"The Prussian model seeks to create a population for whom work, no matter how mind-numbing or back-breaking, is the only hope. That's why they try to inspire us with the promise of a freedom that will never come. When we keep play alive in our own lives, in the lives of our children, even if … Continue reading Spielen Macht Frei (Play Sets You Free)
Category: lessons
Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens
"Abstract Low-quality and misleading information online can hijack people’s attention, often by evoking curiosity, outrage, or anger. Resisting certain types of information and actors online requires people to adopt new mental habits that help them avoid being tempted by attention-grabbing and potentially harmful content. We argue that digital information literacy must include the competence of critical … Continue reading Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens
Creating Safe Spaces for Emotions
"This is my job. I'm not here to make things better, to end the crying, or to distract them from missing their mommies. I'm not even there to soothe them any more than I'm there to 'good job' them: that is not my job. Becoming soothed is their job. Cheering for their own accomplishments is their job. My job … Continue reading Creating Safe Spaces for Emotions
Filter Failure & Critical Ignoring
"As important as the ability to think critically continues to be, we argue that it is insufficient to borrow the tools developed for offline environments and apply them to the digital world. When the world comes to people filtered through digital devices, there is no longer a need to decide what information to seek. Instead, … Continue reading Filter Failure & Critical Ignoring
The Good Life Closes Out Bad Possibilities
Far from having a “bucket list”, I now understand that the proper conduct of the second half of life is to approach something like what the Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, to do less and less, but only to sit and meditate, and to breathe once every century or so, so that by the time you actually … Continue reading The Good Life Closes Out Bad Possibilities
Some Reflections on Twitter & WordPress: 2022
You may have noticed that I have been posting to cafebedouin less lately. It is partially because I have been more involved in using Twitter. Why? One thing I like about Twitter is that it is a larger, socially constructed version of the kind of thoughts that we have moment to moment. Reading the timeline … Continue reading Some Reflections on Twitter & WordPress: 2022
Zuihitsu, 2022-11
Technically, zuihitsu are longer reflections than what I tend to collect. But, the general idea is right. Here's this month's installment. If you want the complete set, please download the fortune file. All great change comes from community and from individuals learning what is within their individual and collective power. Choose in your best interest. … Continue reading Zuihitsu, 2022-11
Peaceful Practices: A Guide To Healthy Communication In Conflict
"'It takes practice and intention to communicate well in the midst of conflict,' says Jes Stoltzfus Buller, MCC U.S. peace education coordinator and author of the curriculum. 'If we can learn to embody healthy dialogue habitually in interpersonal interaction, it will ripple out and affect our communities and society.'" -"Peaceful Practices: A guide to healthy communication in conflict." Mennonite Central Committee. The … Continue reading Peaceful Practices: A Guide To Healthy Communication In Conflict
Accept, Reframe, Or Reject
"EVERYONE GETS SHITTY FEEDBACK sometimes. There are a variety of reasons for this, starting with the fact that giving feedback is difficult and most people are terrifically bad at it. But even those who have developed strong feedback skills will still sometimes do it poorly, because the attention and care required to do it well are … Continue reading Accept, Reframe, Or Reject
Imagined Realities, Evidence & The Singular
"An 'imagined reality' is an addictive mental drug that humans are infatuated with. It cures the frustration brought about by the constraints of the actual reality. Like a physical drug, it could cure pain and make life in prison more tolerable, but it could also take away life if used excessively. It brings communities with … Continue reading Imagined Realities, Evidence & The Singular
Zuihitsu, 2022-10
Technically, zuihitsu are longer reflections than what I tend to collect. But, the general idea is right. Here's this month's installment. If you want the complete set, please download the fortune file. When dealing with enemies, the goal must not be diagnosis, but defeat. All observation is drenched in theory. The problem with rowing your … Continue reading Zuihitsu, 2022-10
Having a Good Internet Experience
Try to use different lenses of interpretation and without an agenda. Learn to block people, preferably with your mind. Keep your shit to yourself. Learn to say, "It's none of my business." Lurk. Be skeptical. Focus on the positive. I thought this Tumblr post was useful, so I reformulated the suggestions as the above. True … Continue reading Having a Good Internet Experience
Teacher Tom & Transformation
...without pain, without struggle, without anguish, discomfort and fear, transformation is impossible...Real learning, which is to say, transformation from a state of ignorance to one of enlightenment, is in reality more of a lurching, spiraling, ebb and flow, full of peaks and valleys, and yes, pain and suffering. Those of us in the world of … Continue reading Teacher Tom & Transformation
Little Rules About Big Things
"People have vastly different desires, except for three things: Respect, feeling useful, and control over their time. Those are nearly universal. ...the past wasn’t as good as you remember, the present isn’t as bad as you think, and the future will be better than you anticipate. A comforting delusion is thinking that other people’s bad … Continue reading Little Rules About Big Things
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