David Pennington
@dtpennington
I write stuff. I’d like to write more stuff. Currently: reclaiming my brain.
David Pennington
dtpennington.com
We live in an age of lexical abundance. More words, more access, more content than at any time in human history. And yet something essential is slipping away. Not reading itself, but the kind of reading that once shaped minds and formed character: slow, immersive, reflective, and richly human. As Harold Bloom noted: “"We read deeply for varied... See more
Carl Hendrick • Ultra-Processed Minds: The End of Deep Reading and What It Costs Us
but, you cannot be generous when you need something from the world — and are always in resistance/conflict with it. you must give yourself permission to BE yourself, and to find your own freedom and creative self-worth independent of any external reception. to believe in your creativity enough to make art for no audience. through slow... See more
creative energy is the mother of money — kening zhu
The average American has fewer than three friends, fewer than three people they would consider friends. And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's something like 15 friends or something.
The implication is that Meta will close that friendship gap with AI companions. Zuckerberg clarified they won't replace relationships... See more
kyla scanlon • The Most Valuable Commodity in the World Is Friction
It’s not just that he wants us to have more friends, he wants our new friends to be his AI creations. Gross.
It’s ok to wait, and it’s definitely ok to de-wheel from the hamsterism of today’s productivity theatre. In fact, you might need to if you really want to dream up a monster story.
Kristin Posehn • Mary Shelley (and a bit of Steve Jobs)—On the Art of Creative Waiting
“People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.”
Simon Sarris • Careful Technology
The question isn’t whether we can build cool things under authoritarianism. It’s whether those things will still matter in a system that punishes critical, independent thinking.
350 / Move fast, break democracy
“People go to church for the same reasons they go to a tavern: to stupefy themselves, to forget their misery, to imagine themselves, for a few minutes anyway, free and happy.”
The God you find in the pub
To feel creatively and intellectually alive, you have to stop mindlessly consuming the Internet and start mindfully curating it.
Buying used books is the absolute antithesis of the subscription model that is destroying everything I love.