Of course there are machines out there that are very useful to us, but it's amazing how little wonder people have for how sophisticated our physical bodies are. Not to mention that they are intricately tied into our equally amazing minds.
Of course there are machines out there that are very useful to us, but it's amazing how little wonder people have for how sophisticated our physical bodies are. Not to mention that they are intricately tied into our equally amazing minds.
Berry seems to have little in the way of exposure in the "online "community"". I'm surprised you've heard of him. His canon of work is deep and wide, and he is eminently quotable, though I prefer not to do it to the point of rendering his thoughts in snippets.
Have you read his treatise on "racism" in the U.S. - "The Hidden Wound"? It is sensitive and sophisticated, subtle and nuanced, and spoken from the voice of an authentic denizen of "The South".
I discovered Berry back in the 00's, and he made a pretty big impression on me because while I have not heard or read anything from him in years, his name called out to me from your comment.
I remember that Berry was not impressed with the Internet - he preferred (and presumably still does prefer) to stay in the "IRL" lane.
It's a funny coincidence that you have reminded me of Berry's preference for personal contact over "e-contact." Katie Hopkins talks about the same thing in this interview she just gave... she's largely talking about free speech, but about a third of the way into the video she says that she thinks social media is getting "old" and that people are going back to gathering in person. (Apparently, she won't even do zoom - which is interesting since she is a pretty big social media influencer.)
"Social media", besides being anti-social, is a planet-wrapping estrangement/panopticon machine. Am I the only one, aside from maybe Steve Cutts, who notices that there is no "social fabric" left, and everything here in "The West" is tantamount to an internecine war?
(And I utterly resent the "Like" button!)
Cheers to you and yours in this festive season nonetheless!
I had to look up Steve Cutts, but of course as soon as I saw his drawings I recognized them. He is brilliant.
You are depressingly correct about the social fabric. I have been thinking of our situation as a broken social contract, but I think reference to the social fabric gets more to the heart of the matter.
The "like" button is rather Pavlovian, and I'm sure it forms part of the "meta-data" that is being gathered on all of us by those creepy social engineering brigades. I am guilty of using it all the same... but explaining why would be a longer, loopier comment.
Wherever you are, I hope you're enjoying the increasing minutes of sun since the three-day hiatus of the Solstice-Christmas period. It's time to start looking up!
Great words from the great Wendell Berry.
Of course there are machines out there that are very useful to us, but it's amazing how little wonder people have for how sophisticated our physical bodies are. Not to mention that they are intricately tied into our equally amazing minds.
Thanks for the link!
Berry seems to have little in the way of exposure in the "online "community"". I'm surprised you've heard of him. His canon of work is deep and wide, and he is eminently quotable, though I prefer not to do it to the point of rendering his thoughts in snippets.
Have you read his treatise on "racism" in the U.S. - "The Hidden Wound"? It is sensitive and sophisticated, subtle and nuanced, and spoken from the voice of an authentic denizen of "The South".
I discovered Berry back in the 00's, and he made a pretty big impression on me because while I have not heard or read anything from him in years, his name called out to me from your comment.
I remember that Berry was not impressed with the Internet - he preferred (and presumably still does prefer) to stay in the "IRL" lane.
It's a funny coincidence that you have reminded me of Berry's preference for personal contact over "e-contact." Katie Hopkins talks about the same thing in this interview she just gave... she's largely talking about free speech, but about a third of the way into the video she says that she thinks social media is getting "old" and that people are going back to gathering in person. (Apparently, she won't even do zoom - which is interesting since she is a pretty big social media influencer.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulO7M704fjQ
I have not read The Hidden Wound... but I will keep it on my wish list for used books. Thanks for the recommendation!
"Social media", besides being anti-social, is a planet-wrapping estrangement/panopticon machine. Am I the only one, aside from maybe Steve Cutts, who notices that there is no "social fabric" left, and everything here in "The West" is tantamount to an internecine war?
(And I utterly resent the "Like" button!)
Cheers to you and yours in this festive season nonetheless!
I had to look up Steve Cutts, but of course as soon as I saw his drawings I recognized them. He is brilliant.
You are depressingly correct about the social fabric. I have been thinking of our situation as a broken social contract, but I think reference to the social fabric gets more to the heart of the matter.
The "like" button is rather Pavlovian, and I'm sure it forms part of the "meta-data" that is being gathered on all of us by those creepy social engineering brigades. I am guilty of using it all the same... but explaining why would be a longer, loopier comment.
Wherever you are, I hope you're enjoying the increasing minutes of sun since the three-day hiatus of the Solstice-Christmas period. It's time to start looking up!
Yes...'tis a pity how little wonder we appear to have left in us.