Scree

noun : an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff.

What information consumes →

Published February 19, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 19

In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.

~ Herbert Simon

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It may be, as he says, obvious to Simon, but it really was not obvious to me. Until I read this I had always thought of myself as giving, or perhaps spending, my time on information. In recent years I’ve begun reminding anyone who’ll listen, that we all have large Oxo grips that extend from the ancient systems cobbled together which today form our intelligence, our fear, and our psyche. It’s easy to grab someone by those handles and lead them. That’s fine because everyone doesn’t try to grab me by those Oxo handles. But software is good at grabbing those handles. Hardware is good at it. And companies run by people who haven’t thought through the morality of what they’re building using software and hardware are really good at it.

So when I read Simon’s comment about information consuming my attention. I sat bolt-upright.

…and then I renewed by efforts to swat away anything that I catch gazing lasciviously at my weaknesses.

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Principles →

Published February 17, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 17  ·  

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.

~ Harrington Emerson

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This is strikingly accurate for all the domains I’ve tried so far. I believe it’s useful to begin by trying some method-work; To explore conversation as a mastery practice, it would be insurmountably boring to sit in my research library reading about conversation. But trying a few different experiments provides invaluable experience. Some things are reproducible, and some things aren’t. Why is that? Some things work as I expected, and some things don’t. Why is that? Some things aren’t connected the way I’d expected, (imagine if the light switches in your house worked lights in other rooms, instead of the one you expected.) Why is that?

Niels Bohr said something similar about Painful experience, and I agree. The experiences serve as guides on either side of the roadway. In the beginning, everything is unknown and the road is seemingly boundless. Some exploration however soon finds a guide limiting one side. Farther exploration moves along the road and perhaps finds the other side’s guide. Progress continues in a serpentine fashion along the road. As principles are learned, the road becomes clearer. Armed with the curiosity and inspiration born of experimentation, progress along the road accelerates as the guides become more clear.

In the end—or the end of the beginning?—things again seem simple. One might even say they seem principled.

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Understanding →

Published February 15, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 15  ·  

To understand is to know what to do.

~ Wittgenstein

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Trade-offs →

Published February 13, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 13

When we try to do it all and have it all, we find ourselves making trade-offs at the margins that we would never take on as our intentional strategy. When we don’t purposefully and deliberately choose where to focus our energies and time, other people—our bosses, our colleagues, our clients, and even our families—will choose for us, and before long we’ll have lost sight of everything that is meaningful and important.

~ Greg McKeown

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In the last year, I’ve been regularly returning to my personal mission. It’s a blazing beacon on the horizon. Every time I am aware that I should make a choice, I can honestly say this choice right here is in service of my mission. (The corollary of course is that those times when I’m not aware that I’m making a choice, my mission doesn’t help me at all.)

And I do literally mean all the things are in service of my mission. My choices about my commitments to people, family responsibilities, taxes, friendships, volunteer work, rest, relaxation, food, and many more things are all intentional choices now made in service of my mission. All those things, which others might say seem to be off-mission, are in fact making me a functioning, decent person who is then able to pursue a mission. There’s a whole suite of things that people incorrectly talk about as “home” life, (or “personal” life, or sometimes just “life”,) which they need to balance against “work” life. No. No no. No no no. I tried splitting my universe into work and life and that’s simply not reality.

There’s only “life” time. Stare unflinching at those choices that seem to be on the margins, for they too are just as much important choices about your life.

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A synthesis of sleep →

Published February 10, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 10  ·  

I’ve written a lot about sleep. But when I found this “article” about sleep from 2016— well, at 361 pages, it’s definitely not an “article.” Now that I found this article, I feel comfortable that in recent years I’ve not been writing about sleep. This topic is already well-covered.

And you really should go look at the PDF. Eight-hours a day? —wrong. Same time to-bed/to-rise each day? Wrong. Single-phase, biphase, … it’s all so complicated!

I hope that this article compiles all the basic ingredients of knowledge that are helpful in accomplishing refreshing sleep. As for the sacrifice, it is important to begin with the understanding that one cannot eat one’s cake and have it too. Healthy sleep may be incompatible with some modern habits, some cravings, or some lifestyle choices. At worst, refreshing sleep may be incompatible with one’s job or even long-term goals.

~ Dr Piotr Wozniak, May 2012 from, «https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/sleep»

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Inconsistent yet persistent →

Published February 7, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 7  ·  ,

TK is an all-around mover, a dancer, rock climber, traceusse and earned her degree in athletic training. In addition to her movement practices, TK is a certified authentic Tantra instructor, teaching holistic healing of body, mind, spirit and sex. TK considers herself a sex activist and is the founder of LoveCraft, a sexual coaching and empowerment collective.

