lmsacasas.bsky.social
@lmsacasas.bsky.social
Author of The Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology, culture, and the moral life.
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
Latest newsletter. theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-waters...
The Waters of Lethe Flow From Our Digital Streams
The Convivial Society: Vol. 6, No. 2
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
March 20, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Latest newsletter. theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-waters...
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
@lmsacasas.bsky.social drawing on Greek mythology to describe how our tech makes us forgetful. This is true in medicine where tech and the reductionism that joins it makes us feel efficient, but draws us away from the heart of the practice. theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-waters... #medsky
The Waters of Lethe Flow From Our Digital Streams
The Convivial Society: Vol. 6, No. 2
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
@lmsacasas.bsky.social drawing on Greek mythology to describe how our tech makes us forgetful. This is true in medicine where tech and the reductionism that joins it makes us feel efficient, but draws us away from the heart of the practice. theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-waters... #medsky
This is quite the paragraph from Hannah Arendt’s acceptance speech for Denmark’s Sonning Prize in 1975.
January 25, 2025 at 9:57 PM
This is quite the paragraph from Hannah Arendt’s acceptance speech for Denmark’s Sonning Prize in 1975.
'Vibes' are the unit of measurement for perception when you've technologically extend your nervous system beyond the body.
That's McLuhan in Understanding Media 👇
That's McLuhan in Understanding Media 👇
January 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
'Vibes' are the unit of measurement for perception when you've technologically extend your nervous system beyond the body.
That's McLuhan in Understanding Media 👇
That's McLuhan in Understanding Media 👇
Just stumbled on this 1990 Publisher's Weekly review listed on the Amazon page for the book that somehow got posted with the editor's notes for revision still tagged on to the end. Sorry to see the Dracula reference get cut!
January 22, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Just stumbled on this 1990 Publisher's Weekly review listed on the Amazon page for the book that somehow got posted with the editor's notes for revision still tagged on to the end. Sorry to see the Dracula reference get cut!
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
This is pretty damn close to what I was imagining… a bunch of people recording parts of Leaves of Grass. All public domain. Just beautiful and Old Internet in the sense of vintage, in the sense of better.
librivox.org/leaves-of-gr...
librivox.org/leaves-of-gr...
January 10, 2025 at 3:12 AM
This is pretty damn close to what I was imagining… a bunch of people recording parts of Leaves of Grass. All public domain. Just beautiful and Old Internet in the sense of vintage, in the sense of better.
librivox.org/leaves-of-gr...
librivox.org/leaves-of-gr...
"In a time of acute loneliness, the proliferation of AI-generated content seems not unlike an act of pollution, compromising the integrity of the social ecosystem."
It was kind of Meta to provide a demonstration of what I just wrote about.
open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
It was kind of Meta to provide a demonstration of what I just wrote about.
open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
January 3, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"In a time of acute loneliness, the proliferation of AI-generated content seems not unlike an act of pollution, compromising the integrity of the social ecosystem."
It was kind of Meta to provide a demonstration of what I just wrote about.
open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
It was kind of Meta to provide a demonstration of what I just wrote about.
open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
I ended up writing about that little painted cat I found and the contrast it created for me to AI-generated content.
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-cat-in...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-cat-in...
The Cat in the Tree: Why AI Content Leaves Us Cold
The Convivial Society: Vol. 6, No. 1
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
January 3, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I ended up writing about that little painted cat I found and the contrast it created for me to AI-generated content.
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-cat-in...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-cat-in...
Taking a walk with my kids today when one of them noticed this charming cat painted where a limb had been cut off an oak and all I could think was that I would take this, and the spirit that inspired it, over every AI-generated image or video I've ever seen.
January 1, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Taking a walk with my kids today when one of them noticed this charming cat painted where a limb had been cut off an oak and all I could think was that I would take this, and the spirit that inspired it, over every AI-generated image or video I've ever seen.
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
We didn't deserve Kurt Vonnegut
December 31, 2024 at 4:13 PM
We didn't deserve Kurt Vonnegut
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
I wrote about how AI undermines reading, particularly reading books — about summarization and “optimization culture.” And, for paid subscribers, I have a list of recommended books from those I read this year 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/mark-all-as-...
Mark All as Read
Folks wrung their hands a lot this year about reading. "No one buys books," Elle Griffin argued this spring, although apparently Bible sales are surging, as – according to The Washington Times at leas...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com
December 30, 2024 at 11:31 AM
I wrote about how AI undermines reading, particularly reading books — about summarization and “optimization culture.” And, for paid subscribers, I have a list of recommended books from those I read this year 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/mark-all-as-...
"... researchers should certainly work on innovative education — including computer-aided education. But we ought not to use entire generations of schoolchildren as experimental subjects."
