Briefly
Entangled Life: How Fungi Know
Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. This short book tells me everything I want (and far more than I need) to know about mushrooms and their earlier stages. The author, it seems to me, tries to keep a sane perspective
First Things' Feature Essay: Resist the Machine Apocalypse
The March 2024 issue of First Things arrived Tuesday. The feature essay: Iain McGilchrist, "Resist the Machine Apocalypse."
It's great.
But it's not online yet. When it is, I'll post an excerpt and a link to the full essay, but I suspect
The Importance of Manners
💡George Washington, the first President of the United States, was known to have studied a book called Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation. This book was based on a set of rules compiled by French Jesuits in the 16th century and was a guide to proper
"To Play is to Contemplate," James Schall
"One should live out one's days playing at certain games--sacrificing, singing, and dancing." Plato, The Laws
Localism is Better Because It Provides Far More Options
This is a frustrating interview.
The champions of localism, Front Porch Republic, interview an enemy of it, Trevor Latimore (author of Small Isn't Beautiful).
It's a cordial exchange, with interesting arguments/points by both sides, but Latimore's position seems to gel around this simple
Jigsaw Puzzles. Non-Stories. The Focused Life?
My father-in-law is 93 and really sharp. One thing he does to keep sharp: jigsaw puzzles. He times himself and works them serenely but with focus.
The mental exercise drips with lessons explored by Dr. Kevin Majerjes at Optimal Work: short bursts of sustained focus, little goals that keep you
Western Civilization Hit Its Apex During Advent 1273
A civilization can, indeed, advance and decline at the same time. Eric Voegelin, New Science of Politics, 132.
As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Abraham Heschel, God in Search of Man
Modern civilization is gnostic civilization. Gnostic civilization is left-hemispheric civilization.
Gnosis: Knowledge. Specifically, explicit knowledge, the kind
The Difference between "Reason" and "Rationality"
Reason
Greek nous
Latin intellectus
Reason is flexible. It resists fixed formulation. It is shaped by experience. It involves the whole living being, combining the mental and physical . . . the spiritual and material. It is the intellectual glue of sacramental existence. It is characterized by intuition.
Reason is "congenial to
Zero Hedge: Decent Prose?
Robert Kiyosaki supposedly once counseled a new "creator" about the perils of good writing: "It's 'bestselling author,' not 'best-written author.'" His point: If you want to be successful online, you need to write for sales, not art. He's