Tantra was the obvious place to begin since we were surely going to end up talking about tantric sex. My fear was that most people’s—myself included—knowledge of Tantra would be something to do with the artist, Sting. We immediately agreed that leaving the world only knowing about “men in linen pants” would be a disservice. “Tantra means, literally, to weave light and sound with form, the light being visualizations of your chakras in your body, sound being chants that you’re making, and then the form being your body, your physical body. That’s it, in a nutshell. The way that often looks is meditating. The way a lot of people do that is they’ll meditate and then have sex; they’ll meditate during sex; they’ll meditate on their own without any sex. Yeah, that’s kind of that, which means nothing, right? It’s like a, ‘Cool, and then what?’ which is what got me into having a coach.” — ~ TK from, ~4’40”

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Also useful →

Published February 6, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 6

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.

~ Annie Dillard

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Annie Dillard is right. Also useful for defending against chaos: Principles. Morals. Visualization. To be clear: My first word, “also,” is critical. I’m completely onboard with a schedule. But for me, since I’ve got schedule (and process and optimization and organization) dialed in, I’ve moved inward to more difficult topics of consideration. I find I’m asking myself—continuing Dillard’s metaphor—did I put the scaffolding in the right place?

And even more chin-scratchingly interesting: Am I done with this labor? And should I take the scaffolding down, so that I can set it up somewhere else?

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Unstuck with Robbie Swale →

Published February 4, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 4

How can individuals overcome barriers to starting and continuing creative projects?

A 12-minute train ride sparks the idea for a method that helps people overcome procrastination.

The creative hell of having something that you know you want to do and haven’t done, is much worse than having done it and it gone wrong.

~ Robbie Swale (2:26)

The conversation explores the challenges and processes involved in creative work, starting with the guest’s ambitious goal to appear on 100 podcasts within a year. This goal is tied to promoting a book and sharing a method designed to help people overcome procrastination. The “12-minute method,” inspired by quick train commutes, emphasizes short, focused creative sessions followed by immediate sharing, reducing the barriers to starting and completing creative projects. The discussion includes reflections on the emotional struggles associated with creative paralysis and the relief of simply beginning, regardless of the outcome.

Another topic discussed is personal branding, as Robbie shares how his identity has evolved across multiple roles—author, coach, and podcaster. He discusses the difficulty of balancing different audiences and platforms while maintaining a cohesive brand. This is paired with insights into the art of having meaningful conversations, whether in podcasts or personal interactions, and the transformative power of stripping away non-essential elements in both creative and conversational practices.

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Refuge for cowards →

Published February 3, 2022  ·  All posts on Feb 3

We all have so much power that we don’t use. And I think it’s because of cynicism, which is a toxic spiritual state. Cynicism is a refuge for cowards.

~ Cory Booker

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I’m not sure what to think about the “spiritual” bit. I’d need to hear Booker explain what he means by that. This week, it seems, I’m on a language bender. And here’s something that really freakin’ matters…

Does Booker mean “Cynicism”, as in the proper noun, the state of being a Cynic…

For the [ancient] Cynics, the purpose of life is to live in virtue, in agreement with nature. As reasoning creatures, people can gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which is natural for themselves, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, and fame, and even flouting conventions openly and derisively in public. Instead, they were to lead a simple life free from all possessions.

~ Wikipedia from, Cynicism (philosophy)

…which isn’t my cup of tea, but doesn’t sound that bad. Or does Booker mean the contemporary adjective “cynicism”, simply capitalized because it’s starting a sentence…

Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of others’ motives. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable, or ultimately meaningless and therefore deserving of ridicule or admonishment.

~ Wikipedia from, Cynicism (contemporary)

…also not my preferred cup of tea, although I do sometimes partake.

When I first read that quote I wondered if he was referring to Cynicism, before deciding he clearly meant cynicism. I’d wager you read that quote and didn’t wonder at any time which he meant. (I’m not criticizing, only pointing at the marvelous process of understanding language.) My question for myself today is:

While I see the nuance around that word in this quote, where am I not seeing nuance that I should be?

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Deception →

Published January 31, 2022  ·  All posts on Jan 31

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

~ Niccolò Machiavelli

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I love language. Is Machiavelli suggesting less total violence, or more total deception? Or does it suggest that any amount of violence and deception, (including even, more violence than deception,) is fine, so long as you consider deception as your preferred method? Wait. What is the purpose of the word “attempt”? Is it okay to succeed by force, regardless of the possibility of succeeding using deception? Wait, no it’s worse than that even: “Never attempt to win … can be won …” — Is it okay if my aim is simply to sow chaos, without actually attempting to win via either method? Or, what if I attempt to win through some other means, (via kindness or merit or nimble maneuvering or bribery perhaps)?

But I do so love language.

Because despite all those perfectly logical nits that can be picked, it’s a brilliant sentence—even translated into English—packing insight and wisdom which we all grasp instantly and intuitively.

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