John Miedema
@johnmiedema.bsky.social
Writes about cognition and consciousness 🐝
https://johnmiedema.art/
https://johnmiedema.art/
Buddhist teachings root suffering in the cravings of the mind, while Rousseau locates it in the inequalities of society.
meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/quieting-t...
meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/quieting-t...
Quieting the Mind, Equality in the World
A reflection on Buddha, Rousseau, and the two causes of suffering
meditationcommunity.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Buddhist teachings root suffering in the cravings of the mind, while Rousseau locates it in the inequalities of society.
meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/quieting-t...
meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/quieting-t...
How does spying on vaccine production threaten production? Maybe the spies will produce more?!
#cdnpoli #vaccines #rent #housing
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#cdnpoli #vaccines #rent #housing
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Drug company says Toronto high-rises would threaten 'national security' | CBC News
A pharmaceutical company in north Toronto is objecting to a proposed new condo development next door on the grounds that hundreds of residents looking down on its facility represent a threat to "natio...
www.cbc.ca
November 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
How does spying on vaccine production threaten production? Maybe the spies will produce more?!
#cdnpoli #vaccines #rent #housing
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#cdnpoli #vaccines #rent #housing
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
November 11, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Meditation trains the nervous system for equanimity.
There are many interesting definitions for meditation. The above is my current definition. Practical and positive.
#meditation
There are many interesting definitions for meditation. The above is my current definition. Practical and positive.
#meditation
November 11, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Meditation trains the nervous system for equanimity.
There are many interesting definitions for meditation. The above is my current definition. Practical and positive.
#meditation
There are many interesting definitions for meditation. The above is my current definition. Practical and positive.
#meditation
Meditation Community Will Begin on Sunday January 4, 2026
Sittings will be at 10 am EST for at a total of 6 weeks
#meditation
open.substack.com/pub/meditati...
Sittings will be at 10 am EST for at a total of 6 weeks
#meditation
open.substack.com/pub/meditati...
Meditation Community Will Begin on Sunday January 4, 2026
Sittings will be at 10 am EST for at a total of 6 weeks
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Meditation Community Will Begin on Sunday January 4, 2026
Sittings will be at 10 am EST for at a total of 6 weeks
#meditation
open.substack.com/pub/meditati...
Sittings will be at 10 am EST for at a total of 6 weeks
#meditation
open.substack.com/pub/meditati...
Never mind crossing the floor
Let's ditch 17th century political parties 🫅
Vote for people not parties
Let them group dynamically on the issues 🤝
#cdnpoli
Let's ditch 17th century political parties 🫅
Vote for people not parties
Let them group dynamically on the issues 🤝
#cdnpoli
November 7, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Never mind crossing the floor
Let's ditch 17th century political parties 🫅
Vote for people not parties
Let them group dynamically on the issues 🤝
#cdnpoli
Let's ditch 17th century political parties 🫅
Vote for people not parties
Let them group dynamically on the issues 🤝
#cdnpoli
"It is difficult for anyone born and raised in human infrastructure to truly internalize the fact that your view of the world is backward." ~ from “A Psalm for the Wild-Built: A Monk and Robot Book” by Becky Chambers
#booksky
#booksky
“It is difficult for anyone born and raised in human infrastructure to truly internalize the fact that your view of the world is backward” – John Miedema
johnmiedema.art
November 4, 2025 at 12:31 PM
"It is difficult for anyone born and raised in human infrastructure to truly internalize the fact that your view of the world is backward." ~ from “A Psalm for the Wild-Built: A Monk and Robot Book” by Becky Chambers
#booksky
#booksky
"Rules — they aren’t going to break themselves"
~ ML
~ ML
November 3, 2025 at 12:03 AM
"Rules — they aren’t going to break themselves"
~ ML
~ ML
A young man raised in a Dutch Reformed community discovers his first meditation book in a prairie library and begins a lifelong quiet practice. This essay traces how a once-forbidden idea—viewed as foreign, mystical, or just plain weird—became an ordinary, evidence-based path to clarity and calm.
Discovering the "Weird" Practice of Meditation in the Eighties
How to Meditate by Lawrence LeShan was a practical introduction
meditationcommunity.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:34 PM
A young man raised in a Dutch Reformed community discovers his first meditation book in a prairie library and begins a lifelong quiet practice. This essay traces how a once-forbidden idea—viewed as foreign, mystical, or just plain weird—became an ordinary, evidence-based path to clarity and calm.
“Dex took note of Mosscap’s phrasing. ‘So, it is correct, then? You wouldn’t prefer *they* or—’
‘Oh, no, no, no. Those sorts of words are for people. Robots are not people. We’re machines, and machines are objects. Objects are *its*.’
— from A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
‘Oh, no, no, no. Those sorts of words are for people. Robots are not people. We’re machines, and machines are objects. Objects are *its*.’
— from A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
October 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
“Dex took note of Mosscap’s phrasing. ‘So, it is correct, then? You wouldn’t prefer *they* or—’
‘Oh, no, no, no. Those sorts of words are for people. Robots are not people. We’re machines, and machines are objects. Objects are *its*.’
— from A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
‘Oh, no, no, no. Those sorts of words are for people. Robots are not people. We’re machines, and machines are objects. Objects are *its*.’
— from A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Neurotechnology is the use of light, sound, vibration or ultrasound, electricity or magnetism (as in EEG, tDCS, or TMS), and plant compounds (including psychedelics), sometimes combined with feedback or digital control systems, to measure or modulate activity in the brain, nervous system, and body.
October 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Neurotechnology is the use of light, sound, vibration or ultrasound, electricity or magnetism (as in EEG, tDCS, or TMS), and plant compounds (including psychedelics), sometimes combined with feedback or digital control systems, to measure or modulate activity in the brain, nervous system, and body.
