Twitteretter

I am lately getting the occasional enthusiastic feedback about Twitteretter. This is welcome, and interesting. Often, the most enthusiastic feedback comes on entries which, in my mind, are not the strongest, whilst those I think the best are met with indifference (or, at least, silence). This is entirely normal. Enthusiastic feedback is elicited when the opinions, or interests, of specific entries mirror those of the reader. This, however, is not my aim with Twitteretter. My modest hope is to open minds, to get readers thinking about subjects, considering opinions, that, otherwise, they may not have. I can only hope that those enthusiastic responses to likeminded blogs will translate into closer following and greater willingness to consider the ideas in those entries which do not so well mirror one’s own opinions. Reading, and its homonym, listening, have as their main value opening one’s minds to the ideas of others, not just the endorphin loaded retribution of self-affirmation  L...

As you can see from the number at the beginning of this post’s title, I have been writing and publishing Twitteretter for a good while. Getting an established readership is proving extremely hard work. In fact, quite often I cannot even get my friends and family to read it. The Twitteretter format is designed to make it very easy to read and follow, as it is daily, very short and predictably so, due to its character limit. Are we really that busy that we cannot spare the time for one or two minutes of reading a day? I fear the answer is yes. There is huge competition for our attention nowadays, and it is very difficult to focus it on what is worthwhile (I am not implying Twitteretter is, that is for you to decide). It is not uncommon to finish a day feeling you have not stopped but you have not done much. Your smartphone is full of apps armed with functionality designed to catch your attention and keep you engaged. And when you engage with your phone, you disengage from all else  L...

One of the biggest changes that we as humans had to deal with in the last couple of decades is selecting information in the face of a huge increase of availability of sources through the appearance of digital and social media. Knowledge is as important as ever, if not more, as we now also have a public voice through social networks, and as what we publish and re-share, matters. This is a challenge, but the opportunities are wondrous. For me, an illustrative example of this is Hay Player. This tool gives us access to all the talks presented at the wonderfully inspiring literary festival held in Wales annually. Our top thinkers, writers, scientists, philosophers, economists and politicians discuss the subjects they regard as critical, openly and in a climate of tolerance. Every one of these talks and discussions is available to you and me through Hay Player. Check it out, you will be amazed by how much you learn, and how much you enjoy doing so. May easily be your best decision of the da...

This is Twitteretter’s post 42. Not a milestone in biblical symbolism (40 would have been), one of the frames of reference of Western culture, but a milestone in another, more irreverent, frame of reference. 42, in Douglas Adams’ ‘The Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy’ is the answer to the question, asked of the World’s most powerful supercomputer, ‘What is the meaning of life, the Universe, everything?’ This is an iconoclastic and, in fact, quite profound answer, in the same way as Monty Python’s humour was always iconoclastic and sometimes profound. Adams died prematurely, yet another star that shone brightly and burnt out early, and I cannot help but thinking that it is a pity he is not around today. His commentary on the pandemic would have been quirky and off kilter, providing variety which is well needed in the midst of the monotone information hammering we are being submitted to. Post 42 makes me realise that we are missing a light, iconoclastic and profound take on today’s trouble...