(Hi, my name is Zana. In case you need reminding as to how you are subscribed to this newsletter, there are only two possibilities: 1) you once signed up to my now defunct Tinyletter where I used to talk about books, and 2) you voluntarily signed up for this newsletter yourself, where I (attempt to) reflect and share what I found out about us and ourselves beyond data points. Feel free to unsubscribe if this is not the content you want to see in your inbox. If you like what I wrote, please share far and wide, or reply to this email to say some nice things. We all needed some nice things these days. 🌱)
A screencap from Yawana: Strength, a documentary by DJ Alock Petrillo, 2015. Image description: Image of two indigenous women in the Amazon rainforest—in one image the subtitles read “There is no more developed or less developed culture.” On the other scene, subtitles read “There are different values and different purposes” (via The Slow Factory)
It would be a lie if to say I didn’t constantly think of all the what-ifs in my life and the whole butterfly effects of them. What would happen if I opted for the first offered university in my undergrad and major in computer science instead of design, would I continue to be one of those who consider tech as ‘neutral’ and disregard its repercussions to society and democracy? What would happen if I actually followed my personal plan and did not return to the country after my MA, would I be experiencing lockdown on my own in a cold, bleak, racist country whose empire spanned almost the entire world, including over my own? What would happen if I had tea in the morning on 29th February 2020 instead of coffee, would the political coup in my country happen?
It would be a lie to say that you didn’t constantly think so too along these lines.
We are not alone in these ruminations. Clifford Geertz, in “The Interpretation of Cultures,” wrote that, “one of the most significant facts about us may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of life but end in the end having lived only one.” But our unlived lives depend on more reasons more so than ‘natural equipment’ — ask any child from lower-income families on their online class experiences and compare to those of from the privileged families. Ask the lived experiences of women, trans, non-binary, disabled folks in navigating the city (or everyday lives!) more so than cishet, able-bodied, white men — or any group who comprise the majority of any country, therefore occupying the highest rank of the power dynamics. For many of us, “the story of our lives becomes the story of the lives we were prevented from living.”
What if there was no pandemic — would we be aware of the widening inequality gaps in our society? What if there was UBI from the start — would we be grappling for our livelihood and competing for the abundant, yet limited resources (since they are hoarded from us), instead of spending our time and energy further for our community, collectively? And hey, listen to this: What if our leadership was actually capable, instead of vying for individual and political power in the midst of the pandemic and the floods — of what had been described as the worst in half a century? What a radical thought.
It would be a lie to say that we didn’t constantly think so too.
Reading in my tabs:
Google’s union could herald a new wave of employee activism in tech. YES!
A justice based approach to research and learning, and questions to ask about ethics, data, and open source research.
“The pandemic put more people online than ever, and their data followed.” But privacy law didn’t.
“When you’re losing a game you don’t even want to play, or forcing a fit into a form you don’t want to be in, the best thing to do is to stop playing and go find your shape.” Cortney Cassidy on resisting capitalism in her artistic practice — be sure to also check out her soft manifesto at the end.
“… people don’t really want to get back to the office. They want to get out of their apartments, their houses, their parents’ houses. They want their children back in school, and also out of the house. They want to see people’s faces again, and have conversations with people who are closer than six feet from them. But that doesn’t mean that they actually want to be back in the office — at least not the way the office was before.” Are you sure you want to go back to the office? And what’s the first thing you want to do when the pandemic ends?
“The game encouraged people to draw in friends as resources to both themselves and the service they were using. […] It gamified attention and encouraged interaction loops in a way that is now being imitated by everything from Instagram to QAnon.” On Farmville — a game that is finally shutting down after a ten-year run — and its legacy beyond gaming.
A bunch of TILs: dies irae — the four-note melody, the first four notes of this chant, that are often used in tense, sad, or scary scenes in movies and films to accentuate the occurring drama or to foreshadow darkness ahead; and the fact that facial recognition had already been used in China as early as 1345, as documented by Ibn Battuta during his visit. All visiting foreigners had their portraits discretely painted and posted on the walls of the bazaar. “If a stranger commits any offence… they send his portrait far and wide.” (via Recomendo)
The literal blockchain.
“Look, we are not unspectacular things. We’ve come this far, survived this much. What would happen if we decided to survive more? To love harder?”
STATUS BOARD
Reading: Starting the year with the very cerebral Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai (no, not the Tom Cruise one), and Alice Procter’s The Whole Picture: The Colonial Story of the Art in Our Museums.
Listening: Salam by Algerian-Berber singer-songwriter and guitarist Souad Massi, whose music appeared in my playlist a couple of times, but until Fiza of Foreign Bodies spoke of her that I have begun to pay more attention.
Watching: I haven’t been watching anything much! I am currently into high school dramas e.g. Grand Army, Control Z, and On My Block. Any recommendations?
Food & Drink: Fried meehoon and iced latte.
Loving harder involves fostering deeper connections with others and nurturing our relationships. It means being more present, empathetic, and compassionate. By investing more in our relationships, we can experience greater intimacy, understanding, and support from our loved ones. This can lead to stronger bonds and a sense of belonging. https://drift-boss.pro
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