257. Orality and Literacy

“Preppers” get a bad rap, but there’s a difference between hoarding machetes & being well-situated to help your community in an emergency. Video: http://youtu.be/DQMY-9CRUsI Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2026/06/07/266.-Disaster-Prepping.html

Some people will swear up & down that you only need 1 perspective to understand the world. Philosopher Donald Davidson makes a compelling case why you need at least 2. Video: http://youtu.be/12Z2uxjJ7-0 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2026/04/09/265.-Triangulation.html

Software companies are keen to Move Fast & Break Things™, & computers are eager to comply, but users want reliable, bulletproof, “skookum” devices. Video: http://youtu.be/ch_pckgIQxM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2026/01/30/264.-Computers,-Software,-and-Skookum-Tech.html

We’ve poured tons of resources into computers & the internet, but haven’t seen much in the way of returns. Maybe it’s because they foster bad communication habits. Video: http://youtu.be/FvsmvOdeEn4 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/11/28/263.-Communication-Overload.html

“Andor” is a story about how secrecy kept the Rebellion alive, but it’s hard to imagine anyone in the present day keeping anything to themselves. Video: http://youtu.be/5FgeQw1XNo4 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/10/07/262.-How-to-Keep-a-Secret.html

Is winning everything? Outside the context of a game, what does “winning” even mean? Video: http://youtu.be/9oq1zjbrjYc Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/07/19/261.-Fight-the-Good-Fight.html

A lot of ink has been spilled about the crisis of misinformation, but Henry Farrell thinks we have a much bigger problem: manufactured public opinion. Video: http://youtu.be/Mjyq9gAqH5g Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/05/25/260.-Social-Media-and-Social-Irrationality.html

Alastair MacIntyre thinks we’ve lost something essential at the core of our discussions of right & wrong, & Aristotle has been telling us for 2000 years. Video: http://youtu.be/CDetc4y7_Gs Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/04/15/259.-After-Virtue.html

What do Aristotle, Carl von Clausewitz, and John Dewey have in common? They’re all better reading than the news right now, and they all stress the importance of prudent action. Video: http://youtu.be/J8l_kDwiy70 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/03/07/258.-Phronesis-Theory-and-Practice.html

Our mental landscape is irrevocably bound up in variations of 26 characters, but we’re historical exceptions. Video: http://youtu.be/N7Q4yU719FA Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2025/01/21/257.-Orality-and-Literacy.html