Meanderings, 21 January 2023
Good morning from Florida!
Photo by David Adamson on Unsplash
In November, the Washington Post published an article by Bryce Ward on the rising epidemic of loneliness. According to research, even before COVID dramatically isolated us, we were isolating ourselves. One of my favorite writers at the Atlantic, Derek Thompson, made the connection between this increase in loneliness and the rise in mental illnesses. Others pointed to the rise in social media and smartphone usage—a connection Ward makes as well. It seems we have fewer friends and we spend less time with the friends we have and we are more depressed and anxious. It’s almost like we’re living in an environment that was not designed for humans as God created.
While I think it’s easy to point a finger at social media and smartphones as the reason none of us have friends anymore, that doesn’t quite ring true for me. It may just be my personal experience, but I don’t find myself neglecting friendships because I’m too busy scrolling on my phone. If anything, I’m scrolling on my phone to stay connected to friends because I have so few near me. The alternative to me not having a smartphone or social media is not an Alan who hangs out with friends more. It’s an Alan who is more acutely alone. That’s not good for anybody, including Alan.
All of these factors feed off of each other as well. I feel alone, so I obsessively devote myself to work, which makes me feel alone and empty, so I feel less inclined to venture out and make friends, which makes me turn to social media, which makes me feel more insecure and depressed, and so on. Depression and loneliness are both the causes and the results of friendlessness. And behind both we discover feelings of inadequacy.
It is that last part, inadequacy, that I think is so dangerous. Alain Ehrenberg in The Weariness of the Self argues that feelings of inadequacy are one of the markers of modern depression, which should not surprise us given how much of our economy is driven by cultivating feelings of inadequacy. Just this week Instagram fed me an ad for some training program to help husbands. The tag line was something like, “Become the husband she always deserved.” This is not unusual, but it is unnatural. We are not made to be constantly informed of our physical, mental, emotional, and religious inadequacies and sold solutions that only leave us empty.
Friendlessness makes you feel inadequate. And a life of friendlessness is an inadequate life, a life that will demand too much of you. We need friends.
Remembering, and forgetting!, what we read:
For those of us who are readers, we while away hours in our books. Yet it is funny how often it is hard to remember what we have read last week or month. The Atlantic re-ran an article titled “Why We Forget Most of the Books We Read,” that captured the oddities of our forgetfulness and our memories when it comes to reading. Sometimes we remember where we bought the book or where we were when we read it or the book group we discussed it with, but precious little of what is in it.
Some of it is the reality of our lives. The article noted that we may “read” 100,000 words a day, although how much attention we give them all is a question. Much never makes it out of our short term memories. Perhaps we read too much. There are times when I’d love to set aside reading multiple books for reviews, and so much else on my news feeds, and just savor a good book, perhaps a significant book, perhaps an old friend I read many years ago, the memory of which I’d like to renew. And perhaps, the time will come when I shall.
Some of us use writing to crystallize our thoughts about our reading. This is how this blog began–originally as Goodreads posts whose main purpose was just to remember what I’d read. Others keep notebooks, jotting down significant ideas, or just keeping a list of what they’ve read. And some will debate you about whether writing undermines memory. At least for me, it allows me to capture what I want to take away from a book.
Still, this has its limits. The other day, someone commented on a review of Under Western Eyes from 2014. I barely remembered reading the book in this case and did not remember enough to reply to what was an interesting comment. It makes me wonder why I remember some books and not others. I think it has to do with the fact that there are some, that because they engaged or provoked me, I keep revisiting and sometimes re-reading. For some it is the emotional context, such as The Long Winter by Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder that we read aloud as a family during a particularly cold winter in the 1990’s.
I think it makes a difference of whether the book is in sight. Often seeing the book, even the title on the spine, reminds me of what I read. My treadmill is in front of one of my shelves, and I often recall the content of books as I wrack up the steps. I squirrelled Under Western Eyes away somewhere and probably haven’t seen the book since I read it.
Some reader friends don’t think it matters so much. It is the enjoyment of the moment. And with some books, more may not be worth it. They were just a pleasant diversion. Yet even the best of these sort are memorable. I think of Thurber’s “The Night the Bed Fell.” His stories were both a delight and memorable.
Please check, and then subscribe to, Beth Felker Jones’ new Substack here.
Dozens of scientists, experts and campaigners called for a ban on the release of genetically edited organisms into the wild, in a statement Friday warning of potentially severe risks to the world’s pollinators.
The appeal was launched at crunch biodiversity talks in Montreal, where delegates from almost all the world’s countries were meeting to negotiate a strategy to halt human environmental destruction, which threatens the natural life support systems of the planet.
A host of new genome-editing tools that modify the genetic material of living beings have emerged in recent years, and are being researched and developed largely to target insects and plants in agriculture.
Supporters argue that they could help human health, agriculture and even species conservation.
But their use in the wild carries “understudied risks which could accelerate the decline of pollinator populations and put entire food webs at risk,” according to the letter drafted by the French non-governmental organization Pollinis.
The signatories – including researchers specializing in insects, pollinators and agroecology – called for countries party to the UN biodiversity talks to oppose the deployment of genetic biotechnologies in nature. They said current scientific research was unable to provide “reliable and robust” risk assessments for potential harms to other species including pollinators and the plants, animals and whole ecosystems that rely on them.
“Pollinating insects are already facing an alarming decline due to external stressors. Adding hazardous and unassessed genetic biotechnologies to this fatal mix will aggravate the stress on pollinators and may precipitate their extinction,” the statement said.
The UN talks in Montreal are tasked with laying out an ambitious plan for how people can live “in harmony with nature” in the coming decades, as scientists warn a million species are threatened with extinction.
One of the targets up for negotiation looks specifically at the potential risks of genetic biotechnology and the decision on this point could lead either to greater regulation orhelp facilitate their use.
When tennis greats play pickleball:
Tennis legends Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang will go head-to-head later this year in pursuit of a $1 million prize – playing pickleball.
The decorated tennis greats are to contest the Inaugural Pickleball Slam, which will take place on April 2 at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, according to event organizers Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E).
Agassi, McEnroe, Roddick and Chang each boast storied careers.
Eight time grand slam winner Agassi retired from tennis in 2006, while McEnroe, who is a seven-time grand slam singles winner, has become a well-known commentator and pundit.
Former world no.1 Roddick is the last American man to win a grand slam – he achieved that feat in 2003 – while Chang is the youngest man to win a tennis major, after bagging the 1989 French Open title at the age of 17.
David Levy, co-CEO of HS&E called the pickleball slam a “convergence of culture and sport.”
Great insights on loneliness and friendships!
Interesting article on forgetting what we read. Speaking of which, he got an author’s name wrong. It’s Laura Ingalls Wilder, not Elizabeth. :) But I, too, am a voracious reader and I’m often surprised about what I forget and sometimes about what I remember.