Trivial nonsense, or: Work will dominate your mind if you let it...

Frankie at Pawtails Rural Retreat (and Frida in the background)
When she chewed my Nokia recharge cable, I bought a smartphone. But I survived.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had heard so much about this book from Ryan Holiday, Art of Manliness, and also the NPR podcast The Hidden Brain I just had to read it. Newport is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and he has given me a ton of confidence about my earlier approaches to my work, and several new ideas to try. I went on a hiatus from mobile phones from 2009 to 2015. Only when we moved an hour out of Canberra was I given an ultimatum by my wife that if I insisted we live in the country, I had to have a mobile phone. For a while I resurrected the old Nokia I bought in Amman, Jordan in 2009 while on sabbatical there. But when my (then) puppy Frankie chewed the recharging cable, it didn't make much sense to make such a statement so I updated. I had learnt the value if being unplugged. Over time, I have ebbed and flowed with social media to the point where now I seem to have a handle on it. I can recognise when I am going down the rabbit hole and self-rescue. But I don't think this is enough. Newport's work is interesting in that he is an academic, so his stories are instantly recognisable. The tips are clear and the advice is sound. And it obviously worked. Fortunately, I already have tenure, but I have to build a citadel around my deep work, or the shallow work will destroy me. A recent stint of long service leave gave me the break I desperately needed, and I have been productive. But I need to upset a few more people by avoiding the trivial nonsense that saps my time. I have always done this, but only jokingly outlined my theories. Newport gives me a new sense of resolution, so watch this space. If you are struggling to cut out endless, nonsensical, shallow work, read this book.

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On Bipartisanship, Reform Fall Guys, the Asian Century, and Infrastructure with Michelle Grattan

Protest against industrial relations reforms in Sydney , 15 November 2005.
Photo by Jasabella via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 2.5

At the recent Democracy100 forum at Old Parliament House hosted by the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, Bob Hawke and John Howard spoke about the present lack of appetite for reform. Populism appears to be making it more difficult to pursue a reform agenda.

Bipartisanship was a big part of enabling previous reforms. But since the 2007 election, the decline in the stability of political leadership has impacted upon bipartisan support for important policy initiatives, and attempts to address the rise in populism are leading to a feeling in the electorate that politicians are reluctant to act in the public good. Tough reform is difficult in this environment.

Peter Hartcher's reporting of the event captured some interesting thoughts: Bob Hawke and John Howard handled some of the largest reform agendas in Commonwealth history, market and tax reform respectively, yet the were re-elected to become two of our three longest serving prime ministers. It would seem that electors will reward the hard work of reform.

I wrote about this issue recently in The Conversation, but many questions remained unanswered. I often think about Fightback! and how politics may mess up good policy, but eventually policy prevails. My paper at the forthcoming Australian Political Studies Association conference will cover some of these issues.

But then I got to thinking about the idea of a policy "fall guy". When Dr John Hewson introduced Fightback!, he was soundly defeated by the infamous GST birthday cake incident. Yet most of Fightback! has since been implemented (albeit imprecisely). Did Hewson clear the way for Howard?

And then what about Hawke? Was Gough Whitlam his fall guy? And this got me to thinking about the challenges facing democracy and how bipartisanship must be the answer. Yet bipartisanship remains illusive.

So, in an effort to investigate some of these issues to encourage discussion with my students, I put some of these questions to Michelle Grattan AO, Professorial Fellow of the University of Canberra and Chief Political Correspondent at The Conversation. 

The recording was made at Parliament House, and you can hear the divisional bells for the Senate sounding in the background. My thanks to Michelle for providing this content for my teaching.

You can visit the podcast here or below:

On Philosophy, Art, and Living the Creative Life with Margarita Georgiadis

The Muses Urania and Calliope by Simon Vouet (c. 1634). Image via Wikimedia.

I've been delving into ideas about creativity, discipline and living in accordance with one's nature. Steven Pressfield and Cal Newport make no bones about the discipline required to get the creative juices flowing. Ernest Hemingway famously said that you have to leave some gas in the tank so you can keep writing the next day.

But what about someone closer to home?

Internationally acclaimed Australian artist Margarita Georgiadis lives in the village of Gunning on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. That's my home town, and for this podcast I spoke with Margarita about philosophy, art, and living the creative life.

I have a keen interest in philosophy. Yet when I speak to students and even other academics, if I ask about the particular philosophy that underpins their actions, their eyes seem to glaze over. Yet it is clear to me that philosophy underpins all good work.

