There is a strange new kind of silence spreading across the web, and it doesn’t sound like censorship. It doesn’t come with warning banners, deleted pages, or officials knocking at the door. It is quieter than that, almost polite. You publish. The post exists. The link works. Nothing stops you. And yet the world passes by as if your words are a streetlight in daylight—still on, still burning electricity, no … Read the rest
In the corner of the internet we built—our little ThinkMyTime bunker with its hand-rolled reflections and late-night arguments—we used to mistake the silence between posts for breathing room, used to believe that if we just sharpened the sentences and kept the nerve, the world would keep meeting us halfway; but the numbers came back like a pathology report and they weren’t subtle: the audience didn’t drift, it evaporated, as if … Read the rest
In our time, there is a fashionable sport which requires no equipment, no training, and very little courage. One simply sits down, opens a screen, and begins to despise strangers with excellent confidence. It is convenient because it feels like action, but it is mostly posture. It also has a small side effect: it eats the mind from the inside, slowly, politely, like rust that never announces itself until the … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
One of my students put this article under my nose yesterday during a class discussion. He is Swiss, and the original article was in German. So here is a translation of the gist of it:
Germany: In front of a nursing home for people with dementia in Duisburg, a fake bus stop has recently been installed. A fictitious timetable hangs on the typical bus … Read the rest
People say it in a relaxed voice, almost kindly: “Look, other religions are nonsense. Mine is the good one.” Then they add a few details, because details make any claim feel more serious. “Their rituals are stupid.” “They’re dirty.” “They have crazy limitations.” “They fast in the daytime and then try to cheat by turning off the lights, as if God can’t see.” Everyone laughs. The laughter has that … Read the rest
