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“The same fights we have over the role of our government now and the size of our government now are the fights they were having. Add the brutality of slavery to that mix as an undercurrent in all of those decisions. So I guess the biggest takeaway is, yes, this election cycle is bizarre. But it’s no more bizarre than the election in 1800, wherein Jefferson accused Adams of being a hermaphrodite and Adams responded by [spreading rumors] that Jefferson died, so Adams would be the only viable candidate. He was counting on news to travel slow! That, weirdly, gives me hope.”

There is so much insight about the repetition of history in this entire interview. Read the whole thing.

Live a gentle human-size life. Go for a walk in your middle-class neighborhood and run into a friend of a friend and share what you see, and influence their life for the better. That’s the kind of thing a human can do.

So much to ponder here. Yet, I can tell you from personal experience it’s all true.

For those of you that have been engaging with this blog for months or years, please share this post with ten friends you care about. We don’t have to sit idly by while powerful choke points push us toward ad-filled noisy media.

Agreed. I love blogs, always have. Subscribe to about 50 in my RSS reader of choice. Maintain more than my fair share too.

I figure I have at least ten friends here that I care about so, just doing my part as Seth suggests.

Lots of chewy dogma-free chucks of goodness in here. Too many to pull quote just one.

Genius hesitates. I love that! When we approach a truly enormous idea, of the sort that tilts the world on its axis, we’re not excited and arrogant and confident. We’re unsure; we hesitate. I’ve noticed this in the scientists I interview. The ones who are doing really groundbreaking work are tentative, cautious, almost unsettled by the implications of what they’re saying.

True genius is imbued with a large portion of humility. It takes deep intelligence to engage the idea that nothing is certain or permanent..

Electronics are irresistible eye widening, pass-time things that make your day fly away. Your fly away day is a day that you will have no memory/memories of the next month. Life would be ruined if I got a phone.

My friend Jamie is raising his daughter right.

We are challenging the FBI’s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.

Hell. Yes.

I live in a little pre-furnished apartment with no stuff, and I love it this way. I have no books, knicknacks, decorations, and really no personal items at all. Just some minimal clothing, my laptop, headphones, and not much else. All the kitchenware and furniture just came with the place, and will stay here when I leave.

Live the way that works best for you and communicate the reasons why to others. That’s the basis for living an intentional life.

Very much “yes” here.

During the Enlightenment, the greatest minds were tweeting. Instead of utilizing the medium of the internet their network for spreading ideas were “penny universities.” For just a penny — the price of a cup of coffee — diverse groups of people gathered in English coffeehouses to discuss news and debate the latest ideas in philosophy, science, and politics. The takeaways from these gatherings in the coffeehouses — dubbed “penny universities” — spread to others in the network through individuals called “runners.” All of us today rest on the shoulders of those who sat in these penny universities, pushing the frontiers of ideas.

Wow.  I had no idea about the fascinating history of the English coffeehouse until I read this though provoking post.