Here’s how Auden explained it in his essay “Some Reflections on the Arts”:
Every genuine work of art exhibits two qualities, Nowness—an art-historian can assign at least an approximate date to its making—and Permanence—it remains on hand in the world long after its maker and his society have ceased to exist.
This means that, in the history of Art, unlike the history of Science, though there are periods of flowering and sterility, there is no such thing as Progress, only Change. Shakespeare does not supersede Aeschylus or Mozart Moteverdi, in the way that the Copernican picture of the Cosmos, for example, superseded the Ptolemaic.
Consequently, one of the greatest blessings conferred on our lives by the Arts is that they are our chief means of breaking bread with the dead, and I think that, without communication with the dead, a fully human life is not possible.
Throughout history, humanity has achieved extraordinary things without artificial intelligence. The pyramids. The Renaissance. The Industrial Revolution. Medical discoveries that saved millions. Literary masterpieces that moved generations. All of this innovation stemmed from uniquely human qualities: curiosity, imagination, perseverance, and the tangible act of creation. Yet now, as digital tools promise to “enhance” our creativity, we find ourselves more anxious and distracted than ever. Research has shown that excessive social media use and constant digital engagement correlate with increased anxiety and decreased well-being (Hunt et al., 2018). Perhaps the solution isn’t more technology to combat technology’s effects, but rather a deliberate step backward. To retrieve analog practices that have sustained human creativity for millennia.
Enjoyed this episode of the Search Engine Podcast where PJ collabs with Casey and Kevin from Hard Fork on Fediverse instance:
From the New York Times:
“THE WORLD W/Out A PHONE,” they read, in heavy text that had been plunked out on a typewriter.
The posters were pasted in dorms at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., a small and rigorous liberal arts school in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Each one outlined an agenda for six days of abstinence from smartphones and other devices connected to the internet.
“A period of fasting,” the fliers promised. “A self-study. A challenge.” Students who were game were instructed to report to Murchison, a dorm on the edge of campus, at 6 p.m. that Sunday.
I love this post about Thom Yorke and his co-conspirator and artist Stanley Donwood and their work on Radiohead artwork. I love the way she tells the story through artwork of her own.
We’re still tracking down the start of SPICE:
If you ask about Quaker beliefs these days, one of the common answers you’ll get is SPICE, a handy acronym that holds together a hodgepodge of values, namely: simplicity, peace, integrity, community and equality (and later sustainability to become SPICES). One Quaker school definitively puts it, “Quakers agree to a core set of values, known as testimonies.” I’ve not found SPICES listed before 2000 and even many of the individual components are absent from older books of Faith and Practice.
3-2-1 Note-taking Method
Here’s something I’ve been doing in my class the last semester as I’ve shifted my assignments to writing reading notes on paper.
This method is meant to help you focus more on the reading rather than taking tedious notes, to keep the process simple enough that notes can be handwritten in a notebook, and point you towards more participation in class based on what was most important to you from the reading.
Steps
- Read the assigned reading
- Take notes using the 3-2-1 Method
- Write the name of the article, author and date at the top of the page
- Name 3 key takeaways for you from the reading - these can relate to your big questions, they can be something you want to discuss and bring up while in class, or in some way stand out to you as important for your own learning.
- Write 2 quotes - quotes should focus on something that you really resonate with or something you want to question or challenge. The quote evokes in you a response. Be prepared to share the quote with the class and speak to why it evokes what it does for you.
- Write 1 question you’d like to ask the class based on the reading. There will be opportunities to ask the class your question - it could be open-ended, it could be something more informational. What does this reading make you curious about?
- Optional: If you’d like - add some pictures, highlights, or other visual flourishes to emphasize the key notes or images the reading brings up for you.
Bring your notebook to class and be prepared to discuss the reading
As I have said before: Everybody knows what this is. There is literally not one person who believes that kids learn anything about anything when they’re allowed to spend their classroom time on their laptops and phones. Everybody knows that education has been given up on; everybody knows that teachers are just babysitting; everybody knows that the fix is in.
The only question remaining is: Can we lie about the situation forever?
“I am so bored by A.I. One of the things I love about the theater is: A.I. can’t do it. I couldn’t be less interested in computers and fake things. I like people. I like the way they smell, I like the way they talk, and I like the way they think. I think of A.I. as a plagiarizing mechanism. That’s all it is. And I know it’s going to change the world, it’s screwing everybody up, and I’m not in denial about any of that. But I’m in open rebellion.”
Ethan Hawke via Austin Kleons newsletter
My dog on her way to the doctors. She’s not the biggest fan as you can see. Fortunately, she’s okay. She’s been limping the last few weeks but nothing seems broken.
Great news from Guilford College - we are now off of probation and have retained our accreditation. As I’ve been saying, we have a clean bill of health.
Two news stories:
Can’t wait to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair in the theater. 🍿
Public Universal Blend is now for sale for a limited time on Fireweed Coffee’s website:
fireweedcoffeeco.com/products/…
Pros and Cons of Seminary - This Tuesday
I’ll be participating on a panel discussion with other Quaker ministers called The Pros and Cons of Seminary:
Thinking about seminary—or reflecting on your own journey? Join us for an honest conversation with three panelists as they share how seminary shaped their lives and ministries, what they wish they’d known, and advice for prospective students.
🗣️ Panelists:
✨ C. Wess Daniels— Director of Friends Center & Quaker Studies at Guilford College ✨ Rachel Guaraldi — Pastor, chaplain, and ESR graduate ✨ Christina Repoley — Founder of Quaker Voluntary Service; VP at the Forum for Theological Exploration
📅 Hosted by Public Friends & Quaker Leadership Center
Be sure to register today at:
Loved this post from Rebecca Solnit:
When people tell me that there’s been no resistance to the Trump administration, I wonder if they’re expecting something that looks like a guerrilla revolution pushing out the government in one fell swoop or just aren’t paying attention, because there has, in fact, been a tremendous amount and variety of resistance and opposition and it’s mattered tremendously.
I’ll be speaking at this panel discussion on the pros and cons of seminary in a couple weeks. This event is being put on by Public Friends.
Register below:
Birthday Adventure This Weekend
My wife and I had a little holiday this weekend to celebrate both of our birthdays. We visited some new places and enjoyed almost 24 hours on our own. It was quite lovely.
Crazy Alan’s Emporium was the highlight for me. An amazing stationary store in Chapel Hill. Hands down my favorite new place to find.
We visited Raleigh Denim, a fantastic denim shop in Downtown Raleigh. We didn’t buy anything but it was really fun to look and try on some things. Actually, I did buy a bundle of scraps for some mending projects I’m working on.
We had dinner at East End Bistrot in Raleigh. We did small plates so we could try different things and it was fantastic. Some of the best food I’ve had in recent memory. We sat at the bar which was a lot of fun getting to chat with the bar tenders and other folks sitting there. A highlight was a drink the bar tender made for us because we were celebrating birthdays he called “bar stories.”
In September, the pope told journalists, “Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
Let America Be America Again
O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath— America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain— All, all the stretch of these great green states— And make America again!