The article <a href="https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2025/01/is-it-possible-to-read-walden-when-you-own-a-smartphone.html" author="Rebecca Baumgartner" source="3 Quarks Daily">Is it Possible to Read Walden When You Own a Smartphone?</a> writes of reading Thoreau in the 21st century, <bq>[...] is it the content that’s boring, or are we simply less capable of appreciating it? I propose that we’re the boring ones. Or more precisely, our thinking is too small and frantic to follow where Thoreau’s mind goes. It’s the same reason we find meditation so hard and boring. It’s the same reason most of us haven’t stared off into space at all in the past 15 years. It’s why you never see anyone waiting in line without a phone in their hands. <b>Our minds have seemingly lost the ability to sink into an awareness of and interest in our surroundings that Thoreau presupposes his readers will share.</b></bq> Most people are no longer used to governing what they do, having been brainwashed into floating on the current of an algorithm that selects what they watch and, perhaps even more rarely, read. Anything that doesn't slam down on the dopamine button is considered "boring" in the same way that a heroin addict considers unmedicated time to be not worth living. <bq>After all, <b>there’s nothing inherently more boring about the water level of a pond than about the way a random YouTuber has organized their freezer.</b> In fact, if the pond description is well-written, it can even be a thing of beauty, while no amount of freezer organization ever could. And yet, I’d bet money that most of us would have less trouble focusing on a freezer-org video than reading Walden with our undivided attention. Thoreau’s book is a pearl before swine, and we have just enough non-swine in us to feel this to be the case, and it makes us angry.</bq> This is an excellent point: people have an ability to sit through boring stuff---they have just been trained to think that long shows that purport to entertain but really just advertise are inherently more interesting than reading a book about ponds. I am personally delighted to learn that people are watching videos of other people organizing their freezers and I hadn't even suspected that such a thing existed. I suppose it makes sense. I imagine them watching them with ads. <bq>Sometimes you have to wait for the rain to come or the fever to break. You have to wait for the sun to rise, the fish to bite, or the year to end. These things can’t be rushed, and maybe a typical reader from that time period would have felt that <b>to really get a sense of Thoreau’s life in the woods, the description of the pond couldn’t be rushed, either.</b></bq> Have we moved to a better or worse version of humanity? Is the hyperactive dopamine addict with every minute scheduled---even though long hours are wasted---an improvement? <bq>The world that Thoreau describes, and perhaps Thoreau himself, couldn’t care less about earning your attention. It is there, and you can observe it, and learn something about your world and yourself – or not. It’s up to you. Nothing is relying on your engagement. <b>Nature is not designed for your convenience, nor is it calibrated to your preferences. It is the anti-phone, delivered with flinty Yankee indifference.</b></bq> This is also an excellent point: paradoxically, being trapped in an algorithm's choices fools people into thinking that they are in charge of those choices. Messy nature and messy outside and messy people can't be controlled---or don't allow the illusion of control---nearly as easily. Randomness implies uncertainty and uncertainty is an unacceptable discomfort to those addicted to comfort. <bq>This is the real explanation of what people mean when they say “I want to read more but I can’t find the time.” Being a reader of any kind in 2025, but particularly a reader of works like Walden, does not mean becoming a person who “has more time”; it means <b>getting used to shifting down to first gear while the culture is racing past you in fifth gear.</b></bq> Slowing down to read tough books is worth the time investment. Learn a language. Read a book in that language. Those are journeys of many years. You want to do it, but you want it to happen right away. Take the first step. Take the next. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the progress, give it time, train yourself to be the kind of person who doesn't seek immediate gratification. The article summarizes it perfectly with, <bq>Whether this was on purpose or was just the way Thoreau’s mind worked, he knew something we need reminding of these days: <b>Doing the right thing slowly and with difficulty will always be better than doing the wrong thing quickly and effortlessly.</b></bq> This is a well-written article about how we choose to spend our time. Funnily enough, if you don't have time to read either this article or the original article, then the following single-line post summarizes it nearly perfectly: <a href="https://babylonbee.com/news/unread-lord-of-the-rings-books-look-on-as-owner-binges-movies-for-25th-time/" author="" source="Babylon Bee"> Unread Lord of the Rings Books Look On As Owner Binges Movies For 25th Time</a>. A perfect companion to Rebecca's article above is the video "Small Data" with the song "Small Bytes", which has the refrain, <iq>Just live your life in small bytes.</iq> <media href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDr6_cMtfdA" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/eDr6_cMtfdA" source="YouTube" width="560px" author="KRAZAM" caption="Small Data"> <bq>We have been data-gatherers since the very beginning. The hunters and gatherers, you know? The data that they had, it didn't come from a machine or a network or a app it came from their eyes their ears the world around them</bq> <bq>I do run a small platform for data-veganism, data advocacy, and, specifically, a website dedicated to ending the absolute travesty that is the Java programming language.</bq> As someone pointed out in the comments, the video is shot in the 4:3 aspect-ratio. The credits song is a legit banger. You can download <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/extras-small-mp3-119475367" author="" source="">EXTRAS: "Small Bytes" Music Video & MP3</a>. The music video's almost better than the video. It's so poignant and lovely. It really makes you wish for a simpler, more joyful, and artisanal world. <bq>It ain't no use in usin' up your bytes, babe. The bytes, small and slow. It ain't no use in usin' up your bytes, babe. My dialup won't download. I wish there were something I could ... do or say to free this space up in my memory lane But ... we never had our heads in the cloud anyway. Just live your life in small bytes. [Harmonica solo]</bq> This brings joy. <img src="{att_link}cascades_with_foreground_petals_in_locarno.jpg" href="{att_link}cascades_with_foreground_petals_in_locarno.jpg" align="none" caption="Small cascade with foreground petals in Locarno" scale="50%">