Welcome to Friday,
Greetings from Western Germany,
This week two holidays coincided; Thursday was Ascension Day or Christi Himmelfarht, as it’s called here in Germany, and this is Memorial Day weekend for Americans. The result has been a lot of quiet, ruminative days all in a row. I noticed the blackbirds who call our backyard home are building a nest. Of course, I’ve also been spending most of my time reading essays, like Joseph Brodsky’s On Grief and Reason, and studying the German language. It’s amazing what all you can discover when everything around you is closed.
The world could certainly use more days of quiet reflection. I hope you find some quiet time for yourself this weekend.
Here is what I’d like to share this week:
What is in a name? Destiny, perhaps? Roger’s Bacon – one of my favorite online writers – travels down the fascinating, and hilarious, rabbit hole of nominative determinism. What starts from a punny place, meanders further into the practical applications names continue to serve (tax purposes, the catchiness of one name over another in capturing attention), and ponders to what degree do our names influence our actions and vice versa.
“Two questions that Cowen and Gross highlight strike me as deeply Heideggerian. “What tabs are open on your browser right now?” and “what is the equivalent of musical scales that you are practicing every day to get better at what you do?” Both are about surfacing a person’s care. Don’t tell me what you care about; rather, show me. Heidegger’s argument that truth is about “disclosure” and not just correctness is also evident in these questions.” From “Talent is Heideggerian”
This list of astounding historical facts. The most mind-boggling to me was that Oxford was founded more than 300 years before the founding of the Aztec Empire. (It also reminds me I need to learn more about South American history.)
No. Seven : “Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” – from Bertrand Russell’s Ten Commandments for Living
It’s easy to forget, here in the 21st century, how disruptive a technology books were at the time, and continue to be. In this interview, fiction author Robin Sloan discusses the “rudeness” of books, growing as a person on the Internet, and the advents of technology.
Currently reading: On Grief and Reason by Joseph Brodsky
Have a safe and intentional weekend.
Photo by Jordan McQueen on Unsplash.
