Craig Constantine

Witch hunts →

Published February 20, 2018 · All posts on Feb 20 · Society

If you ask anyone who’s read [Fahrenheit 451], that hasn’t read it in like 20 years, “What do you remember of how that came to be in the book?” They’d say, “There’s this totalitarian government.” The truth is, it was the people. It was the people who decided that any dissenting opinions that would offend specific groups in society, ought to be burned. So it was self-inflicted. I think that’s what we are doing right now. We are slowly torching the first amendment and free speech by, basically, going on these witch hunts. I think it’s the most dangerous thing in the U.S. right now.
~ Tim Ferris from, Jamie Foxx Part 2 – Bringing the Thunder (#167)

slip:4utija1.

Normally, the Tim Ferris show is Tim interviewing his guests. But this episode is a rebroadcast of Jamie Foxx interviewing Tim.

First, great book. Second, I’m a huge believer of the marketplace of ideas. (That’s a significant part of the reason behind my Movers Mindset podcast project.)

slip:2fa1a.

Moloch →

Published February 18, 2018 · All posts on Feb 18 · Books

In Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” (1955), Moloch is used as a metaphor for capitalism and industrial civilization, and for America more specifically. The word is repeated many times throughout Part II of the poem, and begins (as an exclamation of “Moloch!”) in all but the first and last five stanzas of the section.
~ from Moloch

slip:4uwiwi2.

I just recently, (in the scale of my life,) stumbled over an explicit reference to Moloch. I was all like, “Moloch? Who the what is that? *bookmark*”

I finally got around to reading the WikiPedia article and realized that there’s a huge amount of Moloch wriggled into and behind a ton of the classic fiction which I love.

Those who show up →

Published February 17, 2018 · All posts on Feb 17 · Quotes

Decisions are made by those who show up.
~ Jennifer Pahlka

slip:4a346.

I struggle with distractions →

Published February 16, 2018 · All posts on Feb 16 · Apogee, Internet Tech

To say that I “struggle” with distractions is a HUGE understatement.

Some time ago, I saw the following idea — sorry, I forget where — and I wanted to share it. (I’ve no idea if/how you would do this on non-Apple-IOS devices, sorry.) Ready?

Move EVERYTHING off of the home screen.

This is not the lock screen on my phone — THIS IS THE HOME SCREEN. When I unlock the phone, this is what I see. Nothing. The frequent-apps/dock is empty, and all the apps are ‘rightward’ in other screens. And they’re just in a jumbled mess because I never swipe off this screen.

Instead, I swipe down and type in the search field.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “so what?”

It changes your life. I spent weeks (after making this change) waking up my phone, staring at this screen and thinking, “wait, why did I wake up my phone?” Now I think, “what’s the weather going to be?” wake the phone, swipe down, type ‘w-e’ touch weather app. Etc. Wake the phone, do exatcly what I want, close phone.

Yes, this does still require a small bit of discipline to not double-tap Home and swipe through the running apps, but I never was a big user of that anyway.

If you’re paying close attention, you’ll note my phone is in “do not disturb” mode at 1:30 in the afternoon. That’s another pro-tip. Add EVERYONE you’d ever want a call from to your VIP list. Disable the “ring through” feature (where multiple calls from the same number can push through do not disturb). Then schedule DND from 11:01 to 11:00 daily. <<= …read the ordering of those times carefully.

(…and sorry, no, that is not the one-secret-minute when you could actually call me.)

Any time I’m expecting a call from someone random — car’s in the shop, plumber is expected around 9am — I just turn off ‘do not disturb’. As a bonus, I immediately realize how many junk calls I used to get. I don’t have a problem remembering to turn it back on, and I get a fresh reminder of how delightful it is to have the phone screen my calls.

These days?

My phone now NEVER rings.

Except when it does! …and I discover that it is now always someone I would like to talk to.

One.
Tiny.
Success.
At.
A.
Time.

Go for a walk in the woods and listen to this →

Published February 14, 2018 · All posts on Feb 14

Imagine you’re walking through a forest. I’m guessing you’re thinking of a collections of trees — what we foresters call a “stand” — with their rugged stems and their beautiful crowns. Yes, trees are the foundation of forestes, but a forest is much more than what you see.
~ Suzanne Simard from, How trees talk to each other

slip:4uteta3.

Go for a walk in the woods, and listen to this short TED talk. You may go into the wood seeing trees, but you’ll come out having heard much more.

Genius →

Published February 13, 2018 · All posts on Feb 13

One of the most fascinating portions of her treatise, for it applies to nearly every aspect of life in every era at every level of society, deals with the complex ecosystem of talent, ambition, and success — what we do with our talent, what others make of our success, and how to cope with one of the ugliest impulses of the human heart: the small-spirited urge to tear down those who have risen to prominence by their own merit.
~ Maria Popova from, Germaine de Staël’s Guide to Haters

slip:4ubage1.

Two centuries old (ie, very new). There’s nothing new under the sun (at least, in terms of the crap humans do wrongly ;)

Eclipse photography 1/4 →

Published February 12, 2018 · All posts on Feb 12

This photograph best captured the mood and lighting, just as the eclipse began, when these wispy clouds slid before the show. It gave us a welcome variation from trying to stare directly at the naked sun.

Perfect game theorists →

Published February 11, 2018 · All posts on Feb 11 · Thought and Philosophy

…now I want to write a science fiction novel about a planet full of aliens who are perfect game theorists, but who always behave kindly and respectfully to one another. Then some idiot performs a census, and the whole place collapses into apocalyptic total war.
~ Scott Alexander from, Cooperation Un-veiled

slip:4usaco2.

That pull quote is simply fun. The article is actually a serious attempt to pick apart an interesting philosophical question.

I’m not sure I agree with his conclusions… actually, I’m not even sure I understand the question he’s thinking about. But I find that the more I peek in the dark corners of the basement of my philosophical ideas, the more comfortable I sleep at night.

From the ‘we are space craft run by bacteria’ department… →

Published February 10, 2018 · All posts on Feb 10

This work, led by Dr. Patrick Varga-Weisz shows how chemicals produced by bacteria in the gut from the digestion of fruit and vegetables can affect genes in the cells of the gut lining. These molecules, called short chain fatty acids, can move from the bacteria and into our own cells. Inside our cells, they can trigger processes that change gene activity and that ultimately affect how our cells behave.
~ From How good bacteria control your genes

slip:4upyne6.

Have you heard of nutrigenomics? (“The study of the effects of foods and food constituents on gene expression.”)

Genetics is completely main stream. Certain genes for eye color, certain genes pre-dispose you to this disease or that cancer. Wizardy one hundred years ago. Totally main-stream today. Next came “the gut biome” (the collection of genes in the bacteria in your gut) and how that DIRECTLY affects you. Some people are not yet up to speed on the gut biome, but most everyone is now on board.

Next up is nutrigenomics. The realization (this is not wacky theory, but now a part of functional medicine) that what you eat LITERALLY alters the expression of your DNA. What you eat, literally alters how your body — your individual cells — activate and use your DNA.