On this day

March 9th

Considered conversation

March 9

When it comes, this will be the fourth message received from Alsafi in my lifetime. Few have timed their career so fortuitously. The first came when I was a child. The second came just weeks after I joined the Intercivilizational Observatory’s San Francisco office, and I wormed my way onto the analysis team. The third came the year I met Cassio, and I was doubly lovestruck. Still, I was reading responses to questions another generation had asked. But now, a full 39-year round-trip after I began, I’ll finally get answers to my questions. Ones from my youth, maybe, but they’ll be mine. After all this time, I’ll finally be In Conversation.

~ Andrew Dana Hudson, from The Weather Out There – Long Now

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This piece of fiction is one of those things I start skimming, thinking “should I mark this for later reading?” and then read it all the way through. So of course I recommend you do too.

I find tremendous value in considered conversation. Usually, a conversation about the weather isn’t such a valuable opportunity. But this conversation about “weather” is really about what are the limits of what can be considered a conversation… is understanding required for it to be a conversation? Or is simply trying to understand, enough?

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Flow with Minh Vu Ngok

March 9, 2022

Flow – with Minh Vu Ngok

How does one’s personal approach to movement and parkour evolve over time, balancing playfulness, training, and personal growth?

This conversation explores the evolution of a 15-year parkour practice and its impact on personal growth.

In the beginning, I used to do a lot of strength training and conditioning, like every week, or every other day. And now it’s not part of my routine anymore. Because I feel like I’ve reached a point where my strength is sufficient for the things I want to do.

~ Minh Vu Ngok (5:57)

The conversation begins with reflections on parkour practice, focusing on how approaches to movement evolve with time and experience. Early years are marked by goal-oriented training, while later stages emphasize enjoyment and personal expression through movement. Minh discusses revisiting older skills and overcoming mental barriers that arise from fear or lack of practice.

Teaching parkour is another prominent topic, including the cultural perceptions of parkour among beginners and the comprehensive programs offered by the parkour community. Minh highlights the flexibility of parkour as both a structured training activity and a broader lifestyle choice. Additionally, the balance between maintaining physical readiness and the joy of movement is a recurring theme, underscoring the idea that one earns the freedom to be relaxed and playful through disciplined preparation.

Takeaways

Balancing play and discipline — Physical preparation allows for relaxed and playful movement.

Cultural aspects of parkour — Parkour transcends a typical sport, encompassing community and lifestyle.

Evolving training goals — Training transitions from skill acquisition to sustaining fitness and joy.

Flexibility in participation — Parkour can be a casual hobby or an immersive lifestyle.

Teaching approaches — Coaches facilitate both foundational skills and deeper cultural connections.

Seasonal and personal rhythms — Energy levels and interests influence training patterns.

Resources

ParkourOne — A parkour coaching organization in Berlin offering training for various levels.

Minh Vu Ngok @minh_vn

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Philosophy with Galo Alfredo Naranjo

March 9, 2022

Philosophy with Galo Alfredo Naranjo

How does one integrate philosophical and practical approaches to movement and physicality in a meaningful and sustainable way?

This conversation explores the deeper connections between philosophy and movement in everyday life.

How do we mitigate injuries? How do you get in tune with your body, right? Versus just like, Hey, Coach, what am I doing today?

~ Galo Alfredo Naranjo (12:18)

The conversation focuses on integrating philosophy into movement and how visual thinking can aid in understanding and conveying ideas. Galo shares their journey from running a movement studio to adapting practices during the pandemic by leveraging visuals and online tools. He emphasize using philosophy to create connections and encourage meaningful practices beyond mere physical routines.

Additionally, the challenges of coaching athletes and fostering long-term habits are discussed. This includes balancing the structured training needed for athletic improvement with a sense of play to maintain engagement. The conversation also reflects on the deeper intentions behind movement and the importance of preparing individuals to sustain their practice independently after their formal athletic training ends.

Takeaways

Philosophy in movement — Embodying ideas through movement rather than merely discussing them.

Visual thinking in practice — Using visuals to explore and connect abstract concepts with tangible activities.

Balancing structure and play — Navigating between regimented training and unstructured exploration to sustain engagement.

Long-term impact of coaching — Helping individuals create sustainable practices beyond the athletic or structured training environment.

Connecting through shared values — Leveraging online platforms to build communities around similar philosophies and practices.

Intentionality in training — The importance of purpose behind physical activities for deeper engagement and understanding.

Resources

Motus Made website — A platform for newsletters and visuals related to movement and philosophy.

Ido Portal — A movement teacher whose philosophies influenced the discussion on content versus container in training.

Visualize Value by Jack Butcher — A program that inspired the creation of visuals for understanding abstract concepts.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Deluding oneself

March 9, 2022

Find a new topic or area or concern that has a small number of people that you respect behind it, but which has not become a culture-wide fad or conventional wisdom. If it’s already common knowledge, it’s probably too late to make a major contribution. If you’re the only one excited, you may be deluding yourself.

