Pinboard (robertogreco)
https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/public/
recent bookmarks from robertogreco‘Teachers Are Going to Hate It’: How Social Media Apps Hooked Teens at School - The New York Times2026-06-05T05:37:40+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/social-media-schools.html
robertogrecosocialmedia addiction children youth teens siliconvalley bigtech attention schools schooling education howweteach teaching distraction jennifervalentino-devries snapchat meta facebook instagram tiktok google chromebooks ethics psychology adolescence bytedance edtech manipulation youtube screentimehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:ecd893a3d377/Into the gap | A Working Library2026-05-07T20:16:55+00:00
https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/into-the-gap
robertogrecomandybrown resistance refusal work genocide ethniccleansing palestine iran war us adolfhitler benitomussolini fascism nazism spanishcivilwar virginiawoolf 1937 aislop slop propaganda ads advertising racism misogyny transphobia eugenics violence tonimorrison dehumanization dei diversity equity inclusion inclusivity capitalism liberty freedom class oligarchy billionaires military militaryindustrialcomplex donaldtrump scarcity education highered highereducation gender universities colleges ice police policing surveillance poicebrutality oppression supression elonmusk blacklisting women armedforces libraries jamellebouie wealth inequality rulingclass elites governance government democracy power control opposition abuse ellakeidargreenberg israel gaza iof idf detention ai artificialintelligence erasure jobs labor workers workingclass bodies censorship google salesforce amazon thomasreuters montereypark deportation luannejames tennessee health healthcare organizing employment distraction attention profiteering warphttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:84bbaaceba7f/Why Swedish Schools Are Bringing Back Books2026-04-02T05:38:06+00:00
https://undark.org/2026/04/01/sweden-schools-books/
robertogrecosweden schools schooling education 2026 joshuacohen howweread howwewrite reading writing books analog digital paper technology textbooks screens digitallearning learning howeelearn us policy openai microsoft google ai artificialintelligence digitalfluency chatbots memory readingcomprehension pandemic covid-19 coronavirus computers computing tablets ipad jaredcooneyhorvath jonathanhaidt pamkastner literacy lindafälth teaching howweteach pedagogy naominbaron linguistics edtech distraction attentionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fe20b5013955/Low-Tech Parenting Must Be a Big Tent - Christianity Today2026-03-29T02:37:42+00:00
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/03/low-tech-parenting-big-tent-judgmentalism-tech-grace/
robertogrecobradeast technology 2026 children neoluddites neoluddism luddites luddism claremorell grace digital screens screentime smartphone media attention distraction ipad andycrouch condemnation balance internet online web reading howweread slow judgement judgmentalism literacy self-righteousness christianity matthewwalther charity warmth mercyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cb6a6c6087ac/‘I study at an exclusive US college. We can’t drink, use wi-fi or leave during term’2026-03-28T22:46:07+00:00
https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/deep-springs-college-california-hzhx5bfc0
robertogrecodeepspringscollege 2026 rubylarocca education colleges universities highereducation highered meaning meaningmaking howweread internet web online offline attention books reading constraints socialmedia distraction ai artificialintelligence microcollegeshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e7bdaa4e4764/Habitats of Attention | Isaac Greene2026-03-01T07:02:08+00:00
https://www.isaacgreene.com/2026/02/26/habitats-of-attention.html
robertogrecoisaacgreene 2026 attention information carloiacono digital interface ui ux rssreaders slow thinking howwethink marshallmcluhan neilpostman lmsacasas distractionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:feb1e83f21fe/Stop Meeting Students Where They Are - The Atlantic2026-02-16T03:39:00+00:00
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/
robertogrecowalthunter 2026 pedagogy education highereducation highered colleges universities howweread reading attention howwteach teaching academia tonimorrison songofsolomon ai art chatgpt virginiawoolf writing howwewrite ulkrajanand harrietjacobs williamfaulkner willacather jonathanedwards literature experience wegsebald emilydickinson johnkeats tolstoy victorhugo michaelcrichton charlesswann georgesaunders books thoreau distraction confusion endurance stamina understanding waltwhitman humanities wallacestevens adriennerich adamkirsch vice vices mobydick moby-dick hermanmelvillehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:bcede8e5666a/Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses - The New York Times2026-02-14T06:40:52+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/meta-facial-recognition-smart-glasses.html
robertogrecometa facebook markzuckerberg politics surveillance distraction evil privacy 2026 us donaldtrump maga trumpism sneakiness kashmirhill kalleyhuang mikeisaac aclu facialrecognition markriccobono mikebuckley bemyeyes andiemilan realitylabshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6a5260c04f12/What Ails You? A Review of Liturgies of the Wild - Front Porch Republic2026-02-03T22:19:17+00:00
https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/02/88360/
robertogrecomichaelsauter wild nature martinshaw 2026 christianity alanwatts iainmcgilchrist wallaceblackelk parzival billkauffman toniok thomasmann robertbly myths stories storytelling dostoevsky brotherskaramazov williamblake catholicism god christ jesuschrist jesus place land distractionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e91b9d5a56ce/Why the Do Nothing Challenge Doesn’t Do Much for You2026-01-18T06:03:46+00:00
https://nautil.us/why-the-do-nothing-challenge-doesnt-do-much-for-you-1262005/
robertogrecodonothing boredom creativity jamesdanckert attention agency 2026 meaning meaningmaking rawdogging woopsyang tiktok distraction overstimulation self-controlhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e6ed3ad20bbf/Waiting Is a Revelation - by L. M. Sacasas2026-01-02T01:24:28+00:00
https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/waiting-is-a-revelation
robertogreco2026 time waiting delayedgratification immediacy delivery deliveries blaisepascal distraction presence attention mortality henribergson haroldschweizer psyche psychology irismurdoch simoneweil hans-georggadamer temporality theodoradorno sabbath lingering meaning meaningmaking whatmatters freedom liberation philosophy efficiency optimization amazon resistance friction deliberation reflection economics slow solitude stillness humanism human humans humanity solidarity possibility lmsacasas revalationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:792090a47e09/AI Companies Are Encouraging Users To Believe Chatbots Are People, And It's Insanely Creepy2025-11-14T19:13:56+00:00
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/ai-companies-are-encouraging-users
robertogrecoai artificialintelligence avoidance dependence dehumanization discomfort grief effor writing howwewrite distraction rejection emotionallabor people human humans caitlinjohnstone romance generativeai emotions feelings chatbots manipulation bigtech technology 2wai calumworthy genaihttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2b46aadc9c21/You're overspending because you lack values2025-11-06T19:14:31+00:00
https://www.sherryning.com/p/youre-overspending-because-you-lack-values
robertogrecoLust is the deceiver. Lust wrenches our lives until nothing matters except the one we think we love, and under that deceptive spell we kill for them, give all for them, and then, when we have what we have wanted, we discover that it is all an illusion and nothing is there. Lust is a voyage to nowhere, to an empty land, but some men just love such voyages and never care about the destination.
—Bernard Cornwell
Shopping has this effect on me, the voyage is more satisfying than the destination. There is such thing as post-purchase clarity: the moment when you buy something trendy and you suddenly sober up to how much you don’t care about it (let alone like it); you just want to be seen having it.
Who is No-Face?
Spirited Away is most known for the character with the least lines: a masked ghost who can conjure gold. He has no backstory, we only know that he is banned from entering the bathhouse. Chihiro, out of kindness, lets him in. No-Face is refused service at first, but the staff quickly compromise their values upon seeing his gold. They serenade him, “Welcome the rich man. He’s hard for you to miss. His butt keeps getting bigger, so there’s plenty to kiss!” while they fight for the gold nuggets that plop out of his fat hands. Then, he devours the workers in despair when he realizes their kindness is bought, and only Chihiro is genuine.
