/notes

"A well-ordered humanism does not begin with itself, but puts things back in their place. It puts the..."

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:04:26 -0800

“A well-ordered humanism does not begin with itself, but puts things back in their place. It puts the world before life, life before man, and the respect of others before love of self.”

- Claude Lévi-Strauss (via stoweboyd)

"There is no other way to put this without resorting to demographic bluntness: the small fraction of..."

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:43:41 -0800

“There is no other way to put this without resorting to demographic bluntness: the small fraction of Americans who are trying to pick the Republican nominee are old, white, uniformly Christian and unrepresentative of the nation at large. None of that is a surprise. But when you look at the numbers, it’s stunning how little this Republican primary electorate resembles the rest of the United States. They are much closer to the population of 1890 than of 2012.”

- Timothy Egan, The Electoral Wasteland (via syntheticpubes)

jamesgross: The Love Competition. (via The Love Competition on...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:37:11 -0800

jamesgross:

The Love Competition.

(via The Love Competition on Vimeo)

"For the last two decades the world powers have been spending 200 billion annually for armaments and..."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:46:45 -0800

“

For the last two decades the world powers have been spending 200 billion annually for armaments and only negligible amounts to assuage poverty. The most powerfully armed control the world’s wealth. Power and muscle clearly continue in the world’s saddle.

Whether human beings will be on our planet in the 21st century depends on whether mind has reversed this condition and has come into complete control over muscle and physical power in general and as a consequence of which the world will at last be operational by humans for all humans.

”

- 2025, If… - Buckminster Fuller - Tools Ideas Environment - Whole Earth Catalog

"As of the closing of 1974, muscle and power are in complete dominance over world affairs. The world..."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:43:50 -0800

“As of the closing of 1974, muscle and power are in complete dominance over world affairs. The world pays two pugilists three million dollars to pummel one anothers’ brain boxes for a dozen minutes in front of the T.V. cameras. The winner is officially adulated by the United States Congress. He’s a good human being so that’s great but no T.V. shows are celebrating far greater metaphysical battle heros and heroines in their silent commitment to love, truth and everyday self sacrifice for others.”

- 2025, If… - Buckminster Fuller - Tools Ideas Environment - Whole Earth Catalog

Henry Miller's Writing Commandments

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:00:38 -0800

Henry Miller's Writing Commandments:

youmightfindyourself:

Work on one thing at a time until finished.

Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”

Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.

Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!

When you can’t create you can work.

Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.

Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.

Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.

Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.

Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.

"fruit is sex you can eat."

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:00:00 -0800

“fruit is sex you can eat.”

Photo

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:42:00 -0800

"There may be no better way to achieve lasting happiness — as opposed to mere fleeting pleasure —..."

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:12:52 -0800

“There may be no better way to achieve lasting happiness — as opposed to mere fleeting pleasure — than pursuing a goal that helps us broaden our horizons.”

- Guitar Zero - a neuroscientist debunks the myth of a “music talent” and learns to play. (via curiositycounts)

Beyond the SeasI’ll put up a boat,and set it free off the shore.I’ll let it take me away-from this...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:10:36 -0800

Beyond the Seas
I’ll put up a boat,
and set it free off the shore.
I’ll let it take me away-from this eerie land,
where nobody calls up the sleeping heroes-
from their long, lonely trance.

I’ll put up a boat,
and set it free off the shore;
a boat with no net, a boat with no seine,
with my heart cleansed of wish for pearl.

I’ll sail away on the tides.
I’ll sing all along the ride.

Neither the blues of the deeps,
Nor the mermaids, the natives of the seas,
shall captivate me-from my solitary glide.
I’ll move on with pride.

I’ll sail away on the tides,
I’ll sing all along the ride:

“I’ll leave this eerie land behind;
in this land,Truth is forsaken, set aside,
here, no man recalls- how their heroes died,
here, of woman all but silence is denied.
I did not see a torch.
I did not see a loch.

I shall sail away-
for I am tired of the reign of opaque, thick panes,
I am longing for the crystal verse-
of an open space”.

I’ll sail away on the tides;
I’ll sing all along the ride:

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land;
Its windows open to the virtues of lights;
On its roofs, doves constantly stare-at the soar of human mind
Its children walk, with their backpacks full of faith, hope and trust.”

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land.
People there, they care:
for the call of a gentle hill,
for the feel of a brief dream.
Its soil listens to the song of your soul.
Its breeze, spreads in air-the full flavour of flight.

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land;
Its dawn is weightless, vast and white,
with the freshness of a bird’ first flight.
Its poets are heirs of water, wind and light.”

Beyond the seas,
There is another land:

I shall put up a boat,
I will put up a boat.

By: Sohrab Sepehri
Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani, September 2007, Montreal.

Smart People Ask Questions

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:38:27 -0800

Smart People Ask Questions:

tmac721:

Not only do smart people ask questions when they don’t understand something, but they also ask questions when the world thinks it understands something. Smart people challenge the very limit of human understanding, and push the envelope of what’s possible farther than many people would argue it’s meant to be pushed. Smart people don’t take claims at face value, and smart people don’t rest until they find an explanation they’re comfortable accepting and understanding.

Bon Iver - Perth (The Polish Ambassador Remix) (by...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:33:31 -0800

Bon Iver - Perth (The Polish Ambassador Remix) (by thepolishambassador)

"Q. What ideals have you embraced from Steve Jobs? A. The importance of doing everything you do to..."

