Category: depth

Bleak House and Fahrenheit 451, beside each other

What the reader discovers upon comparing Charles Dickens with Ray Bradbury

October 18, 2025

Almost by chance, I picked up Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 to read the same day that I finished Bleak House by Charles Dickens. The choice was serendipitous, for reasons only obvious to the restless wanderings of a mind wearied of the hyped-up buzz of today’s post-literate society. (I am being coy, of course; one might … More What the reader discovers upon comparing Charles Dickens with Ray Bradbury

Dispatch from the Digital Detox: Use an analogue watch

March 10, 2025

Hot tip: Don’t use your phone, tablet or computer as a glanceable timepiece. Well, maybe your computer taskbar/menubar is allowable while you’re working. But don’t be getting your phone out of your pocket to ‘check the time’… you’ll never be knowing where the time went after you’re done ‘just checking’. ‘Okay, but couldn’t I try … More Dispatch from the Digital Detox: Use an analogue watch

The way of wisdom

January 18, 2025

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