The Long Read Lost

Books & Reviews / Computers & Programming / Pop Culture / Reading & Literacy / Social Order & Disorder / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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“What we read, how we read, and why we read change how we think, changes that are continuing now at a faster pace,” wrote Maryanne Wolf, a neuroscientist, in her book, Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in the Digital World (Harper Paperbacks, 2019). It’s the sequel to her previous book on reading and neuroscience, Proust and the Squid (Harper, 2007). In that latter book, Wolf famously wrote, We are not only what we read, we are how we read. Reading — Marcel Proust called it a “fertile miracle of communication effected in solitude” — is a breathtakingly remarkable, and ……… click below for more ↓

Back to Montaigne

Aging / Books & Reviews / Daily life / Personal Reminiscences / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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When I find myself in times of trouble, I go back to read Montaigne. Seeking words of wisdom, Read some more… (to the tune of Let It Be, with apologies to the Beatles) I was up late these last few nights reading Michel de Montaigne into the wee, dark hours. Although I used to read him rather frequently and found him an inspiration for several posts, some years back, I hadn’t picked him up in ages. But a passing mention in Sterne’s Tristam Shandy made me pick him up again starting with his long essay (69 pages in the Screech ……… click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 11

Cancer / Daily life / Personal Reminiscences / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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Anaesthetic must be one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century. While various forms of anaesthesia have been used since the ancient Egyptians (with varying degrees of effectiveness), it really wasn’t perfected  until the last century. It’s difficult to imagine the horrors of surgery before it became commonly used and as effective as it is today. Here I was, lying on a table in the operating room, Thursday morning, being covered with a warm blanket by one nurse, while another nurse held a mask over my face to breathe from, and a third prepared to administer my anesthetic ……… click below for more ↓

Bring Back the Salons

Culture / Education & Learning / History & Biography / Learning & Education / Manners & Civility / Philosophy / Politics / Reading & Literacy / Social Order & DisorderLeave a comment

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Today if someone mentions a “salon” you probably think about a haircut or manicure. But in the 18th century, prior to the French Revolution, salons were the focus of civil debate, intellectual curiosity, and culture. They were  centres of discussion on everything from manners to literature to philosophy to science. And they were run by women. Salons were the bright stars of the Enlightenment; cauldrons of intellectual, cultural, and social development. More than ever, we need a salon culture today. Social media is driving us to ignorance, stupidity, rigidly polarized views, and a culture of confrontation and abuse. Guests to ……… click below for more ↓

The Imperialist Economics of Blueberries

Food & Drink / International politics / What I'm Reading NowOne Comment

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There was a cooler right at the front of the fruit and vegetable section of the local Walmart store packed with clear plastic containers of blueberries. Plump, dark, fresh-looking berries. And value-priced at $2.87 a container. I love blueberries on my morning cereal; these looked inviting, and so inexpensive! Who can resist such a bargain? I put a container in my shopping cart. Only when I got home did I read the label: product of Peru. Peru lies more than 6,000 km away from me by air; more than eight hours’ flying time from Toronto, plus a two-hour drive north ……… click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 10

Cancer / Daily life / Family history / Health & Medicine / Musings / Personal Reminiscences3 Comments

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My father died of esophageal cancer several years ago. It was a horrible, lingering death, and I watched him shrivel and die, in constant pain towards the end. On one of my last visits to his bedside, he asked me whether I thought it was better to die with the full knowledge of what was happening to you, or to be unaware. It was a startling, unexpected question. My father and I had had few, if any, philosophical discussions in our lives together. Without giving it a lot of thought, I replied, “With knowledge.” I probably thought he was talking ……… click below for more ↓

It’s *NOT* Junk Mail

Advertising / Culture / Daily life / Marketing / Personal Reminiscences / Social Order & DisorderLeave a comment

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I recognize that we all like to apply labels to categorize things, as shorthand in communication and in conversation, and to identify common views and beliefs. I do it myself; we all do: labels are our everyday metaphors. They are fast and easy shortcuts. But I weary at times of trying to explain to people that the unsolicited material they get in their mailboxes several times a week is not simply “junk” mail to be tossed into the recycling bin without another thought. Or worse: at their community mailboxes some people simply litter it rather than taking it home to ……… click below for more ↓

Manners? Civility? What happened to them?

