Category: Book Club
From Billboards to Big Tech: When Will We Draw the Line on Attention Theft?
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In Paris at the turn of the twentieth century, commercial artists began putting up posters around the city advertising venues and shows and the like. It was so effective that soon posters were covering every surface of the city, leading to a concerted push by Parisians to regulate and rein in what had become visual…
The Siren Caught Me Scrolling
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This is our first look at Siren’s Call by Chris Hayes, and it’s a bit of a confession from me. Hayes hit me pretty hard by page 4 when he equated the world around us, particularly the online platforms, to the Sirens from the Greek myth of Odysseus. Online platforms called to me via Facebook,…
The Courage to Rethink – Lessons from Think Again
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This is our final look at Think Again. Next month we’re reading The Siren’s Call which is all about attention. If you’re not signed up to get the book club emails in your inbox, it’s free. Subscribers get a weekly post about the book for the month. I first read Think Again in 2022 and…
Binary Bias, Cancel Culture, and the Death of Nuance
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We like easy answers. Is it good or is it bad? Will I get cancelled for a view, or is it the one that helps me conform to society at large? If you’ve got kids, telling them yes or no is far easier that trying to give them a nuanced answer appropriate to their age…
When Status Slips and Rage Rises – The Roots of Polarization
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The news slams into us every day—another hate crime, another community torn apart, another reminder that the center isn’t holding. As racism resurges and social trust frays, it’s no wonder people seek refuge in polarised worldviews. In our second look at Think Again we’ll examine the issues with society that I see leading people towards…
Second Opinions and Self-Deception
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We’re swift to recognize when other people need to think again. We question the judgement of experts whenever we seek out a second opinion on a medical diagnosis. Unfortunately, when it comes to our knowledge and opinions, we often favor feeling right over being right. In everyday life, we make diagnoses of our own, ranging…
Bob Doto on Note-Taking – A No-Nonsense Guide to Writing with Purpose
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Next month the book club is reading Think Again by Adam Grant Join the book club to get all the content in your inbox. While the most famous book about starting a Zettelkasten may be How to Take Smart Notes it’s not necessarily the best book on the topic. Valuable entries have come from Dan…
Good Notes Take Discipline – Not Magic
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So far as we’ve looked at A System for Writing we’ve talked about words being scary, taking more time to process your notes, and exposed the “writing is easy” lie that gurus try to pass off. What we haven’t covered is what I think it takes to have a good note system. Not Magic I’ve…
Guru’s Lie – Writing Isn’t Easy, and That’s the Point
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It will not literally speak to you. But visible areas of increased connectivity within the slip box, what Sonke Ahrens calls “clusters” can guide you towards ideas ready for expression. – A System for Writing Pg 111 This is one of the big misconceptions with a Zettelkasten/PKM system, it will do the writing for you.…