The Grand Scheme of Things.The Grand Scheme of Things!Everybody talks aboutThe Grand Scheme of Things.As if they’ve read it through and scannedit page by page to understandthe content and the message ofThe Grand Scheme of Things. ‘Everything is fine,’ they say,Or ‘It’ll turn out right,’ they say,‘It doesn’t matter,’ – so blasé –‘in The Grand … More The Grand Scheme of Things (a poem)
I’ve been running into a mantra that emerges from the forest leaves of my everyday experience like an exotic bird, a flash of colour that then darts again out of view, only to reappear once more later on in a clearing, and again in the fronds of a bush, then again flashing across the sky … More Show, Don’t Tell
Back in July, just after I’d finished reading Flow by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, I wrote this in my journal: ‘Read more fiction and ancient wisdom, and less critical theory. Theory emerges from post-scientific-revolution enlightenment rationalism, aiming to distill life to purely scientific concepts. Ancient wisdom writers and artists know that knowledge is best absorbed like nutrients … More The way of wisdom
[A fairly unedited journal entry from this day in 2021. I was onto something then; thought I’d better post it.] So, sure, the ancients counted the number of years of one’s life – just think of Methuselah. But in an agrarian society what was perhaps more important was not what year it was but what … More Is time linear…or circular?
A few years ago Apple introduced an exciting new feature to their mobile operating system iOS: Focus Modes. This feature allows you to alter your device’s setup, notifications and so on, in order to suit what kind of work, what kind of ‘zone’ you are in. The thing is, this feature was built to mitigate … More Old School Focus Modes: Your environment
I remember the moment I realised that the universe must be spherical. Upon exiting the British Museum, as I did on this bright day in February, amid the crush of disinterested tourists, one is funnelled, bustled, hustled, squeezed down the toothpaste tube of Great Russell Street, bracing yourself for the ram of the London taxi … More The Curious Considerations of Flavius Finch: 1. The Universe is Spherical
As I sit here going through a backlog of over 4,000 old notes I’ve accumulated across a multitude of different apps, to try to carve sense and order out of them, in order to corral them into just one app, I feel like I’m fighting the very chaos of the cosmos. That may be a … More Strive for Simplicity
Old tower of bones,old frosty oak, you,who twists and turns your way to the sky.Your knuckles and elbows and knees I descry.They’re all knobbled,old frosty oak,knobbled and knocked,all covered in mossthen covered in frost.What will you, bone tower,what will you say,who guards and glowersall gaunt on the way? ‘My bones are the home of the … More Old Tower of Bones (A Poem)
I’ve just finished reading Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. I may be on a bit of a kick about focus, flow and generally how we think, at the moment – up next in my book pile are Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul. It is going to be difficult … More Your attention has been stolen and you should be angry about it
Let me take you back to 2014 Nerd Ben, to show you what using technology was like in its heyday. (Yes, I called 2014 technology’s heyday. Get over it.) 2014 Ben was knuckling down with a few key apps to get his world really tuned up and humming. Emails were getting filed and filtered in … More Tech Tools and Thinking – 2014 vs. 2024
Ben David Trigg 