Culture / Manners & Civility / Philosophy / Social Order & Disorder / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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I was sitting in my car on main street, recently, waiting for a break in the traffic so I could back out and drive on. My backup lights were lit, my turn signal flashing, so drivers knew I was trying to exit. The parking downtown is nose-first, angled to the sidewalk, so you need to back into the oncoming traffic lane to leave. All I needed was a single driver to stop and allow me out. A few seconds of someone’s time. But even though the traffic light stopped the cars, drivers still came up right behind me to block ……… click below for more ↓

Socialism, Communism, and Liberalism

International politics / Meaning of words / Politics / US Politics / What I'm Reading NowOne Comment

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Watching American political dramas like their presidential elections is both entertaining and frightening. Yet it is also strangely educational. it has taught me a basic tenet: Americans as a people know little to nothing about politics. Not just about international politics, but their own. It is a commonly held belief outside American borders that Americans are remarkably unaware of the history, politics, leaders, or even existence of other nations, but are often equally ignorant of their own. There are far too many YouTube videos interviewing Americans about both the USA and the world for me to list them, but look ……… click below for more ↓

Donald “Asshole” Trump

Books & Reviews / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / What I'm Reading NowOne Comment

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Back in 2012 — several years before the 2016 US election that saw what many believe was an inept, incompetent, lying, Russian agent and con artist get elected to the US presidency — associate professor of philosophy Aaron James wrote a book called, “Assholes. A Theory.” It wasn’t about anyone in particular, although it was easy to see others — including many contemporary politicians and celebrities — in his definitions and classifications. It was somewhat satirical, but also a serious attempt to define a psychological personality while using the vernacular. The original “theory” was also produced as a film in ……… click below for more ↓

Will communism as a dominant political ideology ever make a comeback

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / International politics / Politics / US PoliticsLeave a comment

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I took the title from a discussion on Quora about whether Communism is dead or will re-emerge, and if so under what conditions. I don’t believe that the author of the post (Susanna Viljanen, from Aalto University in Finland) who opens that discussion wanted to see Communism arise again, but rather is asking if it can, and under what circumstances. She clearly states at the beginning of her argument, By now, Communism is dead and buried. Its failure was so spectacular, its achievements so appalling and its legacy so hateful and bitter that nobody in their sane minds – especially ……… click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 9

Cancer / Daily life / Musings / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

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Well, I suppose it’s a good news/bad news story for this post, although I dearly wish it was better. Would that I could have put it all behind me, finished my recovery, and moved on. Not to be: I receive comfort like cold porridge (to quote from The Tempest). Still, I came away from my consultation with at least some sense of relief: after all, it might have been much worse. The anxiety of waiting for the results was far more stressful than actually hearing them. My recent PSA blood test showed a greatly-reduced number (less than 1, which is ……… click below for more ↓

Shakespeare’s Mirror

Politics / Shakespeare / Shakespeare / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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Grant that, and then is death a benefit. So are we Caesar’s friends, that have abridged His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood Up to the elbows and besmear our swords. Then walk we forth, even to the marketplace, And, waving our red weapons o’er our heads, Let’s all cry “Peace, freedom, and liberty!” Shakespeare: Julius Caesar Act 3 Sc 1. I was thinking about this play and how well it related to the events of this era, a time when Trump’s domestic terrorists are killing their fellow citizens. A ……… click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, part 8

Daily life / Musings / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

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Diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance are relieved, Or not at all. Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act 4 Sc. 3 Those Kegel exercises sure work. I had my doubts at first, but I stand as living proof they are effective. My pelvic muscles could probably lift a car — well, whenever the doctor tells me I can start lifting things again, that is. And my anus can clench more tightly than a conservative’s when he is confronted by a liberal suggestion to raise the minimum wage to a liveable amount. It’s been 51 full days since my surgery. I can also count ……… click below for more ↓

Brandolini’s Law

Balderdash & Hoaxes / Conspiracy Theories / Critical Thinking / New Age Codswallop / Pseudoscience & Quackery3 Comments

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Ever had the frustrating experience trying to correct someone’s obviously un-factual post or meme on Facebook? And found yourself in a swamp of comments all telling you you’re wrong, an idiot, it’s just your opinion, it worked for my friend so it’s true, or you don’t know anything, followed by insults and accusations? Welcome to the backlash from Brandolini’s Law. According to Wikipedia, Brandolini’s law states that it’s easier to spread bullshit than to debunk it: Brandolini’s law, also known as the bullshit asymmetry principle, is an internet adage which emphasizes the difficulty of debunking bullshit: “The amount of energy ……… click below for more ↓

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