[image]
The painful part of loneliness is the realization that most people are ass-kissers and friendship is rare. Likewise, people feel the most alienated when they suddenly sober up to the fact that most of their desires are herd-driven, that most of them are no where close to the truth, if they even have a clear enough sense of what that is that matters to them. It’s like waking up from a trance state and realizing, What have I done to myself? I certainly felt this way standing in front of my garbage bags. Loneliness, alienation, addictions and self-defeating loops—these are not material problems, but ‘desire’ problems.
I’m finally coming to understand what Girard meant by,
“All desire is a desire for being.”
We think we want things, but every desire points to a way of life, a kind of person we long to become. Objects seduce us not with their utility but with their promise of transcendence—status, attention, belonging. That’s why No-Face has no face: he is desire itself, the appetite to become, the emptiness that consumes while wishing it were someone else.
Money reveals this: In Roman mythology, the temple of Juno Moneta was both sanctuary and mint (it’s where we get the words “money” and “monetary”). To strike a coin was to sanctify it with divine authority, so it circulated as both economic and spiritual power. It still does: money organizes meaning. Fiat currency works because we collectively believe it means something—fiat literally “let it be” in Latin—its meaning assigned by our shared narrative. And because money is tethered to desire, it doesn’t just reflect value; it follows it. It’s the pull of eyes when a sports car glides down a street. It’s Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, saying “when you create desire, profits are a consequence.” Shopping is not independent from the spiritual realm that strips away our names, and it’s a very literal form of kamikakushi.
When we feel the weight of our limits, we start reaching toward idols to imitate, goals to chase, places to explore, people to meet. What we’re really chasing is a sense of immortality or infinity, something that lives longer than we ever will. We want to be remembered long after we’ve left a conversation, the company, the world.
Desire is never about the object itself. If it were, once you acquired it, the desire would vanish. Yet, your wardrobe keeps getting stuffier while you still find yourself with nothing to wear. Desire is about what the object seems to promise us: a fuller, richer existence. This is why Marie Kondo’s “spark joy” test is great: it reframes consumption as discernment. It asks whether an object raises your spirit or weighs it down. Left unchecked, your possessions take away your freedom to be who you are. As Fight Club says, “The things you own end up owning you.”
***
Every now and then, I feel my value system collapsing under the seduction of Alo’s knitwear sets through their windows. Overall, none of this is about “how to spend less”, it’s about the freedom to just be… you.
You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis.
—Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club)
Stronger values make you spend more mindfully because they shift the axis of desire. When you know what you worship—what you actually stand for and who you want to become—everything gets tested against that vision. Values act like a sieve: they filter out the empty cravings that come from comparison and they let through only the things that genuinely serve your spirit. Without values, desires lead you astray by following ads and algorithms and the envy of friends—a state commonly known as “being distracted”.
The scariest part of Chihiro watching her parents turn into pigs is that they could’ve simply walked away. The unattended food stalls feel like a test of whether one can resist charming distractions. Like the family in Spirited Away, you’re rarely forced to follow one desire over another (until you choose wrongly, and only later realize what you’ve done, if you realize it at all). But if you aim at your highest value—placing no other gods above it, coveting nothing of your neighbor’s—you free yourself from the distractions that split your soul and can refocus your being on becoming who you want to be."]]>sherryning consumption consumerism overconsumption values 2025 spiritedaway desire money budget materialism mirandapriestly stuff shopping fomo lust bernardcornwell process thejourneyisthedestination experience loneliness being life living capitalism objects junomoneta bernardarnault mariekondo freedom chuckbalahniuk distraction envy algortithmshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:482bcc3fed1e/Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need2025-11-02T20:52:41+00:00
https://placesjournal.org/article/extralibrary-loan-making-civic-infrastructure/
robertogrecoshannonmattern 2025 libraries journalism place infrastructure civics creativity knowledge publicknowledge kellyjensen bookriot lukesutherland susanorlean heatherchaplin us jousrnalism whatsapp information social terryparrisjr maga ala librarians hannawiemer donaldtrump socialarchitecture everylibrary wisdom resources politics media newdeal forums johnstudebaker wpa makewith kateharlow mediaecosystems hanifabdurraqib engagement privacy integrity sustainability surveillance extraction distraction monetization collections ai artificialintelligence inevitability solidarity bannedbooks newsrooms mediacommons commons katherinevictoriacoffield seattle sandiego nyc brooklyn ballard missoula montana museums nypl undercommons collectives mutualaid resistance refusal trustshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:dba7ad9f651c/no. 81—After Words2025-10-31T21:43:04+00:00
https://thebaffler.com/issues/no-81
robertogrecothebaffler literacy reading howeread writing howwewrite ai artificialintelligence socialmedia society jessrow matthewzapruder sawakonakayasu rycook jennyxie rafilkroll-zaidi michaeloswell minatavakoli bracebelden habrielwinslow-yost andrewleland brucerobbins chrislehmann sophiepinkham noahmccormack matthewshengoodman alexandercockburn cslewis criticism technology typewriters yemengde plato phaedrus postliteracy distraction jonathanfranzen internet web online attention chatgpt literature hoaxes melancholy novels books games gaming videogames addiction class deaf deafness language text sound podcasts podcasting poetry poems post-literacyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1edc8101246f/In Search of Distraction | The Poetry Foundation2025-09-19T16:53:02+00:00
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/144656/in-search-of-distraction
robertogreco2017 matthewbevis distraction digressions daydreaming rebeccasolnit johnbeck thomasdavenport add adhd saulbellow thomasdequincey attention dianearbus creativity laurencesterne diderot society culture johnashbery gertrudestein maxnordau thoreau jeancocteau mariannemoore poetry peterstitt hamlet shakespeare janefreilicher jameslorenbach rbkitaj theodordreyer walterbenjamin film art richardhoward donaldwinnicott proust marcelproust paulnorth elizabethbishop kennethkoch thomashardy jamesschuyler looking seeing joriegraham henrimichaux rolandbarthes henrywordsworth denisdiderothttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cd4515224aff/Classroom Technology Was a Mistake - by Paul Musgrave2025-08-22T17:48:41+00:00
https://musgrave.substack.com/p/ai-like-the-classroom-tech-before
robertogrecopaulmusgrave 2025 edtech education technology teaching howweteach howwelearn schools schooling 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s llms ai artificialintelligence chatbots oregontrail computers computing distraction balckboard moodel lms canvas dropbox web internet online microsoftencarta encartahttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e6d2a56b9cbd/Understood - For learning and thinking differences2025-07-25T05:11:05+00:00
https://www.understood.org/en
robertogrecoadd adhd autism dyslexia learning parenting education health accessibility kids language dyscalculia writing reading howweread howwewrite foucs attention emotions anxiety school schooling schools confidence self-esteem undersranding stress organization socialskills social math mathematics frustration instructions distraction hyperactivity procrastination avoidance gender women worplace work backtoschool holidays learningdifferences summer stem ieps assistivetechnology technology tantrums meltdowns via:sophiahttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3a1285967eaa/The Most Valuable Commodity in the World is Friction2025-06-12T05:03:51+00:00
https://kyla.substack.com/p/the-most-valuable-commodity-in-the
robertogrecokylascanlon 2025 friction ai artificialintelligence society work culture education socialmedia human economy economics workethic chatgpt howwewrite writing slow simulation technology distraction labor effort life living consumerism consumptionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4f936fe618c3/Digital culture and entertainment insights daily: In defense of friction | Dirt2025-06-12T05:01:49+00:00
https://dirt.fyi/article/2025/06/in-defense-of-friction
robertogrecoThe simulation economy is you disappearing into this technology versus using it as a distraction.
FZ: When you're richer and goods become cheaper, that's a form of frictionlessness. So is the American Dream a dream of a frictionless life?
