A fan on Twitter linked me this article about the hardships of being unemployed and looking for a job. As someone who #knowsthosefeels, a lot of the points struck true for me. I’m not so much into Marxism or that part of the left but the personal stuff was really depressing but in a very…
This chapter focuses on noise and its benefits to the brain as well as returning to the resting brain. And as far as the resting brain goes, it’s pretty interesting: When you activate your default mode network by doing nothing, it becomes robust and coherent. So, somehow our brains seem to violate the second law…
Full disclosure: I’ve seen The Big Lebowski at least twice before and massively enjoyed it both times. That said, this time was no different. The Big Lebowski is actually more enjoyable every time I see it and it always seems to have twists and turns I forget that make me marvel at how such an…
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I think there’s at least a few problems with modern day work. In no particular order, here are some of my biggest issues with work, as it exists: It’s quasi-compulsory: Artificial scarcity enforced through laws, regulations and especially intellectual property sets up barriers, which makes it harder for people to…
Nick’s Notes: This is one of those articles I’m writing at the request of a fan of the site! You can see previous efforts alongside similar lines here and here. This is another one of those blogs where I’m not going to bother with a fancy title. What you see is what you get on…
Chapter 1: That Loathsome Monster Idleness The previous chapter set the stage for the rest of the book in a fairly interesting and engaging way, let’s look at how Smart follows up on that effort. First, Smart talks about the history of our attitudes towards idleness all around the world. From the attitudes stemming from…
Nick’s Notes: This is another one of those questions I got from fans of the site. You can see the last question I addressed in this post, where I talked about the prospects about technology and alienation in a post-work society. There’s some questions that are rudimentary but vitally important and I never think to…
I decided to take some suggestions from fans of the site about what topics they’d like to see me talk about. Here’s my stab at the question of whether some folks (e.g. primitivists, anti-civ folks, green anarchists, etc.) may be right about the idea that automation in an anti-work society would lead to more alienation.…
The internet is at times (all of the times?) a capsule from the weird to the absolutely bizarre. And sometimes there comes a time when something happened, was recorded and the people who did it decided to put it on the internet. Such is the case for the CIA and their Timeless Tips for “Simple…
Introduction I got this book at the New York Anarchist Book Fair a year or so ago. At the time I wasn’t doing terribly well on finances and I went back and forth on what looked like a really good book. The seller was offering it for a decent price (between $10-15, I can’t remember…