I imagine that if we really looked into it, we'd find that "Untitled Document" is the most cited of all sources.

It is a necessary consequence of reading and watching primarily fiction, and speculative fiction at that, that I am frequently sideswiped by Fridge Logic. I have protected myself in various ways from some common attacks, such as the issue of sound in space. For that one, I was delighted to finally learn about non-diagetic sound. At last the swooping sounds of Star Wars could be commentary instead of mistake! Relief at last. This morning, sadly, I realized that sometimes characters in a show shout over sound that is not there, sound in space again being the main culprit. Happily, I am now experienced enough at mental gymnastics that it took me mere moments to realize that this was clearly a case of the characters experiencing a break in the Fourth Wall, where those non-diagetic sounds are leaking into the world. Well done, Mental Gymnast! 9.3 all around. Now that mistake becomes a knowing wink, and perhaps tonight I can rest easy.

Background

My Esteemed Colleague Melania Espinal recently wrote an article for the Williams Record in which she explores our relationship with the conveniences in our environment. It's good! You should go read it! Maybe especially if you're at Williams?

I was reminded of an article by Mr. Money Mustache called Cure Yourself of Tiny Details Exaggeration Syndrome, which I've thought about often since I first read it. Perhaps we could talk about that article in more detail some other time. To quote from it briefly:

"One of the stranger patterns that I’ve noticed ever since reaching adulthood, is the tendency of humans to zoom in on increasingly irrelevant details as their material wealth increases. Despite their advantaged position, people seem to become unaware of the wide variety of conditions in the world and their own ability as a human to deal with them. The results are both tragic and amusing."

Both Ms. Espinal's and Mr. Mustache's observations are important and true. I do not aim to offer any refutation of them here--if anything, the reverse! But I would like to offer an additional perspective, in the hopes that it might help us all thrive even more.

An Elaboration

Espinal points out that "there are at least 100 people making life at the College possible for any single student — whether it be the custodial staff, those who wash our dishes, or the grounds workers who clear leaves so that we may step with ease." Even beyond dishes and groundskeeping, when we're in a college setting like Williams, we also have legions of people dedicated to our personal learning and growth. When young people start at my company fresh out of school, I often point out to them that from now on, they must devise their own syllabi for personal and professional growth.

In school, the path ahead and milestones upon it are generally clear. What's after first grade? Second grade! After second grade, third! I suppose you may know the rest. After college, and perhaps for a few years longer if we attend grad school, we step off of that clear path. The milestones become fewer and less clear. Get a job, probably. Maybe get married? Optional. I guess you could have kids? Also optional. Buy a house? Grandkids? Retire? All optional. Dying, well, that one's not optional.

While we're still in school, people both in our immediate sphere and very distant pour time and energy into helping us develop. It's truly marvelous. I had the pleasure last October of returning to Williams as a Friend And Family. Having spent a few decades building up my own techniques for helping people learn new things and develop themselves, I was impressed by Dr. Colin Adams's skill and fluency as an educator. When I sat in my own math classes, I was unaware of the amount of work that went into making my learning possible. Watching Dr. Adams lecture, I was struck by how many hours of thought and practice he's put into that craft.

At my workplace, of course I'll do my best to help those around me. But I'm no match for an army of educators, administrators, staff. You, dear New Hire, will need to take charge of your own continuing education. You will need to select things to learn, and identify people, materials, and opportunities to learn them from. Then you'll need to do it. No one will send you a report card.

When my son was little, I was conflicted about the whole question of Santa Claus. I certainly didn't want him to miss out on the joyous feelings I'd had as a boy at Christmas, receiving gifts from this distant benefactor. But I also wanted to be as honest with him as I could in every way. I found this article by Maren Schmidt helpful in my struggle: https://marenschmidt.com/2014/12/santa-claus/. It took me several years to fully understand it, but eventually I realized how I could use Santa as a concrete signifier for all the many people who make our lives possible.

I also often say that I don't have time to count my blessings, because once I get going, I'll never stop. The coffee I drank this morning, and the mug I drank it from, and the machine I made it with, each just lead me on a string of gratitude for the innumerable people and circumstances that made it possible. Or: who put this shirt on the hangar in the store I bought it from? Who made the hangar? The shirt? The equipment they used to make each? Who drove it to the store? Who made the vehicle they drove in? Etc. etc. et as they say cetera.

Let us indeed be aware of and grateful to all those who make our paths possible. Let us not be mired in tiny details like whether there are enough to-go containers or whether the line at the snack bar is too long.

A Perspective

Ms. Espinal asks, "In what ways can a college education prepare you for any sort of future if it cannot confront you with anything but yourself?" My immediate response is: it is exactly by giving us the space to confront ourselves that the College does us the most good. It is ourselves that we must confront at every moment of our lives, or else miss one of the greatest opportunities that Life presents us. We can draw on any paper, to be sure; we can listen to one another even in a crowd, even while navigating rush hour traffic. But: when confronted with the blank page, when sitting together on the couch with our phones down, we must come up with something from within.

I'm reminded of Blaise Pascal, quoted here from Project Gutenberg:

"Diversion.—When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, bold and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. A man who has enough to live on, if he knew how to stay with pleasure at home, would not leave it to go to sea or to besiege a town. A commission in the army would not be bought so dearly, but that it is found insufferable not to budge from the town; and men only seek conversation and entering games, because they cannot remain with pleasure at home."

I frankly disagree with M. Pascal on a great many matters, but his observation that people have trouble being alone certainly seems to be borne out by a variety of evidence; consider, for example, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26847946/.

When we have dishes to wash and laundry to do, and the shopping, and the bills, and the colors, children, the colors, it is all too easy to ignore our inner lives. Even when we do try to make room in our days for whatever may be important to us, it often feels like blackout poetry, finding meaning within a jumble of nonsense while invisible fingers pluck at our attention.

Perhaps it is helpful to think of a place like Williams, not as a resort in which we will complain that the sand is not warm enough, but as a sanctuary, a monastery, a place to do rare and difficult work. By providing care and clearing away so many of the impediments of the mundane, the College offers us opportunity. Not just the opportunity to sit with ourselves, not just the chance to build an internal reservoir of ideas and knowledge, but also space to meet others, to expand our sense of human community, to explore the physical, the social, the emotional. When we confront ourselves, we create ourselves.

I had a couple of blogs a while ago. They were hosted by someone else and written with someone else's tools. Perhaps it is no surprise that they no longer exist? Of course the only way you're seeing this is thanks to many other things that other people made. Thanks, Other People!

We'll see what happens with this one. I'll start by collecting a few current inspirations.

I liked the Web when it started. I like some things less about it today. The IndieWeb mentality appeals to me: https://indieweb.org/

I like this essay about the Small Web: https://benhoyt.com/writings/the-small-web-is-beautiful/

I am not fully following the principles, but I like what Jeff Huang has to say about designing things to last: https://jeffhuang.com/designed_to_last/

If you want to make something cool on the Web, I think you should just make it. Do it however you want! The guidelines for Brutalist Web Design suggest one way of thinking that may be more durable than most: https://www.brutalist-web.design/

Steve Jobs reportedly said this:

“I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow I did not breed or perfect the seeds.

I do not make any of my own clothing.

I speak a language I did not invent or refine.

I did not discover the mathematics I use.

I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.

I am moved by music I did not create myself.

When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.

I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.

I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.”