KS: I think some elements of the American Dream are elements of frictionlessness, like you don't want to have to worry about if you can afford going to the doctor. I think that smart phones and social media are just one of the most powerful drugs that we have ever had. I don't think that the American Dream is outsourcing your entire life to social media and living inside of an AI bot. I still believe that people like working hard. It's part of the reason that we have such intense populism right now, people want to bring manufacturing back because they want those jobs again. The American Dream isn't bonbons on a couch. It's having the opportunity to have that upward mobility, which often does come through working hard.
FZ: Tell me some of the basic principles in your work.
KS: My book was designed to be a static place that people could go and hopefully have an accessible guide to the economy. It's illustrated, it's my drawings. It's meant to be fun and not overwhelming in the way that sometimes economics can feel to a lot of people. The main goal of a lot of my work is taking these core economic concepts and using both financial and media literacy to explain them to people. The foundation of understanding the economy is understanding how the economy is talked about in news and media headlines, and now the antics of the administration. It's attempting to translate ideas in a way that's applicable. When I go and buy a coffee, that's an economic transaction, or I'm in the workforce, that's an economic transaction, I am paying for my car. Every single thing we do is an element of the economy. We just pretend that people don't need to know about it. So that's the main driver of my work.
Every single thing we do is an element of the economy. We just pretend that people don't need to know about it.
FZ: People are referring to you as the Gen Z economy whisperer.
KS: I think the Gen Z thing happened because I'm an ancient Gen Z. Everyone wants to understand younger generations and that's one part of it. But the whole goal I have is really like, “We have young people, they're feeling bad. What do we do about it?” It's not just going on shows and saying, “the young people are sad.” It's like, “how do we build a better economy for them?” I think the main goal is, if you're going to use social media as a tool and then also complain about how bad it is for people, you have to bring people somewhere. You have to get them out of the digital world somehow, whether that be through a book or through a video that brings them into the real world. So that's been a big effort.
If you're going to use social media as a tool and then also complain about how bad it is for people, you have to bring people somewhere.
FZ: What are you most optimistic about right now?
KS: I'm always optimistic about the human spirit. I find a lot of hope in reading about the past and knowing that we've been here before. We have new demons and we have to figure out where they fit and how we're going to manage them. Right now a lot of people are just putting their heads in the sand. It's much easier to talk about it versus actually doing something about it. But I'm optimistic that if we can talk about these problems and begin to understand what they are, that means that the solutions are coming."]]>kylascanlon franciszierer friction howwewrite writing slow chatgpt ai artificialintelligence economics simulation technology distraction work labor effort workethic life living consumerism consumption genz generationz media zoomershttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4d6eab895d90/Craig Mod on the Creative Power of Walking ‹ Literary Hub2025-05-14T15:43:10+00:00
https://lithub.com/craig-mod-on-the-creative-power-of-walking/
robertogrecocraigmod walking thinking howwethink boredom writing howwewrite attention distraction solviturambulando creativity imagination howwework presence 2025https://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:26b01a2a7c3e/Player One and Main Character | Los Angeles Review of Books2025-04-28T02:18:57+00:00
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/player-one-and-main-character/
robertogrecogideonjacobs 2025 donaldtrump elonmusk augustuscaesar mansumusa javiermilei argentina memes internet socialmedia online duplicity duality oligarchy roycohn seanduggy foxnews media lindamcmahaon mehmetoz twitter tesla spacex shivonzilis walterisaacson karaswisher georgeclooney realitytv benjaminnetanyahu drama distraction behavior surprise meaning comedy fiction reality hakeemjeffries maga larping volodymyrzelenskyy kamalaharris election tjclark us markzuckerberg jeffbezos rfkjr robertkennedyjr cpac jan6 january6 npcshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:11e35e0e3de2/How does western media ‘whitewash’ genocide? | Assal Rad | Real Talk - YouTube2025-04-26T05:48:43+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnzEUrPfoXI
robertogrecoassalrad 2025 genocide ethniccleansing israel palestine gaza headlines media mainstreammedia westernmedia terminology language bias journalism impunity accountability publicopinion middleast press information socialmedia tiktok benjaminnetanyahu framing narrative policy us propaganda isareal westbank settlercolonialism colonialism colonization occupation haaretz hamas distraction nytimes apartheid zionism dehumanization reporting islamophobia whitewashing mohamedhashem cnn msnbc passiveobservation justification humanrights un icc icj russia ukraine freepress authoritarianism freespeech iof idf history context dispossession displacement lebanon truth hezbollah ceasefire manufacturingconsent noamchomsky forprofit freedomofspeech manufacturedconsent hizbullahhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:97fe2e0a3f1a/Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War by Ash Sarkar – identity fraud | Politics books | The Guardian2025-02-24T01:52:37+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/20/minority-rule-adventures-in-the-culture-war-by-ash-sarkar-identity
robertogrecopratinavanil 2025 politics marxism jamesdelingpole economics left friedrichengels workingclass labor work identity idenititypolitics individualism austerity class jamescarville billclinton 1990s 1890s edwardheath 1974 1970s solidairty organizing oppression victimhood identitarianism casteism misogyny homophobia ashsarkar culturewar culturewars narrative pmc professionalmanagerialclass philanthropicindustrialcomplex charitableindustrialcomplex charity philanthropy transphobia socialmedia journalism punditry elonmusk antisemitism right rightwing refom fascism nazis distraction minorities majorities democrats republicanshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:924ea2c82133/Trump and Musk Keep Spouting Bogus Numbers to Hide Their Real Agenda | The New Republic2025-02-23T00:14:18+00:00
https://newrepublic.com/article/191667/trump-musk-numbers-statistics-debunked-real-agenda
robertogrecorossrosenfeld misinformation distraction elonmusk donaldtrump government corruption authoritarianism setevebannon us media attention banking truthsocial socialmedia realestate nlrb tesla spacex usaid identitythefthttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:89b6460abddb/What does Elon Musk want? - YouTube2025-01-19T19:30:00+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPoXOwiEfrQ
robertogrecogarystevenson inequality economics elonmuusk donaldtrump us media influence corruption uk europe taxes taxation power policy news wealthdistribution farright antiimmigration rightwing rishisunak davidcameron housing cities ownership poverty class workingclass labor work distraction tesla twitter finance xenophobia livingstandards migration immigration wages incomeinequalityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7227e0badae3/The Dan MacQuillan episode - by Helen Beetham2025-01-17T18:23:55+00:00
https://helenbeetham.substack.com/p/the-dan-macquillan-episode
robertogrecodanmacquillan 2025 helenbeetham ai artificialintelligence computing education howweteach teaching highered highereducation resistance situationists colonialism aicolonialism colonization guydebord societyofthespectacle algorithms globalsouth hannaharendt generativeai fascism technology antifascism donaldtrump jdvance transparency opacity marginalization border borders productivity learning howeelearn criticalthinking summarization distraction bubbles aibubble computers generativity noise tools michelfoucault foucault power literacy medialiteracy continuity reductiveness labor work austerity neoliberalism economics politics policy thoughtlessness thinking howwethink decisionmaking decisions process reading howweread business outsourcing luddism luddites neouddites situationist kenknapp buereauofpublicsecrets polycrisis climatecrisis climatechange legitimacy globalwarming climate diversion crises artificialgeneralintelligence surrealists datacenters environment capitalism jeffbezos geoengineering amazon tesla thttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1958aeb46399/Schools vs. Screens - Macleans.ca2024-12-11T21:29:29+00:00
https://macleans.ca/society/schools-vs-screens/
robertogrecostudents technology learning education 2024 lucrinaldi schools schooling attention policy screens parents administration edtech socialmedia cyberbullying pandemic covid-19 coronavirus ipads tiktok fornite amongus addiction distraction mobile smartphones computers computing pedagogy phones games gaming videogames engagementhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2a8eb8c29ef4/A Rediscovered Map | Weeknotes - thejaymo2024-11-12T05:29:57+00:00
