Don’t Feed the Trolls (October 21, 2017) - That inflammatory news blurb in your Facebook feed that’s got your dander up? Or the one some acquaintances are circulating that’s got you thinking they’ve lost their minds? Hold up a bit. There’s this recent column in The Atlantic: “We’ve since learned that Russian trolls organized anti-immigrant rallies in two states, and posed online as… Continue reading Don’t Feed the Trolls 
The Reflection in our Smartphones (August 27, 2017) - In Metamorphoses, the Roman poet Ovid tells an old story about Narcissus, a young man who rejected the advances of Echo, a nymph. The unhappy suitor then wastes away to nothing but her voice. As it happens, Narcissus appears to have left quite a trail of broken hearts. The goddess Nemesis heard the complaint of another… Continue reading The Reflection in our Smartphones 
Size Matters (February 5, 2017) - During our years in a former church my wife and I heard repeated admonitions from the leadership to greet visitors. Then a couple years ago we found ourselves visiting churches looking for a new church community. Now we were the newcomers. In some of the communities I noticed obvious personal connections between congregants that were… Continue reading Size Matters 
Silicon Valley Dystopia (October 9, 2016) - “The new road to serfdom — actually, it’s more like a hyperloop — runs right through Silicon Valley.” via Silicon Valley has our backs This post by Nicholas Carr at Rough Type references a recent New Yorker profile of venture capitalist Sam Altman. I share Carr’s skepticism and the profile is worth reading. If I… Continue reading Silicon Valley Dystopia 
Thought Leaders (September 9, 2016) - I’ve watched a bit of TED and there’s been quite a lot of good stuff on it. As I’ve noted previously, the format of TED successfully makes use of the shrunken attention spans of modern culture. But the packaging that makes TED work also suggests its effectiveness has very little to do with the actual… Continue reading Thought Leaders 
Peaky Blindness (July 5, 2016) - In the course of our recent Netflix binging my wife and I started watching Peaky Blinders. This is a BBC television series set in post-WWI Birmingham, England, and is centered around the activities of a street gang for which the series is named. What the gang actually looked like is debated but the name is… Continue reading Peaky Blindness 
A Little Less Greek (February 14, 2016) - On a recent foray into a used book store I stumbled over an excellent flyover of Roman history. During my reading I was intrigued by the settlement of a political conflict in the Roman republic of the fourth and fifth centuries BC. During that period a power struggle ensued between the hereditary aristocracy and the… Continue reading A Little Less Greek 
Eighteen Minutes (May 5, 2015) - Attention spans are getting shorter. A comment highlighting this appeared in an April segment on TED Talks, broadcast on CBS news magazine 60 Minutes. During the segment interviewer Charlie Rose queried TED curator Chris Anderson about the eighteen-minute time limit imposed on the talks. Anderson responded that, “..it’s a coffee break…you can listen to something… Continue reading Eighteen Minutes 
Loss of Context (April 8, 2015) - Exploring the world in comfort. That’s the theme of a recent commercial for the European travel company, Viking River Cruises. Scenes of Europe flow by to violin strains and a poetic cadence: “Sailing through the heart of cities and landscapes with Viking, you’ll see things differently. You’ll get closer to iconic landmarks, to local life… Continue reading Loss of Context 
A High pH (November 21, 2014) - Once upon a time a ring from the wall telephone signified a crisis of some sort if it occurred outside of certain times. We just never thought to call anyone early in the morning, during dinner, or late at night. We stayed outside the boundaries of each other’s private spaces until such time as it… Continue reading A High pH
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sifting through the distractions.
Sat Sapienti 