thinking thursday.

March 25, 2010 in Uncategorized

Here I am, channeling Madonna as I provided the opening keynote at the recent American Counseling Association annual conference

mind :: my brain and yours

I love, LOVE the map of Europe. Experimental Cartography : The Map as Art.

Texts without context. A fascinating read: “The Cult of the Amateur,” by Andrew Keen, argues that Web 2.0 is creating a “digital forest of mediocrity” and substituting ill-informed speculation for genuine expertise; and Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows” (coming in June), suggests that increased Internet use is rewiring our brains, impairing our ability to think deeply and creatively even as it improves our ability to multitask." "Growing numbers…are happy to jump to the summary…never mind if context [is] lost in the process."

Having long been interested in translation (differing translations of Rilke poems come to mind, some delightful and evocative, some tragic butcherings) and particularly having been interested in translations of Garcia Marquez, this article was of great interest to me.

Doctors turn to Tolstoy.

body :: my place and yours

I wrote him an email and said "I want you to teach me to trapeze." He wrote back (HE WROTE BACK) and said, "I'd love to. Call me." Squeeeee!

Odd man in. Sigh. (Thanks to Becky Jackson) And odd man in Japan. Sigh.

I want, (NEED) to go see him conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Nashville.

This new park is fantastic: "Upon completion, Morgan's Wonderland will be the largest park in the world specifically designed for the recreation & enjoyment of special needs individuals." Opening in a few weeks. (Thanks to Marilyn Maciel)

soul :: my heart and yours

FanTAStic. How to get your camera back if you ever lose it. (Thanks to Dan Pink)

Enjoying this online arts journal.

A final thought :: We live in a world in which politics has replaced philosophy. ~Martin L. Gross

Please note: A space has opened up in my upcoming Life is a Verb retreat (April 15-18 in Asheville, NC) because of a cancellation due to illness. I would love to have you there!

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.

4 comments to " thinking thursday. "


Clara B.

March 25, 2010 AT 7:51AM

Ira Glass finally shamed me into renewing my contribution to my local public radio station. He reminded me — as if I need reminding, since my husband is a journalist! — that journalism is being replaced on the web by opinion, and that public radio continues to be one of the places where journalism prospers (and where journalists are paid for their efforts). Opinion is fine and dandy, and we’re fortunate to live in a country where we can express our point of view, but it doesn’t replace objective analysis. Thanks for the link.

Mike Wagner

March 25, 2010 AT 5:58PM

Looks like you’re singing a ballad in this Madonna moment. How I know? No back up dancers ons stage.

Carr’s book sounds good.

You saw this article by Carr in the Atlantic, right?!

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Keep creating…like a ?

Mike

Becky

March 26, 2010 AT 4:57PM

Your welcome on the Johnny link! :)

Have you heard of Clemy park in NoVA? It may not be a ‘whole family’ fun park, but it’s awesome. It’s so ALL KIDS can play:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/PARKS/CLEMYJONTRI/

On that note, Liz Z pointed me to this page which I’m sure you’ve seen, but if not:
http://www.r-word.org/

The photo thing is hilarious. I may have to do that, but probably not to that extent. :)

Diana

March 26, 2010 AT 6:05PM

Mike said, “You saw this article by Carr in the Atlantic, right?!”

What a great article. I tried to get through it without skimming. I made it about two thirds of the way through and then wham! I got bored and started to skim. I did manage to get to the end but it was hard.

I am 56 years old, a life-long reader, and have not finished a novel or non-fiction book in about 10 years by reading through to the end before going off on a tangent. They sit on my bookshelf for weeks as I read a dozen pages at a time, hardly the way to enjoy and take in a good book.

The internet definitely has changed my brain and the way I read, making not only reading different, but listening as well. I am impatient listening to someone describe at length something I already know (they don’t know this of course) and often interrupt saying, “Yes, yes, I know that, we can take that for granted and move on.” Wow, how’s that for acting like a machine more than a human?

I also noticed that in your post here today, how text is used affects how I read. My eye jumps first to all the highlighted links and different colored text to see what is “most relevant.” I could easily have drifted off to one of those links without reading your post, and I did… I read the Carr article first after skimming yours and by the time I came back, I forgot the point of your post. Now I’m too tired to go back and see, and my eyes are burning.

I wonder if it has diminished my IQ? I know it has diminished my EQ.