~ Steven Pinker

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Looping and decay

March 9, 2022

In contrast to dramatically slowing a recording down and extending its length, artists have also explored the possibilities of repeating short recordings over and over. The history of looping in modern composing is a story of the accidental beauty of technological imperfection and decay.

~ Ahmed Kabil from, Transmissions from the Ambient Frontier

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It’s worth the click just for the first photo, which has nothing directly to do with sounds nor music. And then further down you get a photo of a tape loop—the physical device that can play a section of tape forever without interruption. Along the way is a mention of sound art created as very-old [magnetic] audio tape sheds it’s coating. Plus 5 other sound-related shifts in perspective. I read this piece over and over, as if it were itself a tape loop. I see—hear?—several magnificent halls of exploration… which I’m running away from because I do not. need. another. hobby. New genres of music to explore, a full 24hrs [uninterrupted] that I could spend on Beethoven’s 9th, …

I’m a sucker for things which gift me with any shift of perspective. That’s a big part of why I love conversation: Every encounter with another mind is ripe with opportunity for my own growth.

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I am not byslexic

March 9, 2021

Left/right, port/starboard, red/green, … no problem!

However, I’ve discovered that—at the drop of a hat—my lowercase, printed b and d … for some reason, I have to really think about it. Ask me to lowercase-print brotherhood, bomb, dowry, down, dobson, diffidant … no problem. But when I try to write random strings of characters, like at the top of a slip going into the Slipbox—e.g., “4c1de”, that fourth character? I meant the other one.

I’m not trying to make light of dyslexia. Rather I’m simply pointing out that, once again!, fiddling with this Slipbox has taught me something that was hidden in plain sight.

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Slight surprise with a dash of interest

March 9, 2020

There are, I think, several reasons Hollywood movies often don’t get as much science input as they should. The first is that movie-makers usually just aren’t sensitive to the “science texture” of their movies. They can tell if things are out of whack at a human level, but they typically can’t tell if something is scientifically off. Sometimes they’ll get as far as calling a local university for help, but too often they’re sent to a hyper-specialized academic who’ll not-very-usefully tell them their whole story is wrong. Of course, to be fair, science content usually doesn’t make or break movies. But I think having good science content—like, say, good set design—can help elevate a good movie to greatness.

~ Stephen Wolfram, from Quick, How Might the Alien Spacecraft Work?

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But first, how exactly does one represent in written from, that sound one makes upon encountering something both slightly surprising and interesting? “Huh,” seems more like the sound one makes upon hearing something about which one is incredulous. For example: “Your Goldfish is escaping on foot!” “Huh?” Instead, I feel I need a word with a little touch of an ‘n’ in it to downplay the puzzlement by making the word less punchy; “That spaceship hangs in the air much in the way bricks don’t.” “Hunh.” That reads better, yes? Obviously, this is easily resolved via inflection when spoken, but there’s no clear written convention. So, okay, I’ll go with “hunh” to express slight surprise with a dash of interest.

hunh. I stumbled over the movie Arrival in Netflix back in 2018, and sort of enjoyed it.

Say what you will about Stephen Wolfram. I’m not referring to the fact that he was directly involved as being a point for, or against, the movie. Rather, I’m interested in his point—which I’m loosely reshaping here—that people who have a good feel for people make good movies about people. Given that the vast majority of people are bad at science, then most people who make movies would make bad movies about science.

Ironically, I’d argue that Arrival is a good science fiction movie, but not a good movie about people.

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The shape of stories

March 9, 2019

But there’s a reason we recognize Hamlet as a masterpiece: it’s that Shakespeare told us the truth, and people so rarely tell us the truth in this rise and fall here [indicates blackboard]. The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is. And if I die — God forbid — I would like to go to heaven to ask somebody in charge up there, ‘Hey, what was the good news and what was the bad news?’

~ Kurt Vonnegut from, Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories and Why Uncertainty Is the Crucible of Creativity

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First, note that by “shapes” he literally means figures, graphs—drawings of the shape of the story.

Second, although I’m unsure wether or not I’m “old,” I am sure that I’m starting to get some perspective. A few posts back I was talking about there being a horizon-of-self: Once my experiences are far enough in the past, I lose any true sense of who that self was. Vonnegut’s point—to me anyway—drives home the fact that I don’t even truly know who I am right now.

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Begin the morning

March 9, 2018

Begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. … I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Advice from Bill Watterson

March 9, 2015

It’s surprising how hard we’ll work when the work is done just for ourselves. And with all due respect to John Stuart Mill, maybe utilitarianism is overrated. If I’ve learned one thing from being a cartoonist, it’s how important playing is to creativity and happiness. My job is essentially to come up with 365 ideas a year.

~ Bill Watterson from, May 20, 1990

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…from May 20, 1990: Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson

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