingo translation jargon ideology worldview disruption information knowledge abstraction decontextualization algorithms amateurs research amateurism zeyneptufekci extremism context discovery writing geography radicalization venkateshrao consciousness metrics analytics socialmedia discourse conversation attention creativity forums hierarchy llms slop aislop economics ecosystems commercialart culturalproduction publishing excesshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b841824b184c/The Idea of the Nation-State Is Synonymous With Genocide | The Nation2025-11-09T03:56:06+00:00
https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/mahmood-mamdani-nation-state-interview/
robertogreco2024 mahmoodmamdani nationstates states politics nationbuilding nations gaza palestine homelan genocide ethniccleansing franciswade 1972 uganda idiamin us settlercolonialism settlement settlements nativeamericans indigeneity indigenous sudan holocaust stateviolence benjaminnetanyahu violence israel johnlocke hamas operationalaqsaflood zionism antizionism antisemitism christianity conversation treatyofwestphalia nartionalism ethnonationalism tanzania judahmagnes 1990s edwardsaid 1960s hannaharendt arabs frenchrevolution mizrahim diversityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:55945c097c01/How AI Will Translate Human Creativity as Sci-Fi and Reality Converge | The Futurology Podcast - YouTube2025-11-04T18:43:57+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ZR9-y4ik8
robertogrecokenliu nilsgilman ai artificialintelligence creativity human humans humanism sciencefiction scifi art audience humanity emotion language communication biography emotions storytelling vladimirnabokov conversation orality rephrasings writing howwewrite dictionaries linguistics llms context consciousness meaning meaningmaking creativewriting translation ursulakleguin ursulaleguin coding feeling legal law legalwriting process voice style ernesthemingway hemingway fiction speculativefiction technology futurism stories dreams interiority unconscious reality collectiveunconscious science frankenstein maryshelley myth fantasy mythology photography film filmmaking cinema thoughts cinematograph georgesméliès noematograph augustelumière louislumière movement lumièrebrothers history narrative though subjectivity machinelearning participation participatory mediation affordances sociability personalization proteinfolding metaphysics metaphor simulation embodiment self existence text languange adaptation intehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1f8320e98f9e/Partita for Ghost Ladder and Insect Eyes2025-10-18T05:48:48+00:00
https://pablohelguera.substack.com/p/partita-for-ghost-ladder-and-insect
robertogrecoart javiertoscano danielawolf lourdesmorales gabriellagómez-mont fronteracorozal chiapas mexico guatemala lacandon border borders marjorieperloff witrgenstein compasses language poetry scaffolding experience thought action aníballópez bubunegrón miguelventura documentary understanding comprehension labor museums markets intentions process production product lygiaclark taniabruguera happenings artmaking permanence impermanenece via:laure arteútil utility objects relationalobjects acts pedagogy value authorship existence work howwework artleisure leisurearts interpretation ladders inquiry artifact ownership inventory economics social mediation audience activation conversation learning howwelearn sense sensemaking jamesjoyce fugue absence manners impalpability instruction pablohelguera allankaprow compass makingsensehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d3a908173685/What would it mean if we were able to ‘speak’ with whales? | Aeon Videos2025-10-16T17:05:55+00:00
https://aeon.co/videos/what-would-it-mean-if-we-were-able-to-speak-with-whales
robertogrecowhales cetaceans 1950s us surveillance coldwar audio recordings jannalevin davidgruber 2025 projectceti translation joyreidenberg biology animals wildlife nature multispecies morethanhuman human-animalrelations human-animalrelationships conversation conservation cetihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:35bccb0a74a4/Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI - The Rumpus2025-10-09T00:41:33+00:00
https://therumpus.net/2025/10/02/human-error-is-the-point-on-teaching-college-during-the-rise-of-ai/
robertogrecoseanchoa teaching howweteach colleges universities highered highereducation ai artificialintelligence messiness learning howwelearn listening error silence memory experience conversation presence knowing understanding explanation chatbots delay slow slowteaching attention friction efficiency optization canonhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:16d520fb12c8/Ursula Le Guin's Anarchist Alternative - YouTube2025-10-02T16:10:20+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r73s-YMcNTI
robertogrecoanarchism ursulaleguin 2025 alexisshotwell emmagoldman peterkropotkin anarresproject josephorosco futures philosophy thedispossesed utopia politics politicalphilosophy purity feminism gender race ethics angusmaguire jamesrowe sciencefiction scifi octaviabutler marionzimmerbradley robertheinlein activism buddhism omelas samueldelaney horizontality hierarchy hierarchies power williammorris erricomalatesta humannature mutualaid collectivity collectivism alexanderberjman taoism daoism imagination society exploitation misery horror odo nkjemisin relationships oppression critique speculativefiction anarres politcalphilosophy humans human property organizing anarcho-communism cooperation solidarity libertarianism nonownership capitalism anticapitalism sociability ammari comradeship kinship togetherness antoniogramsci vulnerability patriarchy humility charity difference deviance sameness individualism individuality kathrynnorlock stoicism murraybookchin unfinshed ongoingness staffordbeer lifestyle infrastructure insthttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fe77f9b848a5/from counterculture to cyberculture (ft. fred turner)2025-09-26T01:36:21+00:00
https://jasmi.news/p/from-counterculture-to-cyberculture
robertogrecofredturner jasminesun 2025 stewartbrand siliconvalley datingapps history markzuckerberg chappellroan mussolini hippies californianideology miliary vietnamwar humanities teaching howweteach benitomussolini toddgitlin newleft berkeley marissavio newcommunalists haight-ashbury thehaight politics psychedelics lsd janisjoplin left escape communalism sharedconsciousness computers computing technology military vietnam 1960s 1970s wiredmagazine buckminsterfuller decentralization hierarchy hierarchies geodesicdome bureaucracy individualism counterculture burningman design liberation kenkesey apple wholeearthcatalog tescreal immateriality class war singularity singularitarianism transhumanism dematerialization online internet web abstraction disembodiment combat bodies veterans iraq iraqwar militaryindustrialcomplex stanford italianfuturists italianfuturism futurism information godcomplex stevejobs cybernetics immaterial philosophy networks networkedthinking cyberculture google catalogs race segregation racism privilighttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:56ace5aeab77/Reclaiming Conversation in the Age of AI - by Sherry Turkle2025-08-29T19:49:37+00:00
https://www.afterbabel.com/p/reclaiming-conversation-age-of-ai
robertogrecosherryturkle ai artificialintelligence empathy human humanism neilpostman jonathanjait chatgpt openai erikerikson ericschmidt google conversation information conflict conflicts contradiction fear socialmedia news addiction division divisiveness siliconvalley apple facebook meta technology technologicaldeterminsm emmanuellevinas presence embodiment chatbots relationships intimacy introspcetion resilience resistance pandemic covid-19 coronavirus complexity community behaviorism generativeai genaihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8998448dd59b/Get Your Kid a Landline - The Atlantic2025-08-29T05:41:50+00:00
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/06/landline-kids-smartphone-alternative/683203/
