Join 📚 Jim's Highlights
A batch of the best highlights from what Jim's read, .
Most of us do not find fictional worlds appealing because we find our own lives despicable, though censorious people often make that assumption. Auden once wrote that “there must always be … escape-art, for man needs escape as he needs food and deep sleep.” The sleeper does not disdain consciousness.
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
Alan Jacobs
Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor open their new book, *[AI Snake Oil](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691249131/ai-snake-oil?srsltid=AfmBOorHbypOHktYByYHjTaai6yIWbcS77l9JiliigOPk5Ry79A03WV7)*, with a thought experiment: Imagine a world where “vehicle” was the only word we used to refer to every mode of transportation. Debates about environmental impact, safety, cost, and so on would be confusing because we would be conflating bikes with spacecraft or trucks with buses.
AI Scams Are the Point
Edward Ongweso Jr.
Inner listening, recognition, acknowledgment, and compassion are the roots of recovery and, in this case, recovery from our addiction to thinking. These fundamental processes lay the ground for transformation. Once we’ve recognized the truth of what’s happening in our mind, acknowledged what we’re doing to ourselves, and offered ourselves compassion for our own experience, we can then play with a variety of different contemplations and practices.
Can't Stop Thinking
Nancy Colier and Stephan Bodian
...catch up on these, and many more highlights
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