https://thejaymo.net/2024/11/10/364-a-rediscovered-map/
robertogreco2024 2016 thejaymo smartphones rebellion distraction distractioneconomy economics privacy focus attention attentioneconomy behavior time space applications ethics offgrid offline web online internet maintenance care caring reuse repair secondhand future wellbeing sustainability solarpunk culture society jayspringett consumption consumerism overconsumption resistance modernity phones consciousness feelings allthesense multisensory senses physical meatspace human humanism humans cooperation resilience sharedknowledge alternative well-beinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c528d659b8b1/YIMBYism Is Code For Gentrification with David Fields - YouTube2024-10-25T01:12:42+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YMd0HZA4CE
robertogrecostevegrumbine macroncheese davidfields briahnajoygray yimby yimbyism nimby nimbyism 2024 realestate housing economics trickledowneconomics edglaeser richardflorida creativeclass gentrification edwardglaeser displacement development urban urbanism urbanplanning regulation deregulation developers class classism ronaldreagan reaganomics sanfrancisco trickledown alftredmarshall capitalism markets wages socialexclusion socialinclusion inequality land landvalues policy wagesuppression neoliberalism publichousing socialservices healthcare welfare 1980s 1990s billclinton reform liberalism globalization unions labor work democrats tradeunions breadwinners underclass hud hope6 bailouts joebiden kamalaharris adamsmith plutocracy oligarchy workingclass republicans elections us leisureclass ownership wealthofnations corporations corporatism government wallstreet antoniogrmasci antoniogramsci karlmarx proudhon utah finance greatrecession globalfinancialcrisis exploitation property degrowth greenwashing greengrowth yuppieshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e90568176f8f/How the CIA Controls US Culture (with Esha Krishnaswamy) - YouTube2024-10-20T23:14:08+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDtQ_B3aE2k
robertogrecoeshak briahnajoygray cia zambia coldwar colonialism colonization africa asia latinamerica culture influence propaganda distraction racism race oppression politics redlining history massincarceration eshakrishnaswamy capitalism fascism socialism europe marxism art 2024 korea nationalsecurity abbyrockereller moma rockefellers abstractexpressionsim jacksonpollock georgiao'keeffe compatibleleft identity freedom democracy vagueness imperialism deflection identitypolitics eisenhower segregation desegregation jazz dwightdeisenhower voiceofamerica dukeellington louisarmstrong barackobama dixiechicks sineadoconnor kenricklamar beyoncé superbowl hollywood music patricelumumba josephmabuto military dod departmentofdefense film movies filmmaking elections aipac chuckd funding tupacshakur hiphop rap congo drc pinochet labor work vanessaredgrave susansarandon macklemore nfl celebrities sports colinkaepernick class unions organizing apartheid southafrica gigeconomy economics unemployment directaction power money ronaldrhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:6b79332247b7/Mark Zuckerberg’s rebrand is a master class in distraction2024-10-06T05:35:41+00:00
https://disconnect.blog/mark-zuckerbergs-rebrand-is-a-master-class-in-distraction/
robertogrecoparismarx markzuckerberg 2024 power siliconvalley distraction regulation facebook sophiezhang media policy platforms joelkaplan alexjones georgewbush rightwing politics californianideology libertarianism socialjustice israel gaza palestine socialmedia donaldtrump elections jimjordan censorship crowdtanglehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c424eab023a6/Our Food Is Killing Us. Regenerative Farming Fixes This. | Joel Salatin - YouTube2024-09-30T03:07:43+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DyF4qTqDpY
robertogrecofood adamtaggart farming sustainability regenerative 2024 agriculture bigagriculture law legal corporations corporatism production distraction polyfacefarm virginia policy politics economics livestock topsoil health regulatorycapture regulation environment worldview biology land healing cattle pasture indigeneity indigenous australia aborigines aborigine fertilizer fertilizers animals nature ecosystems happiness meat vegetables fruit nutrition animalwelfare chickens cows pigs eggs biomass resilience foodsystems foodsystem distrubuted decentralization scale scaling centralization duplication smallfarms redundancy eclecticism diversity supplychains local foodsheds community pollination biomes bees orchards almonds disintegration integratedsystems efficiency energy inefficiency aboriginalhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:49fc50b71ddf/Fully Alive | YCFC2024-08-19T03:53:07+00:00
https://faith.yale.edu/media/fully-alive
robertogrecoelizabetholdfield 2024 monasticism spirituality anxiety fear soul life living relationships connection sin reconciliation distraction gratitude christianity contempt greed avarice comfort connivance wealth discipline baptism love honesty vulnerability michaelo'siadhail intentionalcommunity nonviolence emotions phyllistickle prayer rhythms pace jesus christ marinbuber liturgy francisspufford johndunne whauden polarization division homophily silence quiet uncertainty poetry thomastraherne guvnab desire jonathanhaidt humanism outrage wrath anger empiness tribalism society divisiveness moralizing stress empathy curiosity offense grief grieving lament rage overwhelm evanrosa feelings therapy ritual hope cycles praise joy psychology wellness change parableofthesower climatechange accumulation consumerism falseidols shame shamelessness marilynnerobinson money enough simple simplicity slow small security stability steadiness jesuschristhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7be44aa4c8e5/Internet Loneliness and Loss of Community - YouTube2024-06-22T04:48:33+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivd8so3vWjQ
robertogrecoshanspeare 2024 internet media history web online radio tv television 2010s 1990s 2000s plato stephenmarche technology isolation loneliness society digital slacktivism capitalism socialmedia tiktok attention distraction activism yvettevickers moralpanics moralism reading howweread sensationalism children mentalhealth guydebord spectacle jonathancrary capitalflows johnbellamyfoster robertmcchesney rapidity speed productivity comparison consumerism community dehumanization algorithms cynicism apathy separation individualism commodities commodityfetishism advocacy ignorance silence suppression simplicity engagement bds organizing boycotts boycott palestine israel starbucks abstinence onlineactivism celebrities metgala influencers digitine inequality precarity organization raybradbury fahrenheit451 despair whitesupremacy colonialism imperialismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:83a1d14b5c62/The Intellectual Obesity Crisis - by Gurwinder - The Prism2024-06-03T01:44:12+00:00
https://www.gurwinder.blog/p/the-intellectual-obesity-crisis
robertogrecoinformation infooverload reading howweread internet web online churnalism babble thinking howwethink slow junkinfo via:ayjay gurwinder socialmedia attention research normativedissociation intellect intellectualobesity senses distraction twitter writing howwewrite addiction dopamine consumption brain informationdiet gibberish outrage consumerism internetoferrors medialiteracy learning howwelearn focus ciriticalthinking abundance scarcity petrarch overconsumption meta-awareness 2022https://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2e4ab78937f4/Deep Reading Will Save Your Soul - by William Deresiewicz2024-05-30T16:21:54+00:00
https://www.persuasion.community/p/deep-reading-will-save-your-soul
robertogreco2024 colleges universities liberalarts academia reading howweread highered highereducation lcproject openstudioproject learning meaningmaking philosophy ivyleague elitism elites meritocracy interdisciplinary informal silos undergraduate bennington antiochcollege evergreenstatecollege hampshirecollege howwelearn slow attention internships steam stem literature history arthistory engagement matthewstrother brooklyninstituteforsocialresearch bisr jacqueslacan gillesdeleuze ericauerbach criticaltheory racialcapitalism catherineproject zenahitz catherinedoherty simplicity transparency greatbooks zephyrinstitute hertogfoundation humanities kierkegaard dante cervantes inquiry russelljacoby academics amandaclaybaugh thescarletletter nathanielhawthorne stephengreenblatt deepspringscollege platosacademy villarubinacci distraction lennalencz matthewstrothercenter formaleducation education ernesthemingway gkchesterton jdsalinger durell ozick williamblake gorky chekhov geoffdyer paulgoodman robertocalasso davidshields grehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e4d0a5816939/The One Video Israel REALLY Doesn't Want You To See - YouTube2024-04-22T19:47:17+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFyVeunjil0
robertogrecomohammedel-kurd palestine genocide israel us language 2024 distraction media violence antisemitism ethniccleansing gaza westbank imperialism settlercolonialism colonialism colonization 1948 nakba history holocaust claudinegay columbia harvard colleges universities academia highered highereducation fear silence minoucheshafik congress misdirection complicityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9267deeb426b/The Myth Of Multitasking : NPR2024-04-15T20:48:09+00:00