robertogrecotelephones phones conviviality convivialtools 2025 rheanamurray smarthphone connection children landlines ivanillich communication suzannefischer robinsonmeyer toolsforconviviality technology conversation presencehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:339b1c55227f/Personalized AI is rerunning the worst part of social media's playbook2025-08-22T17:51:13+00:00
https://helentoner.substack.com/p/personalized-ai-social-media-playbook
robertogrecomirandabogen 2025 ai artificialintelligence socialmedia filterbubbles openai google chatgpt algorithms online internet web policy behavior profiling personalization prediciton incentives memory conversation xai grok twitter discrimination deception persuastion complexity safety governancehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2eb1974c4bc1/It's Beginning to Feel a Bit Like The Future | 2517 - thejaymo2025-07-05T16:51:57+00:00
https://thejaymo.net/2025/07/05/2517-its-beginning-to-feel-a-bit-like-the-future/
robertogrecojayspringett thejaymo y2k nostalgia modernity solarpunk vanessaandreotti dougladhine future julesverne brucesterling inequality 2025 1890s 2100 2000 victorians 1975 coletteshade 2008 greatrecession globalfinancialcrisis 2050 imagination ai artificialintelligence ar vr computing computers wireless housing homes climate climatechange environment globalwarming data dataprivacy privacy microplastics culture society living howwelive life being waysofbeing speculativefiction speculation speculativedesign starwars media fashion past present futurism scifi sciencefiction conversation mutualaid ethics possibilityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:20bd232ef67b/Vijay Iyer’s art of listening | Amplify with Lara Downes - YouTube2025-05-28T14:12:08+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKubRtKguv4
robertogrecovijayiyer 2025 music jazz laradownes creativity improvisation composition musicmaking performance spontaneity borders imagination conversation nationstates nations presence listening perfection collaboration alerness geography language emotion human humanism hearing communication focus life living socialconscience freedom children conviviality companionship personhood love audience defiance faith joy resistance wadadaleosmith breath energy desire purpose hierarchyofneeds abrahammaslowhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:0da3bdf059f9/Improve your life by embracing everyday, even mundane, conversations? Research says yes. | University of California2025-04-04T04:43:28+00:00
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/improve-your-life-embracing-everyday-even-mundane-conversations-research-says-yes
robertogrecoconversation everyday shellyleachman 2025 interactions communication andymerolla social sociality jeffreyhall variability relationshipshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3da81e297335/In praise of unruly children in church | The Christian Century2025-04-02T22:18:56+00:00
https://www.christiancentury.org/voices/praise-unruly-children-church
robertogreco2025 philchristman church churches children inquiry churchgoing christianity attention dissent boringness ageism agesegregation curiosity conversation parenting adultsupremacyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1ae40fc939c6/COMMUNIA 02: Educació i (falsa) innovació - Amb Marta Venceslao i Jordi Solé | CGT EN RED - YouTube2025-03-21T19:11:47+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y03qOqL0CuY
robertogrecomartavenceslao jordisolé 2025 education paulofreire modernschools ferrerschools franciscoferrer schools schooling pedagogy howweteach teaching catalonia cataluña brazil brasil history barcelonia worldbank politics radicalism anarchism anarchy alternative privatization democracy neoliberalism pilarcarrera eduardoluque spectacle class inequality society socialreproduction capitalism economics domination alienation obedience liberation freedom power control indoctrination labor work literacy criticalthinking learning howwelearn unesco competencies universities colleges academia highered highereducation assessment hannaharendt children adolescence youth resistance emergentcurriculum publicschools emergent elitism authoritarianism authority libraries conversation technology collectivism progressivism progressive johndewey responsibility participation participatory edutainment maríazambrano culture teachers screens digital neuroscience psychology screentime simoneweil attention edtech memorization repetitihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c912f5ad412c/🟧 Conversations are the new unit of culture - One Thing2025-03-18T18:38:10+00:00
https://onethingnewsletter.substack.com/p/conversations-are-the-new-unit-of
robertogrecokylechayka conversation human 2025 podcasts topeforalin joerogan gavinnewsom engagement interactivity passivity internet web online participation authenticity helievability truthfulness donaldtrump tv television video audio lexfridman karaswisher theovon shannonsharpe alexcooper callherdaddy journalism charlierose ezraklein vanlathan rachellindsay netflix johnstewart johnoliver lastweektonight thedailyshow polycrisis appletv platforms ai artificialintelligence crypto cryptocurrencies ukraine gaza palestine wwe cowboycarter tyla stephensmith manosphere culture society anxiety ambition understanding lukadončić jamellebouie media samafor live unscripted thewestwing succession gorevidal 1968 tiktok williamfbuckley softbank masayoshison cheguevara marxism truth abuse williamfbuckleyjrhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:290a42a778b7/Rilke and the art of listening as a way to shape the cosmos | Aeon Essays2025-01-31T17:55:34+00:00
https://aeon.co/essays/rilke-and-the-art-of-listening-as-a-way-to-shape-the-cosmos
robertogreco2025 listening conversation faithlawrence darkmatter wittgenstein henrytorgue jean-françoisaugoyard paulineoliveros deeplistening rmurrayschafer rainermariarilke rilke jonathansterne angelaoffoligno poetry paulrée nietzsche gemmacorradifiumara aliceoswald adamphillips psychotherapy carlrogers richardfarson brigidrussell charliejones spacesforlistening literature love friendship philosophy language iainmcgilchrist orpheus writing howwewrite johncage attention presence samlee nestcollective donpaterson duinoelegies socrates donaldprater augusterodin rodin louandreas-saloméhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3a8fe42723ad/La filosofía creativa de David Lynch - YouTube2025-01-27T19:03:30+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTTqnrer48c
robertogrecoteoríadelcaos 2025 davidlynch film filmmaking art writing howwewrite creativity intuition philosophy contradiction painting digital attention relationships love listening cafes conversation ideas renélópezvillamarhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2bcf7371d57c/The rise of the ‘catch-up friend’ – and how the substance fell out of our friendships | The Independent2025-01-13T02:20:37+00:00
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/friendships-strain-adulthood-b2579942.html
robertogrecoanyameyerowitz friendship time life living conversation 2024 socialhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:499a5b638be4/94 practical and emotional human experience optimising recommendations for 20252025-01-01T23:37:28+00:00
https://humancarbohydrate.substack.com/p/94-practical-and-emotional-human
robertogrecostellatsantekidou 2025 rules life living food health happiness interestedness interesting interestingness interested curiosity melancholy howwewrite writing hate interest learning howwelearn relationships social socializing drink drugs hygiene clothes clothing behavior work howwework aging agesegregation desperation envy emotions criticism constructivecriticism appreciation communication friendship romance attention insecurity snobbery snobbism vanity selfishness exercise walking organization self-help feedback care caring decisionmaking decisions posessions kitchen kitchens cooking hosting companionship company advice safety comfort grace access understanding success relief grief maryschmich youth age beauty ego leadership power sympathy feelings blogs blogging responsibility misery suffering listening conversation photography habits badhabits photos self-confidence sexuality gender addiction obsession networking nietzsche anger respect respectfulness arguing creativity languagehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:11a6363f4478/Sara Hendren2024-10-24T16:18:57+00:00
