Catastrophe and Child's Play

“Our life is based upon the mutual interpenetration of play and earnest… Catastrophe and child's play are the two poles of all social life.” —Rosenstock-Huessy

Dear Friend,

Some notes on the rise of faith in Silicon Valley, a community discussion of indie book publishing, how technological change in the 12th century changed reading practices, and some personal life-and-work updates from parenting escapades to this interminable book of mine.

—Justin

Some Things I Learned This Week

Silicon Valley confuses political theories with business models. Or so argues Henry Farrell (American Affairs, August 2024), who says arguments for freedom and technological innovation are often repurposed into self‑justifications. Farrell draws on ideas from Schumpeter and Hirschman to critique Silicon Valley Thought.

The velocity of software may destroy traditional company structures. The cost of building and discarding software is plummeting by the month, which means that companies may need fewer engineers and those engineers will need less management. Value moves to creativity and "connecting the dots" in bigger and better ways—perhaps outside of traditional hierarchies.

Silicon Valley is embracing Christianity. Recent events organized by ACTS 17 are making faith and Christianity more mainstream. How? With discussions of God over intimate caviar lunches, often including influential Christian figures such as Peter Thiel.

In the 12th century, reading went from communal mumbling to solitary analysis. In the Vineyard of the Text (1993) by Ivan Illich traces the evolution of reading from a communal, monastic "mumbling" to the individualized, rationalized, and silent approach of the scholastics. As innovations like layouts and indexes arrived in the 12th century, it despiritualized reading and probably broke some of its mechanisms. Same for screens.

In the Community

Adam Robbert asks about indie book publishing. Several members share their own experience and debate the pros and cons of print‑on‑demand, Amazon KDP, Amazon "Select", and direct sales. Profit margins, exclusivity trade‑offs, and the power of personal networks are all discussed.

Edword Love asks, "What are you watching?" Some titles mentioned and debated: Flow, The Penguin, and Cry Macho.

Peyton Bowman asks, "What languages are people studying?" Members discussed and compared experiences learning French, Portuguese. Aramaic, Hebrew and others. They share various practical challenges and cultural discoveries, highlighting how direct engagement with foreign languages seems to deeply enrich scholarly pursuits.

Nicholas Gruen on the “Pyramid of Code.” Gruen published a post calling large organizations a “pyramid of code,” where official words and rules mask what people actually do. He mentions Illich's argument that institutions perpetuate myths while purporting to solve them, often creating stories to justify decisions made on personal whim. Excellent discussion.

Pablo Penietzsche reviews On the Marble Cliffs by Ernst Jünger. In a recent piece for The Mars Review of Books, Pablo examines Jünger’s curious posture toward Nazism. Though many consider Jünger tainted by his relationship to the regime, his diaries show clandestine assistance to Jews and a determined resistance to party directives. The piece portrays Jünger as an anomaly, whose deep-seated anti-democratic convictions were both anti-liberal and anti-Hitler.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

A few quick thoughts from the past week—on work and life.

First, as you can see, I thought I'd resuscitate the 'news' element back into the newsletter!

There’s so much happening in the world, and so much behind the scenes here at Other Life, and so much I've neglected to share with you: members of the community are accomplishing great things, our little agency arm is starting to hum, we're shipping dope stuff for Zorp, I'm moving into a small private office in the South Lamar WeWork, and all kinds of other interesting things...

And once the book is out, the wider world of indie scholars will increasingly need some kind of village clock and flagpole...

So I figured it was about time to start sharing some news and thoughts and community updates weekly again.

The past couple years have been two of the hardest in my life.

Honestly, having kids is insane. The stuff people scare you about is not so bad, but it just changes everything completely. Our first is 3 years old now and I have to admit, my ego and identity and work rhythms have still not fully settled. The new one has been here for one month and we spent most of last week in the ER. Thank God he's fine now, but man, it's just crazy.

Anyway, I'm blessed, and this book is going to get done eventually. I need to stop apologizing for the delays and just reset expectations.

I first started this book with the intention of doing something short and fast. The reason it's taking so long is because it got bigger—and, I think, much better.

The biggest extension of the manuscript is that I decided to add a series of historical case studies. I've had these in mind for some time, and many of you have heard me talk about them. Right when I thought the book was done, in a moment of enthusiasm I decided I needed to add these. I think they're quite useful and inspiring for contemporary indie scholars—everything just takes time.

So that's that. The book will be done when it's done. All I can say is it will be the best book I know how to write about this topic at this time. Pre-order anytime. If you're already a paying subscriber, just chill; I'll send you a copy gratis.

Coming Up

Plato's Gorgias. Join us for a seminar on Plato’s Gorgias—a foundational text on rhetoric, ethics, and power. We’ll discuss Socrates’ debates with Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles, and consider the difference between rhetoric and parrhesia. Wednesday, Feb 26 from 05:30 PM to 06:45 PM CST.

The Technological Republic by Alexander Karp. Join us for a seminar on the contemporary politics of technology and Silicon Valley’s place in the world, through a close reading of Alexander Karp's new book (Karp is the co‑founder and CEO of Palantir). Saturday, Mar 22 from 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM CDT.

Thanks for your interest in what we're doing.

Reply with comments, questions, or a brief word about what you're working on.

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