Hello Joe. I love how you turn “doing nothing” into a creative and necessary space, rather than something empty. I hope you really enjoy your time in such a beautiful place, and thank you so much for sharing your writing.
There is an interesting story in the NYT today describing a study that appears to link the advent of smartphones with the decline in fertility in the US. The iPhone was introduced in 2007. The rate of childbirth in the country started to decline at the same time. The study authors suspect that once people began to connect virtually, rather than in person, it translated to fewer babies.
If one extends this premise to the rise of AI, the species is probably doomed, I guess.
Boy, that's a lot to see in so few days. Î bet spending the entire time in one place (like Syracuse/Ortegia), or Palermo might have given you a different impression. It means missing things, but seeing so much so quickly also means missing things. Sicily in March/April or October/November is different than in June/July/August. Fewer people. If you ever decide to see Naples and Pompeii (and Herculaneum) go in December - if you can.
We used to do our Europe trips in the winter to save money. But I've been thinking about doing it that way again just to avoid the crowds and the heat.
Amen to doing nothing, Joe! I recall trying to convince my teenage son and his buddies that to sink into the riches of boredom is a gift. We have packed our lives with activity, the electronics we're immersed in run at 60 cycles/second while our bodies' natural speed is 57 cycles/sec. Yes, we are hyped up in the presence of this stuff.
When a thunderstorm would knock out our electricity, neighbors would comment about how tired they were, and how deeply they slept - without that buzz all the time, their systems just said "aaaahhhh. Thank you!" and reverted to the rhythm they were born to.
It's harder all the time to convince people to unplug.
But it's the best antidote to the rush-rush-rush so compelling we can't question why we're in such a hurry.
Hello Joe. I love how you turn “doing nothing” into a creative and necessary space, rather than something empty. I hope you really enjoy your time in such a beautiful place, and thank you so much for sharing your writing.
Grazie!
There is an interesting story in the NYT today describing a study that appears to link the advent of smartphones with the decline in fertility in the US. The iPhone was introduced in 2007. The rate of childbirth in the country started to decline at the same time. The study authors suspect that once people began to connect virtually, rather than in person, it translated to fewer babies.
If one extends this premise to the rise of AI, the species is probably doomed, I guess.
Either that or AI will decide we are not worth keeping around and doom us itself.
Boy, that's a lot to see in so few days. Î bet spending the entire time in one place (like Syracuse/Ortegia), or Palermo might have given you a different impression. It means missing things, but seeing so much so quickly also means missing things. Sicily in March/April or October/November is different than in June/July/August. Fewer people. If you ever decide to see Naples and Pompeii (and Herculaneum) go in December - if you can.
We used to do our Europe trips in the winter to save money. But I've been thinking about doing it that way again just to avoid the crowds and the heat.
Joe, you are on vacation. You owe it to yourself to do nothing and enjoy its silence. Eric
Amen to doing nothing, Joe! I recall trying to convince my teenage son and his buddies that to sink into the riches of boredom is a gift. We have packed our lives with activity, the electronics we're immersed in run at 60 cycles/second while our bodies' natural speed is 57 cycles/sec. Yes, we are hyped up in the presence of this stuff.
When a thunderstorm would knock out our electricity, neighbors would comment about how tired they were, and how deeply they slept - without that buzz all the time, their systems just said "aaaahhhh. Thank you!" and reverted to the rhythm they were born to.
It's harder all the time to convince people to unplug.
But it's the best antidote to the rush-rush-rush so compelling we can't question why we're in such a hurry.
Joe, no comments on the famous Sicilian sfogliatella?
Not yet. Cannoli, gelato, almonde granite at the famous Caffe Sicilia in Noto, but no sfogliatella. I will look out for it.
And Cassata Siciliana!!