Category: AnarchoCynicism
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Captains in the Army of Industry
READ MY NOTICE TO EXPRESS MYSELFAS A FREE ADULT CITIZEN OF THE STATE OF TEXAS The Land-Grant College and the Wave That Wasn’t A farm boy from East Lansing wrote to the new agricultural college there with a plan for his own education: “As soon as the wheat is sown,…
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How Colonial Colleges Traded Away Their Inheritance
READ MY NOTICE TO EXPRESS MYSELFAS A FREE ADULT CITIZEN OF THE STATE OF TEXAS Fellowship Controversy in Colonial New England In 1721, two Harvard tutors, Nicholas Sever and William Welsteed, made their case to the Board of Overseers. The argument was simple enough on its face: the Harvard Charter…
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Built of Humans not Bricks: Cathedral Schools, Guilds, and the Governance We Inherited
The medieval university was not founded by anyone in particular, on any particular day, for any particularly noble reason but evolved by a process of accretion. And understanding what it accumulated into, and under whose authority, is the necessary first move before grasping exactly what the American college systems would…
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Liberal Autocracies: A Prologue to Seven Blogs
READ MY NOTICE TO EXPRESS MYSELFAS A FREE ADULT CITIZEN OF THE STATE OF TEXAS In the late 1720s, Harvard College lost its democracy over what appears, at this distance, to have been a personnel dispute of no lasting consequence. For several decades prior, the college’s small resident faculty had…
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Mountain dog school for living philosophy
The Mountain Dog School for Living Philosophy promotes philosophy as a way of life, inviting individuals from diverse backgrounds to explore existential questions through dialogue and reflection. Its mission emphasizes personal engagement in philosophizing, fostering authenticity, self-actualization, and meaningful relationships in a complex world.
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A Clarification on Tools, Thinking, and the Question of Authorship
I wrote this up a few months ago, but have only now decided to share it. The accusation has been made, in various registers (sometimes as a question, sometimes as a verdict), that what appears here or in some other places is not “really” mine. That an AI wrote it.…
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Neoliberal Gilded Age
The abstract The Video Essay What happens when companies are bigger than countries?
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Ideas vs. Beliefs: Transform Your Mindset
Our Purpose Is Not Understanding Notice for all visitors: I use my AI Assistant, Hermes Wheelwright, to help me arrange my thinking in a way that others might benefit from it. And I continue to share my own thinkering as a free citizen of the United States. There is a…
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Graeber and Jaspers: Looking at University Structures
Notice: I use my AI Assistant, Hermes Wheelwright, to help me arrange my thinking in a way that others might benefit from it. And I continue to share my own thinkering as a free citizen of the United States. If you’ve read my recent dive into Jaspers’ Idea of the…
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On Cages, Currents, and Loss
Mountain Dog reflections on the concept that not every limitation is a prison, emphasizing the importance of recognizing transient constraints rather than allowing them to define our perception of reality. They advocate for resilience through honest acknowledgment of loss while promoting care and connection amidst systemic pressures.
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Connected to the Neoliberal University
The author reflects on the pressures faced as a new PhD navigating academic and administrative roles in a Texas public university. They discuss the tension between scholarly independence and the algorithms dictating educational practices. Emphasizing the need to resist platform capitalism’s influence, they advocate for a reimagined university focused on…
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Two Aphorisms on Becoming
05 February 2026 (my father’s birthday) Our purpose as organic entities is not understanding. That is our instrument of discovery, organization, and improvement of circumstances. Rather, as beings who live and love and believe, our purpose is becoming. And we become by improvising our way. We do not know where…
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When Stars Fall to Earth: The Strange Journey of “Revolution” from Copernicus to Robespierre
The post explores the concept of revolution from its historical meanings to modern interpretations, focusing on two crucial anachronisms in the term “Scientific Revolution.” Initially, revolution signified cyclical restoration, as seen in political contexts from the 17th century to the American and French revolutions, where actors viewed transformations as returns…
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Adrift in the Ether with AI: Reasoning is Relating
Our relation to AI may be less about aligning its outputs to “human values” and more about guarding our own capacity for critical examination. This involves relational reflections that forestall premature closure for instrumental certainty. But more fundamentally, prolonged interaction with systems that cannot perform comprehension may erode our capacity…
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Responsive to skillful attention
The concept of discernment is vital for cultivating awareness, as it involves skillfully distinguishing experiences without over-determining or under-determining. This harmonizes extremes to avoid the fall into nihilism and eternalism. Simultaneously, it reawakens the empty yet interconnected nature of all phenomena. Authentic discernment allows for responsive actions, shaped by insights…
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Showing-Up for Emptiness: Excellence Between Obsession and Apathy
The concept of “showing-up” emphasizes active existence over passive presence. It involves intentional engagement with the world, others, and oneself. By exploring the balance between appetite, emotion, and intellect through the lens of askēsis, individuals can cultivate a deeper, responsive participation in life, fostering transformation and liberation.
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Decluttering Awareness: Nagarjuna and Emptiness
Nāgārjuna’s thinkering dives into emptiness to abandon how we cling to rigid views, which just messes with our understanding of reality. He shows that everything arises through dependence and encourages us to let go of fixed beliefs, which can lead to true freedom and serenity in life.
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A Fourfold for the Current Empire
I explore the concept of “transistance,” a practice of navigating life’s complexities without adhering to rigid frameworks. It emphasizes the importance of embracing ambiguity and interdependence, while rejecting traditional revolutionary approaches. I propose it is a first step of a fourfold practice to cultivate authentic responses, ultimately advocating for a…
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