https://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861382/the-myth-of-multitasking
robertogreco2013 multitasking cliffordnass psychology taskswitching attention distraction concentration creativityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c002dd659400/The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The denial of death on Apple Podcasts2024-04-15T20:04:40+00:00
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-denial-of-death/id1081584611?i=1000647919852
robertogrecoernestbecker thedenialofdeath film documentary jefsewell seanilling 2024 anthropology mystery death dying culture immortality mortality nature children richardlouv lauradunn humans humanness thegrayarea bodies senses allthesense existence allthesenses viruality reality philosophy legacy meaning meaningmaking self-reflection melancholy existentialism stoicism fear anxiety avoidance purpose josephcampbell accident purity heroism childhood parenting vulnerability limitation distraction attention life living illusions notknowing delusions joy religion saintfrancisofassisi awareness wonder technology presence media economics consumerism capitalism awakeness paultillich progressivism truth utopia samkeen wisdom humility beauty sensitivityhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fb465585c78d/"The World Reveals Itself to Those Who Walk"2024-04-15T16:28:32+00:00
https://2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/the-world-reveals-itself-to-those-who-walk/
robertogrecoaudreywatters 2024 walking place attention maps mapping cameras smartphones connectivity phones internet web online cities rousseau nietzsche multitasking technology distraction slow novelty anniemurphypaul thoreau thinking howwethink tv television us australia uk canada england cars exercise canon cv nyc urban urbanism driving cognition gps gettinglost culture society seeing wernerherzoghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:00fdd58c9fa5/Opinion | Get Tech Out of the Classroom Before It’s Too Late - The New York Times2024-04-10T18:33:21+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/opinion/schools-technology.html
robertogrecojessicagrose technology 2024 children schools schooling attention screens covid-19 coronavirus pandemic google chromebooks natashasinger collinbinkley youtube tiktok nicolepost cognition goguardian software distraction powerpoint criticalthinking jonathanhaidt bigtech edtechhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:89f095bd91ba/Why we crave healthier computing2024-04-02T06:00:42+00:00
https://arun.is/blog/healthy-computing/
robertogrecoarunvenkatesan computers computing history technology trends ux 2024 ubicomp ubiquity distraction attention timwu calnewport socialmedia lightphone reamrkable daylightablethttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:83b03828d064/Desire, Dopamine, and the Internet - by L. M. Sacasas2024-03-24T02:39:43+00:00
https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/desire-dopamine-and-the-internet
robertogrecolmsacasas 2024 desire dopamine addiction socialmedia tedgioia technology internet web online distraction history responsibility culture society resistance solitude attention discipline self-discipline engagement restraint vulnerability risk risktaking silence smartphones digital media environment digitalmedia personhood humans compulsion annalembke hannarharendt loneliness blaisepascal alanjacobs dualism dualities duality relationships abundance modernity hartmutrosa superabundance well-being conviviality philiprieff anti-culture deepculture reality scarcity information wellbeinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cacb781c0ef0/Can’t stop worrying? Why video games help | University of California2024-03-21T17:28:51+00:00
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/cant-stop-worrying-why-video-games-help
robertogrecojessicawheelock flow videogames games gaming stress worry worrying mihalycsikszentmihalyi immersion katesweeny attention anxiety waiting goals tetris flowstate distraction covid-19 coronavirus pandemic psychologyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:beb1e84558fc/“Two sides of the same coin” - YouTube2024-03-20T22:04:52+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngzEK9ksrLc
robertogrecomakdisistreet 2024 palestine israel zionism denial sareemakdisi ussamamakdisi karimmakdisi nakba apartheid distraction obfuscation liberalzionism jonathanglazer silencing erasure mccarthyism attention propaganda us genocide ethniccleansing redscare suppressionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5d53cd4ffba4/To See the World Whole - by Christian Study Center2024-02-26T02:00:27+00:00
https://christianstudycenter.substack.com/p/to-see-the-world-whole
robertogreco2024 lmsacasas wholeness objectivity abstraction academia highered highereducation quantification science scientism technology beholding silence agesegregation work life howwelive departmentalization separation philosophy compartmentalization behaviorism technosolutionism ai artificialintelligence machinelearning cyborgs power control hartmutrosa wendellberry cslewis romanoguardini love knowledge progress canon modernity isaacnewton physics specialization faith reason enlightenment mind body humanism facts value values disintegration society culture nature alienation scale humanscale slow small presence distraction attention depression isolation suicide peace wonder maxpicard living jrrtolkienhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5bfaad48bb3a/Where You Are Is Where You Are - by Hadden Turner2024-02-20T19:22:14+00:00
https://overthefield.substack.com/p/where-you-are-is-where-you-are
robertogreco“A couple who make a good marriage, and raise a healthy, morally competent children, are serving the world's future more directly and surely than any political leader, though they never utter a public word. A good farmer who is dealing with the problem of soil erosion on an acre of ground as a sound grasp of that problem and cares more about it and is probably doing more to solve it than any bureaucrat who is talking about it in general. A man who is willing to undertake the discipline and the difficulty of mending his own ways is worth more to the conservation movement than a hundred who are insisting merely that the government and the industries mend their ways.”15"]]>haddenturner 2024 via:daniellucas democracy technocracy wendellberry local national global globalization centralization decentralization scale zoominginandout fulfillment governance government place placemaking community responsibility slow small burden individualism collectivism neighbors neighborliness environment politics distraction farms farming land bureaucracyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c0ce9b2b8f2e/Birds Do Not Sing in Caves - YouTube2024-02-08T18:29:33+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgXgkpu7pkg
robertogrecothoreau solitude slow small intentionalliving distraction attention philosophy waldenpond society life living simplicity conformity minimalism voluntarysimplicity technology self-reliance self-knowledge civilization happiness existence fulfillment ignorance materialism capitalism self-exploration purpose finance commerce self howwelive norms culture self-examination personhood transcendentalism humanism humanity thinking howwethink oppression systems systemsthinking constructs whatmatters context reality cities urban urbanism economics traps awakeness awakening humanresources supplychains markets circuits closedloops rural heideggerhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5691284e2387/Internet vs “internet,” and non-internet things – time spent offline2024-01-04T17:47:11+00:00
https://mehretbiruk.com/2023/06/04/internet-vs-internet/comment-page-1/#
robertogrecointernet web online 2023 mehretbiruk offline howweread reading distraction attention signalandnoise noise socialmediahttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:150048bbd102/How to Pay Attention, Nick Seaver — Are.na2023-10-29T22:29:50+00:00
https://www.are.na/block/2396514
robertogreconickseaver 2018 attention syllabus syllabuses howweread allthesenses multispecies morethanhuman distraction immersion howwelearn noticing infrastucture urban urbanism cities sight vision information economics economy informationoverload infoooverload affect novelty walking resistance ethnography mortality history productivity anthropology listening deeplistening bodies enchantment traps metaphors clickbait internet web online research learning balance gestures machinery politics homophily fascism protest umwelt environment cognition meerkatmanor socialconstructions socialconstructs behavior adhd self attentiveness vigiliance individualism autonomy individuality plants animals meerkats filterbubbles socialmovements denial everyday meditation mind binging software algorithms search socialmedia sensemaking makingsense understanding knowledge reading time minds psychology observationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b60e56e6cf96/Personal Machines and Portable Worlds - Christopher Butler2023-07-09T19:58:31+00:00
https://www.chrbutler.com/personal-machines-and-portable-worlds
robertogreco“My book is so much about how technology dictates culture. The devices that we use aren’t just accessories to culture or windows that we consume things through; they are collaborators, gateways, and molds…the idea of a personal computer had to be invented, manufactured, and marketed. We had to imagine computers as personal machines.”
