One of the most important things you can realize in life is that even if there is knowledge contained in these books, it is a useless endeavor to read them. They won’t help you. You have to live it yourself to accumulate the wisdom. There are no shortcuts

Just recorded the first IRL Techs on Texts episode with the most wonderful Esther Dyson. We discussed the film *Her* and the book *Never Let Me Go* by Kazuo Ishiguro. Watch and read ahead! Will publish around the end of October.

Recorded another IRL episode yesterday with the great Mark Coatney. We talked about *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. Le Guin. Was great! Episode will post in November. Rest of the year's schedule at techsontexts.net/housekeeping/2…

Schedule for the rest of the year: - Oct: Esther Dyson on *Never Let Me Go* by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze’s *Her* - Nov: Mark Coatney on *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. Le Guin - Dec: TBD on Francis Ford Coppola’s *The Conversation* techsontexts.net/housekeeping/2…

Fiction shows the value of human hallucinations.

Episode #9: Esther Dyson on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's Her techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/…

In a few days Flight Simulator 2024 is out You might think it's just another video game In reality it's the latest in a 40y+ series pushing the boundaries of graphics & mapping Let me tell you the Story of how Microsoft accidentally made the best map -> youtu.be/JIQxJWoKcPs

Episode #10: Mark Coatney on A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/…

Episode #11: Nathaniel Raymond on Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/…

Episode #12: Gina Trapani 🏳️‍🌈 on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/…

for those in New York City, the new semi-fiction play about the OpenAI board drama and the broader conflicts behind: interintellect.com/salons/in-huma…

Read ahead! This month's episode (out sometime after the 26th), will about “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang. Next month's episode will be about Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke.

Episode #13: Keith Garrett on The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Fiction by Ted Chiang techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/…

I really enjoyed this chat with Jed.co on his podcast Techs on Texts.net A Pattern Language is a special book. If you’ve read it I hope this conversation deepens your appreciation for it. If not I hope it encourages you to check it out for yourself techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/…

Episode #15: Johnny Rodgers on A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/…

New Borges episode from the very good @berybadwizards podcast on the way!

“A Princeton historian said his students arrive on campus with a narrower vocabulary and less understanding of language than they used to have. There are always students who “read insightfully and easily and write beautifully,” he said, “but they are now more exceptions.” Jack