What a compendium/arsenal of thought! Coming to it a loooong time after you wrote it (well, it FEELS like a long time) but so happy to have read it. This should be required reading for... for... hell, for everyone, actually.
Aw, Mary, what a moving thing to say. It goes without saying, but I’m gonna say it anyway, I am seriously proud to know you too. My fellow theatre nerd, but also, my friend. 🤗
This is a wonderful compilation of wisdom from a wide variety of folks. I stumbled my way here by way of RTE chaos agents 2 (I think). May I suggest you have someone check for spelling errors? There are several here of the type a typical spell checker app won’t pick up. (Former editor here, just wanting to be of assistance.)
I’m always open to corrections and some of my readers kindly point them out. Unfortunately, I don’t have the bandwidth to hire an editor and since I write and publish at odd times, it’s often difficult to ask a friend to do it on short notice. I’ll, however, focus on doing that for these longer form essays. English isn’t my first language so syntax and punctuation rules often get conflated with my native tongue. If you can offer corrections here (or if you want to email me at my handle at gmail), I’d gladly welcome them and edit the piece!
I couldn’t tell that English was not your first language. Well done! I’m off to bed after having my grandkids all weekend, so give me some time to get back to you. It’s not much, just a few words but I’ll need to read again to find them.
My ma says it’s sweeter to be a grandmother than a mother. Is that true? I have my hands full with my three and I don’t know what I’d do without my ma helping me.
The “Murray Gell-Man Amnesia Effect” is 100% Crichton. He explains where the “Murray Gell-Mann” label came from in this excellent speech introducing the concept to his audience:
The whole “the world will soon be automated and everyone will be laying about with nothing to do” is an argument that has existed since the beginning of the industrial age. It will never happen. There will always be ways for clever monkeys to employ themselves, and we are capable of exceeding cleverness. It remains to be seen whether we will *survive* our cleverness, as nothing represents a greater risk to our continued survival than runaway machines, whether they’re made of steel, silicon or DNA.
Wow, Visceral Adventure! Thank you for this spectacularly comprehensive theory mashup. I’ve covered almost all of these in different posts (e.g., Obedience and Stanford Prison experiments in “Letter to a Colluder”: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling), but having them consolidated all in one place is a great help!
And thank you for introducing me to the Stockdale Paradox—that describes my philosophy/approach perfectly!!
Regarding optimism, I highly recommend Oliver Burkeman’s “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking,” which draws heavily from Stoicism.
That letter is brilliant. I left a comment there, but also, if you are interested in any audio/video interpretations, I do have some equipment and software.
I will put that book in my reading cue, thanks for the recommend!
Aww, I really appreciate the offer! As I mentioned in my comment there, I actually have been recording podcasts and hope to start producing videos soon!
Schrödinger universe, *lol*
I managed to squeeze in a link to your fabulous essay in my last one, BTW. Look for “whole shebang”:
I take your fair warning although your user name acts as one too. 😂 it is a futile game, but I do try and soften the edges in twitter and Substack with empathy and understanding. It’s fun to use wits and irony and dunk on someone who is exhibiting arrogance and ignorance, yet, if we want a better world, trying to offer perspectives that change people’s minds often requires more than brilliant sarcasm and flippancy.
I’ll take the “you look tough enough to handle some jostling” as a compliment! :)
It’s alright that there are no knights in shining armor coming to the rescue. We (society) need to put on our big kid pants and grow up a little. Most hero’s either get sacrificed or we become disillusioned with them after worshipping them senselessly. This is a group project. The people who are stepping up to fill in the gaps are unlikely leaders but perhaps that’s what makes them more effective.
Boy are you right about people saying some crazy shot at funerals! 😂
What a compendium/arsenal of thought! Coming to it a loooong time after you wrote it (well, it FEELS like a long time) but so happy to have read it. This should be required reading for... for... hell, for everyone, actually.
Proud to know ya, Tonika. xox
Aw, Mary, what a moving thing to say. It goes without saying, but I’m gonna say it anyway, I am seriously proud to know you too. My fellow theatre nerd, but also, my friend. 🤗
This is a wonderful compilation of wisdom from a wide variety of folks. I stumbled my way here by way of RTE chaos agents 2 (I think). May I suggest you have someone check for spelling errors? There are several here of the type a typical spell checker app won’t pick up. (Former editor here, just wanting to be of assistance.)
