I really appreciate getting these shoutouts, and I agree that inserting discussions into certain sections of the book is the way to go.
Not since I was a kid. There definitely weren't any when I went for a dip, which was like bathing in melted snow by the way.
No worries, glad it arrived there safely!
Yep, doesn't have to be perfect, just put the pen against paper and move it around, and once it's done stick it in a mailbox. I'm treating it like a writing assignment and sending out one a month regardless of whether I get replies or not, since regularity is good for me. Second batch is on its way!
Happy to see this happening.
I recommend playing as the Flâneur in Paris.
I am interested in connecting with more than one pen pal.
Ditto.
Dear Diary, Today lil followed me! It was the best day ever! Love, Lou (except instead of typed lines, it's the usual tangled scrawl)
I would also love multi-pen-pals.
Please sign me up for this. Though I should warn you, I've been journaling for 9 years and sometimes there's no cure for bad handwriting!
Well, now I'm in the mood to board game. And take a train across Europe.
It is an interesting and well-thought out essay, but while I emphatically agree with the second passage you quoted, I question what it means in the first one for those in the Middle Ages to have "known" where they came from, were going, and why. Can we call this "knowledge" true? He makes statements that their worldview was ordered and comprehensible, and that the inflow of information from the printing press muddled and unraveled things. I say that it is vital to be able to filter all the input we get today, but having a limited amount of input is not the same thing. He says, "there was a scarcity of information but its very scarcity made it both important and usable." So regardless of what the information was, it had value. I don't like that. Information needs to stand on its own merits, or be filtered out. He states that Galileo and Kepler disturbed folks' faith concerning their place in the universe with the heliocentric model. They also revealed truth to us.
Absolutely. And thank for pointing out that comic!
This is what I prefer the internet for. It makes a great seasoning, but not a great meal. When I've let myself binge in the past, I've regretted it. But that could be just me. And technology aside, I think it is a natural-but-regrettable process to lose the wonder of a familiar place. As if we've seen all they have to offer! I'm gonna go take a walk. P.S. Just last month a friend of mine convinced a few people that Christmas Carols were invented by a woman named Carol. He has an excellent poker face.
It takes all kinds to make a world, and while I put more merit on time with people and nature (and food and books and music and architecture and ...), there are others who sincerely prefer time spent on tweets and likes. May it bring them happiness. But I pray that there is at least one person in their lives that they can turn off "ant autopilot" and be human with.
P.S. How accurate is the board game Ticket to Ride?
I am amazed that I can access even the most trivial knowledge in a heartbeat. And I am amazed that I can reach and talk to anyone in the known world, regardless of the distance. But I also believe that there are some things out there that technology can't teach us. And that there are some things that we can only learn about people by being wholly with them. So what I'm ultimately saying is that you are definitely using your phone the right way. I'm just sorry for the people using them the wrong way.
I think you've nailed the problem right there.
Now that I think about it, maybe it's just that I want to live in Italy, where strangers are comfortable talking to strangers.
This is well argued. Had I known the author he cites felt that the printing press was an ultimately negative thing for humanity, I would have found the quote he used to be suspect. My personal thoughts on the matter is that a smartphone, or the internet, is a tool used by people. In and of itself, it is neutral. The way people use it is what should be examined (by the people using it) and, as those have said in these comments, if there is an imbalance between it and the other aspects of human life, change should try to be made. I'm trying to separate the fear of technology from the valid points. I still think it's an interesting debate. And while I also felt to dichotomy of reading his indictments against the internet on the internet, I believe we can and should discuss the impacts of this medium while together on this medium. We shouldn't let the absurdity stop us from weighing the highs and the lows of this technology that connects us with so much today, and assessing how much is too much. Individually. That's as far as I'm willing to argue. Others are free to disagree if they believe it necessary to proselytize unaware iPhone users to a more technologically-balanced lifestyle. Lastly, I want to say that I don't think a face-to-face conversation has more value than catching up with someone on the phone. I'm against monocultures, against cutting yourself off from the diverse array of conversations and connections walking past you while you're looking down.
Yeah, I love the look of it. Visiting Madrid sounds marvelous. Do you have any pictures you can post?
Haha. Makes me wonder if there are "easter eggs" in the footage. Something goes whizzing by, and you're not sure if you saw a robot of not.
It has it all. Circus elephant! Suspended monorail! A dive into a river in Germany!
It can get addicting. All that knowledge at your fingertips. Just click it one more time. And then each article is a wonder on its own. I mean, who can resist digging into this one:
Tell me about it, they've got PARADES for this.
Thanks, I knew there was an English equivalent of the day after tomorrow and just had to stay up and compile a list. There are over a million English words, I knew we surely had some that come close.