https://ablerism.micro.blog/2024/10/23/the-last-two.html
robertogrecoconversation schools teaching fieldtrips classroom 2024 discussion sarahendrenhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8043f0012a95/Words for Conviviality2024-09-21T20:18:46+00:00
https://currentpub.com/2024/09/19/words-for-conviviality/
robertogrecojeffreybilbro 2024 coviviality words media technology ivanillich toolsforconviviality industrialization professionalization waelghonim internet web online misinformation renewal albertborgmann spotify twitter conversation relationships truth hermanmelville margaretfuller thoreau dialog engagementhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6ab354b6b3c1/Words for Conviviality: Media Technologies and Practices of Hope, by Jeffrey Bilbro (2024)2024-09-16T19:32:34+00:00
https://jeffbilbro.com/books/words-for-conviviality/
robertogrecojeffreybilbro conviviality technology technologies industrialization conversation communication writing reading howweread howwewrite print printingpress culture publishing text hermanmelville printing christianityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cbe4bfa9a0c7/Twenty-Six Theses on Textual Technologies - Front Porch Republic2024-09-16T19:26:59+00:00
https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/09/twenty-six-theses-on-textual-technologies/
robertogrecojeffreybilbro language technology text words conviviality theses multiliteracies christianity friendship turth beauty goodness meaning meaningmaking abstraction community presence conversation mediaecology media digital print multispecies morethanhuman relationships technologies industrialization communication writing reading howweread howwewrite printingpress culture publishing printinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:82cc9ff6c8a5/“Third Things” Can Make Communication Easier2024-09-04T06:31:59+00:00
https://kottke.org/24/08/third-things-can-make-communication-easier
robertogrecoIt’s a topic of conversation that doesn’t belong to either party. The soul, usually so shy, can speak more easily through this Third Thing, at a slant.
It’s unclear if Quaker author Parker J. Palmer coined this term, but his 2004 book A Hidden Wholeness popularized the concept of third things. From The joy of third things:
In his book A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life, Quaker writer Parker J. Palmer talks about “third things,” how people can make emotional connections while talking about something they’re experiencing together. This can happen when people attend a concert or play, view a painting or even watch a baseball game.
Palmer believes that the soul is shy and that asking another person to immediately share something very vulnerable can scare them off. Connecting while engaged in third things is a gentler way to communicate.
Many people have fond memories of special conversations that transpired while they were doing the dishes with a parent or going fishing with a friend. This third thing they do together makes it easy and comfortable for them to converse more deeply, often without even making eye contact.
Many of the best conversations I have with my kids are facilitated by third things: watching a movie, playing video games, kicking a soccer ball around, playing mini golf, or running errands in the car. Conversation is no different that any other activity (like, say, shooting free throws or dancing): it’s much easier and open when you’re not actually thinking too hard about it."]]>communication conversation mirandajuly parkerpalmer thirdthings 2024 friendship psychology attention thinking parenting children quakers quaker via:daniellucas kottke jasonkottkehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:12c65300b0bb/AI SuperCut of Big Questions about life, death, love, work, and the future of humanity - YouTube2024-08-29T20:34:10+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg9rqkqGGKM
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https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/being-good-parents-means-having-hard-conversations/
robertogrecochildren parenting 2024 elizabethcripps consumerism culture politics feminism sexism environment nature climatechange labeling cathrinejansson-boyd teens youth conversation race racism reality sai'iydashabazz alicebaderin melindawennermoyer psychology philosophy activism anjalisharma susanclayton childhood pragyaagarwal mentalhealth resilience climatejustice harrietshugarman herbertmurungi xolifuyani education howweteach teaching equality antiracism thomasgradgrind charlesdickens developmentalpsychology authority sympathy empathy power authoritarianism maryeberlylewis scottfranz socraticmethod availability adults sciencehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:00d322ff1df6/Embracing Sub-Optimal Relationships - by L. M. Sacasas2024-08-05T22:05:22+00:00
https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/embracing-sub-optimal-relationships
robertogrecolmsacasas relationships friction time attention isolation loneliness unhappiness self-harm burnout anxiety human humanism humanness depression 2024 wendellberry friendship pace scale intensity slow small economics technology ai artificialintelligence robhorning vr virtualreality experience life living companionship solidarity society automation responsibility forgetfelness truth binxbolling conversation listening humans presence care caring thinking thought thoughtfulness optimization metrics measurement objectivity creatures engagement people connection depersonalizationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c68852719b90/Offline is the New Online - by Rachel Haywire2024-07-28T16:17:59+00:00
https://default.blog/p/offline-is-the-new-online
robertogrecorachelhaywire 2024 offline online internet web bubbles decentralization fediverse federatedweb twitter instagram socialmedia platforms freedom cozyweb venkateshrao discord conversation irl experience inperson connection connectionshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:a48257e9cfbd/Sound(s) As I See It | Are.na Editorial2024-07-25T16:01:22+00:00
https://www.are.na/editorial/sound-s-as-i-see-it
robertogrecosound aliceotieno 2024 howwewrite music koraharp seydoukane senegal eloghosaosunde ticecin calebazumah mukamikuria mbliliabel kenka congo daressalaam kinshasa nairobi mombasa pascalquignard gestures songs conversation jjjjjermoeellis jazz hiphop tinacampt jaceclayton listening writing are.na musicmakinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:138438bfab61/CÓMO HACER UN CLUB DE LECTURA (¿Y para qué sirve?) | Ideas para LEER EN COMUNIDAD | Por qué leer - YouTube2024-07-15T05:31:08+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0BDqjZkdfI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmtz1p9-6Fk
robertogrecoabrilkarera 2024 readingcircles reading howweread classideas community communitybuilding seminars pedrocerrillo learning howwelearn listening mediation conversationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:187e7cade380/What Is Education For? - Boston Review2024-07-05T21:22:24+00:00
https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/danielle-allen-what-is-education-for/
robertogrecoeducation highered humanities liberalarts teaching 2016 howweteach inequality civics josephstiglitz policy politics economics schools schooling thomaspiketty daronacemoğlu jimrobinson society participation participatory claudiagoldin larrykatz stem vocational skills jobpreparation globalization 1980s barackobama specialization governance danirodrik lelanddegrasse law legal us edwardglaeser giacomoponzetto andreishleifer hannaharendt harrietbeecherstowe martinlutherkingjr mlk ows occupywallstreet elizabethcadystanton susanbanthony matildajoslyngage stateconstitutions oligarchy rights rhetoric sunshinehillygus history socialsciences anthropology culture sociology psychology reasoning statistics math conversation eloquence literature arts art film music engineering science medicine criticalthinking citizenship politicians anationatrisk danielleallen edglaeserhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e713712a11f4/Lecturas que he realizado últimamente (y no son libros) - YouTube2024-06-20T20:28:14+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhClnE7__YA
