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November 8, 2021: Tyson Yunkaporta, author, "Sand Talk"

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Tonight: Tyson Yunkaporta, author, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

Links:

• Sand Talk on Indiebound

• Tyson writing about van Gogh (Guardian essay from 2017): “There is a glorious pathos in the growth-based economic view of nature and eternity exemplified by Van Gogh’s seasonal works, similar to what you feel reading Shelley’s poem Ozymandias. It brings to mind the western mythical symbol of the snake eating its tail as a representation of eternity; a Dreaming that is anything but infinite, as this poor serpent ultimately can only consume and obliterate itself.”

• November is National American Indian Heritage Month: nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov

• Washington Post on Wampanoags (Nov 4, 2021): “Long marginalized and misrepresented in U.S. history, the Wampanoags are bracing for the 400th anniversary of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621.”

• (Toxic YouTube) video of Microsoft Ignite intro, listing Native American tribes (Nov 2). See also Yascha Mounk's post on Microsoft racial-identity intros.

Also:

• Henry Kissinger’s Last Crusade: Stopping Dangerous AI (Time magazine, Nov 5, 2021): Kissinger and his pal, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, inform us that AI is a threat and only the world’s richest and most powerful monopolies can save us. (thx, Daniel)

• Speaking of Eric Schmidt, New York City’s mayor-elect Eric Adams was spotted with Eric Schmidt in a victory party on election night. Then he boasted to Miami’s mayor that he’ll take his first three paychecks as mayor in bitcoin. (more in Bloomberg)

• Biden’s $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Hastens Beacons For Bicyclists And Pedestrians Enabling Detection By Connected Cars: “The more likely version of the future is deeply dystopian, says transport historian Peter Norton. Only the beacon-equipped will be spotted, he fears. Those choosing - say, for economic or privacy reasons - not to fit bicycle-to-vehicle beacons will be blamed for being hit by sensor-equipped cars, believes Norton, author of Autonorama, a new book which details the potential civil liberty issues that pedestrians and cyclists may face from the roll-out of driverless vehicles.” (thx, Michael)

• Not to be outdone by Zuck’s renaming (see image above), Elon Musk renamed his Twitter account - so, take with a planet-sized grain of salt - to “Lorde Edge,” which one of the Dogecoin cofounders noted is an anagram for “Elder Doge.” Whatever.

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