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"nonlinear, creative thinking be tethered to rational, linear thinking in order to implement it in the most robust and rigorous way possible—" from "The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload" by Daniel J. Levitin

"The twenty-first century’s information problem is one of selection." from "The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload" by Daniel J. Levitin

"The costs of making a mistake encouraged us to think carefully before adding a clunker to the collection." from "The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload" by Daniel J. Levitin

“There are dangers on both sides of truth.” Why I Am Not Egalitarian http://www.challies.com/articles/why-i-am-not-egalitarian via Instapaper

Networks are not communities In a sneaky way, this part of the book shook me most profoundly — because it was written before social media, it doesn’t mention “social networks” explicitly, but so much of it applies to Facebook, Twitter, etc., and how we often mistake those virtual places as real places, with real community. A real community allows you to be a whole person: A community is a place in which people face each other over time in all their human variety: good parts, bad parts, and all the rest. Such places promote the highest quality of life possible — lives of engagement and participation. A network, however, requires only a piece of you: it asks you to suppress all the parts of yourself except the network-interest part — a highly unnatural act although one you can get used to. In exchange, the network will deliver efficiency in the pursuit of some limited aim. This is, in fact, a devil’s bargain, since on the promise of some future gain one must surrender the wholeness of one’s present humanity. If you enter into too many of these bargains, you will split yourself into many specialized pieces, none of them completely human. And no time is available to reintegrate them. This, ironically, is the destiny of many successful networkers and doubtless generates much business for divorce courts and therapists of a variety of persuasions. Over time, too much networking leads to a feeling of malnourishment: If the loss of true community entailed by masquerading in networks is not noticed in time, a condition arises in the victim’s spirit very much like the “trout starvation” that used to strike wilderness explorers whose diet was made up exclusively of stream fish. While trout quell the pangs of hunger — and even taste good — the eater gradually suffers for want of sufficient nutrients. We all know that feeling from being on Twitter too long. I’m also thinking now of the ways that a website like NextDoor attempts to bring community together, but really just re-organizes a community as a network — most of the stuff I see happening on my neighborhood message board is atomization, or splitting apart of the community: all you people who aren’t putting out your garbage vs. those of us who are, mom’s groups, cyclists, craigslist-like transactions, etc. Networks divide people, first from themselves and then from each other, on the grounds that this is the efficient way to perform a task. It may well be, but it is a lousy way to feel good about being alive. Networks make people lonely. They cannot correct their inhuman mechanism and still succeed as networks. Gatto says that, yes, networks have their place, but that they lack any real “ability to nourish their members emotionally.” He says “the only ones I consider completely safe are the ones that reject their communal facade, acknowledge their limits, and concentrate solely on helping me do a specific and necessary task.” (LinkedIn? Ha.) I want to repeat this until you are sick of hearing it. Networks do great harm by appearing enough like real communities to create expectations that they can manage human social and psychological needs. The reality is that they cannot. Even associations as inherently harmless as bridge clubs, chess clubs, amateur acting groups, or groups of social activists will, if they maintain a pretense of whole friendship, ultimately produce that odd sensation familiar to all city dwellers of being lonely in the middle of a crowd. Which of us who frequently networks has not felt this sensation? Belonging to many networks does not add up to having a community, no matter how many you belong to or how often your telephone rings. Gatto sees compulsory school as an “involuntary network with strangers.”

http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/146957337096

“Did the fans get art, or product” Henry Rollins: Why I Refuse to Shut Up and Play the Hits http://www.laweekly.com/music/henry-rollins-why-i-refuse-to-shut-up-and-play-the-hits-7086980 via Instapaper

“But that doesn’t excuse the seriousness of the error.” John MacArthur Answers His Critics http://www.challies.com/interviews/john-macarthur-answers-his-critics via Instapaper

“I want my skepticism to allow me to find better solutions than those posited by the green movement.” Christians and the Environment http://www.challies.com/articles/christians-and-the-environment via Instapaper

“In such a climate, it’s crucial for students to see the human stories beyond the headlines.” 151579-12-graphic-novels-that-should-be-taught-in-schools http://www.bustle.com/articles/151579-12-graphic-novels-that-should-be-taught-in-schools via Instapaper

"Our racist sneezes become national hurricanes." from "Orange County: A Personal History" by Gustavo Arellano

"cargaderenses in the 1930s. It’s the type of village Lonely Planet raves about if the surrounding country is Bhutan. The kind of place that American politicians praise for its small-town virtues when it’s in Iowa." from "Orange County: A Personal History" by Gustavo Arellano

"We don’t care for the fact—we print the legend." from "Orange County: A Personal History" by Gustavo Arellano

"The hype is right: Orange County is the Ellis Island of the twenty-first century." from "Orange County: A Personal History" by Gustavo Arellano

"Ultimately, if the process is good, the end will be good." from "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Library)" by Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Bill Addison

"One poem or story doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s the process of writing and life that matters." from "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Library)" by Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Bill Addison

“Why pretend? Is false modesty any less distasteful than outward self-assurance?” From The Mag: Why Bryce Harper says he's the best, and why he's right http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14935765/washington-nationals-bryce-harper-wants-change-baseball-forever via Instapaper

“There’s no better spice than hunger and desire.”” The Lone Chef of Palmer Station, Antarctica http://luckypeach.com/the-lone-chef-of-palmer-station-antarctica/ via Instapaper

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