Jazzy D's Soul Notes

There seems to be a pattern to the weather of late in which we have variable mornings with more settled afternoons. Today was no exception and this I did a smidgen of sunbathing during the afternoon. There was a couple of magpies in the garden which I hope might be a good sign in improving finances. Well, we can hope.

I was finding a problem with a sticky key on my laptop. I used a dust blower and a fine brush and resolved the problem. It made me think of all the buttons that we press in our daily lives. Of course there is a niche literature on the pleasure, panic and the politics of pushing buttons. The touch of a finger can summon a taxi, turn on a TV, call for an elevator or 'like' a Facebook post - yes that dreaded like button! But are buttons simply neutral and natural mechanisms which ease our daily lives? Or in an Orwellian sense, who controls the button and who is the controlee?
This touchy subject was discussed in today's Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 in which the buttonization of culture is deconstructed.

If you want to find out more then I recommend Rachel Plotnic's "Power Button - A History of Pleasure, Panic, and The Politics of Pushing" (MIT Press, 2018)



Now what have I done with that hi-fi remote control?

Fascinating programme on BBC Radio 4 which i have just listened to called "What Does It Mean To Be Free? This is what it says about it on the Radio iPlayer.

"A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices.

Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking what does it mean to be Free?

Helping him answer it are philosopher Angie Hobbs, criminal barrister Harry Potter, neuropsychologist Paul Broks and theologian Giles Fraser.

For the rest of the week Angie, Giles, Harry and Paul take us further into the history of ideas with programmes of their own.

Between them they'll talk about Isaiah Berlin's distinction between positive and negative freedom, JS Mill's thoughts on individual liberty and the state; what neuroscience has to say about the age old philosophical debate about Freewill and whether freedom is over-rated as a political, moral and psychological concept."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/historyofideas

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whats-on/radio/ou-on-the-bbc-history-ideas