robertogrecoabrilkarera reading howweread film books conversation 2024 michèlepetit webtoons music elenamadrigal gabrielamurga poetry pattimacíás neapoulain ritaindiana hitzuji ingridochoa tiktok internet web online howwelearn learning community international jardínlac multispecies attention canon animals pets dogs morethanhumanhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d13fa8a8acd4/Good conversations have lots of doorknobs2024-06-04T16:54:18+00:00
https://www.experimental-history.com/p/good-conversations-have-lots-of-doorknobs
robertogrecoconversation psychology literature communication 2024 adammastroianni affordances conviviality egocentrismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b44be05739d7/Empires of modern passivity - by Rob Horning2024-05-29T19:45:07+00:00
https://robhorning.substack.com/p/empires-of-modern-passivity
robertogrecorobhorning internet web online tiktok socialmedia 2024 passivity snapchat facebook instagram attention cooking recipes guydebord spectacle openai chatgpt maxread kevinroose johnherrman paulford algorithms spectatorship chatbots conversation consumption platforms commodities capitalism beckhugheshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:d4e9a6285272/Niñeces, Memoria y post dictadura Walter Kohan - YouTube2024-04-17T00:50:11+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6xDUcyV8Co
robertogrecowalterkohan philosophy children childhood 2024 argentina chile memory pedagogy dictatorship sandrapiñeiro brazil brasil literacy time questions schools schooling unschooling deschooling conversation agesegregation institutions calendars curiosity beginnersmind play presence innerchild didacticism reading howweread humanrights answers mariobenedetti mafalda michelfoucault criticism adultcentrism agediscrimination foucault power horizontality education learning howwelearn humanism truth inquiry love loving thinking thought school schooliness simónrodríguez adults business productivity paulofreirehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2873a9d55272/"Penny Universities": How coffeehouses changed the world - Big Think2024-04-15T00:23:22+00:00
https://bigthink.com/the-past/penny-universities-coffeehouse/
robertogrecocafes learning unschooling unstructured coffee coffeehouses openstudioproject lcproject conversation artleisure 2023 history culture exchange jonnythomson via:daniellucas howwelearn pennyuniversities schools altgdp coffeeshopshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:461caa584778/Jane Goodall Is More of a Dog Person, Actually - The New York Times2024-03-31T20:10:15+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/science/jane-goodall-90-birthday-dogs.html
robertogrecojanegoodall 2024 dogs activism population history animals environment sustainability chimpanzees advocacy conversation media attention elonmusk control power women familyplanninghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6f9fd6827fcf/How do I use the internet now? (Is there a sane way to use the internet?) - Search Engine with PJ Vogt (October 2023)2024-03-26T22:46:27+00:00
https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/how-do-i-use-the-internet-now
robertogrecopjvogt ezraklein internet web online 2023 media news journalism newspapers magazines reporting 2024 socialmedia algorithms analytics attention information nicholascarr sambankman-fried slow time marshallmcluhan mediumisthemessage instagram twitter speed efficiency neilpostman television donaldtrump elonmusk seo facebook digitalmedia jennyodell context conversation audience howwethink brain blogs blogging motivation intrinsicmotivation extrinsicmotivation influencers podcasts podcasting quiet silence thinking tvhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ec9a3e3ac999/An Honest Living: A Memoir of Peculiar Itineraries with Steven Salaita - YouTube2024-03-14T18:34:25+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegzTvPT6xY
robertogrecostevensalaita millennialsarekillingcapitalism 2024 academia highered highereducation palestine israel colleges universities zionism capitalism anxiety quiet socialpressure socialfunctions cliques labor work antizionism solitude grace jaredware oppression repression censorship principles solidarity media circumspection rulingclass brandequity radicalism orthodoxy careerism socialmedia compromises medialiteracy gatekeeping tastemakers activism scholars scholarship promotion education socialcapital cliquishness decolonization kinship community ostracism exposure mainstreammedia transactionalrelationships aspirations branding personalbranding audience ideas discussion debate networking values transactional conversation organizing presence onlinepresence internet online culture algorithms attention consumerism 2014 2017 ulteriormotives motivation politics workplacepolitics workplace left socialdemocrats exploitation sensationalism snitching snitches busdriving schoolbus children language immigrants us unemploymenthttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7dcf0578ec40/A good conversation relaxes the mind and opens the heart | Aeon Essays2024-03-03T03:58:39+00:00
https://aeon.co/essays/a-good-conversation-relaxes-the-mind-and-opens-the-heart
robertogrecoconversation friendship relationships 2023 paulamarantzcoheng via:daniellucas discovery pleasure conviviality joy respect mutualism human humanism connection goodwill wellbeing well-beinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:799786e752e4/An Exciting Time - The Loaf, with Tim Kreider2024-02-02T15:45:14+00:00
https://timkreider.substack.com/p/an-exciting-time
robertogrecotimekreider 2024 writing howwewrite attention recluses solitude publishing kenkesy huntersthompson trumancapote thomaspynchon jdsalinger excitement books bookreleases ambition fame modesty nietzsche karlmarx ovid seneca howweread howwethink thinking appreciation halfoster raybradbury self-promotion readers harlanellison celebrity performance nellgreenfieldboyce megthompson correspondence conversation acknowledgementhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7565c346aa7f/Ave Maria/Sophia/Gaia: Katherine Bubel and Michelle Berry Lane on Illich and the Sacred Feminine (Conversation #4) - YouTube2023-11-29T07:11:40+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19q4pWKPlj0
robertogrecoivanillich 2023 marcusrempel katherinebubel michelleberrylane conviviality suzannesimard davidblower religion myth prometheus sophia theology life living slow control modernity polarity francisbacon aliveness nature gender prometheanman technology diversity pandora thomasmerton erichfromm descartes climatechange humans capitalism extraction interconnectedness technosolutionism hubris complementarity renégirard charlestaylor catholicism relations relationships epimetheanman mary mastery measurement gaia ecology earth lynnmargulis forests trees environment epimetheus paulkingsnorth indigenous indigeneity listening johnmoriarty wisdom bees land property georgegrant colonization colonialism colonizers science domination homogeneity samemaking otherness terrencemalick presence rebeccasolnit rediscovery catastrophe mutualaid multispecies morethanhuman resilience mythology michellelane intuition spirituality deschooling unschooling hope convivialscience wonder symbiosis symbiogenesis jameslovelock microbiomes biohttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9002d2ba9953/“One No, Many Yeses” – Sam Ewell & Dougald Hine in Illich Conversation #3 - YouTube2023-11-24T16:41:15+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Avh1AJ9sls