This is an important point. We could live in a world where computing is a public works — where terminals to central processing work like telephones used to. You can pick them up or put them down, but nothing inside of them is yours. But we don’t live in that world. As soon as the first computer booted up in the first home, the computer became a personal object. And when an object becomes personal, it is difficult to leave it behind. We want it with us.
Perhaps that one thing — a simple desire for a personal machine — set us on the course we have followed since. Not Moore’s Law, not Capitalism, but personhood.
Later, in the same post, Chayka writes of the Palm Pilot — an early attempt at portable computing — that, despite it not providing much in the way of “fun” features for a kid, there was still an “ineffable appeal to holding a gateway to a digital world in your hand.”
A world. There’s that word again.
Why a world? There is a sense of dimensional transcendence to computers. As C.S. Lewis wrote of the wardrobe, “It’s inside is bigger than its outside.” In the early days of mobile computing, it was hard to not compare the capaciousness of a computer you could carry with you to something like a book. Of both you could say their insides were bigger than their outsides, but when it came to information, you’d have to settle for figurative capaciousness in a book; their actual contents are literally cover to cover. A digital machine’s contents are an entirely different thing.
In the time of the Palm Pilot, a tiny door to a vast digital world was more powerful as an idea than a tool. The digital world just wasn’t as big back then as it is now. But to Chayka’s first point, we built the digital world using these little devices that didn’t do very much. We made it worth the journey. And meanwhile, the object was our companion, and inside was a tiny, personal digital world — our notes, our messages, our few digital texts. It was not much, but it was ours."
...
"Many of the examples I’ve looked at so far align with my ideas of what makes a machine personal because they were designed with limitations imposed upon them, and many of the examples I’ve discussed that no longer feel personal have been designed to surpass those limitations. If machines were designed to be more personal, we’d have very different machines.
Sometimes it feels like it is simply a matter of whether a machine is connected to the internet or not. But of course it’s more than that. It’s as much about what we do with our machines as it is about what they were designed to do.
I think we can still experience the personal machine by choosing to experience a machine that way.
In a way, the continued popularity of vinyl is a good example of this. For the same price as a single record, you can get several months of access to more music than you could ever hear in that time. Still, some people choose records over digital files. It’s too easy to dismiss this as an affectation. It’s a choice to experience music in a particular way. It’s also a choice of a personal machine — a record player rather than a phone.
One benefit of personal technology reaching the maturity it has is the abundance of choices. It may seem like you must use an iPhone — perhaps everyone you know and care about is group messaging with iMessage — but you can choose something else. Every choice has benefits and costs. Ten years ago, I chose to leave Facebook. The benefits were many; the costs were not having easy access to where people I cared about shared information I wanted to know. A few years ago, I stopped using an e-reader — I had used a Kindle, and then a Kobo, both great machines. The cost was no longer being able to send articles from the web to my machine and reading them, as well as books, in bed. The benefit was not having too many choices in front of me when I just want to read one thing. I went back to the printed book. You could say that’s as much of an affectation in 2023 as playing a vinyl record. Maybe. But it’s a choice.
I haven’t owned a laptop for many years. My primary machine is a Mac Mini set up in my home office. The cost is I can’t work from my couch or the local coffee shop. The benefit is I have some separation in my life between work and not work.
For me, these choices turn using the same machines everyone uses into a more personal experience."
...
"I also notice that when I look at these older machines and the old media they use, I often find myself feeling like I’m looking at a door to a world. I look at a book — there’s a world. Every playable disc in our house — each a world.
Once you become accustomed to worldspotting, you can see them in anything. Every object is a world.
In the World; of the Worlds
Perhaps the days of personal machines are over. Maybe the complexities that Mau and his cohort wrote about are not safely reducible. Maybe we can’t decomplexify the world of things. Maybe. And if we can, I wouldn’t dare imagine it could happen quickly.
But if we can, where do we start? What do we look at? What do we use again, despite there being sleeker, faster, frictionless options available? What limits do we embrace so that we can re-balance the human with the machine?
I have spent the last few years slowly disconnecting in various ways. I’ve chosen to use things that only do a part of what readily available alternatives do and more. I’ve chosen to stop using some things altogether. I have found that these choices have enhanced my experiences because they’ve supported true insight; they’ve helped me be more aware of what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and who I am becoming. I have found that they change the world because they change my world.
Jung said that in each of us is another. I think that in each of us is another world. A good personal machine reveals that world and helps us shape it."]]>christopherbutler whatisacomputer porability computers computing objects 2023 personal personalmachines machines gadgets communication expression imagination toys technology laptops smartphones phones purpose utility entertainment infinitude devices audiencesofone portals identity exploration legendofzelda zelda worldbuilding brucemau massivechange complexity institutewithoutboundaries potential thoreau simplicity human humans balance invention creation distraction attention waste want voyeurism kylechayka personhood palmpilot capitalism mooreslaw worlds companions maremecum vademecum designfiction sciencefiction scifi projectara robinsloan marydoriarussell quantumleap limitations constraints choice kindle kobo iphone tradeoffs limits facebook disconnecting carljung junghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8225eb3c6c52/Why We Never Have Enough Time | The New Yorker2023-03-14T23:32:21+00:00
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/13/saving-time-book-review-jenny-odell
robertogrecoparulsehgal jennyodell howwewrite time attention 2023 criticism leisure annetruitt oliverburkeman distractionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3ab7847fda7c/Wendell Berry: The Work of Local Culture | The Contrary Farmer2023-01-21T22:04:57+00:00
https://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/wendell-berry-the-work-of-local-culture/
robertogrecowendellberry rural education local slow small unschooling deschooling centralization decentralization 2011 farming democracy community communities power storytelling professionalization professionals standardization standards extractivism extraction exploitation elitism culture society urban urbanization suburbs suburbia homogenization entertainment distraction belonging purpose environment land soil memory enrichment knowledge highered highereducation academia canon insurance corporations corporatism corporatization mutualaid sales advertising economics consumerism consumption gdp sustainability pollution degradation money poverty generations parenting media television tv classics bible shakespeare williamwordsworth kinship institutions institutionalization schools schooling publicschools indocrtrination children careerism professionalism careers place home meritocracy conservation environmentalism green ecology landscape garbage methods agesegregation government salaries income love memories collectivism chhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:46a2ab19fd3d/The Ezra Klein Show: Best Of: Ruth Ozeki’s Enchanted Relationship to Minds and Possessions on Apple Podcasts2022-12-05T03:10:14+00:00
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/best-of-ruth-ozekis-enchanted-relationship-to-minds/id1548604447?i=1000571550798
robertogrecoruthozeki ezraklein possessions objects buddhism animism 2022 normanfischer jameskugel borges janebennett mentalillness stories libraries informationoverload librarians mariekondo emptiness form zenbuddhism fiction attention ritual reality writing howwewrite meditation materialism consumerism bodies voices cognition distraction storytelling spirituality experience return mind notice noticing thoughts thinking contol interdependence interbeing thichnhathanh ephemerality notknowing beginnersmind curiosity engagement ephemeral creativity creation carljung religion shamans joanofarc gandhi rationalism psychology mentalhealth context secularism inspiration self-help intuition insight hearingvoicesmovement pathologization psychiatry normal body morethanhuman matter materials climatechange trees multispecies shinto agency respect care caring disposal maintenance reverence hoarding spirits tradition promise ownership responsibility books bookstores stationery capitalism consumption shopping clutter messiness self crahttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:aa894d102ff9/All I saw was death2022-10-24T19:33:54+00:00
