Liam Heneghan

Will universities rise to this challenge? No, of course not. In this manifesto I will blah, blah, blah

But the age of the human-as-widget may already be ending. As humans become increasingly unnecessary to the economy, education that supports each individual in becoming intensely—idiosyncratically, ethically, and aesthetically—human becomes paramount.

Universities will respond to their current crises by continuing to transform pedagogy into a process of human widget-making.

Steve - it's been too long since we caught up. I hope all is well

I now suspect something similar is going on with books: biblionesia, where many students (and adults in general) forget their former love of reading.

A few years ago I coined the term toponesia for the loss of connection — a place-forgetfulness — that many notice later in life, compared with the fierceness of attachment in childhood.

She'd brought it down to wash. It was "soiled", is that the word?

In fairness to me I think we have very different definitions of what constitutes "dirty" clothes

Helpfully and neatly folded Mrs H's laundry while she was on the treadmill. Later, holding me in a steady gaze, she grabbed the basket and headed to the laundry room. "They're dirty" she muttered.

Lol

Turns out that many of my closest friends have odd ideas about masturbators, and suicide. What are you gonna do as the kids say...

Jesus. I can only imagine. In the past I've been skeptical of canvassers, but this guy was like a laser on my interests.

However, if she's not a regular Kant reader that's forgivable. But the conversation with Gabriel (philosophy at Northwestern) was pleasant and convincing.

I had a great doorstep conversation with a youthful philosopher campaigning for @katmabu.bsky.social yesterday. Our chat kept veering off to discussions of Kant, climate change, local park maintenance, mutual aid, and community politics. If these fall under the umbrella of Kat's politics I'm in!

Columbo as Socrates, sure — but argumentatively he’s Darwin: pressing into the most difficult objections to his theory, often feigning that they are decisive blows to his thinking, but deftly swatting them away. Yes, natural selection is the opportunity, the motive, and the weapon.

Holy Moly that review of yours hit that devil site (beginning with A, lol). What a kind and encouraging set of remarks. For anyone following along: Review on Amazon: My bothy or yours? Journey to a time when nature and spirit were one.... a.co/d/0bfaQm1D

I'm so glad you persisted. Written across several years in Ireland, Greece, and the US, it always seemed to me that it would connect with the right people for it. I'm happy that you were one.

This is probably a conversation for a leisurely pint, but from my perspective at least there was always a danger with the BEF view of putting conservation on a utilitarian basis: what's in it for us. Conservation needs an (traditional) ethical framing to some, maybe, large extent

*this perspective on things etc

I'd written my dissertation in the shadow of this emerging paradigm back in the early 90s. Since I was working with soil arthropods and nutrients cycling it had always seemed that from this perspective things were always going to be more complex. Which they certainly are.

Kid randomly reading The Book of Disquiet by Pessoa before class. Not for a class just out of interest. It was like having an Irish Red Deer stare down at me off the mountains, hold me in its gaze for a moment and move off to high ground. Youthful readers of difficult texts albeit rare still exist

In online culture, at least, too much energy goes into trying to persuade the unpersuadable, convince the unconvincible, understand the inconceivable. We are finite beings; it seems better to devote that energy to mobilizing the sane.

Thanks for this encouragement! Only took seven years to write!

Making real progress!

Coined a new term over coffee this AM: Bloast. To bloast is to take the blame for something in a way that asserts a pleased ownership. E.g. you bloast that you fired the shot igniting the revolution. Or, yours was the fart that was strangely audible and had a ferocious pungency at the opera.

I warn you the translator is a highly unreliable scholar

How brilliant. Thanks, both of you!

Fantastic. I'm told it heats up as you progress deeper into the story. Keep me posted

Awesome - I'll be interested to see what you make of it

The unresolved sexual tension between the literature and science sections on different floors of the university library is quite palpable, my friends