Random, Work

The power of paper over pixels

I’m with Michael Wade on this.

I like to work from paper drafts. As a result, I’ll type up a document on my computer, then print it off for editing. I know this sounds a tad Luddite, but I can spot errors more quickly on the printed page than on a screen. I also like to maintain my error-spotting skills instead of delegating that task to my computer.

The last thing I did, as I tidied my desk yesterday evening, was shred five versions of a speech I was working on for a CEO. I spot errors and see the flow more clearly when I have my head down over paper. And I can scribble ideas that I might abandon by the next page.

I’m not sure why. Is it because I learned to read and write on paper? Is it the haptic aspect of having a tangible piece of paper in my hands? Or the narrower focus of looking down on an inanimate sheet in contrast to a shiny, dynamic screen?

The Times has an interesting article on how literacy levels in Sweden have dropped since schools abandoned books for “screen-based learning”. Literacy levels dropped from among the highest in Europe (in 2000) until, in 2022, one in four pupils were functionally illiterate when they left secondary school. Now, books are back. As one teacher says: “The feeling of holding a volume and reading it makes it much easier for the student to immerse themselves in the world of the book. To see the words, how they are written, to feel the words, to feel the text in a different way.”

Who knew?!?

You can read Michael’s article on sneaky screens, here.

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

Uncategorized

The qualities of decent, cultured people – Anton Chekhov

Firstly, a huge hat-tip to Rob Firchau at The Hammock Papers for this delicious rabbit hole.

Rob quotes part of a letter from Chekhov to his older, artist (and dissolute) brother in which he upbraids him on his behaviour. It includes the Latin, veritas magis amicitiae, from which my pitiful command of the language extracted “truth” and “friend(ship?)” and maybe possibly “magic” … which seemed unlikely.

Therefore, from the first chamber of the burrow, I can report the phrase comes from “Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas” which, attributed to Aristotle, literally means, “Plato is my friend, but truth is a greater/better friend.” Effectively, truth is greater, or more important, than friendship.

Deeper down the rabbit hole (over at The Marginalian, which I hadn’t visited in ages), I find a fuller rendering of Chekhov’s letter where he lists the eight qualities of “cultured” or decent people. Check them out in full, well worth reading, but in summary:

  1. They respect human personality, and therefore they are always kind, gentle, polite, and ready to [accommodate] others.
  2. They have sympathy not for beggars and cats alone. Their heart aches for what the eye does not see… They sit up at night in order to help P., to pay for brothers at the University, and to buy clothes for their mother.
  3. They respect the property of others, and therefore pay their debts.
  4. They are sincere, and dread lying like fire. They don’t lie even in small things. A lie is insulting to the listener and puts him in a lower position in the eyes of the speaker. …Out of respect for other people’s ears they more often keep silent than talk.
  5. They do not disparage themselves to rouse compassion.
  6. They have no shallow vanity. They do not care for such false diamonds as knowing celebrities…
  7. If they have a talent they respect it. They sacrifice to it rest, women, wine, vanity… They are proud of their talent… Besides, they are fastidious.
  8. They develop the aesthetic feeling in themselves. They cannot go to sleep in their clothes, see cracks full of bugs on the walls, breathe bad air, walk on a floor that has been spat upon, cook their meals over an oil stove.

Signing off, Chekhov tells his brother, “You must drop your vanity, you are not a child.”

Echoes through time

Echoes through time: simplicity in planning

Simplicity in planning fosters energy in execution. Strong determination in carrying through a simple idea is the surest route to success.

