Writer’s block is simply a failure of ego

I am reading Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion and she wrote that “All writing is generated by a certain minimum of ego: you must assume a position of authority in saying that the way I’m writing it is …

The carrier bag theory in Prey

I watched Prey by Dan Trachtenberg the other night. I am not particularly keen on Predator sequels, but this one seemed promising: raw untouched nature, a Native American setting, and strong reviews. Right before …

Uncovering the threads of meaning

I am watching episode 7 of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis, where John Vervaeke discusses mindfulness as a psychotechnology that helps us uncover the threads of meaning in our lives. He discusses India’s …

First principles thinking

I was reading this article, Mental Models In Product Design by Teresa Man and she wrote this about first principles thinking: One way to avoid functional fixedness is to abstract a problem and think in First …

Going back to stone

I am watching a short video on Isamu Noguchi by SFMoMA and I particularly found his remarks on the limitations of the industry relevant. If you want to live and work in an industrialized situation, you have to use …

Photographs can transcend original intentions and motivations

I am reading How I Take Photographs by Daido Moriyama and in contradiction with his previously noted statement that I should have an idea of what I want to capture, he states that I (the photographer) will …

A way of looking but not joining

I am reading Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion and in this essay titled Last Words, she has written about Hemingway: The very grammar of a Hemingway sentence dictated, or was dictated by, a certain way of …

You do not talk about the subject of your work or it vanishes

I am reading Joan Didion’s book Let Me Tell You What I Mean and she wrote about the subject in creative work: This business of the subject is tricky. Whether they are painters or photographers or composers or …

Cognition is physiological

I am reading What It’s Like to Be a Bat by Thomas Nagel, in which he explores the difficulty of describing what it is like to be a bat. While reading, I keep returning to a strong conviction of mine: that …

Leibniz’s monad concept

I am reading Didik Didik Freud by Serol Teber and Şenol Ayla and they referred to Tevfik Fikret’s lifestyle as “monadlaşmış” (monadic), describing the concept of monad as: Monad, ünlü filozof Leibniz’in bulduğu …

I, you, and we

I have been noticing for a long time now that using “I” or “you” while writing about ideas makes a big difference. If I use “you” when writing, it sounds like I am positioning the reader in the situation I am …

Years of searching for meaning revealed in a minute

I’m reading Natalie Goldberg’s book Three Simple Lines, in which she describes her visit to Japan as she traces the footsteps of haiku master Basho. Along with her travel companions, she meets Harada and his son, …

Contests of civilization

I am reading The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, and I was fascinated by the stories that describe how, during the time of European settlement in the Americas, white settlers who had …

What’s it like to be an octopus

I am watching a YouTube video titled The Insane Biology of: The Octopus and it just showed a cross-section of octopus skin. There is an outer layer called papillae, that can raise into bumps and ridges. Beneath …

Interesting is a non-word

In this scene from Matt Ross’s movie Captain Fantastic, Viggo Mortensen’s character tells his daughter that interesting is a non word, and that she was supposed to avoid it and be more specific. This idea stuck …

Can birds think about flying while they’re flying?

I was reading The Sand Wolf by Åsa Lind to the kids tonight, and we reached a section called “Thinking Exercise”. In it, Zackarina asks the Sandwolf whether birds can think about flying while they’re flying. The …

Recollection, with all the feelings that accompanied it

While reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, I began to wonder about the difference between knowledge that feels like mine and knowledge that simply exists out there. Nayler wrote the following when a …

Advice from Buson

I am reading Three Simple Lines from Natalie Goldberg and she quotes Buson to the group of travelers that are in this Japan trip together: “What you want to acquire, you should dare to acquire by any means. What …

A good conversation

In episode #51 of The Knowledge Project, Celeste Headlee (opera singer, radio journalist, public speaker, author) says that a good conversation is like a game of catch: You can’t throw more than you catch. It’s a …

The interdependence of all things

In his book The Web of Meaning, Jeremy Lent talks about the interdependence of things and quotes Buddhist teacher and activist Thich Nhat Hanh. I looked up Nhat Hanh and was mesmerized with this passage from his …