Half time - and I'm at 26 books! (It's a big thing for me, I haven't been able to read much in the recent years.)
Some first statistics: books from 9 countries + one collection from Scandinavia in general; 11 books by women, 12 books by men, 2 books by f+m pairs, one mix anthology; 10 books in German, 16 in English; 9 books rated 4.5 or 5 out of 5, 14 books marked as recommendations; 6x non-fiction, 1x book outside of such categorization (free verse poetry as topical biography?).
@vicgrinberg great job! I'm only at 18. I'll have to do more analysis later but the main takeaway this year is the paucity of great reads. I've struggled. Only one 5 ⭐️ book (Prequel by Maddow). 7 nonfiction, 11 fiction. 8 by women, 10 by men. Wish I knew another language but at least one was translated. 9 audiobooks, 9 dead tree books.
@games This is the video recap of all the demos I've tried during the Steam Next Fest, with a bit more in detail, and some jokes added here and there, I hope you enjoy it
More than one billion animals are kept as pets around the world. But bioethicist Jessica Pierce says that might not be great for our furry, feathered and scaly friends. In this story for @time, she discusses the potential harms of pet ownership, including whether it's ok to buy and sell animals and use them for our own gratification, the anguish of captivity, and the climate impacts of pet-keeping. She also posits a new way forward, in which human-animal ties are mutual and freely chosen. It's a very thought-provoking article; tell us in the comments what you think.
@CultureDesk@time Thank you for sharing this. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I've studied more about Jain and Buddhist philosophy over the years and they present a wider and more nuanced conception of suffering than Western philosophy often does. When combined with environmental ethics, there are deep questions about suffering inherent in so many of our complex systems. Perhaps this will be something the future might condemn us for?
It's been a good year for @socannex. Today's episode features @annamueller and @sethabrutyn discussing their new book Life Under Pressure (2024, Oxford University Press) with me.
We talk about their field site, Oak Grove, its high status, and high earning adult community, and the psychic pain that many young people experience.