Dia duit a chairde agus a mhuintir. Welcome to Digitally Literate, issue #386. Your go-to source for insightful content on education, technology, and the digital landscape.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with my kids using Duolingo. I’m mastering Irish & rediscovering Spanish. 🇮🇪🇪🇸.
This week I worked on the following:
- 🎙️ Educational Frontiers: Unraveling AI’s Impact on Learning – Open dialogue on controversial tools like AI. Watch the webinar here
- 📚 Language and Literacy Course Syllabus – Shaping minds at CofC. The journey to make it a GenEd & REI course is almost complete!
Highlights of this week’s issue:
- 🌪️ Leaning into Uncertainty – Embrace the storm of uncertainty for resilience. Scientific insights reveal its connection to well-being.
- 🤖 If There Were Gods – AI’s ethical dilemma: treating humans like we treat animals. Explore the threats to human intelligence.
- 🌈 In the Quiet Recesses – Uncover MLK Jr.’s organizational brilliance. Learn from his notecard system & critical engagement.
- 🔍 Use Archive Websites to Bypass Paywalls – Access articles behind paywalls with Wayback Machine & Archive Today. Be resourceful in your quest for knowledge!
- 🌿 “Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life.” – Jane Kenyon 📚✨ Explore the wisdom & enrich your journey. 🌟
Leaning in to Uncertainty
Embracing uncertainty can serve as a beneficial remedy for mental distress and a probable route to cultivating resilience, as suggested by recent scientific findings. Read more
Research conducted during the pandemic sheds light on the connections between uncertainty and overall well-being. Individuals who exhibited greater ease in dealing with uncertainty were more inclined to acknowledge and accept the realities of the situation. Examine
On the contrary, those with high levels of “intolerance of uncertainty” tended to grapple with elevated stress and anxiety during the pandemic. Explore
It is essential for individuals to reassess outdated perceptions that associate not knowing with weakness. Instead, adopting a mindset that recognizes uncertainty as a strength can lead to a more resilient and adaptable approach to challenges.
If There Were Gods
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to treat humans the way we treat animals, raising ethical concerns. AI threatens human intelligence, which we often consider our defining characteristic. However, humans have historically failed to extend empathy and respect to non-human animals. Investigate
AI threatens the quality that many of us believe has made humans unique on this planet: intelligence. So, as author Meghan O’Gieblyn wrote in her book God, Human, Animal, Machine, “We quell our anxiety by insisting that what distinguishes true consciousness is emotions, perception, the ability to experience and feel: the qualities, in other words, that we share with animals.” We tell ourselves, in other words, that even if AI may one day be smarter than us, unlike the machines, we have subjective experience, which makes us morally special.
Watch O’Gieblyn discuss what it means to be human in an age of rising technology and artificial intelligence.
In the Quiet Recesses
Martin Luther King Jr.’s organizational systems were key to his powerful speeches and influential leadership. He used notecards to retain material from his extensive reading and research, often incorporating quotes from the Bible and other sources. King’s annotations in books and margins showcased his deep engagement with the ideas he encountered. I’m always interested in the ways that individuals critically consume and the systems they use to pay attention to what they’re learning. Roam.
The owner of WebMD, Internet Brands, released an internal video announcing the end of fully remote working. However, the video, which featured CEO Bob Brisco criticizing employees still working remotely, went viral and received backlash. “We’re Not Asking, We’re Informing.” You’d better read this.
“Human beings were never designed for the poorly nourished, sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially-isolated, frenzied pace of 21st-century life.” – Stephen Ilardi in The Depression Cure.
Use Archive Websites to Bypass Paywalls
I read a lot of online content. Much of this shows up each week in my classes or here in this newsletter. I have the privilege of being able to pay for some things, while other content is made available through my library or employer. Many others are not able to access materials due to a variety of factors.
Archive websites like the Wayback Machine and Archive Today can sometimes help you read articles behind a paywall by providing you access to older versions of the content. Just visit one of those websites and insert the link to the article. While it might not work for all sites, it’s worth a try if you’re looking for older articles.
How it works: These websites archive the page as if it were browsed by a search engine and give you back a readable version of the page you’re trying to view.
Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.
Thank you for being a part of Digitally Literate. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions. Reach out at email@example.com or connect on social media.
Cover Photo CC BY using Playground AI