robertogreco2023 ivanillich samewell dougaldhine davidcayley gustavoesteva vernacular progress industrialization paulkingsnorth local small slow culture customs conviviality modernity resistance marcusrempel power agency despair theology omniscience omnipotence god jamescscott seeinglikeastate powerlessness possibility noticing relations relationships peace politics edges marginality decentralization practice praxis action alistairmcintosh negativity academia criticism truth maryharrington deconstruction wendellberry planing place jacquesmaritain pride scientism harrytruman languages language learning tohellwithgoodintentions wonder surprise lewishyde barbaraduden life living johnmcknight care caring community communities hosts hosting guests thresholds invitation encounters others neighbors neighborliness coercion socializing publicspace socialization suburbs porches porchculture airconditioning welcome flow liminality littoralzone multiplicty conversation sharing friendship kinship humility systems infrastructure crackhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9b4ebaffa7f3/Fred Moten on Palestine and the Nation-State of Israel - YouTube2023-11-12T04:49:48+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWnzkjUAZnQ
robertogrecofredmoten 2023 palestine israel statements rhetoric language discourse humanity rights rightstoexist manolocallahan humanism history context states state humans brutality collectivepubishment colonialism settlercolonialism colonization antisemitism us uk zionism christianzionism via:javierarbona conviviality study human philosophy jaredware whiteness unfinished imperfection sylviawynter frantzfanon complexity morality ethics others othering anticolonialism decolonization conversation thinking howwethink foucault michelfoucault coloniality nyu guggenheim detachment work labor colonialintent malcolmx howweread reading grades grading classroom highered highereducation academia art artworld practice praxis solidarity westbank gaza indigeneity indigenous nationstates blackstudies robinkelley robindgkelley rinaldowalcott indeterminacy surveillance suppression resistance optimism jazz teaching howweteach education learning howwelearn organizing organization generalstrike petitmarronage webdubois walterbenjamin saidihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1255d5765dd8/Why the Internet Isn’t Fun Anymore | The New Yorker2023-10-11T02:00:09+00:00
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-the-internet-isnt-fun-anymore
robertogrecokylechayka 2023 web online internet socialmedia twitter tiktok instagram meta facebook algorithms blogs blogging google search reddit ai artificialintelligence jiatolentino twitch performance celebrity eleanorstern broadcast media reciprocity conversation monetization entrapment derekguy elonmusk choiresicha orisinal sharinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c9ec9722a84a/Leaving Behind the Yellow Submarine - Boston Review2023-10-02T18:27:53+00:00
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/jo-guldi-exile-aboard-yellow-submarine/
robertogrecojoguldi academia yale highered highereducation tenure 2016 education history jeremyduquesnayadams erichsegal yellowsubmarine film binaries humanities mentoring mentorship teaching howweteach landscape davidarmitage interested interestedness interesting elitism insularity smu south brownuniversity conversation culture southernculture dallas texas inclusivity relationships pedagogyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f1bb6e4e1c3c/Opinion | No, I Don’t Want to Go for a Walk With You - The New York Times2023-09-20T22:56:52+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/opinion/walk-and-talk-meetings.html
robertogrecolydiapolgreen walking 2023 companionship meetups intimacy aimplessness gettinglost solitude gettogethers rebeccasolnit tejucole colsonwhitehead conversation talking eyecontact meetings stevejobs nietzsche charlesdickens solviturambulando lcd virginiawoolfhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6c911d3ab5b1/How Much Discomfort Is the Whole World Worth? - Boston Review2023-09-11T20:03:15+00:00
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/how-much-discomfort-is-the-whole-world-worth/
robertogrecoNot everyone we work with on a particular issue has to have deep ideological alignment with us. A skilled organizer should be able to work with people who aren’t of their own choosing, including people they don’t like. It’s really as simple as being attacked by fascist police in the streets. Once the attack begins, there are two sides: armed police inflicting violence and everyone else. We need to be able to see each other in those terms, reeling in the face of unthinkable violence, scrambling to stay alive and uncaged, and doing the work to protect one another.
This will not come easily, because white supremacy and classism have forced many wedges between our communities. Great harms have been committed and very difficult conversations are needed, but refusing to do that work, in this historical moment, is an abdication of responsibility. It is no exaggeration to say that the whole world is at stake, and we cannot afford to minimize what that demands of us.
This is not to say that we should seek no respite from the messiness and occasional discomfort of large-scale movement work. We all need spaces where we can operate within our comfort zone. Whether these take the shape of a collective, an affinity group, a processing space, a caucus, or a group of friends, we need people with whom we can feel fully seen and heard and with whose values we feel deeply aligned. In such a violent and oppressive world, we are all entitled to some amount of sanctuary. Many organizers have tight-knit political homes, sometimes grounded in shared identity, in addition to participating in broader organizing efforts.
But broader movements are struggles, not sanctuaries. They are full of contradiction and challenges we may feel unprepared for.
Effective organizers operate beyond the bounds of their comfort zones, moving into what we might call their “stretch zone,” when necessary. No one has to be able to work with everyone, but how far beyond the bounds of easy agreement can you reach? How much empathy can you extend to people who do not fully understand your identity or experience or who have not had the same access to liberatory ideas? How much discomfort can you navigate for what you believe is truly at stake?
These are not questions anyone can answer for you, as we must all make autonomous choices about who we connect and build with, but if we do not challenge ourselves to navigate some amount of discomfort, our political reach will have terminal limits. To expand the practice of our politics in the world, we have to be able to organize outside of our comfort zones. People whose words and ideas don’t yet align with our own often need room to grow, and some people grow by building relationships and doing work—often in fumbling and imperfect ways.
Political transformation is not as simple as handing newcomers a new set of politics and telling them, “Yours are bad, use these instead.” Instead, we will sometimes have to accompany people along messy transformational journeys. And we must also remember that no matter how far we have come, we are still on our own messy journeys, and our own transformations will continue as we grow.
***
To do this kind of work, a person has to hone multiple skills, including the ability to listen.
When people delve into activism, they often grapple with questions like, “Am I willing to get arrested?” when often the more pressing question for a new activist is, “Am I willing to listen, even when it’s hard?”
For organizer and scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore, it was her time in Alcoholics Anonymous that helped her transform her practice of listening. “The main thing that I learned,” Gilmore told us, “especially in the first couple years that I was going to meetings, was the beauty of the rule against crosstalk. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, that I couldn’t say shit to anybody. I had to listen, and I had to learn to listen.” The urge to interject or object ran deep for Gilmore. “I’ve always been a nerd, yet I’ve always been a know-it-all,” she told us, “so there’s this tension between my nerdiness that wants to know everything and my know-it-all-ness that wants everybody to know that I know it all already.”
