what is modernism?

Modernism can be used to refer to 2 different historical developments. It's mainly used to talk about the period in the early 20th century when writers, artists and other creative people were experimenting with different ways of creating. A chair needn't have four legs and a back. 

It can also refer to the emergence of modern thought, beginning in the 16th century, with the scientific revolution. 

give

As I've written before, the more you react and struggle against anxiety and depression, the worse they become, but the answer is not to do the opposite and embrace them. That also makes things worse because the more you give them, the more they take. They are unreasonable. You can give your whole life to them, and they will take it and want more. 

the harder the better

People who are naturally good at what they do are not as inspiring as people who don't have the same natural ability but they work hard, persevere, and practice, and by doing so they achieve success. Or even if they don't achieve success, they are more inspiring. 

knife behind back

Shaun Tan has a new book coming out soon - Hometown. Actually, the hardcover version is already out, as of 4 days ago. Shaun Tan really elevates the picture book to a fine art. 

Shaun Tan is a technically great artist, but I don't think you need to be technically great to be a great artist. Consider Yoshitomo Nara. His art is quite simplistic on the face of it, but it conveys depths of authentic strangeness, and also, his art sells for millions. 

the power of apathy

With depression and anxiety, the more you react to them, the more imposing they become. You have to learn to say, yes, I feel this way, but it's OK, and also, over time, I will feel better. There's no way you can feel better immediately, but you can work on thinking in a healthier way, and in time, your feelings will follow. 

What happens is that we get distressed about how we feel, and we dwell on it and our fear and aversion of how we feel, and the way that we feel trapped with it, makes something out of it. For example, say you get pins and needles and a feeling of numbness in your hand when you get anxious. That's actually something I have experienced. So, I notice that my hand feels numb, and I'm like, oh no, here comes a panic attack. That anxiety and the fact that I'm hyper focused on the symptom makes the symptom worse, or seem worse at least, and then other symptoms pop up, which causes more anxiety which causes more symptoms which causes more anxiety, and it just spirals. 

One of the main things that helped me get my panic attacks under control was learning not to react. Panic attacks rely on your fear. They're so horrible that, at the first sign of one, you freak out and your system is flooded with adrenalin, which fuels the panic attack, but as you begin to get your anxiety under control, you learn that you don't need to fear panic attacks. So, when you feel one coming on you say, ok, I'm going to slow down my breathing (which is another powerful way of treating anxiety) and I'm just going to push through it. The first couple of times may still be difficult, but if you keep practicing this you will overcome panic attacks. Basically, when you feel a panic attack coming on but it's not a big deal anymore, it's not a panic attack. 

AI use and abuse

People were pretty critical and mocking of the segment on CNN where the presenter interviewed an actual AI actor/ person, through a screen. It's easy to make a joke of it or say it's 'cringe' but there's a more serious critique to be made about AI replacing people and replacing thinking. Just with education, I can't think of any good use for AI. Every use of it seems to be about cutting corners and avoiding the challenge of thinking and learning. 

At the same time, I'm pretty impressed with what AI can do. It's really useful for some research tasks and also, it's really good for clarifying legal, financial, tax, business issues. I think the best approach to take is to use it for tasks that you could do yourself but that would be laborious and time-consuming but never use it to think for you. Don't ask it to analyze, summarize or reword. 

genius working holiday

I've only read one of D H Lawrence's books. He was absolutely a genius. The book of his that I read is Kangaroo, which is regarded as an Australian classic even though Lawrence wasn't Australian. That tells you how good it is. It's such a masterful evocation of Australia, and more specifically, Australia in the 1920s. I read it for a course on Australian modernism. 

It's all the more impressive considering how he wrote it. He wrote it in Australia. He completed the first draft in 6 weeks while staying in Thirroul, on the south coast of NSW, and then revised it over a few months. A lot of the reflections on the Australian landscape in the book are fueled by Lawrence's experience of the landscape in Thirroul and the more political elements of human interaction come from conversations and interactions Lawrence had with people in Sydney.