Conversations with Calliope- Immediacy and Reason

jlangen — Nov 7, 2009, 9:00am

(Oatka Creek Dam)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's new?
JOE: I just received Joan Chittister's new book, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World.
CALLIOPE: It sounds similar to the theme of your writing.
JOE: Very observant. That's why I bought it.
CALLIOPE: Have you started reading it?
JOE: Yes. Last night.
CALLIOPE: Any revelations so far?
JOE: She starts with the problem of immediacy about which I have also written.
CALLIOPE: What's the problem?
JOE: The world moves now with a pace that seems impossible to keep up with. You have to act without thinking to keep pace. If not the world moves on without you.
CALLIOPE: What does she suggest?
JOE: I haven't gotten that far yet.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good book.
JOE: I have found her other writings well reasoned, thoughtful and helpful. I am sure this book will continue the tradition. Talk with you on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- The Cult of Immediacy

jlangen — May 5, 2009, 9:16am

(Immaculate Conception Monastery Garden)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I was confused about something in your blog yesterday.
JOE: Oh?
CALLIOPE: You talked about e-book readers but then you attached a picture of a young man talking on his cell phone and ignoring the attractive girl sitting next to him. I didn't get the connection.
JOE: I guess it was a bit of a stretch. I was thinking about our need for immediate communication which I think detracts from our thinking about what are communicating and to whom.
CALLIOPE: I see. Do you think the almost immediate availability of information through machines such as an e-book reader or cell phone a bad thing?
JOE: Not necessarily. Other than getting used to the new technology, I am concerned that being in such easy touch with data makes it more difficult for us to think about it in any sort of context.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: It is as if we are part of the machinery conveying data bits but not evaluating what we are saying.
CALLIOPE: What would you suggest?
JOE: I'm not sure I have anything to offer right now. It's just a concern I have.
CALLIOPE: What do you plan to do personally?
JOE: Make sure I have time to digest information by stepping back from the data stream and reflecting on information as it comes in and relating it to what I already know or suspect.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good plan.
JOE: It's the only one I have at the moment. Talk with you tomorrow.