At first, listening did not come easily—or feel particularly productive—to Gilmore. “I would sit in these meetings, and I listened to people talk, and listened to them, and listened to them, and at first I was like, ‘I don’t get this, I don’t get this.’ And so for me in the early days, it was just a performance of words. I mean, my main thing was, ‘I won’t drink when I leave this meeting. I won’t drink, and I won’t use.’”
But over time, Gilmore began to appreciate the role of listening in the group’s collective struggle to avoid drugs and alcohol—even when she did not appreciate what was being said. “I would be getting more and more wound up, because there’d be the sexist guy going on about women and his wife, and then there’d be somebody else talking nonsense about whatever, [but I was] learning to just sit there, and listen, and keep my eye on the prize, which was not just that I wasn’t going to drink but that the only way I could not drink was if all of us didn’t drink.”
Being committed to the sobriety of every person in the room, which meant listening to their story and being invested in their well-being, helped Gilmore develop a deeper practice of patience. “That was kind of this transformation for me that carried into the organizing that I already used to do before I got sober,” she told us.
It is our ability to constructively engage with other people that will ultimately power our efforts. We have to nurture that ability and respect its importance in all of the ways that our society does not. And that skill of constructive engagement starts with listening.
Like so many other aspects of organizing, listening is a practice, and at times, it’s a strategic one.
We might need to hear something true that makes us uncomfortable. Listening deeply makes space for that to happen. But even if the person who’s talking is off base, we can often still learn by listening to them. Why do they feel the way they do? What sources informed or convinced them? What influences them? What strengthens their resolve? What makes them hesitant to get more involved or to engage more boldly? If you are in an organizing space together, how has that issue brought them into a shared space with you despite your differences? What points of agreement might you build upon? What is surprising about them? A good organizer wants to understand these things about the people around them, and you cannot truly understand these things about a person without listening.
Even if the person who’s talking is off base, we can often still learn by listening to them.
Organizers will often repeat the maxim, “We have to meet people where they are at.” It is difficult to meet someone where they’re at when you do not know where they are. Until you have heard someone out, you do not know where they are, so how could you hope to meet them there? Relationships are not built through presumption or through the deployment of tropes or stereotypes. We must understand people as having their own unique experiences, traumas, struggles, ideas, and motivations that will inform how they show up to organizing spaces.
Some task-focused activists brush off activities that involve “talking about our feelings.” This is a common sentiment among bad listeners. The fundamental skill of patiently absorbing another person’s words in a respectful and thoughtful manner is desperately lacking in our society. For this reason, it is folly to expect this skill to manifest itself fully formed when it is most needed, such as in a heated meeting, if we are not building a greater culture of listening in our work.
A group culture that helps participants build their listening skills is an important component of successful organizing. Political education can create opportunities for people to practice listening to one another, without interruption, and interacting meaningfully with what others have contributed. For example, during the Great Depression, communist union organizers in Bessemer, Alabama, developed a practice of devoting thirty minutes of each meeting to political education. For thirty minutes, material would be read aloud—creating space to collectively listen while also allowing members who could not read the opportunity to hear the information. Members would then spend fifteen minutes discussing the material, listening to each other’s thoughts in response to the work.
In organizing, we sometimes expect people, including ourselves, to shed the habits this society has embedded in us through sheer force of will, when in reality we all need practice. Activities that help us hone our practice of listening can make us better organizers, improve our personal relationships, and help us build stronger and longer-lasting movements.
***
As we work to build more sustainable movements, we must think hard about our strategies for responding when organizers make mistakes. Social media can often foster a “zero-tolerance” attitude about political ignorance or missteps. Platforms like Twitter have helped facilitate tremendous accomplishments in movement work, but they have also created an arena for political performance and critique that is often divorced from relationship building or strategic aims. For many people, social media is not an organizing tool but a realm of political performance and spectatorship. A trend has emerged in which some organizers will demand performances of solidarity and awareness on social media but then critique or even tear apart those performances when they fall short or are deemed insincere. As with reality television, favorites emerge, and people are sometimes voted off the island.
When the performance of solidarity via the replication of the right words or slogans becomes our central focus, it’s not surprising that responses might read as empty or even insincere. Sloganizing is not organizing, and paying righteous lip service to a cause, in the preferred language of the moment, does not empty any cages or transform anyone’s material conditions. Rather than fixating on the grammar of people’s politics, we organizers must ask ourselves what we want people to do.
When debates arise around language, we must also understand the extent to which the language of dissent and liberation has shifted over time. The terms and jargon we use today do not represent an “arrival” at the “correct” words that were always out there, waiting to be found, while our predecessors flailed about in search of them. The language we uplift in movements today represents an unending process of grappling—a search for words that embody the experiences of oppressed people in relation to their history, their current conditions, and the culture they are presently experiencing. Policing language, as though our phrasing is written in law, misunderstands that pursuit and the purpose it serves. If these words merely exist to divide us into categories—those who can properly discuss ideas and those who cannot—what is their value in the pursuit of liberation?
While it is important to trouble terminology and to engage with its evolution, the mastery of language does not spur systemic change or alter anyone’s material conditions. The concept of “allyship,” for example, is often grounded in presentation rather than substantive action. Similarly, people who believe they are “good people” often view goodness as a fixed identity, evidenced by their expressed feelings about injustice rather than a set of practices or actions. Goodness, to them, is a designation to be defended rather than something that they seek to generate in the world in concert with other people. Mainstream liberals often fall prey to this line of thinking because liberal politics play very heavily into political identity as being determinant of whether a person is good or bad (Democrats are good, Republicans bad). But the left can fall into its own version of this trap by treating politics as a test of how well we can perform language or recite ideas.
Our movements are not driven by getting the words just right. They are driven by the goal of enacting change through collective struggle as we endeavor to both understand ideas and turn them into action. Fumbling is inevitable, but as Gilmore tells us, “practice makes different.”
Dixon emphasizes that people will show up imperfectly and that organizers have to anticipate that mistakes and harm will happen. “I worry we’re creating a culture now where people are so afraid to make mistakes,” she told us. “They’re afraid to not have the analysis before they open their mouth. The bonds that I’m really trying to build within organizing are the bonds where we can divulge the things that we are nervous about, or ashamed of, or the things we need to learn, all of those areas, because that’s when I know we’re building the kind of intimacy that takes care of each other around heightened threats.”
Dixon points out that when trust is lost, organizing not only becomes more difficult, but it also becomes more vulnerable to surveillance and infiltration: “A huge piece of COINTELPRO was around seeding distrust.” Therefore, she says, a key part of organizing is building bonds of trust, and that can only happen within a context where people are allowed to be vulnerable and make mistakes.
