“all technology is assistive technology”
Rebecca Rosen has an interview in The Atlantic with Sara Hendren, creator of the blog Abler. "All bodies are getting assistance from technology all the time," Rosen notes, "yet
Excavating the Buddha’s birthplace
The Guardian reports that a team led by [Robin] Coningham, a professor of archaeology and pro-vice-chancellor at Durham University, had made a startling discovery about the date of
Vacations and the Victorians: A Kind of Natural Experiment
I've been thinking a lot about vacations and leisure recently. Not because I feel I don't have enough of either: I'm lucky enough to have an employer who
Rest is Not Idleness: John Lubbock, Charles Darwin, and the Value of Daydreams
You should read this very interesting article about daydreaming by Jessica Lahey in the Atlantic. I’ve been reading about daydreaming extensively lately, and it has caused me regret
“that which is vital we ignore”
I ran across this lament from Thomas a Kempis in a piece by Virginia writer Liza Field: “Our thoughts are given to things which avail little, but that
On the “slowness” of slow tech: Is it about specs, or about experience?
The first big talk I gave about contemplative computing was at a conference on technology whose theme was "Slow." Last night I revisited that ground: I spoke at
“My Little Pony or Porn Star? Technological Utopian Edition” is the best thing I’ll read today
Morgan Ames, who I interviewed for my book, has a new project: My Little Pony or Porn Star? Technological Utopian Edition. (I hadn't realized that Morgan wrote English
We have always been cyborgs, example 2,386
Another example of how humans have coevolved with our tools: Until around 250 years ago in the West, archaeological evidence suggests that most human beings had an edge-to-edge
Ancient multitasking is older than we thought: Evidence from stone spear use and arrow manufacture
When I was at Cambridge (almost two years ago!), I stumbled on the work of cognitive archaeologists Lambros Malafouris and Colin Renfrew. Renfew is a professor at Cambridge
A forgotten piece of the book: an essay on Digital Panglosses versus Digital Cassandras
Chad Wellmon has a smart essay in The Hedgehog Review arguing that “Google Isn’t Making Us Stupid…or Smart.” Our compulsive talk about information overload can isolate and abstract