Sharpen Your Axe

2 weeks ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Projection and Problem Solving" by Ryan Somma is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.“The life which is unexamined is not worth living” - Socrates (Apology by Plato)Why is ChatGPT so good at reflective coaching? Part of the answer comes from an aphorism that has circulated since the 1980s: “If you write a problem down clearly, then the matter is half solved.”Thanks for reading Sharpen Your Axe! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

3 weeks ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Jason Molina (Magnolia Electric Co.)" by djenvert is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.This week’s email might be too long for inbox. If it is, please click on the headline and read it on Substack!Thanks for reading Sharpen Your Axe! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Also, please note that today’s column discusses alternative music with adult themes. Some of the lyrics might contain profanities.

4 weeks ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Barcelona" by Davidag is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.I feel so strongly about the futility of arguing with strangers on social media that I pnce wrote a whole book on the subject. However, I have an argumentative streak and once in a while, I break my own guidance. I recently found myself arguing with strangers, who were blaming“digital nomads” for rising rents in Barcelona. Instead of continuing the debate, I decided to turn my points into a slightly more productive blog post instead.

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

By http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5371490960, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41668112Diaspora is a 1997 science-fiction novel from Greg Egan that imagines what a post-human (and post-biological) future would look like. It is a dense read that will be rewarding for geeks, who will appreciate the level of detail and innovation in the world-building that sits behind the narrative.

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

Frere, John: "Account of Flint Weapons Discovered at Hoxne in Suffolk", in Archeologia, vol. 13.- London, 1800.- Pp. 204-205, public domainHand axes, made from flint or other stones, are the longest-used tools in human history. They were used for around a million and a half years by Homo erectus and other early humans, although only rarely by Homo sapiens. Perhaps strangely, their design persisted largely unchanged over more than a million years.