Scan barcode
libliz's review against another edition
4.0
Not a how-to but an exploration of what becomes available to us when we choose free our own attention or collectively refuse. A little messy in concept but hopeful in execution. I related to Odell’s mid-life shift towards focusing on bioregionalism. Bird “noticing” comes at you fast in your 30s, let me tell you…
aubrieintheopen's review against another edition
4.0
There are literally dozens of books out there written to teach you how to turn off your phone, but this is as much a cultural history book as it is a primer for an alternative lifestyle. The work of un-learning our reliance on smartphones and constant connectedness is contingent upon our own individual efforts, but Odell suggests that we see this work not as a personal pledge to ourselves, but as a commitment our entire ecosystem relies on to survive. And I believe her. Well worth the read. (Also, this book got me interested in birding?)
kerriski's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
p_t_b's review against another edition
4.0
tells you something that at present writing, my immediate cellular-level reaction to someone telling me how to feel OK is that they are a scammer and that whatever their program is must be a scamming of me or you or themselves or everyone.
jenny odell is not a scammer. this book is good - gets a little shmoopy in places. idk why early 21st century technoskeptics also tend to be advocates of birdwatching - i am glad you all like birds but please stop trying to convince me to watch birds. And HOW TO DO NOTHING is sort of a gimmick/attentiongrabber name -- this isn't a book about doing nothing, it's a sort of odds and ends of artist talks and wanderings and annotations of other writers, all loosely arranged around an urgently felt need to interact with the world in a less crushing way. she gets away with it because she is smart.
scattered takeaways
- information overload is a form of assault
- distinguishing between connectivity and sensitivity
- chthulucene (I need to read Donna Haraway)
- "some Total Death Corporation job with your name on it"
- Arendt's idea of the "space of appearance"
- "context collapse" as a phenomenon relating to how information leads to too much or not enough response (and how social media forces us to write for this giant audience of everyone)
-Agree with odell that ideas aren't as clear, inspirations aren't these crisply defined moments -- art and creativity and work in general move slowly and are shaggy etc
- "undue influence of public opinion" YES
- social media is a contextual monoculture and monocultures are bad
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval
- "capitalist appropriation of even our smallest thoughts"
- "Repressive forces don't stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves"
- The present regime "'is not founded on the repression of dissent; nor does it rest on the enforcement of silence. On the contrary, it relies on the proliferation of chatter, the irrelevance of opinion and discourse, and on making thought, dissent, and critique banal and ridiculous.'"(Berardi)
- artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles who did "a performance where she spent eleven months shaking hands with and thanking New York City's 8,500 sanitation men, in addition to interviewing and shadowing them. She has in face been a permanent artist in residence with the New York City Sanitation Department since 1977."
- Two roman empire functionaries watching a hermit pray:
"Tell me, prithee, with all these labours of ours, wither are we trying to get? What are we seeking? For what are we soldiering? Can we have a higher hope in the palace, than to become friends of the emperor? And when there, what is not frail and full of danger?…And how long will that last?"
uneven but really necessary collage of thoughts about how we need to be less online without actually withdrawing
jenny odell is not a scammer. this book is good - gets a little shmoopy in places. idk why early 21st century technoskeptics also tend to be advocates of birdwatching - i am glad you all like birds but please stop trying to convince me to watch birds. And HOW TO DO NOTHING is sort of a gimmick/attentiongrabber name -- this isn't a book about doing nothing, it's a sort of odds and ends of artist talks and wanderings and annotations of other writers, all loosely arranged around an urgently felt need to interact with the world in a less crushing way. she gets away with it because she is smart.
scattered takeaways
- information overload is a form of assault
- distinguishing between connectivity and sensitivity
- chthulucene (I need to read Donna Haraway)
- "some Total Death Corporation job with your name on it"
- Arendt's idea of the "space of appearance"
- "context collapse" as a phenomenon relating to how information leads to too much or not enough response (and how social media forces us to write for this giant audience of everyone)
-Agree with odell that ideas aren't as clear, inspirations aren't these crisply defined moments -- art and creativity and work in general move slowly and are shaggy etc
- "undue influence of public opinion" YES
- social media is a contextual monoculture and monocultures are bad
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval
- "capitalist appropriation of even our smallest thoughts"
- "Repressive forces don't stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves"
- The present regime "'is not founded on the repression of dissent; nor does it rest on the enforcement of silence. On the contrary, it relies on the proliferation of chatter, the irrelevance of opinion and discourse, and on making thought, dissent, and critique banal and ridiculous.'"(Berardi)
- artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles who did "a performance where she spent eleven months shaking hands with and thanking New York City's 8,500 sanitation men, in addition to interviewing and shadowing them. She has in face been a permanent artist in residence with the New York City Sanitation Department since 1977."
- Two roman empire functionaries watching a hermit pray:
"Tell me, prithee, with all these labours of ours, wither are we trying to get? What are we seeking? For what are we soldiering? Can we have a higher hope in the palace, than to become friends of the emperor? And when there, what is not frail and full of danger?…And how long will that last?"
uneven but really necessary collage of thoughts about how we need to be less online without actually withdrawing
rebeccamorgan's review against another edition
1.0
Utterly boring and repetitive. The last bit about pelicans is the highlight.
abstab's review against another edition
3.0
all over the place. not very cohesive and kind of random