Curious Minds - February 6, 2023

Happy Monday!

Welcome to the shortest month of the year. I’ve just finished up a dance weekender here in Oakland, one of my favorite ways to spend my free time. It also frequently leaves me scheming how I can spend more time dancing and less time working…

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Something about here

Just about every philosophy of happiness I’ve found has some concept of being in the moment, of being “here and now”, of stopping and smelling the roses. Meditation, stopping the inner dialog, or whatever else you call it is often considered a “secret” to happiness.

The Secret of Here looks and reads like a small children’s book, and it’s one of the only pieces of work I’ve seen that brings this concept to the younger generation. I hope you enjoy it.

Something from Boston

I always enjoy Atlas and Boston Dynamics videos which give you the impression that robots and AI might be closer to overtaking us than we may think. Perhaps better than the video itself are the outtakes.

Something to play

Chronophoto is a game where you have to guess the date an image was taken. My high score, which I’m not very proud of, is 2,774. Let me know what you get.

Something to talk to

In a previous newsletter I gave a link where you could talk to AI versions of famous people. Now I found a site that lets you talk to famous books. While its selection isn’t large, it is fairly diverse, from Where The Red Fern Grows to Principles by Ray Dalio.

Something I read

Tales of Power is the 4th book in the series by Carlos Castaneda, although I skipped the first two books and only started with the 3rd book as a recommendation from my dad. It’s fascinating because it was published as non-fiction but is the supposed story of the author being picked up by a Mexican/Indian shaman and teaching him (almost against his will) the ways to become a sorcerer. It certainly reads like fantasy, but Carlos Castaneda swore until his death that it was a true account.

I also discovered that Castaneda created a system of movement and organization to teach many of these elements under a now-trademarked name Tensegrity. You can find more information at Castaneda.com. I’m curious but haven’t dipped my toes in yet.

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I’m curious to hear about things that you believe in or give some credence even though they may be out of mainstream acceptance, whether that’s ghosts, shamanism, the belief in ant overlords, or what have you. I’ll see you next week!

Cheers,
Kerry