Learning and growing in front of other people can be embarrassing, and even intimidating, particularly for people who have been put down or made to feel diminished in the past. Even seasoned organizers like Dixon often worry about derailing their work with a verbal misstep. “I have a small crew of other organizers where I think our text thread is mostly questions we are afraid to ask publicly,” she acknowledged. “It’s our own little political education circle, where we ask, ‘What does this mean?’ Or, ‘Is this fucked up?’ Or, ‘What is the right way to say this? Because I don’t think this is right.’” Dixon says that she believes “everyone needs that text thread,” but she also hopes that more of our movement spaces can operate in the same spirit and offer opportunities for people to “feel safe in their process of transforming.”
Creating trust-based movement spaces also puts us in a better place to confront harm and conflict, Dixon says.
“The biggest part of the work is how we maintain relationships while navigating harm,” she told us. “Because that’s the thing, that will break your group. That’ll break any project.” Dixon stresses the importance of conflict resolution and accountability mechanisms within groups—that is, group- or community-based methods of confronting harm, such as peace circles and transformative justice. But she also reminds us that in order for accountability mechanisms to serve their purpose, people need room and opportunities to grow. “People need to build skills and mechanisms to navigate conflict. Sometimes we’re not apologizing. Sometimes we’re not accountable. Sometimes we have done harmful things. Sometimes we’re doing things we were never told go against the norms [of the group] and then are being held accountable.”
In an organizing space, accountability should not be about policing or punishment, but our punitive impulses can sometimes twist accountability mechanisms into those shapes. It’s easy to forget how imperfectly we ourselves have shown up in movement spaces and throughout our lives. Sometimes our aggravation with others is rooted in pain or trauma we have experienced; sometimes it is rooted in our uneasiness about things we may have said or done that were equally upsetting because we did not always know what we know now. And regardless of how much we believe we have learned, as the saying goes, we don’t know what we don’t know. Many of us would not be in this work today if someone along the way had not been patient with us.
Even if we never develop a sense of mutual respect and understanding, or even come to like the people we’re working with, we can still build power with them. In many cases, we must. After all, the whole world is at stake. We must ask ourselves, how much discomfort is the whole world worth?"]]>solidarity 2023 activism organizing kellyhayes mariamekaba listening language patience politics affinity difference behavior whitesupremacy generations age race racism diversity discomfort offense growth scale socialmedia tolerance purity puritytests education learning understanding transformation online internet trust conflict transformativejustice justice socialjustice accountability cointelpro surveillance infiltration distrust fear silence allyship action goodness liberalism identity democrats republicans left leftism performance dissent liberation jargon policing division divisiveness sloganizing spectatorship twitter politcalperformance performativepolitics relationships groups communism history society practice praxis ruthwilsongilmore crosstalk discourse conversation alcoholicsanonymous struggle strategy canon groupculture culture movements change changemaking ejerisdixon class classism lcdhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c13f1560a59c/Is AI Going to RUIN Writing For Good? (w/ Corey Robin) - YouTube2023-09-07T23:27:26+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-A0W29J3zQ
robertogrecocoreyrobin writing howwewrite chatgpt ai artificialintelligence communication howwethink tiktok dialogue debate conversation iteration process learning howwelearn video podcasting education highered highereducation assessment schools schooling cursive briahnajoygray theses slow deliberation thinking composition grades grading performance cheating competition argument lawschool method reflection scripts scriptwriting bertholdbrecht form teaching pedagogy howweteach literacy legibility attention effectiveness audience time anxiety respect labor procrastination discussion socraticmethod seminar literature automation computing journalism colleges universities bias meaning meaningmaking dissonancehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:eb97cbba0286/#FVTV Fu_tage 1: say hi Jabari. (Capoeira Angola) - YouTube2023-08-07T17:55:10+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Zrq531tIo
robertogrecocapoeira 2012 dance play conversationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b0f4fa5ccb4a/Opinion | Philadelphia’s Recreation Centers, Where Fun Isn’t A Luxury - The New York Times2023-08-04T20:00:59+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/opinion/philadelphia-photography-youth-rec-centers.html
robertogrecoadrianelirené aireamatthews 2023 philadelphia children childhood friendship bellhooks swimmingpools recreationcenters publicspace cities summer community communityspace publicbaths play conversation parksandrecreation parks safety society summercamp recreationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:19fea03dc3d9/The Bear's Best Ingredient Is Tenderness - YouTube2023-08-01T23:29:09+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1EaaCeAYFI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3zfMUBTDl0
robertogrecovaleriefridland adamconover 2023 language english rules linguistics sociolinguistics influence gatekeeping evolution change howwespeak marginalization race racism society icelandic german malleability class standards standardization prescriptivism power access howwewrite writing communication tradition moralism morality judgement grammar vocabulary pronunciation wordchoice history noamchomsky wordorder structure brain humans functionalism rhetoric conversation dialog discourse slang creativity location innovation experimentation words ethnicity subcultures dragculture nonconformity speech toughness rebellion aave vernacular solidarity companionship familiarity informal community informality easy comfort counterculture edginess outsiders appropriation vikings norsehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:70ea7b440072/With and Without a Firm Grasp — Are.na2023-03-28T19:25:45+00:00
https://www.are.na/blog/with-and-without-a-firm-grasp
robertogrecoMy own view is that translation—never complete, always only an approach—is an essential element of human existence. Even among those who speak our own language, we often find we have interpreted a word in a way other than it was intended. We can never fully capture or seize the perfected meaning. If we could grasp or seize it, we would soon find that the meaning has lost its magic in captivity.1
I want to embrace translation as something that is process-oriented and impossible to perfect — something that reflects our human nature, a work-in-progress that’s perpetually and beautifully flawed. For the remainder of this essay, I’ll continue to translate a handful of words, expressions, and religious practices with the understanding that my translations are, in Sells’s words, only approaches and never complete. My translations are not definitive or authoritative; they instead aim to arrive at a conceptual throughline that positions language, warts and all, at the heart of this discussion."
...
"The circulation of printed Ramadan calendars reflects an ongoing exchange of designed data that I find interesting for a handful of reasons. Two pillars of Islam are beautifully championed in these eclectic calendars: prayer and fasting. Several languages are reflected throughout these timetables and in many instances a combination of scripts coexist side-by-side. Scale, font selection, color, and format are stretched in different directions, resulting in a wide range of typographic moves and decorative devices that effortlessly balance humanist expression with the expected functionality of a spreadsheet-calendar.
Of course, there is another reason for my interest in these printed calendars that points to technology as both an important engine in Islamic history and a more recent threat to Islamic society. Many Muslims today rely on apps and websites when seeking prayer times, since they deliver this data with speed and accuracy. Like a lot of things that have transitioned from print to web, salah apps offer a blend of convenience, immediacy, and dependability, especially for those of us who live in areas where the azan is not heard everyday. But the trade-off for this convenience is loss of privacy through data extraction and the active surveillance of Muslim communities.
