Brain Dump

Whole string of domestic distractions mean my main writing project(s) have stalled almost entirely for several months and before the end of March I have another conference away from home. Just need to unload recent diary entries to have bandwidth to work. [Ultimately this is another music review post, but for now ...] As well as my mother's death over Christmas, and all her healthcare issues prior to that and dealing with her estate since, we'd also started…

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20757?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Solms’ Latest

I've mentioned I've been reading Mark Solms' latest since early Feb, before the birthday holiday break, disrupted because I lent out the physical copy of which I'd only read and annotated about 20%. Was already loving it, which is why I'd been carrying it around not wanting to miss opportunities to read. I've since acquired a Kindle copy and I'm now about 60% through.

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20750?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Divided Europe

My only previous mention of Katya Adler was her 2021 introduction to Dante. Later, early in 2025, she did a 2-parter on "The Balkans: Europe’s Forgotten Frontier" which I loved and shared thoughts with others on social media, but I didn't blog any reference here. A must watch for anyone with opinions about the boundaries of European politics. So many historical divisions between east and west, and more.

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20748?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Islamophobia or Secular Freedoms?

A long-standing issue I've been wanting to address, when the time is right, when the atmosphere is less feversish, but that time never comes. Now of course it's a mainstream media topic again, whilst Israel and Iran are also lobbing ordnance at each other, so here goes a first draft, a placeholder. Many parts of this topic have already featured here, but I've not pulled together the whole before.

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20736?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Nothing New Under The Sun

Something of a "Wow!" reading experience. We'd already noted Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" was an explicit inspiration for George Orwell's 1984. For Big Brother we had No.1. For Room 101 we had Cell 404. I just read Darkness in 3 sunny-afternoon sittings in the shade on a short vacation in the sun, as an escape from our cold, wet and windy UK winter.

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20713?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Our Place in the Complex Whole

Just an excuse to capture some images old a new that attempt to describe the filed of interest. In response to this summary diagram on LinkedIn, clearly focussing on their own "Systems Innovation" (yuk) branding ... Dave Snowden responded with this older but much more complex and comprehensive version "not without controversy" ... Frankly, I'm not concerned with branding of any particular solutions, methods or frameworks, and have always…

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20695?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Just Write What You Need To Write!

"Just write something!" was the psychiatrist / psychotherapist's advice to the 33 year old - then clinically insane - Robert Pirsig, creator 12 years later in 1974 of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (ZMM) . One of countless points along the madnessgenius spectrum in the history of the creativity in human thought and action, throughout historical time. "It is not written" opined T E Lawrence to his Arabian & Levantine…

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20681?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Small World – Everything’s Connected

Reinforcing my need to switch off and "just write something", is that everything I read (or listen or watch) triggers connections between existing and new source materials, adding to that never ending reading list. This happened in microcosm in the last few days. My immediate previous post, was a reference to Arthur Koestler, of whose "The Sleepwalkers" I was already a fan…

https://www.psybertron.org/archives/20657?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social