https://buttondown.email/techwontsaveus/archive/all-i-saw-was-death/
robertogrecoparismarx 2022 earth climnatechange globalwarming williamshatner siliconvalley jeffbezos elonmusk technosolutionism oblivion death destruction climatechange billionaires capitalism anthropocene capitalocene douglasrushkoff distraction society humankind beagoodancestor wealth inequality multispecies morethanhuman displacement greenwashinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4b846fb3ac6d/Podcast Conversations E4 - Gary Shteyngart on Watches as Literary Devices - BEYOND THE DIAL2022-08-16T23:27:35+00:00
https://www.beyondthedial.com/post/e14-gary-shteyngart-on-watches-as-literary-devices/
robertogrecowatches garyshteyngart 2019 writing literature collecting collections nomos junghans maxbill philosophy lakesucess autism meaning time minutia howwethink mechanics engineering art design bauhaus objects phenomenology relationships companionship watchworld distraction calm rolex jackforster things stuff podcasts thegreynato inheritance generations identity lakesuccess germany us buses greyhound roadtrips noticing details music politics losangeles southcarolina nyc lasvegas switzerland patekphillipe finance hedgefunds economics money culture society scarcity fredsavage jakegyllenhaal vintage bubbles watchbubble speculation universalgenève flipping watchflipping watchflippers watchdealers learning howwelearn fashion watchmaking timex casio tudor status grandseiko seiko audemarspiguet royaloak hodinkee jasonheaton jamesstacey watchcollecting ochsundjunior patekphillipenautilushttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f0046e56d3fe/The American Scholar: Solitude and Leadership - William Deresiewicz2022-05-01T14:56:01+00:00
https://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/
robertogrecowilliamderesiewicz via:anne leadership education conformity tcsnmy risk risktaking learning culture life philosophy bureaucracy business careers change military management administration solitude concentration thinking independence multitasking howwethink 2010 slow criticalthinking focus attention thomasmann writing tseliot associations jamesjoice highered highereducation cognition distraction memory understanding studying efficiencyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:781d92a5908a/Living In Expectation of the Unexpected Gift2022-01-03T21:11:32+00:00
https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/living-in-expectation-of-the-unexpected
robertogrecoFor some people at least, the idea seems to be that when we are freed from these mundane and tedious activities, we will be free to finally tap the real potential of our humanity. It’s as if there were some abstract plane of human existence that no one had yet achieved because we were fettered by our need to be directly engaged with the material world. I suppose that makes this a kind of gnostic fantasy. When we no longer have to tend to the world, we can focus on … what exactly?
It seems rarely to occur to us, or rather we are encouraged to forget that much of the joy and satisfaction we might find in this world may stem from our purposeful involvement in the sorts of tasks we are told to see as mundane, trivial, and inconvenient.
I’ve been noting of late that much of the “smart” infrastructure that is increasingly colonizing the home under the guise of convenience and automation tends to aim at something altogether banal: automated, which is to say thoughtless, rote consumption. This is evident, for example, in the app that inspired Gilliard’s comments.
From one perspective we might say that modern society in its consumerist mode offered the proliferation of choices and options as its summum bonum, its ultimate good. That is until the proliferation of choices and options became counterproductive, overwhelming would-be consumers with choices, inducing decision paralysis, and yielding diminishing returns. Now freedom as choice gives way to freedom from choice, but with no clearer sense of what freedom is for.
I know it is passé or worse in certain circles to cite the late David Foster Wallace, perhaps especially his Kenyon College address, but indulge me in recalling these lines:
And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
Make what you will of Wallace and his art, this seems to me right and wise.
In the Prologue to The Human Condition, with the promise that automation would empty the factories, Hannah Arendt worried that “it is a society of laborers which is about to be liberated from the fetters of labor, and this society does no longer know of those other higher and more meaninfgul activities for the sake of which this freedom would deserve to be won.” “What we are confronted with,” she added, “is the prospect of a society of laborers without labor, that is, without the only activity left to them. Surely, nothing could be worse.”
I’m tempted to say of the promise of a future world of automated consumption that we are confronted with the prospect of a society of consumers without consumption. Surely, nothing could be worse.
While Arendt’s mid-twentieth century fears about automation have not yet played out as she, and many others at the time, feared, her claim that modern society no longer knows of the higher activities for the sake of which freedom deserved to be won is still worth pondering.
If we grant that Arendt is on to something, I’d suggest that it is precisely in the absence of such activities or goods that technique takes on its compulsive, colonizing nature. Optimization becomes an end in itself. I may not know where I am going or why, but I can take some comfort in knowing that I can travel faster and more efficiently. Frenetic activity or compulsive distraction substitute for a clear sense of purpose and commitment. Substantive goals may elude me, but I can take refuge in tracking and optimizing an increasing range of activities and bodily functions.
I’m writing this installment with the themes of the last—exhaustion, burnout, tiredness, rest—still in mind. There are so many reasons why any of us might feel exhausted and depleted, but just now I find myself wondering how much of it is the result of aimless labors that serve only the operations of a techno-economic system designed to offer us everything but satisfaction, schooling us only in various forms of envy, addiction, and dependence.
I recently revisited Lewis Mumford’s 1951 lectures collected in Art and Technics, and I happened upon the following paragraph:
My basic assumption is that our life has increasingly split up into unrelated compartments, whose only form of order and interrelationship comes through fitting into the automatic organizations and mechanisms that in fact govern our daily existence. We have lost the essential capacity of self-governing persons—the freedom to make decisions, to say Yes or No in terms of our own purposes—so that, though we have vastly augmented our powers, through the high development of technics, we have not developed the capacity to control those powers in any proportionate degree. As a result, our very remedies are only further symptoms of the disease itself.
The freedom to say Yes or No in terms of our own purposes—it would seem that the first step in the direction is to clarify for ourselves what exactly our own purpose are or should be. To do this, it seems to me that we need to play the role of Socrates to ourselves, questioning our motives and desires, asking ourselves why we do what we do, seeking to radically, that is to the roots, weed out the various ways we’ve accepted uncritically the default settings of our techno-economic order.
I’m not inclined to give advice, particularly since so much of it takes the shape of technique, glibly packaged. I’ve been reading Tolkien again, and recently read that “elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.” This seems right. But if I may venture the risk, let me at least allow you to overhear some of what I am saying to myself.
Do not mistake planning for purpose, or activity for action.
Attend to the ordinary and the mundane with care and with gratitude.
Consider that rest is not a time set aside, but a spirit brought to every time.
Refuse the ever-present temptation to control and manage the thing we call life for their is no surer way to miss it.
Finally, it will surprise no one if I bring this installment, and thus the year of writing, to a close by recalling Ivan Illich, or at least a striking summary of Illich’s thought written by his friend and biographer David Cayley. In Cayley’s words, Illich believed that one of the great temptations we must resist was the temptation “to bring what must begin and end as surprise under administration.”
So, I will do my best to enter the new year in a spirit of expectation, refusing the burden of administering and controlling what, if it is to be experienced at all, can only be experienced in its fullness as a surprise, an unexpected gift.
