2025.04.09
But right now - I dunno, it seems optimistic to assume reading books in going to be as important going forward. There are new ways of getting information; twenty years ago wide-ranging video on demand wasn't a thing, thirty years ago hardly any good information source was online. I'm not saying books don't have advantages in thoughtful analysis and promoting concentration over other media, but they don't hold as much of a monopoly on how potentially smart folks get information as they once did.
I guess I'm dealing with some serious book ennui right now; my old science and spirituality reading group disbanded, so there was at least one meaty book a month. And with some other changes in my daily life and schedule, and striving to get this pile of things done online... I've literally only finished three books this year (previous years I'd been reading like 30 over the year, so I'm on track for like a third or quarter of that.)
I don't even know what I'd be longing to read. More non-fiction like in that science+spirituality group? Damn this is jaded to the point of idiocy but I feel like I've hit most of the topics on the philosophical matters that move me most. Light fiction, like sci-fi? I dunno. I've never been interested in grand plot and character, and a good movie is a better "cool idea to time investment ratio" (And Black Mirror, the screen equivalent of the 'twisted scifi shortstory' genre I love, will be having a new season soon) I like novels exploring interpersonal landscapes (like Sally Rooney's stuff) but there seems to much to choose from that it's hard to know what would be worth investing my limited time in.
Heh. This all even has impact on my domestic arrangements. Like, collections of books I've read (and videogames) I've played seem weirdly core to my identity - in a life where my average stay at one address has been south of three years, my collections of books (and toys and games) has been an anchor, as well as a visible sign of who I am or want to be. (Along with the usual 'maybe I'll get a chance to come back to that, or will want to show it to someone else.)
All Time Great Tweets
This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.via Jim Murphy's "INNER EXCELLENCE: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life" (was being read by A.J. Brown on the Phildelpha Eagles' sideline) Just read it but tbh aiming a little higher than I usually do.
Happy 160th Anniversary of Confederate Surrender Day