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:46:56 -0800

“Q. What ideals have you embraced from Steve Jobs? A. The importance of doing everything you do to your very best. And that the journey is the reward. If you do things well one at a time, you end up in a really good place. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Control the things you can.”

- Business & Technology | AP Interview: JC Penney CEO talks about the chain | Seattle Times Newspaper (via tywillis)

"The corruption of this government is a cancer. And you don’t launch an attack on cancer by..."

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:24:54 -0800

“The corruption of this government is a cancer. And you don’t launch an attack on cancer by prescribing good eating and exercise. Nor can you make change believable by pushing for reforms that won’t change anything in that corruption. What Obama must do if he is to make American democracy possible again is to speak boldly, not practically, about reform. He has to give us the big ideas that would actually have an effect, not the pathetic tinkering that only makes the lobbyists laugh. He needs to begin the process of persuading the nation that fundamental reform is necessary and possible. He must “take up that fight,” for unless he does, then “real change — change that will make a lasting difference in the lives of ordinary Americans — will keep getting blocked by the defenders of the status quo.” He must stop, by his silence, defending the status quo. He must begin again the fight to change it.”

- The tyranny of tiny minds and big money - Salon.com

It Is Safe to Resume Ignoring the Prophets of Doom ... Right? - NYTimes.com

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:18:04 -0800

It Is Safe to Resume Ignoring the Prophets of Doom ... Right? - NYTimes.com:

Adam Davidson via The NY Times

For nearly a decade, it turns out, the most accurate forecasts have come from the fringe. So it’s upsetting to learn that many of those same Cassandras now believe, for different reasons, that we are on the brink of another catastrophe that may be far worse. Wolff, the Marxist, fears that China may be entering a significant slowdown, which, combined with Europe’s all-but-inevitable recession, could send the world into an economic tailspin.

Roubini, now one of the world’s most visible economic thinkers, has a similar view, though he sees the timing differently, with the worst coming in 2013 or 2014, when China will face a situation like the one the United States experienced in 2008. Its banks, he says, will reveal huge investments in nonsensical bubble projects. The world will question China’s solvency, and the subsequent chaos will destroy whatever fragile recovery is under way. Schiff also paints a dire picture, but for essentially the opposite reason, saying America’s indebtedness and currency policy will cause another crash.

It’s much less lonely being a doomsayer these days. Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins, says there’s a 50 percent chance of a recession this year. Lakshman Achuthan, of the eerily accurate Economic Cycle Research Institute, predicts a return of double-digit unemployment. They are downright rosy compared to George Soros, who has warned of violent riots throughout the world and a possible total global financial collapse. I really hope these guys are wrong.

(via Lawrence Lessig: How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan to...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:27:23 -0800

(via Lawrence Lessig: How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan to Stop It - The Long Now)

1) Because of the costs of running a campaign for office and our current campaign finance rules, corporate interests effectively run the government, in many cases creating outcomes that are completely at odds with what is good for the people regardless of political view. Our democracy is corrupt.

2) Campaign Finance Reform is needed, and Lessig details what a citizen driven model could look like… but it’s not enough with the role and power of the SuperPACs. Lessig proposes a constitutional amendment that, if I understand it correctly, limits their speech in the 90 days leading up to an election so they can’t use the power of money to directly influence a vote. They have freedom of speech otherwise and can work to establish their view culturally, but they can’t, for example, run attack ads on a candidate right before an election. This would require bi-partisan effort to step back and look at reforming the rules and incentives our democracy is beholden to — a constitutional amendment needs approval by 75% of states to pass.

This is the most compelling, common sense picture of the role of money in our government and prescription for reform I’ve heard.

Highly recommended.

"Emails, tweets, notifications, text and instant messages, Facebook status updates, Path moments —..."

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:53:08 -0800

“Emails, tweets, notifications, text and instant messages, Facebook status updates, Path moments — all these are new tools of communication when taken together are notification hell. These notifications prey on human desire for a dopamine fix. And just as we are over-caffenited, I think the 21st century is quickly making us over-notified.”

- Over Notified | Om Malik

(via tedr)

"The secret of success is concentrating interest in life, interest in sports and good times, interest..."

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:54:44 -0800

“The secret of success is concentrating interest in life, interest in sports and good times, interest in your studies, interest in your fellow students, interest in the small things of nature, insects, birds, flowers, leaves, etc. In other words to be fully awake to everything about you & the more you learn the more you can appreciate & get a full measure of joy & happiness out of life.”

- Excerpt from an altogether beautiful 1928 letter to 16-year-old Jackson Pollock from his dad (via curiositycounts)

"So what would our mornings look like if we re-engineered them in the interest of maximizing our..."

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:54:12 -0800

“So what would our mornings look like if we re-engineered them in the interest of maximizing our creative problem-solving capacities? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead (with a pen and paper nearby to jot down any evanescent inspirations.) We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, dismissing task-oriented thoughts (“What will I say at that 9 a.m. meeting?”) in favor of a few more minutes of mental dilation. We’d take some deep breaths during our commute, instead of succumbing to road rage. And once in the office — after we get that cup of coffee — we’d direct our computer browser not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.”

- New neurosciences studies show most morning routines kill creativity, but there might be something we can do about it. (via curiositycounts)

John Seely Brown: Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:23:00 -0800

John Seely Brown: Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production (by christiansarkar)