Hello - and what am I doing here?

I’m terrible at thinking publicly. More broadly, I’ve gotten lazy about how I think and what I think - both in public and in private. It’s easier to consume ideas than generate them, and over the past decade I’ve definitely been a consumer. Smartphone scrolling, Twitter, etc, have all contributed to a real “shallowing” of thought that I’m interested in pushing back against.

I’m currently reading a fascinating book by the neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf called “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World”. I’ll write more about it shortly, but the book explores our diminished capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies. This is definitely speaking to (and about) me.

With luck and persistence, I’ll share here what I’m reading, thinking, and dreaming. Doing this in public isn’t comfortable for me, but as I stumble forward, re-toning a long unused muscle, perhaps others might find useful bits along the way.

Keven Elliff @keven