Notices by Rusty Swarf (rustyswarf@refactorcamp.org), page 5

There's no un-inventing addictive human creations, so the cultural response is to gradually develop immunity by establishing norms.

Historically, isolated cultures have been more susceptible to newfangled vices. Where will the gamer-slums of 2050 be?

Current moral panic about addictiveness of screens is really comparable to previous moral panics about distilled spirits.

Cultures usually established a stable use pattern with beer and wine, then liquor threw everything off for a few decades / generations.

If silent reading was the beginning of "Screen Time", then we're about 300 years into a stable use pattern.

@dereklh When inspiration strikes, you have to get it down as quickly as you can.

Then rest.

I think the hard part is coming back to inspired work and editing it to fit into non-inspired structure.

@Elmkast Most blue collar workers seem able to ignore the culture wars.

Which is ironic, because "how to build things" is a defining aspect of culture.

I suspect this is because nobody wants to know how much unavoidable destruction is necessary to create their infrastructure.

Thinking of the way a Prius owner might scorn a Hummer owner, but ignore a backhoe operator.

Most people who study etiquette do so because they're interested in social climbing.

Genuine examinations of lower-class etiquette are rare and fascinating.

Case in point: Jennifer Lawrence's breakout film "Winter's Bone"

@dereklh Maybe off base to your intent, but I can't help but interpret this in context of carpenters I've worked with recently. They think of engineering less, so they're more able to apply useful heuristics in the situations when I get caught up in overanalysis.

@dereklh hmm, please elaborate.

@dereklh Academia not treating you well?

@dereklh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants

@dereklh If I have _____ _____, it is because I stood on the corpses of hedgehogs.

@riga Well put. I think it's safe to say that modern people are more psychologically-delicate than healthy societies in the recent past. And I really can't figure out why?

At best, corporal punishment is a spontaneous (and very frightening) expression of emotion which arises directly from concern for the child's safety.

At worst, corporal punishment is a rigidly enforced procedure of indoctrination into a repressive, punitive culture. Thinking of Alice Miller's work here.

@riga I've wondered the same thing. And, errrr, not to advocate corporal punishment, but it is a fairly ancient and common practice in human societies. Hitting or shouting at someone when you're angry with them is a fundamental behaviour that recurs despite taboos.

If we judged by modern standards, almost everybody in history should have felt way more traumatized by violence than we feel. It makes me suspect something else is causing feelings of trauma, and violence is a scape goat.

@Elmkast pandora, youtube, soundcloud

@Elmkast Do you have any public playlists? Based on how much you care about music, I'd listen to an internet radio hour if you put one out.

@kureshii I still remember not understanding the bernoulli principle during high school physics, wish we'd had a better demo.

Gyroscopes are probably the pinnacle.

Met a guy this morning who was out hunting deer with a bow and arrows he had carved.

Cultures grow in a stack, like a Maslow hierarchy.

Each new layer carries assumptions from the last.

When tourists talk about culture, they’re talking about food, architecture, and speech.

When anthropologists talk about culture, they’re talking about entrenched survival protocols.

When Americans talk about Culture Wars, they’re talking about value systems.

@adrianmryan

-exercise physiology
-electicity & magnetism
-international trade
-property rights
-strategy & war