On this day

August 1st

Innocence

August 1, 2022

Once, in a dry season, I wrote in large letters across two pages of a notebook that innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself. Although now, some years later, I marvel that a mind on the outs with itself should have nonetheless made painstaking record of its every tremor, I recall with embarrassing clarity the flavor of those particular ashes. It was a matter of misplaced self-respect.

~ Joan Didion from, On Self-Respect

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May break the Internet

August 1, 2022

If Earth were to shift to even longer days, we may need to incorporate a “negative leap second”—this would be unprecedented, and may break the internet.

~ Matt King and Christopher Watson from, The length of Earth’s days has been mysteriously increasing, and scientists don’t know why

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The use of the phrase “may break the internet” made me smile. It’s not irony, and it’s serious. I do not want to think about what would happen if they inserted a negative leap second; The forward sort are bad enough, and don’t get me started on Daylight Savings Time. I digress.

This is a refreshingly clear, popular-science level article that covers the myriad reasons there is such variability in the exact amount of time it takes our magic marble to whirl precisely once around its axis. The very first thing most people never think of is how do we even precisely decide what “one rotation” is. (Hint: Astronomy.)

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The appropriate inner resource

August 1, 2020

If you encounter an attractive person, then self-restraint is the resource needed; if pain or weakness, then stamina; if verbal abuse, then patience. As time goes by and you build on the habit of matching the appropriate inner resource to each incident, you will not tend to get carried away by life’s appearances. You will stop feeling overwhelmed so much of the time.

~ Epictetus

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In real life

August 1, 2019

Yet many modern-day Westerners — who will live their whole lives with freedom of speech and the means to talk to almost anyone about anything — remain convinced they are essentially powerless to improve human life around the world, and use their internet access primarily to share pictures of cats.

~ David Cain, from The Greatest Gift We Ever Had

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I recently deleted my Facebook account; Not, “deleted the app from my phone,” but deleted my account so I am no longer on Facebook. That was the last of the social networks I was on.

My life is measurably better now without social networks. I still have this inconceivably amazing tool in my pocket which I use regularly to leverage the hard-won advantages of the human race in 2019. I still use that tool, (and other tools, including my feet and a bicycle,) to collapse the distance between me and those I want to communicate with.

I look forward to seeing you in the big room with the ceiling that’s sometimes blue and sometimes black!

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A name

August 1, 2018

(Part 3 of 11 in series, A Tracer's Manifesto)

( In late 2016 I began a small discussion with a few friends about an idea. Eventually the project became a web site [now gone] and this series contains the posts from that site. The project continues in the Parkour Forum. )

Originally published Dec 13, 2016

“A Mover’s Social Contract”

I’ve been going down the “social contract” rabbit hole recently. (eg http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract ). Notably, the UTM.edu article highlights some Femenism-based criticisms of the classic formulations of “social contract.” Clearly “social contract” brings philosophical context, but I think that would ultimately be a good thing.

Stepping back a bit, my whole goal has always been to make people (those who stumble on this thing after it’s finished) think more and more deeply. The goal is not to simply “collect signatories”.

So I’m really liking this name…

“A Mover’s Social Contract”

“A” a political way of suggesting this contract is just an idea for consideration. Not some bunch of people who got together and think they’ve nailed down the One True Thing and named the thing with a “The …”

“Mover’s” singular and possessive so the reader immediately can associate with it (since the reader is self/singular). And “hey, I’m a mover…” is about as platform-agnostic as we could ever hope to be. There will be some challenge in finding the correct word in each language into which we translate, but I think this word/concept is so common that it would be doable.

…and “social contract” as I’ve already discussed above.

Thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Solid ‘meh’??

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Albert Camus on the Three Antidotes to the Absurdity of Life

August 1, 2017

In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among men, a greater sincerity. We must achieve this or perish. To do so, certain conditions must be fulfilled: men must be frank (falsehood confuses things), free (communication is impossible with slaves). Finally, they must feel a certain justice around them.

~ Albert Camus from, Albert Camus on the Three Antidotes to the Absurdity of Life – The Marginalian

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