…you only fall from the point you allow yourself to sink. (Despite the phantom essay that had been unfolding in the back shadows of my mind, now that I’ve written that down, it seems like enough. Now I feel wrong for mocking god. Maybe it (seemed like it) was enough?) Let me add just the slightest of content, by adding some of the obvious: I’ve reason to believe this true. I...
Prelude: I call this post “Part one”, not because I have a second or extra content intended to complement this one. But rather to acknowledge the overwhelming observation that what I have achieved here is but a very basic introduction to the question. And so: There’s a switch I can sometimes feel for, somewhere in my mind. It’s just a single button. Nothing fancier than...
……………..awkward silences are (normally) invisible on the written page, but they still exist (an idealist would retort – who too would disappear but for the merciful hand of the author), they exist in the breaths taken while the keyboard falls silent. By that definition, they are the most invisible function of writing. The anti-thesis to writing. A black hole? It...
Not completely comfortable with the precise choice of that neologism. I’d have preferred post-scheduling or something. Although that is due to a difference in focus. In the original concept – from The Now Habit – the emphasis is on scheduling not-work, and filling in the blank spaces with work after each period. By contrast, I’m interested not merely in the category of “reduce...
I’ve rediscovered the value of local news channels. Via the Egyptian Ahram Online. In its capacity as a “local news channel” that I seek, I am looking for it to present its particular brand of foreignness (the type which knows that everyone else is foreign). Ahram Online achieves this via three means, each of which may be contrasted (partly for amusement’s sake) with...
Has content become liberated from medium? The Walking Dead is an example that can be imbibed as either/all of comic (read), tv show (watch), or game (play). However, as an example it begs the question. After all, to what extent did the franchise retain its essence across the media? I choose that nasty scholastic term as an obvious provocation. It is obvious that some cases fail to promote the...
This is a continuation of an effort to review Science 9 August 2013 Vol. 341 no. 6416. V. PubPeer is a nice, interesting, and new website, designed to allow readers to critique papers they’ve read. VI. P647, I read the full research paper, entitled Social Influence Bias: A Randomized Experiment – basically about how knowing about aggregated opinions affects our own, albeit in...
Editorial notes: To understand the Meta paragraph below you need to read Shai’s Priorities post where he discusses his own methodology for researching and acquiring knowledge. The Meta description below is an instance where Shai follows his own – previously documented – methodology. Meta: This is a pseudo-diary of my impressions readings Science 09/08. This was initiated by a...
There’s this belief that the world is OK. How to address this? How about step 1: What is the nature of the constituents of the matter of concern? Or as Socrates might be modernized, “What is the meaning of each thing?”. Truly ask this, because barely any do. Plato would have us believe that Socrates was the wisest just for knowing that he knew nothing. The implication is that...
Editorial notes: In August 2013, Shai starts his fourth blog, entitled “meanwhile-II” which he dedicates to “witticisms, epiphanies, and emotional breakdowns”. The content of this blog reflects a change in Shai’s overall mood, writing style and direction. While his earlier writings are considerate, scientific and outward-looking, his focus now shifts and, while he continues to produce first-class...
