“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own,” Emerson wrote while contemplating the value of solitude. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (September 29, 1934–October 20, 2021) echoes this belief in his book “Flow.” He starts by considering the perils of unconscious living afflicted by … Read more
“No matter what a computer can do, human thought is something else,” Sherry Turkle wrote while contemplating the human spirit in a computer culture. “A being that is not born of a mother, that does not feel the vulnerability of childhood, a being that does not know sexuality or anticipate death, this being is alien.” … Read more
“The computer is a new mirror, the first psychological machine. Beyond its nature as an analytical engine lies its second nature as an evocative object,” Sherry Turkle wrote while contemplating the human spirit in a computer culture. “I do not see that computers are bringing us one step nearer to anything that does matter to … Read more
Should you write about yourself? Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922–April 11, 2007) argues that being yourself on a page is the single most important element of your writing style. For the hesitant, his 1985 essay “How to Write with Style,” included in the anthology “How to Use the Power of the Printed Word,” serves as … Read more