Notices by Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop), page 2

Part of the environmentalist divide is over the relationship between humans and nature. Do we operate from an ecocentric or anthropocentric one? Tolkien's heroes are "stewards" in the Chrisitian model: belonging to a hierarchy of care for Middle-earth, exercising dominion on behalf of nature. Ecocentric worldviews emphasize that humans exist within a system and must play a positive role.

On the surface, both ideologies favor care for nature. But they can result in divergent outcomes.

@Roots

There is an obvious tension in tying modern environmental activism to a text written nearly 90 years ago.

Any sketch of modern environmentalism must include a discussion of the actors who try to work within capitalism.

But The Lord of the Rings was a work of its own era, exploring themes of stewardship and the personhood of nature. It didn't have much to say about the financialization of sustainable development, or, say, the concept of "ecosystem services".

Maybe I just focus on the delta.

I've been reading Barbara Tuchman recently (she of "The Guns of August" and "The Zimmerman Telegram). Reminded that her compelling brand of history emphasizes people as characters. The events of history are draped across the characters like cloth on tentpoles.

One thing I can do to distinguish history from academic texts is to place more emphasis on the people, their personalities, and their ideas.

Welp. Definitely have to add more on the modern environmentalist movement to the book. I need to tie Tolkien's thoughts and actions to the modern discussion.

I don't want to write a comprehensive dissertation (there are already so many) of environmental philosophy - whatever comes out needs to be distilled.

I think the touch points have to be "relationship with nature", and "whither society", and "action".

Feast your eyes on "Table 2.1. Location of deep ecology in the ideology landscape" from William Smith.

https://1library.net/us/download/888078987592761349

@adamgreenfield Well, I guess that's too simple. I'm reading a dissertation on deep ecology and the lit review shows a bunch of people throwing out critiques on where the dividing line is. Interesting and exhausting.

@adamgreenfield I think you're right. I still haven't read enough, but the big divide in the environmentalist movement seems to be whether it's possible to achieve "sustainability" (in the shallow sense) without radically restructuring our society.

Can confirm the "deeper" meaning is alive and well at the town level.

“Contemporary use of the word #sustainability is ambiguous, with conceptual confusion leading to definitions of sustainability that have been “hijacked and robbed of its substance” This definitional confusion is essentially due to two levels of usage; the first (or shallow) meaning is “long lasting”, the second (deeper) is a “political concept incorporating ecological, economic and social dimensions” https://1library.net/us/download/888078987592761349

Just had the quintessential fatherhood experience of explaining, badly, Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@terraso/115928736337189366

I've got a strong opinion about which solution is better. Extremely curious to see if everyone out there agrees.

One thing that makes Andrew Prahlow's soundtrack for "Outer Wilds" fantastic is how the same theme conveys intimate, down to earth comfort, and ineffable astral wonder.

The notes stay the same, but one moment they come from a fireside banjo and kazoo, and the next they are blasting from orchestral synth as the player falls through time and space.

It's like Howard Shore adding instruments to the Fellowship theme until you get that majestic climax on the mountain.

#OuterWilds #Soundtrack

This won't end up in the book, but I've been thinking about Legolas' and Gimli's relationship.

By the end of the story they are inseparable friends, but they remain very dissimilar.

Gimli drags Legolas to the Glittering Caves of Aglerond, and Legolas hauls Gimli through Fangorn Forest. Neither loves the experience that the other has chosen, but they like each other so much that they will go along with the other's experience.

I've been married long enough to know: this is true love. 😂

The #Jan6 investigation is going well, I see.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/16/nx-s1-5678645/jan-6-house-gop-capitol-trump

#uspol

I biked 17 miles today on my #ebike, including one 7 mile trip to town hall that I otherwise would have used a car for.

I've had it for a little over a week and, sixty miles in, it's displaced 3 gas car trips. Judging from my mood journal I think all those trips may have helped my mood as well.

Miracle machine.

Governments ban the Grok chatbot due to nonconsensual bikini pics : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/12/nx-s1-5672579/grok-women-children-bikini-elon-musk

#R101 Over St. Paul's Cathedral in 1929(?). From "His Majesty's Airship" by S. C. Gwynne.

From "Omega: The Last Days of the World" by (1894) by Camille Flammarion

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/omega-the-last-days-of-the-world-1894/

#airships

From "Le vingtième siècle: la vie électrique" (1893) by Albert Robida.

#airships

@alterelefant @dashlion thanks both. I'll look into these options.

Hoo boy I need help from the good people of the fediverse. I want to set up a whitelist of allowed websites for my child's #linux computer, but I'm not technical enough to configure dnsmasq, etc. What do I do?

#askfedi