I’m always open to corrections and some of my readers kindly point them out. Unfortunately, I don’t have the bandwidth to hire an editor and since I write and publish at odd times, it’s often difficult to ask a friend to do it on short notice. I’ll, however, focus on doing that for these longer form essays. English isn’t my first language so syntax and punctuation rules often get conflated with my native tongue. If you can offer corrections here (or if you want to email me at my handle at gmail), I’d gladly welcome them and edit the piece!
I couldn’t tell that English was not your first language. Well done! I’m off to bed after having my grandkids all weekend, so give me some time to get back to you. It’s not much, just a few words but I’ll need to read again to find them.
Much obliged, Barbara. 🙏
My ma says it’s sweeter to be a grandmother than a mother. Is that true? I have my hands full with my three and I don’t know what I’d do without my ma helping me.
Oh, and those “optimists” weren’t optimists, they were fools. Optimism is knowing you’ll prevail, not knowing you’ll prevail by Tuesday.
The “Murray Gell-Man Amnesia Effect” is 100% Crichton. He explains where the “Murray Gell-Mann” label came from in this excellent speech introducing the concept to his audience:
https://www.docdroid.net/4wgVecr/why-speculate-michael-crichton-pdf
The whole “the world will soon be automated and everyone will be laying about with nothing to do” is an argument that has existed since the beginning of the industrial age. It will never happen. There will always be ways for clever monkeys to employ themselves, and we are capable of exceeding cleverness. It remains to be seen whether we will *survive* our cleverness, as nothing represents a greater risk to our continued survival than runaway machines, whether they’re made of steel, silicon or DNA.
Wow, Visceral Adventure! Thank you for this spectacularly comprehensive theory mashup. I’ve covered almost all of these in different posts (e.g., Obedience and Stanford Prison experiments in “Letter to a Colluder”: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling), but having them consolidated all in one place is a great help!
And thank you for introducing me to the Stockdale Paradox—that describes my philosophy/approach perfectly!!
Regarding optimism, I highly recommend Oliver Burkeman’s “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking,” which draws heavily from Stoicism.
“Schrödinger’s Lot” is genius, BTW!
That letter is brilliant. I left a comment there, but also, if you are interested in any audio/video interpretations, I do have some equipment and software.
I will put that book in my reading cue, thanks for the recommend!
We live in a Schrödinger universe! 😂
Aww, I really appreciate the offer! As I mentioned in my comment there, I actually have been recording podcasts and hope to start producing videos soon!
Schrödinger universe, *lol*
I managed to squeeze in a link to your fabulous essay in my last one, BTW. Look for “whole shebang”:
• “Are You a Good German or a Badass German?” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/are-you-a-good-german-or-a-badass)
Thanks for squeezing me in, Margaret! Another powerful punch of a letter you’ve penned! Not sure if you’re German, but you sure are a badass!
Glad that you got audio stuff out there and that you’ll get some videos out! Looking forward to it!
Aww, thank you, VA, and so are you! As I told a commenter, Badass German is a state of mind, not a nationality or ethnicity :-)
So good. <3
This is a phenomenal piece of writing and thinking.
Ditto. Just shared with my humble Telegram group.
Thank you, Wendy!
Thanks for taking the time for a long read, Brian. 🙏
“Molotovish” - I like this.
I take your fair warning although your user name acts as one too. 😂 it is a futile game, but I do try and soften the edges in twitter and Substack with empathy and understanding. It’s fun to use wits and irony and dunk on someone who is exhibiting arrogance and ignorance, yet, if we want a better world, trying to offer perspectives that change people’s minds often requires more than brilliant sarcasm and flippancy.
I’ll take the “you look tough enough to handle some jostling” as a compliment! :)
It’s alright that there are no knights in shining armor coming to the rescue. We (society) need to put on our big kid pants and grow up a little. Most hero’s either get sacrificed or we become disillusioned with them after worshipping them senselessly. This is a group project. The people who are stepping up to fill in the gaps are unlikely leaders but perhaps that’s what makes them more effective.
Boy are you right about people saying some crazy shot at funerals! 😂