One of my epiphanies when I left Big Tech social media in 2020 was how the timeline had come to dominate my mind. The (little) writing I was doing at the time was dictated by the topics discussed in my timeline. Freedom from the timeline meant freeing my mind, in some small way. Writing for engagement can feel, in the moment, like writing about the most burning issues of the day–and to some degree it is. At the same time, writing for engagement is self-limiting. “Hot takes” feel a bit less hot when you realize you’re only thinking about those things because the timeline told you to. The best way to gain perspective is by being irrelevant.

To repurpose a familiar line: be not conformed to technology, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Remember the scene in Testament of Ann Lee where John Hocknell chases his own finger and it leads him to their settlement site? I am pleased to report that he was not the only one to experience that among the Shakers. A convert named Aaron Wood was known for doing the same thing. Richard Francis:

On one occasion a young boy from the area, who had been entrusted with the task of delivering corn to the local miller, failed to arrive on time. Aaron’s pointing finger led the concerned locals to the spot where the boy’s horse was waiting by the river, still loaded up with corn. The boy was nowhere to be seen, though, and Aaron and his fellow-villagers came to the conclusion that he had drowned crossing the water. Ever practical, the miller took the corn off to grind it anyway.

Turns out the boy was fine, just distracted by another errand. Aaron wondered why his arm led him to the corn but not the boy. Maybe his arm knew it was the corn, not the boy, that needed finding!

Gordon White tells a story at the end of this episode about a co-worker whose mother had died. She went back to Yorkshire to be with her sister on Christmas when, on Christmas Day, they found a butterfly flying around the kitchen. The sister said, “That’s mom!” Gordon’s co-worker said, “That’s just a butterfly.”

She went back to work and told Gordon this story, to which he replied, “No, that was your mom.”

You want a more enchanted cosmos? Do not be the voice of reason.

As I read Trump say he’s in no hurry to end the war with Iran, I was reminded again of this post from Adam Kotsko:

My overarching question throughout the second Trump administration has been: why hasn’t the other shoe dropped?

… I believe that the answer to this tangle of questions is relatively straightforward: money. American society is largely able to absorb Trump’s destructive actions because we’re the wealthiest nation that has ever existed. And America’s erstwhile allies and trading partners adapt to his behavior because they figure there is still money to be made and any attempt to stand on principle or rein him in would endanger the flow of money. The same is true on the corporate level, as the biggest multinationals have more than enough resources to smooth out the impact of tariffs on consumer prices, for instance by building up huge inventories before they came into effect.

Even the muted response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which 20% of the world’s staple fuel, as well as countless crucial chemical inputs, have been prevented from flowing—can be chalked up to the cushion that wealth provides, as many countries have built up considerable fuel reserves since the last time the ruler of a major nation got it into his head to do something stupid and disruptive. The situation is certainly regrettable. It’s not what any of them would have chosen. But they can move some things around and make it work. Kings change and kingdoms change, but capitalist accumulation endures forever.

Will we ever burn through these mountains of money and face the consequences of our actions? God only knows.

Finished reading All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memior by Emilee Hackney. Holy crap, what a book. I haven’t been that engrossed in a book in a long time. Highly recommended.

Emilee Hackney mentioned pineapple casserole so I had to find out more. Turns out, it’s pretty good!

Emilee Hackney:

To this day, I’ve never been to an Appalachian funeral where there wasn’t a preacher and a sermon.

It’s the same around here. I keep hearing that cremation is now the majority practice but I can count on one hand the number of services or memorials I’ve attended that involved a cremated body. Here, the body is almost always in an open casket and the funeral service always has a preacher, who preaches a sermon well more than half the time. Elsewhere funerals may have changed a lot over the years but my experience of them is essentially unchanged since childhood.

Started reading All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir by Emilee Hackney a couple of days ago. I’m about a hundred pages in and I think this is going to be a good one.