Bruce explores the many ways More’s text has been interpreted over time:
The text has generated diametrically opposed interpretations from its critics, ranging from the dubious claim that Utopia describes a real historical community to the assertion that it is only a literary game; and from readings which maintain that it is a vision of an ideal Catholic society to those which see it as a proto-Communist text.
Discusses utopian texts in general, she makes the connection between the fictional creations and the exploration of the New World. Although More’s text is sometimes construed as an ideal, it is not clear that this is what More was trying to achieve. This is something Terry Eagleton captures in his reflection on utopias:
Not all More’s proposals would delight the heart of Jeremy Corbyn. The perfection of his utopia is not tarnished in his view by the fact that it contains slaves. On certain festive days wives would fall down at their husbands’ feet, confessing that they have performed some domestic duty negligently. Adultery would be punished by the strictest form of slavery. One should recall that More, far from being the liberal-cum-existentialist portrayed in Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons, showed not the slightest compunction in torturing and executing heretics. In choosing one’s mate, men should be allowed to see their prospective wives naked, since who wants goods that aren’t on show? Feminists, however, should note that women would enjoy the same prerogative. Brothels would be abolished, but so would alehouses. There would be no lawyers (a generous-hearted proposal, since More was one himself), but no tolerance for those who waste time, either.
The other worldliness of the utopias served as a critique of the dominant ideology, often They often capturing what these societies are not. More’s Utopia is probably best appreciated as a provocation written to promote further debate.
For a different approach to utopians in general, Tom Hodgkinson unpacks the history of utopias before and after More’s Utopia.
Another month and another change to the team at work. Why is it that everyone seems to have had such amazing lives? The new manager at work ran a 10 hour charity music conference in his spare time. I am often happy if I have done the washing and got food on the table, I clearly need to work harder on my pitch.
On the family front, we went on our first holiday post-COVID to country Victoria. It was interesting returning to various places with children. I think it is fair to say wine tasting and children do not always match.
Personally, I finally got around to loading Linux on my old Macbook Pro and Chromebook. Other than the ability to run music applications, I am pretty happy and not missing a think. I continued my dive back into books listening to Thomas More’s Utopia, Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. I also nostalgically binged The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. (Was this really made for children?) In regards to music, Montaigne’s Making It has been on repeat.
Here then are some of the other dots that have had me thinking:
Education
The Tricky Ethics of Being a Teacher on TikTok
Amelia Tate considers the place of TikTok in the classroom. She discusses the trend of content created about and even with students.
The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books
Leslie Jamison dives back into the world of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series.
Unbeaching the whale – The education revolution failed — and so did its way of thinking
Dean Ashenden reflects on the failure of Gonski and the education revolution.
Timetable Absurdity
Cameron Paterson discusses the way in which schools are still held hostage by the timetable.
I want, I wish, I hope, I dream
David Truss shares an activity where he creates a portrait wall with a want, a wish, a hope or a dream underneath it.
Technology
After Self-Hosting My Email for Twenty-Three Years, I have Thrown In the Towel. The Oligopoloy has Won.
Carlos Fenollosa reflects on the demise of self-hosted email. One of the main reasons he argues for the failure is the crude blacklisting of large swaths of email, rather than a penalty process.
We Spoke With the Last Person Standing in the Floppy Disk Business
Niek Hilkmann and Thomas Walskaar interview Tom Persky about the dying art of maintaining floppy disks.
Interoperable Facebook
Cory Doctorow unpacks how an interoperable Facebook might work.
Tech Fear-Mongering Isn’t New—But It’s Time to Break the Cycle
Jason Feifer provides insight into Amy Orben’s four-step Sisyphean cycle of technology panics.
We need to deal with data privacy in our classrooms
Bonnie Stewart reflects upon the online learning with the return to the classroom in a post-COVID world.
AI’s dark arts come into their own
Alex Hern discusses the dark-side to the magic of artificial intelligence.
General
Electric Bike, Stupid Love of My Life
Craig Mod shares his passion for electric bikes.
After Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Indigenous Australia can’t be expected to shut up. Our sorry business is without end
With the passing of Queen Elizabeth, Stan Grant considers legacy of colonisation for indigenous people around the world.
Music on the brain: Listening can influence our brain’s activity
Abdullah Iqbal unpacks some of the research into the benefits of music on the brain.
Ark Head
In order to survived the battered psyche, Venkatesh Rao explains that way have resorted to the ‘ark head’ mental model. This involves giving up on solving the world’s ills and simply hiding in our ark.
The credibility of science is damaged when universities brag about themselves
Adrian Lenardic and Johnny Seales argue that the rewarding of attention economy has corrupted scientific research.
Florence Nightingale Was Born 197 Years Ago, and Her Infographics Were Better Than Most of the Internet’s
Celebrating the birth of , Cara Giaimo discusses Florence Nightingale’s impact in regards to the spread of ideas, not just as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’.
Read Write Respond #080
So that was September for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well.
Image by Bryan Mathers
While explore Audible, I stumbled upon an Orwell collection read by Stephen Fry.
One of the things that really struck me in this rereading was the use of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book ‘The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism’ to build out the world of 1984. This reminded me of the way in which Raphael Hythloday retells his experience of Utopia in Thomas More’s book. One of the odd consequences of this is that although it is easy to imagine another character living in Eurasia providing a similar recount of life, it feels difficult to understand how any other character might actually respond to this world. For example, how might the novel be different written from O’Brien’s point of view? Or Ampleforth the poet? Is Winston alone in his thoughts? Are there others who actually feel the same way? What do other’s actually feel? Here I am reminded of the paranoia captured in something like Stasiland or The Matrix, but also the modern world of ‘templated selves‘, the world of likes and continuous observation captured in something like The Circle and The Every.
The Island of Dr Moreau, by H.G. Wells, tells the story of Edward Prendick and his experience visiting the island of Dr Moreau, located somewhere in the Pacific. Dr Moreau is a scientist experimenting with creating human-like hybrid beings from animals via vivisection.
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Stylistically, I was also reminded of the narrative style of Thomas More’s Utopia, where we are provided a perspective of place through the eyes of a visitor.
Cat’s Cradle is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s fourth novel, it was first published in 1963,…