Margarita Georgiadis.
Photo supplied.

I had read somewhere that when Margarita Georgiadis decided to work as an artist, she turned to philosophy first. I was keen to ask, why? What insights did philosophy provide? And, to what extent does discipline drive her creativity? What routines does she use to drive creativity, or is it more a case of waiting for inspiration? 

And what about my favourite way to get the house clean: the dreaded Procrastination (with a capital P because it is a proper noun, you know, like Beelzebub)?

Living by one's philosophy and creativity can be hard work. I often wonder if the intrinsic pay-offs are worth it? And whether the creative life is an accident, or a design based on Epictetus' idea of living in accordance with once's nature?

Margarita addresses these questions and more in this fascinating glimpse into the creative life. If you want to learn more about Margarita, her story is in the recently released book, The Best School of All.

For more information on Margarita's work, visit her website. Or if you are in Gunning, drop in to the Picture House Gallery and Bookshop and check out some of Margarita's work for yourself!

You can visit the podcast here or below:

On Technology and the Changing Nature of Warfare with Peter Leahy

Professor Peter Leahy, Director, National Security Institute, University of Canberra. Photo by Michael de Percy.

As technology advances in leaps and bounds, how does it change the nature of warfare? How does the 24-hour news cycle impact soldiers? How do social media and personal video capture technologies affect soldiers? What role is there for humans in robotic warfare? What does victory look like today?

Today, I was fortunate enough to interview Professor Peter Leahy and put these questions to him. You can listen to the podcast here or below:

Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, Chief of Army, walks among US Marine Corps during bayonet training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, 2004. Source: Wikimedia.

I think, therefore, I am... Hey, what's that shadow?

Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre meet Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba, 1960.
Photo: Public Domain.

Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy by William Barrett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book provides an overview of existentialism. Originally written in 1958, Barrett was bringing the tradition of existentialism (those leading to Sartre) to the United States. That the book is set in the midst of the Cold War is obvious, and when released again in the 1990s, the book's setting had not yet (albeit imminently) changed. But there were many lessons to be learnt and the book achieved for me what I really needed: an overview of existentialism and the works of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre all in one place. I needed this to make sense of other works I am still engrossed in, and this book fulfilled the role admirably. I will get to the works of these aforementioned existentialists, plus Wittgenstein, but not yet. 

When I read John Stuart Mill in detail I couldn't help but recognise fragments of my education materialising almost as if I had written them in On Liberty. Elements of Stoicism remind me of things I had discovered (apparently) independently but more likely acquired through osmosis through my education. Thinking of myself as a frustrated post-modernist who can only really comprehend empiricism and positivism, I welcomed the familiarity of Heidegger's work, again, as if I had heard it before. But what really struck me was the eloquence of Barrett in saying what I was just saying to my students in my lecture today: you have to understand ideology and philosophy to understand politics. Barrett says it thus:

...anyone who wishes to meddle in politics today had better come to some prior conclusions as to what man [sic] is and what, in the end, human life is all about. I say "in the end" deliberately because the neglect of first and of last things does not - as so-called "practical" people hope - go unpunished, but has a disastrous way of coming in the back door and upsetting everything.

Barrett also highlights a problem for Americans that any typical group of Australian political science lecturers will tell you could easily still apply to Australians:

The [Australian] insisted that all international problems could all be solved if men [sic] would just get together and be rational; Sartre disagreed and after a while discussion between them became impossible. "I believe in the existence of evil," says Sartre, "and he does not." What the [Australian] has not yet become aware of is the shadow that surrounds all human Enlightenment.

The final words indicate the extent of this darkness surrounding the light, and in these words I see my frustration in the background of my positivist and empiricist viewpoint: put simply "he [sic] must first exist in order to logicize". While I doubt I can ever change my habitual viewpoint, particularly this late in the game, I have just purchased a copy of Walter Kaufmann's edited collection, Existentialism: From Dostoevsky to Sartre, which recaps a number of works I have read previously (such as Notes from Underground and Camus' Myth of Sisyphus, but it also includes numerous works by Heidegger, Nietzsche, Jaspers, et al. which are essential reading. 