Thinking back to the word amsak, today’s technology might reveal an uglier side of holding, one that comes with strings attached. Our computers, phones, and devices offer information that’s immediately available for our consumption, and while this information helps us organize our day and practice our faith, it also reinforces oppressive power dynamics that rely so heavily on capturing and controlling Muslim communities. In contrast to prayer apps and websites, imsaakiyat Ramadan is localized and handed out in-person, making it less accessible to people outside of the served community and more difficult to track and trace in real time.
Printed Ramadan calendars still pull from data that’s sourced online, so they are by no means a perfect remedy to the larger problem of tracking and surveillance. But they at least prompt people to gather and seek salah times within their immediate communities, rather than searching for prayer times on an app and in isolation. Perhaps this means that the printed calendars are like Sudani salads and the apps are like dips — easy to find, easy to contain, easy to consume without cooking. While I’m trying to distance myself from the dips, I can’t avoid them entirely, and I can’t deny their relation to our salads. Dips and salads, America and Sudan, and English and Arabic operate within a continuum that loops and fluctuates with time. These things function and fall apart and function again, taking new form at the start of each cycle and reintroducing themselves to me with an anxiety that’s rooted in optimism.
I’m holding all sides of me with and without a firm grasp as I continue this effort at approaching myself."
[Part II here:
https://www.are.na/blog/with-and-without-a-firm-grasp-part-ii
[Forough] "It wasn’t until I stepped out of my trained mindset when my design started resonating with the original references."
...
[Shiraz] "My hope is that we’re honoring and celebrating that work, not appropriating it."
...
"Forough: A valuable conversation we had early on was about visual adaptation. There’s a fine line between appreciating and appropriating design references. We were talking about to what extent we can borrow from these calendars. As designers, we need to be conscious that the visual materials we encounter and approach are informed by their complex cultural and subcultural dynamics. We need to reference those visuals consciously.
Shiraz: That’s such an important point, because it begins to address the risk of us extracting visual materials that we are inspired by (which happens a lot in graphic design). In this case, I grew up with these salah tables. I look at them as important design precedents because they stem directly from my upbringing, my childhood, my relationship to Islam. I’m not at all removed from the communities that produce these prayer timetables, but I still worry about the role I play when I’m participating in the process of designing them. There’s an interesting exchange that might be happening, a translation of different design processes maybe.
With that in mind, I’m wondering what role translation played in your process. What did you need to translate in order to design the calendar? What wasn’t familiar in the beginning, and what did you learn in the end?"
Forough: I think of translation here as both linguistic translation and cultural translation, or, more specifically, an act of religious translation. In Twelver Shi’ism, Muslims combine prayers, like midday and afternoon prayer, so many Shi'a Muslims end up praying three times a day rather than five. This calendar has all the five prayer times. So I had to double check the differences there, and make sure that I understood them correctly — to me that’s a cultural/religious translation.
We also included the Arabic and English translations of the weekdays. I looked up the Arabic translation and found some variations. In a few translations, I would see diacritic marks but in others I wouldn’t. With the central calligraphy, Ramadan Kareem, which is set in Thuluth script, I found examples where I couldn’t tell the difference between short vowel diacritics and ornamental marks. I asked a student in my class who’s fluent in Arabic to help me with this.
Another interesting thing was the numbering systems. In Arabic, four, five, and six are different from how we write those numbers in Farsi.
Shiraz: All of this brings up the question of, why Arabic and English? What languages do we use on a calendar like this, for a community that includes many different people who speak many different languages? Arabic obviously plays a big role in the Islamic faith, and a lot of the terms on Ramadan calendars are either translated or transliterated Arabic terms. But there are real questions surrounding who dominates discussions on Islamic practice, who remains more privileged, and how can we counteract or challenge that?
Forough: I think including Arabic on the calendar — even if I don’t read it or understand it — is more of a symbolic act. Even as a non-native speaker, I can recognize the form.
Shiraz: I agree, especially when we think of the role that Arabic calligraphy plays in Islamic art and architecture and how it often is preferred over pictorial images and iconography.
Forough: What is your relationship to Islam, and how has it developed and evolved throughout the years?
Shiraz: I’m an American Muslim who toggled between living in the States and visiting Sudan as a child. As I spent more time in Sudan and compared those experiences with living in the US, I found that American Muslim communities have a heightened sense of identity that is informed by our vulnerability in this country. We’re very vulnerable to different policies and threats posed against us. Because of that — because we live in the margins of American society where we are regular targets, where we’re not, you know, governed by a body that reflects us — there’s a lot that we have to preserve and protect for the sake of survival, or even for the sake of feeling grounded in our day-to-day happenings.
In the first blog post that we published at the launch of this project, I reference the word amsak, which means “to hold,” and I feel like that word is relevant here. American Muslims (as well as immigrants and diasporic folks in general) are holding onto themselves in a distinctive way. We are preserving aspects of our faith, culture, and personhood that are vulnerable to erasure and attack.
I’m wondering about your relationship to Islam and Ramadan, more specifically. Can you elaborate on your background in relation to the practices that are reflected on our calendar?
Forough: Growing up in Iran, I had a different experience of Ramadan from many practicing Muslims. In my family, a lot of religious practices and holidays received less attention than other cultural events and traditions. In my experience, I found that Muharram and more specifically Ashura held more cultural significance than Ramadan back home. The Persian New Year, which is based on the religion of Zoroastrianism, is another example that has similar, if not more significance, in my country.
It wasn’t until I started hanging out with friends in Dubai that I saw Ramadan as a religious and spiritual journey that’s experienced on a personal, internal, interpersonal, and communal level. In many Muslim countries, the everyday living experience changes slightly to accommodate Ramadan. The working hours would end by 2 pm, and the city would quiet down until iftar, becoming alive afterward until dawn."
...
"Forough: Sometimes graphic design can be an isolating process, because we don't always see our work come to life after we submit it. I can imagine distributing the Ramadan calendars in person gave you a better understanding of why this project was made and what purpose it served. It also gives you a different perspective, that graphic design is just one component of a bigger social engine.
Shiraz: Right. I try to remind myself that our work is a small scale gesture. In projects like this, graphic design helps signal or point to things that people might need to talk about. For example: do we want to rely so heavily on today’s technology for things like prayer and fasting? Or do we want to find other routes of seeking and supplying this information that gets us offline and perhaps brings us in closer physical proximity to one another? I think these are important questions that go beyond graphic design, but also directly involve graphic design. "]]]>2023 shirazabdullahigallab food language translation arabic form time ramadan calendars numbers numbering farsi appropriation iran sudan religion islam society us immigration migration holding culture community dubai diaspora survival design graphicdesign charts technology fasting prayer information infoviz visualization conversation foroughabadianhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:bee69c06cfcd/Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: Pedagogy of the Emancipated Laborer - YouTube2022-12-02T01:47:33+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvw3qM5zCy0
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