one thing i keep coming back to, on a personal level, is the importance of reading and writing--and i mean reading *books* and writing *essays*, stuff that takes you away from social media, and really forces you to sit with others' thoughts--and your own. - ThreadSky

sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com • 12 days ago

one thing i keep coming back to, on a personal level, is the importance of reading and writing--and i mean reading *books* and writing *essays*, stuff that takes you away from social media, and really forces you to sit with others' thoughts--and your own.

Reposted from Alan Elrod

Listening to today’s @thebulwark.com secret pod. Just love @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social’s comments to @jvl.bsky.social that our culture is atrophying our minds.

I can’t recommend enough @roberttalisse.bsky.social’s Civic Solitude, which stresses the need for self-reflection to sustain democracy.

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thesinfulempyrean.com•12 days ago

I just picked up (short) essay writing again, 'cause I've been missing that "sit and think through stuff" clarity that I used to have. It just. Really does help clarify things in a way that messenger convos and bsky posting doesn't.

pseud0nym.bsky.social•12 days ago

I’ve been fortunate enough to not have graduated college just yet, but I’ve been thinking about how I want to keep writing essays and doing analysis even after I graduate, especially as my prospective job field will require different forms of analysis.

aselrod.bsky.social•12 days ago

Definitely agree. But I actually think the outlets for this also include museums, parks, strolls through public areas, and even movies (crucially, without second-screening it).

sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com•12 days ago

👍

sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com•12 days ago

skeets are easy to dash off. the best of them have the character of a really good witty barb. but for precisely that reason, the form militates against reflection--against filling out a complete thought, against responding to objections, against developing consequences at length

hiyer.bsky.social•12 days ago

Reflection, complete thoughts and stuff like that takes work though. It’s rare that I do a reply without leafs. The witty barbs are still there and the short snappy comebacks are still there. But more importantly the ability to go beyond that here is possible. 1/2

hiyer.bsky.social•12 days ago

The brain thinks in language and externally expresses how it thinks in the written word. Blue Sky doesn’t limit that, it encourages it. 2/2

sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com•12 days ago

likewise it's easy to skim a blog post, decide where you stand, and move on. a book on the other hand demands that you sit with it, you face another's thought, and you just sit there and *listen* while another noumenal subjectivity explains their unique perspective to you

sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com•12 days ago

so i find that both of these activities are fundamental *disciplines* of the mind, on both an emotional and intellectual level, that you simply cannot get from social media

jdcshaverford.bsky.social•12 days ago

Paraphrasing Turning Award Winner Leslie Lamport, "Writing is nature's way of seeing if you genuinely understand something."

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