Joseph Weizenbaum being eminently reasonable about computers & education in 1985. h/t @marcwatkins.bsky.social
Joseph Weizenbaum being eminently reasonable about computers & education in 1985. h/t @marcwatkins.bsky.social
December 30, 2024 at 10:56 PM
"... researchers should certainly work on innovative education — including computer-aided education. But we ought not to use entire generations of schoolchildren as experimental subjects."
Joseph Weizenbaum being eminently reasonable about computers & education in 1985. h/t @marcwatkins.bsky.social
Joseph Weizenbaum being eminently reasonable about computers & education in 1985. h/t @marcwatkins.bsky.social
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
And then there’s Weizenbaum on the false comforts of deploying technology in schools instead of addressing structural social inequities.
December 30, 2024 at 8:32 PM
And then there’s Weizenbaum on the false comforts of deploying technology in schools instead of addressing structural social inequities.
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
From @lmsacasas.bsky.social: "...with regard to the principle that life cannot be delegated, we might helpfully ask, 'What are the thresholds of delegation beyond which what we are left with is no longer life in its fullness and wholeness?'" theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
Life Cannot Be Delegated
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 15
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 30, 2024 at 10:40 AM
From @lmsacasas.bsky.social: "...with regard to the principle that life cannot be delegated, we might helpfully ask, 'What are the thresholds of delegation beyond which what we are left with is no longer life in its fullness and wholeness?'" theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
Last installment of 2024: "Life Cannot Be Delegated."
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
Life Cannot Be Delegated
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 15
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 30, 2024 at 2:25 AM
Last installment of 2024: "Life Cannot Be Delegated."
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/life-canno...
Lewis Mumford, "Authoritarian and Democratic Technics." Written 50 years ago, still relevant.
December 27, 2024 at 7:29 PM
Lewis Mumford, "Authoritarian and Democratic Technics." Written 50 years ago, still relevant.
“The viability of technology, like democracy, depends in the end on the practice of justice and on the enforcement of limits to power.”
– Ursula Franklin
– Ursula Franklin
December 27, 2024 at 3:20 AM
“The viability of technology, like democracy, depends in the end on the practice of justice and on the enforcement of limits to power.”
– Ursula Franklin
– Ursula Franklin
This recalled a list of 10 points of unsolicited advice I put together for tech writers back in 2014.
thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/30/1...
thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/30/1...
December 24, 2024 at 2:48 AM
This recalled a list of 10 points of unsolicited advice I put together for tech writers back in 2014.
thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/30/1...
thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/30/1...
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
As always, excellent questions to ask about technology before blind adoption. (AI in this case.)
I'm also reminded of my experience in France bumbling with the language. I did in fact spend time listening and discovering alternatives to many American assumptions I didn't even know I had.
I'm also reminded of my experience in France bumbling with the language. I did in fact spend time listening and discovering alternatives to many American assumptions I didn't even know I had.
"To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition"
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 23, 2024 at 1:57 PM
As always, excellent questions to ask about technology before blind adoption. (AI in this case.)
I'm also reminded of my experience in France bumbling with the language. I did in fact spend time listening and discovering alternatives to many American assumptions I didn't even know I had.
I'm also reminded of my experience in France bumbling with the language. I did in fact spend time listening and discovering alternatives to many American assumptions I didn't even know I had.
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
As measured and perceptive as anything yet written on AI.
"To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition"
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 21, 2024 at 10:08 AM
As measured and perceptive as anything yet written on AI.
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
A brilliant read on Illich, good intentions and AI from @lmsacasas.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
open.substack.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:02 AM
A brilliant read on Illich, good intentions and AI from @lmsacasas.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
The Convivial Society is one of maybe 3 newsletters I subscribe to and one of the 2 I actually regularly read. They're almost always bangers. Highly recommended.
"To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition"
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 12, 2024 at 1:17 AM
The Convivial Society is one of maybe 3 newsletters I subscribe to and one of the 2 I actually regularly read. They're almost always bangers. Highly recommended.
"To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition"
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
theconvivialsociety.substack.com
December 11, 2024 at 10:47 PM
"To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition"
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
Reposted by lmsacasas.bsky.social
“When the enclosure of the psyche is complete, we lose the right to wander and roam and loaf about in thought, just as the enclosure of the commons restricted freedom of movement and disdained economically unproductive but life-affirming forms of leisure.”
— @lmsacasas.bsky.social
— @lmsacasas.bsky.social
The Enclosure of the Human Psyche
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 13
open.substack.com
December 7, 2024 at 9:43 PM
“When the enclosure of the psyche is complete, we lose the right to wander and roam and loaf about in thought, just as the enclosure of the commons restricted freedom of movement and disdained economically unproductive but life-affirming forms of leisure.”
— @lmsacasas.bsky.social
— @lmsacasas.bsky.social