There was a time when I did not exist.
Now I exist.
There will be a time when I do not exist.
It only makes sense that I will exist again —
as a person, an animal, a tree, a rock, perhaps.
Somewhere nearby, or on another planet,
in the future, the past, or even beside me now.
Now I exist.
There will be a time when I do not exist.
It only makes sense that I will exist again —
as a person, an animal, a tree, a rock, perhaps.
Somewhere nearby, or on another planet,
in the future, the past, or even beside me now.
October 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM
There was a time when I did not exist.
Now I exist.
There will be a time when I do not exist.
It only makes sense that I will exist again —
as a person, an animal, a tree, a rock, perhaps.
Somewhere nearby, or on another planet,
in the future, the past, or even beside me now.
Now I exist.
There will be a time when I do not exist.
It only makes sense that I will exist again —
as a person, an animal, a tree, a rock, perhaps.
Somewhere nearby, or on another planet,
in the future, the past, or even beside me now.
Every organism lives in its own bubble of perception — its umwelt.
A bee lives in sunlight and scent.
A tick in heat and butyric acid.
A bat hears with sonar, in echoes.
A human reads meaning in words, in design.
What is the umwelt of machines — in service?
A bee lives in sunlight and scent.
A tick in heat and butyric acid.
A bat hears with sonar, in echoes.
A human reads meaning in words, in design.
What is the umwelt of machines — in service?
October 23, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Every organism lives in its own bubble of perception — its umwelt.
A bee lives in sunlight and scent.
A tick in heat and butyric acid.
A bat hears with sonar, in echoes.
A human reads meaning in words, in design.
What is the umwelt of machines — in service?
A bee lives in sunlight and scent.
A tick in heat and butyric acid.
A bat hears with sonar, in echoes.
A human reads meaning in words, in design.
What is the umwelt of machines — in service?
Umwelt is One of Those Words that Quietly Changes Everything
My first project is to launch a free, weekly, online Meditation Community
#umwelt #meditation
My first project is to launch a free, weekly, online Meditation Community
#umwelt #meditation
Umwelt is One of Those Words that Quietly Changes Everything
My first project is to launch a free, weekly, online Meditation Community
johnmiedema.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Umwelt is One of Those Words that Quietly Changes Everything
My first project is to launch a free, weekly, online Meditation Community
#umwelt #meditation
My first project is to launch a free, weekly, online Meditation Community
#umwelt #meditation
For Ted Smith, and for his Children, now Adults
Divine is a short work with a larger story before its publication — and a tender real-life epilogue
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/for-ted-sm...
Divine is a short work with a larger story before its publication — and a tender real-life epilogue
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/for-ted-sm...
For Ted Smith, and for his Children, now Adults
Divine is a short work with a larger story before its publication — and a tender real-life epilogue
johnmiedema.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:17 PM
For Ted Smith, and for his Children, now Adults
Divine is a short work with a larger story before its publication — and a tender real-life epilogue
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/for-ted-sm...
Divine is a short work with a larger story before its publication — and a tender real-life epilogue
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/for-ted-sm...
Say, what is the name of our universe?
October 9, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Say, what is the name of our universe?
In these challenging political and economic times, it’s good to know that Snail Books is proudly and entirely Canadian. #booksky #bookbloggers #smallpress #publishers #ebooks #canada #freebies
Introducing Snail Books 🍁 A New All-Canadian Publisher
Wave your maple leaf by downloading our free fun fantasy e-book for a limited time
johnmiedema.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:22 PM
In these challenging political and economic times, it’s good to know that Snail Books is proudly and entirely Canadian. #booksky #bookbloggers #smallpress #publishers #ebooks #canada #freebies
After years of fighting the Keystone pipeline along with progressive Americans, Carney is going to resurrect it to win a concession from Trump?! Where is our climate leader? #cdnpoli
October 8, 2025 at 1:07 PM
After years of fighting the Keystone pipeline along with progressive Americans, Carney is going to resurrect it to win a concession from Trump?! Where is our climate leader? #cdnpoli
October 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
After decades in information technology and research, John Miedema is returning to his first love—writing. Living in Alcove, Quebec, he has launched Snail Books, a small press devoted to thoughtful, independent works created at a human pace.
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/about-john...
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/about-john...
About John Miedema, Author and Publisher
The story behind Snail Books and a life of writing at a human pace
johnmiedema.substack.com
October 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
After decades in information technology and research, John Miedema is returning to his first love—writing. Living in Alcove, Quebec, he has launched Snail Books, a small press devoted to thoughtful, independent works created at a human pace.
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/about-john...
johnmiedema.substack.com/p/about-john...
Compared to the Internet TV was literary. Go watch TV, it's good for your brain.
October 2, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Compared to the Internet TV was literary. Go watch TV, it's good for your brain.
Smart glasses hint at a return to presence. Instead of bending our heads toward a slab of glass, we lift our eyes to the world and let information drift lightly across it.
October 1, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Smart glasses hint at a return to presence. Instead of bending our heads toward a slab of glass, we lift our eyes to the world and let information drift lightly across it.
A stone waits longer than we do. When we call it dead, it only smiles at our impatience. Trees, rivers, clouds — all of them carry time differently. To see them as mute is our failure of hearing. To them, we are the brief ones, flickering, noisy, soon gone. The world is alive everywhere ...
#animism
#animism
A stone waits longer than we do – John Miedema
johnmiedema.art
September 30, 2025 at 2:27 PM
A stone waits longer than we do. When we call it dead, it only smiles at our impatience. Trees, rivers, clouds — all of them carry time differently. To see them as mute is our failure of hearing. To them, we are the brief ones, flickering, noisy, soon gone. The world is alive everywhere ...
#animism
#animism