May the new year find you all healthy and well."]]>lmsacasas 2021 ivanillich notion sophiehaigney tools technology jacquesellul canon robinberjon chrisgilliard convenience efficiency automation humanity humanism life living mundane everyday slow small howweread howwewrite thinking howwethink reading writing davidfosterwallace hannaharendt society unschooling deschooling labor work freedom liberation purpose consumerism capitalism consumption optimization activity distraction schooling lewismumford temptation control time administration technocracy refusal resistance luddism luddites davidcayley management lists economics behavior socrates materialism thewhy why culture jrrtolkienhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:501c5a8231de/Cutting Through The Noise, and Finding Your Lane - Worn & Wound2021-11-06T18:54:44+00:00
https://wornandwound.com/finding-your-lane-buying-watches-that-matter/
robertogrecowatches collections collecting 2021 noise motivation influence meaningmaking blakebuettner distraction taste preference preferences watchcollectinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8cb24fa9494e/Jia Tolentino on the Internet's Culture of Deception | Video | Amanpour & Company | PBS2020-02-19T03:03:40+00:00
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/jia-tolentino-on-the-internets-culture-of-deception/
robertogrecojiatolentino us culture society presentationofself capitalism economics feminism 2019 deception cons conmen self personalbranding precarity difficulty sexism challenges distraction socialmedia facebook twitter instagram aliciamenendez trickmirror internet web online performance identity behavior representation reality scammershttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7124282bac3f/Too anxious to press play2020-01-10T08:29:03+00:00
https://theweek.com/articles/883299/anxious-press-play
robertogreconavneetalang 2019 netflix streaming choice barryschwartz paradoxofchoice indecision time amazonprime primevideo hulu disneyplus apple tv television video culture elitism postmodernism highbrow lowbrow youtube distraction attention hibrowhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:df3b97d8097b/The empty promises of Marie Kondo and the craze for minimalism | Life and style | The Guardian2020-01-03T16:51:53+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/03/empty-promises-marie-kondo-craze-for-minimalism
robertogrecokyleshayka minimalism 2020 life living materialism consumerism maximalism climatechange environment infrastructure apple mariekondo stevejobs cleanliness clutter happiness konmarimethod austerity freedom distraction attention economics joshuabecker courneycarver 2008 2011 capitalism therapy simplicity society civilization excess comodification possessions stuff haording joshuafieldsmillburn ryannicodemus 2010 2017 ownership mobility lifestyle marketing perfection disposability design jonyive form function formfollowsfunction efficiency daisyhildyard shopping instagram aesthetics asceticismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7a7a85dd13f3/Why Your Brain Needs Idle Time – Elemental2019-05-14T03:46:14+00:00
https://elemental.medium.com/why-your-brain-needs-idle-time-e5d90b0ef1df
robertogrecobrain jonathnschooler idleness 2019 cognition psychology neuroscience downtime daydreaming mindwandering walking quiet chores mentalload cognitiveload thinking howwethink epiphanies creativity problemsolving mentalhealth attention distraction doingnothinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:0a7751b5fb1d/A Book Addict's Defense of the Smartphone | Technology and Learning2019-04-23T03:03:59+00:00
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/book-addicts-defense-smartphone
robertogrecosmartphones mobile phones howweread reading joshuakim infooverload distraction kindle ebooks audiobooks access accessibility attention 2019https://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:66310147c47b/Brian Selznick: By the Book - The New York Times2018-02-26T01:11:22+00:00
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/books/review/brian-selznick-by-the-book.html
robertogrecofailure leonardodavinci 2018 brianselznick unfinished curiosity michelangelo messiness self-education education howwelearn learning distraction art invention ideashttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:115d9b682bb7/What should teachers understand about the snapchat back-channel? - Long View on Education2017-05-14T22:00:58+00:00
http://www.longviewoneducation.org/teachers-understand-snapchat-back-channel/
robertogreco“To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over.”
We live in a culture where active listening, deep reading, and quiet reflection must compete with the incentivization to constantly participate and score points. I don’t read this as a lesson in psychology like a 5 Unusual Ways to be More Productive listicle, but rather as a lesson in politics and democracy: 5 Sneaky Ways Corporations Keep You Focused on Yourself in a Precarious World.
The last thing I want to do is normalize surveillance in schools by prying into what kids are doing on their devices or to outright ban things. That kind of approach both reflects ableism, ignoring how some people might rely on devices to learn, and classism, ignoring how people with low-incomes might rely on smartphones for internet access.
Should we turn Snapchat into an educational tool? I doubt that kids want school to bleed into their social space any more than my generation wanted their teachers to post homework assignments in mall food courts, on basketball hoops, or Facebook.
Should teachers aim to be more entertaining than Snapchat? I view education as kind of conversation which requires both parties to make an effort to listen. The classroom should explicitly examine and address the conditions under which people have a voice. As someone with power in the classroom, I am less worried about kids paying attention to me than I am worried about them paying attention to each other. What student would want to become vulnerable by sharing their important thoughts if they are really entering into a combat for attention, trying to out-entertain an app designed to be addictive?
Should we just butt out, as Gary Stager suggests? Amy Williams poses an important question in reply:
[tweet by Benjamin Doxtdator @doxtdatorb
https://twitter.com/doxtdatorb/status/863648814724505600 ]
"@garystager Which doesn't mean monitoring or surveilling the kids or banning it"
[tweet by Amy Williams @MsWilliamsEng
https://twitter.com/MsWilliamsEng/status/863688181811687425 ]
"@doxtdatorb @garystager Can a school follow anti-discrimination laws (i.e. really claim that it's preventing harassment) & ignore what happens in backchannels?"
Relegating Snapchat to a completely unsupervised space in schools makes no more sense than not supervising playgrounds, especially given the unprecedented power of social media to quickly spread images far and wide. Supervising the playground does not mean that I don’t allow kids the freedom to talk without me hearing every word, but somehow balancing the freedoms that kids need with obligations to care for them.
I think I worry most about students taking photos and sharing them without consent. Who could learn under those conditions? I couldn’t. Imagine taking a risk by trying a new move in PE class or giving a speech and then seeing a phone peek back at you. As a teacher that uses a lot of technology, I play a role in modelling best practices. If I want to tweet something from my classroom, I tell my students why I want to take a picture of them, show them the photo, and then ask if they are willing to let me post it.
Mostly, I’d love to hear what students think. Imagine the possibilities in large-scale research that solicited anonymous feedback and also made use of in-depth interviews. We might be missing an opportunity to really learn something."
[See also:
https://twitter.com/doxtdatorb/status/863799711098130433
"Nope, it's this kind of nonsense that equates education with entertainment and immediate gratification that's the problem."
in response to
"If kids in your class are more engaged by a fidget spinner than they are by your lesson, the spinner isn't the problem. Your lesson is."
https://twitter.com/plugusin/status/863389674223669248 ]]]>technology education schools snapchat distraction entertainment coercion gamification classism garystager learning supervision surveillance modeling reflection silence quiet teaching howweteach howwelearn sfsh middleground amywilliams edutainment engagement gratification fidgetspinners socialmedia discrimination backchannelshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:cedf98a0d48c/Deeply Aggrieved2017-05-14T21:45:06+00:00
http://seanmichaelmorris.com/deeply-aggrieved/
robertogrecoseanmichaelmorris 2017 vanjones frankbruni highered highereducation tradtion academia adversity privilege technology education middleburycollege charlesmurray bootstraps distraction assistivetechnology dyslexia socialjustice disability bullying oppression nostlagia masochism lowroad highroad disabilitieshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:045f43ab434a/We need a "slow food" movement for higher education — Quartz2017-04-15T03:52:09+00:00
https://qz.com/947480/we-need-a-slow-food-movement-for-higher-education/
robertogrecoslow sloweducation highered highereducation barbaraseeber maggieberg 2017 collegiality time carlopetrini slowness pleasure knowledge quality attention distractionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:56aae9021791/Science and the Senses: Perturbation — Cultural Anthropology2017-02-22T02:31:42+00:00
https://culanth.org/fieldsights/1067-science-and-the-senses-perturbation
robertogrecoscience senses wonder method sfsh expeuence 2017 donnaharaway anthropology anthropocene perception doubt prosthetics technology time technoscience attention maríacarozzi williamjames vincianedespret knowing distractionhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4f92f08dc4c4/