It is as if I have just stepped off the MTR at East Tsim Sha Tsui station in Hong Kong. I must walk now to Tsim Sha Tsui station (proper) to get back on the main line, but I know I will have to walk to East TST to venture back into existentialism again sometime soon. The branches of my literary journey do get tangled at times, but at least now the basics are starting to reveal themselves more clearly, even if I am noticing the darkness in the background.

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I've updated my licence: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0

Moving up the open tree. Excerpt from The Noun Project / CC BY 4.0.

After much consideration, I have decided to move my Creative Commons licencing "up the open tree". I will now use the CC BY-ND 4.0 licence, as follows:

Le Flâneur Politique by Dr Michael de Percy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://www.politicalscience.com.au.

Previously, I used the CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AU licence, but it seems unnecessary. Yet I am reluctant to go further up the tree just yet. I might hang out here for a little while and see how that goes!

My comments on NBN on ABC News 24's "The Business"

Photo: Rob Pearce/Flickr CC BY 2.0

My comments on NBN tonight on The Business @abcnews https://t.co/TqWY3011qk @unicanberra @UCIGPA #nbn

— Michael de Percy (@madepercy) September 8, 2017

My comments on NBN, Radio National's Business PM yesterday: https://t.co/7tzSKuAZVA @unicanberra @UCIGPA

— Michael de Percy (@madepercy) September 9, 2017

Easily the best podcast I have ever heard...

Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Photo by Osama Amin via Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0

The more I read, the more it all begins to converge. The same happens with listening to podcasts. I've been getting through the great books, including various religious texts, and listening to podcasts on my commute has been enlightening.

I am resigned to hearing the commentary on some books I am yet to read, even though this can colour my first reading, much like reading the book after one has seen the movie.

But this recent podcast from the Art of Manliness brings a number of ideas together in an interesting way.

Jordan B. Peterson is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Apparently he is somewhat controversial. But aside from all that, this was hands down the best podcast I have heard so far. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Bhagavad Gita. The Book of Genesis. The battle of ideologies. Jung, Nietzsche, myths, literature, history. Suggested reading. Check out the podcast:

The idea of power versus competence is exactly what I needed to hear...

A Short Adventure on a Fast Literary Journey

"He looked like Walter Abel". Photo Wikimedia, Public Domain.

Prefiguration of Lalo Cura by Roberto Bolaño

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I discovered this short story on the podcast The Joy of Serious Literature. It is not something I would usually read. But that is the point of listening to literary critics. To discover new things. 

But here, I have heard the commentary before I have read the piece. I usually prefer not to do this as it directs my thinking as I read. Like reading the novel after you have seen the movie. One keeps expecting the original to live up to the fidelity of critique. It doesn't make sense. 

Nevertheless, if I would never have read something otherwise, does it matter? I think the answer is no; literature provides life lessons we otherwise wouldn't or shouldn't want to, or couldn't, learn in real life without great harm. 

And that is what I have learnt from this experience, and continuing to do so can only add to my appreciation of literature and my exposure to different forms and cultures. Otherwise, I would never leave the harbour of my comfort zone. Ships are meant to be sailed. Comfort zones are meant to shelter one while resting between adventures. 

And there it is: a new adventure in literature from unexpected journeys. Surely this is an important way to learn. Why have I not discussed the short story? Read it. I have nothing more to say about such things.

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Spring time in Gunning

Spring time in Gunning; Photo by Michael de Percy.

The seasons in the Southern Tablelands region are governed by precision clockwork. The second day of spring and the sunlight explodes over the hill in its last minute glory, jolting me out of the chill. Standing in the same place five days before, the snow made me laugh and laugh for joy.

I grew up in tropical Far North Queensland, where the summer never ends. So the seasons are special to me now. The hearth in winter, the bare trees, and then the burst of life as spring stirs me back into existence.

Winter in Mareeba, Far North Queensland, July 2016. Photo by Michael de Percy.

Soon the winds will come, and I will wonder why I live here. Summer will burn me to a crisp. The winds will carry their blast furnace from the fiery west. The blinds on the verandah help create a vacuum that sucks the air out of my lungs in the long afternoons.

Cullerin Wind Farm, Summer 2017. Photo by Michael de Percy.

But then autumn will bring some of the loveliest weather I have known, and after the three-month ritual the winter shall return. Precision clockwork. In tune with the sun and the moon and the earth and my pets. In peace shall I rest with a good book in front of the fire.

But today, this second day, reminded me of the joy that is spring. And it is here!

Autumn 2017, Retford Park, Bowral. Photo by Michael de Percy.