Comfortably Numm
Books
How Can We Cultivate Our Capacity for Solitude When Smartphones Tempt Us with Constant Connection?
We are at a crossroads: So many people say they have no time to talk, really talk, but all the time in the world, day and night, to connect. When a moment of boredom arises, we have become accustomed to making it go away by searching for something – sometimes anything – on our phones. The … Continue reading
The World Wide Web is Woven Together Out of Threads of Glass
Fiber Optics = Light + Glass The hybrid of two seemingly unrelated inventions – the concentrated, orderly light of lasers, and the hyper-clear glass fibers came to be known as fiber optics. Using fiber-optic cables was vastly more efficient than sending electrical signals over copper cables, particularly for long distances: light allows much more bandwidth … Continue reading
‘Before the Internet’ is Vanishing as ‘Now’ Takes Over
Soon enough, nobody will remember life ‘Before the Internet‘. What does this unavoidable fact mean? For those billions who come next, it may not mean anything very obvious. Our online technologies, taken as a whole, will have become a kind of foundational myth — a story people are barely conscious of, something natural and, therefore, … Continue reading
Bemoan Technology All You Want, But…
Bemoan technology all you want. It expands your self-esteem and connects you in your well-pressed suit to the things that slip through the world otherwise unperceived. Underworld Don Delillo Underworld is a mesmerizing novel which takes the reader deeply into the lives of the key characters, and into the soul of American culture — from Bronx … Continue reading
Driven to Distraction – Are We Comfortably Numb?
In The World Beyond Your Head, Matthew Crawford investigates the challenge of mastering one’s own mind. Crawford investigates the intense focus of ice hockey players and short-order chefs, the quasi-autistic behavior of gambling addicts, the familiar hassles of daily life, and the deep, slow craft of building pipe organs. He shows that our current crisis … Continue reading
Richard Nixon’s Puzzling Legacy
How do you explain Richard Nixon? He was a profoundly complex and contradictory person. Nixon remains the first and only U.S. president to resign. He left office due to his role in the criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice associated with the Watergate burglary coverup. Richard Nixon’s 5 1/2-year presidency, 1969-1974, continues to be surrounded by questions and controversy: … Continue reading
What Does It All Mean?
We have all asked this question at one time or another – What Does It All Mean? Thomas Nagel asks the same question for us in his compelling and accessible book called What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. Originally published by Oxford Press in 1987, the book is a mere 112 … Continue reading
Gary Reiner