Wonder more.
Wonder more.
“I’m very concerned that our society is much more concerned with information than wonder, in noise rather than silence. How do we encourage reflection? … Oh my, this is a noisy world.” ~ Fred Rogers
I’m reading a very difficult book.
Martin Heidegger’s What is Called Thinking?
Early in the book Heidegger writes:
“In America and elsewhere, logistics as the only proper philosophy of the future is thus beginning today to seize power over the spirit.”
The mind as a tool for practical uses.
Data, calculation, prediction, problem-solving.
Pragmatism run amok.
And what struck me is that I almost stopped reading the book.
Why?
Because it’s hard.
It requires slow, deliberative attention.
And, ironically, because I haven’t discovered how it will help me.
So I almost succumbed to the collective mindset I rail against.
One in which concreteness replaces curiosity.
Information suppresses imagination.
And spreadsheets smother serendipity.
But I caught myself.
So I’ll keep reading his ambiguous writing.
Not for the practicality, the ROI.
Rather for the confusion it creates.
Because it’s doubt that creates knowledge.
Wonder is what holds the answers.
To the questions we have yet to ask.
❄️ Happy December!
P.S. I used to write my articles in this shorter, more poetic form. And I wonder: Do you prefer it? Please let me know by leaving a comment. Thanks!
⛄️ Random information for the month of December
* The mascot for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is… a hat. The Phrygian cap is a symbol of the French Revolution
* “Gaslighting” — behavior that’s mind manipulating, grossly misleading, and downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. Wonderful.
* A pair of used Birkenstocks went for over $218,000 at auction. They belonged to Steve Jobs and were later plucked from a garbage heap back in the ‘80s.
* At 2:58 minutes into the song, “Hey Jude,” you can hear Paul McCartney saying “fucking hell” after making a mistake on the piano. The band thought it was funny, so they kept it in.
* Volkswagen made an office chair that moves up to 20 kilometers per hour (12.4 mph). Why?
* A first print edition of the US Constitution will soon be up for auction. One of the two copies in existence sold last year for $43.2 million.
* You can be denied citizenship in Switzerland for "being too annoying."
* Rodents are most responsive to music that has 120-140 beats per minute, just like humans.
* There are 293 ways to make change for a U.S. dollar.
* Archeologists have uncovered a tunnel that could lead to the tomb of Queen Cleopatra.
* Scientists detected exactly when ketchup shifts from smoothly coming out of a bottle to splattering everywhere. Oxford researchers insist it’s an important finding.
* AI helps design baldness treatment that works better than testosterone or Minoxidil.
* Crows can do a thing we thought only humans could do. Two corvids learned a cognitive ability called recursion in a matter of days.
* Dutch students invented a car that reduces carbon emissions. The “Zero Emission Mobility” vehicle captures CO2 while driving.
* Chocolatier Barry Callebaut spent 20 years working on a chocolate bar that requires half the amount of sugar to make it taste good.
* The winners of Minnesota’s “Name a Snowplow contest” were announced. Plowy McPlowFace, Betty Whiteout, and Ctrl Salt Delete are just part of the US state’s fleet.
* A 95-year-old won the Latin Grammy for best new artist. Cuban American singer-songwriter Angela Álvarez wants you to know “it’s never too late” to follow your dreams.
👁 Take a look
Hold your phone away from your face (or back away from the screen).
🤔 Think about this
“We will lose everything we love, including our lives — so we might as well love without fear, for to fear a certainty is wasted energy that syphons life of aliveness.” ~ Hannah Arendt
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” ~ Albert Camus
“I do not like the idea of happiness — it is too momentary. I would say that I was always busy and interested in something — interest has more meaning to me than the idea of happiness.” ~ Georgia O'Keefe
☝️ And don’t forget
I’d love to hear from you. (I read all messages and try to respond.) Reach out with any news, questions or comments, or simply to say hi: hello@tomasacker.com (or use the contact form).
Until next time, enjoy the holidays and stay warm!
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