Attributed to General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)

I’m disappointed to learn that, like so many elegantly formed aphorisms, there is no record of von Clausewitz actually saying this. The nearest I can find is from his classic text, On War (Book 1, chapter 7):

“Everything is very simple in War, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen War, Suppose now a traveller, who towards evening expects to accomplish the two stages at the end of his day’s journey, four or five leagues, with post-horses, on the high road—it is nothing. He arrives now at the last station but one, finds no horses, or very bad ones; then a hilly country, bad roads; it is a dark night, and he is glad when, after a great deal of trouble, he reaches the next station, and finds there some miserable accommodation. So in War, through the influence of an infinity of petty circumstances, which cannot properly be described on paper, things disappoint us, and we fall short of the mark. A powerful iron will overcomes this friction; it crushes the obstacles, but certainly the machine along with them. We shall often meet with this result. Like an obelisk towards which the principal streets of a town converge, the strong will of a proud spirit stands prominent and commanding in the middle of the Art of War.”

Image: By Wilhelm Wach – Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=695673

Heroes of the Sovereign Professional

The rightful lord of his own person – Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield’s latest post for Writing Wednesday’s draws on Pericles’ Funeral Oration (from 431 BC), to give us this description:

I declare that Athens is the school of Greece. Moreover, I declare that each and every one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of his life, can be truly called the rightful lord of his own person and to act in this way, moreover, with unsurpassed quality and grace.

It comes from Rex Warner’s translation of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars.

When I think about what “sovereign professional” really means, it’s this: being and acting as the rightful lord of our own person. Yes, that’s about freelancers and independents of all flavours, but it’s also about every individual however employed.

It’s a powerful and informative post, but it also draws on an older post from Steven that covers the oration in greater detail, here.

Both are worth reading and also, if you didn’t know, Steven has written extensively on the war between Athens and Sparta (as well as on Alexander the Great). If you only know his War of Art, you should definitely check out his historical novels. Gates of Fire, about the battle of Thermopylae, is required reading at West Point and Annapolis and for all officers in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Image: By Copy after Kresilas – Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2497199

Random

Was Tesla the world’s last car brand?

We are awash in bland, low-cost cars with meaningless marques and interchangeable shapes.

It’s like shopping on Amazon for a USB fan, a wash bag, or a heated cat blanket. A dozen different options, all identical other than an incomprehensible brand name.

Or, maybe like an Android phone or  Windows laptop. When everything’s software, the hardware is simply commodity.

I’m no particular fan of Tesla, but I wonder if it was the last, real car brand.

Photo by Tesla Fans Schweiz on Unsplash

Freelancing

Be more spice – Seth’s Blog

A tasty perspective from Seth Godin’s blog:

The best, freshest spices still taste like the spice that’s on the label, but they taste more like themselves.

That’s what successful brands and freelancers do as well. They relentlessly do the work to act more like themselves.

Read the post, here …and decide what you taste like.

Photo by Anju Ravindranath on Unsplash

Uncategorized

Just Stop – 2026 resolutions from @DailyStoic

Happy New Year!

Many of us are scrabbling around assembling and confirming our good intentions for the year; all the things we’re going to do in 2026.

An alternative is to adopt Daily Stoic’s list of eight things to STOP doing (from Instagram, here):

  • Stop complaining
  • Stop taking things personally
  • Stop avoiding discomfort
  • Stop hanging out with the wrong people
  • Stop wasting the morning
  • Stop allowing distractions
  • Stop doing the inessential
  • Stop comparing yourself to others.

Simple, sound advice for the year ahead.

Photo by Daniel on Unsplash

Uncategorized

Beauty and style, a visual blog

I discovered this blog, Infatuateur, via Cultural Offering. It’s a curated feast of beauty and style that includes nature & animals, architecture & interiors, food & drink, men’s style and beautiful women.

In the words of its keeper, “I am a man who is bewitched by beauty and smitten with infatuation.”

Worth checking out over an idle hour.

Image: https://infatuateur.tumblr.com/post/802742838748200960

Work

The universe does not offer financing

A great reminder from Steve Layman. I was tempted to copy/paste the full post, but here’s a snippet:

We are conditioned to enjoy the benefit today and pay the cost tomorrow.

Achievement reverses the transaction. It requires full payment in advance (and regular payments forever). 

An important warning about the decline of deferred gratification. Read the full post, here.

Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash