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394 lines
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#[1]Cal Newport » Feed [2]Cal Newport » Comments Feed [3]Cal Newport »
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[17]Home » [18]Blog » On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work
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On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work
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September 4, 2023
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In the summer of 2022, an engineer named Keegan McNamara, who was at
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the time working for a fundraising technology startup, found his way to
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the [19]Arms and Armor exhibit at the Met. He was struck by the
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unapologetic mixture of extreme beauty and focused function captured in
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the antique firearms on display. As reported in [20]a recent profile of
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McNamara published in The Verge, this encounter with the past sparked a
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realization about the present:
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“That combination of craftsmanship and utility, objects that are
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both thoroughly practical and needlessly outrageously beautiful,
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doesn’t really exist anymore. ‘And it especially doesn’t exist for
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computers.'”
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Aesthetically, contemporary digitals devices have become industrial and
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impersonal: grey and black rectangles carved into generically-modern
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clean lines . Functionally, they offer the hapless user a cluttered
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explosion of potential activity, windows piling on top of windows,
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command bars thick with applications. Standing in the Arms and Armor
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exhibit McNamara began to wonder if there was a way to rethink the PC;
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to save it from a predictable maximalism.
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The result was [21]The Mythic I, a custom computer that McNamara
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handcrafted over the year or so that followed that momentous afternoon
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at the Met. The machine is housed in a swooping hardwood frame carved
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using manual tools. An eight-inch screen is mounted above a 1980’s
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IBM-style keyboard with big clacking keys that McNamara carefully
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lubricated to achieve exactly the right sound on each strike: “if you
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have dry rubbing of plastic, it doesn’t sound thock-y. It just sounds
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cheap.” Below the keyboard is an Italian leather hand rest. To turn it
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on you insert and turn a key and then flip a toggle switch.
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Equally notable is what happens once the machine is activated. McNamara
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designed the Mythic for three specific purposes: writing a novel,
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writing occasional computer code, and writing his daily journal.
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Accordingly, it runs a highly-modular version of Linux called NixOS
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that he’s customized to only offer emacs, a text-based editor popular
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among hacker types, that’s launched from a basic green command line.
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You can’t go online, or create a PowerPoint presentation, or edit a
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video. It’s a writing a machine, and like the antique arms that
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inspired it, the Mythic implements this functionality with a focused,
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beautiful utilitarianism.
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In his critical classic, [22]Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
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argued that the form taken by the technologies we use impacts the
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fundamental nature of our cognition. When we switched media consumption
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from long newspaper articles to television soundbites, for example, our
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understanding of news lost its heft and became more superficial and
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emotionally-charged.
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When pondering Keegan McNamara and the Mythic, I can’t help but apply
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Postman’s framework to the machines that organize our professional
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activities. The modern computer, with its generic styling and
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overloaded activity, creates a cognitive environment defined by urgent,
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bland, Sisyphean widget cranking — work as endless Slack and email and
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Zoom and “jumping on” calls, in which there is always too much to do,
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but no real sense of much of importance actually being accomplished.
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In Keegan’s construction we find an alternative understanding of work,
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built now on beauty, craftsmanship, and focus. Replacing everyone’s
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MacBook with custom-carved hardwood, of course, is not enough on its
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own to transform how we think about out jobs, [23]as these issues have
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deeper roots. But the Mythic is a useful reminder that the rhythms of
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our professional lives are not pre-ordained. We craft the world in
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which we work, even if we don’t realize it.
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#####
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In other news: My longtime friend Brad Stulberg has a great new book
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out this week. It’s called, [24]Master of Change: How to Excel When
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Everything is Changing — Including You. In my cover blurb, I noted that
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this “immensely wise and timely book provides a roadmap for a
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tumultuous world.” I really mean it! The idea of preparing yourself to
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thrive, and not crumble, when faced with inevitable change is
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self-evidently important, and Brad does a great job of delivering the
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goods on this timely theme.
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Pro-tip: if you do buy the book this week, [25]go to Brad’s website to
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claim a bunch of cool pre-order bonuses that he’s offering through the
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first full week of publication.
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[26]We Don’t Need a New Twitter
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[27]On Tire Pressure and Productivity
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11 thoughts on “On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work”
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1.
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Galia
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[28]September 4, 2023 at 9:27 am
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Too much information when few things matter: that reminds me of the
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book Essentialism. Acting like those everyday stimuli don’t exist
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is the first recipe for success.
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[29]Reply
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2.
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Alexander Lewis
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[30]September 4, 2023 at 11:57 am
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I love the idea here. People still use old typewriters as art
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pieces and coffee table decor in their homes. It’s hard to imagine
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something similar occuring with modern computers. Laptops are used
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until they’re dead, and then they’re recycled or thrown into the
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junk drawer.
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I think this craftsman/engineer might be onto something.
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[31]Reply
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3.
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Rafa Font
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[32]September 4, 2023 at 3:22 pm
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They have become Swiss knives, tools for all. Especially mobile
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phones, they’re maps, navigators, radio, compass, torch, voice
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recorder, word processor… all in one.
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I gave my kids a voice recorder the other day. So that they can
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have a one-action device to play with and understand what it is, on
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its own.
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[33]Reply
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+
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Tim Koerner
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[34]September 11, 2023 at 3:27 pm
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Love the voice recorder idea for kids, well done.
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[35]Reply
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4.
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Alex Francisco
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[36]September 4, 2023 at 8:04 pm
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What a find!
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My copies of ‘Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man’ –
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McLuhan,
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the Medium is the Massage are always in my mind.
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A good summary is that one line by Culkin in an article about
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McLuhan:
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“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our
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tools shape us.”
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Timeless, humbling AND empowering at once.
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[37]Reply
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+
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Jonathan
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[38]November 11, 2023 at 6:47 pm
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That quote it itself based on one by Winston Churchill to the
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UK Parliament in 1943: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards
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our buildings shape us.” Churchill was referring to the
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reconstruction of the bombed House of Commons, emphasizing how
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the design of buildings influences the behavior and culture of
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the people who use them.
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[39]Reply
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5.
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rb
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[40]September 4, 2023 at 9:47 pm
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WordStar was more fun than WordPerfect, which was quite a bit more
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fun than Microsoft Word. There has not been a professional writing
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application since WordStar and its pale descendants including
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EMACS. Everybody writes – there is opportunity here.
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[41]Reply
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6.
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Garrett
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[42]September 6, 2023 at 1:46 pm
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In my opinion, another huge value of this is that it has a distinct
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physical location. There’s a lot of power (at least for me) in
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having a physical place to do things. When I’m in my woodshop for
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instance, I am not engaging with distractions. I’m there to create
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things and I’m limited (or, empowered) by the tools around me.
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[43]Reply
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7.
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Judy
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[44]September 6, 2023 at 6:23 pm
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As someone who formerly worked in IT but transitioned to become a
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classical fine art painter, I love the concept of objects that are
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both utilitarian and beautiful. Many craftspeople of the past took
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great pride in creating all manner of objects that were more than
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simply useful, as Keegan McNamara discovered. Owners of these
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well-crafted objects also loved them for their beauty. Beauty is
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important in life.
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[45]Reply
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8.
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Kenneth Lawson
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[46]September 11, 2023 at 11:43 am
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This goes back to the idea of writing things in a book, on real
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paper.
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Paper and pen are used for one thing.
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Creation.
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When writing with a pen on paper, there is no distraction, only
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you, Your mind, and the physical act of putting words on paper.
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Thats not to say that paper and pen can’t be works of art in
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themselves.
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They definitely can.
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Good quality paper in a nice notebook will always be more enjoyable
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to use than cheap printer paper.
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The same with pens.
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Would you rather write the same note on printer paper with a Bic
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Ballpoint pen, or in a nice notebook on quality paper, with a nice
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fountain pen, that writes better and has more character than any
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pen could ever have?
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The note written on good paper with a fountain pen becomes a work
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of art in itself.
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And going back to read it later is more enjoyable.
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‘
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[47]Reply
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9.
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Kenwood
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[48]September 22, 2023 at 11:32 am
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Nice. Your essay emphasizes the profound influence of tool
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aesthetics on our work and cognition. The Mythic I, handcrafted by
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Keegan McNamara, epitomizes the fusion of craftsmanship and
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practicality, offering a stark contrast to today’s industrial and
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impersonal digital devices. McNamara’s computer is designed for
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specific tasks like writing, coding, and journaling, redirecting
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our focus from multitasking chaos to singular productivity. It
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reminds us that we shape our work environment and challenges
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conventional notions of productivity. I would like to share
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[49]https://writinguniverse.com/essay-writing-service/ free tools
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for writers. While we can’t all have custom-made computers,
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McNamara’s creation encourages us to rethink the balance between
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aesthetics and function in our daily tools.
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[50]Reply
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Leave a Comment [51]Cancel reply
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Cal Newport headshot
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About
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Cal launched the "Study Hacks" blog at calnewport.com in 2007, and has
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been regularly publishing essays here ever since. Over 2,000,000 people
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a year visit this site to read Cal's weekly posts about technology,
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productivity, and the quest to live and work deeply in an increasingly
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distracted world, while tens of thousands more subscribe to have these
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essays delivered directly to their inbox (see the sign-up form
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below). [52]To read more, you can browse more than 15 years of past
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essays in the archive.
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In the fall of 2022, Cal launched a new portal, [53]TheDeepLife.com, to
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serve as the online home for all other content relevant to the deep
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life movement he helped initiate. Here you can find all past episodes
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__________________________________________________________________
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Cal Newport logo
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This site is the online home for the computer science professor and
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