Edward Shepard

2) At the weekend, I wrote a long-read about the significance of rights to liberalism, for The Pursuit of Liberalism (the new Substack run by Henry Oliver and me). I mentioned John Locke quite a few times in that piece, and I often mention him here.

I don’t have a favourite philosopher, partly because I find that kind of thing cultish, but mostly... See more

Our earliest language about the internet seemed to understand its nature best. The central question of cyber space has always been one of navigation. How do we move through this world while remaining human? What do we bring back from our travels? What bargains do we strike unknowingly? And how do we step back into the world of bodies when part of... See more

To survive an enchanted world, an otherworld like the internet, we need the right kinds of stories to help us move through uncertainty and cross thresholds without losing ourselves. Folklore — the world’s vast tradition of myths, legends and fairy tales — has long offered this kind of guidance in forms that are easy to remember under pressure. Some... See more

At some point, we have to accept that we will neither quit the internet nor live in a world untouched by it. Ban phones from every school, movie theater, library and third space you like — we will never be able to travel back in time, or to an alternate reality, where this technology was never created, where it was never put in the hands of every... See more

Like an IRL community, you’re not going to make friends in an online community unless you get involved, are kind, and are a productive member of the community.

Write on the internet.

Find or create a

third place.

Pick up the phone.

Join niche interest groups.

Live, don't lurk.

Embrace candid culture.

Put people you care about on the calendar.

Don't play near black holes.

Meet people at farmers markets.

Learn to communicate.

Make wobbly things. Subscribe to local events calendars.

Learn to win friends.

Learn to feel.

Em... See more

“When it comes to community in particular, digital technology presents two interrelated dilemmas: (1) Digital technology has created the ability — and ensuing pressure — for us to “optimize” and be productive always, which often comes at the expense of time and energy spent building deep community. (2) Many digital technologies offer us the... See more

Everywhere we go these days, there is talk about community - the developer SaaS tool, the soap brand, and virtually every product I interact with now prominently bears a Community link on their homepage. Personally, I don’t need more Slack groups or things to which I belong. What I want is deeper relationships with specific people where I can be... See more