Mike Paul

@mikepaul.com

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Human-Centered Learning in an AI World | Writer | Speaker | Educational Innovator

"Those who refuse to listen to dragons are probably doomed to spend their lives acting out the nightmares of politicians. We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark; and fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night." (Ursula K. Le Guin, The Language of the Night)
"“It will,” Wit said, “but then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you, Kaladin: You will be warm again.”" (Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War)
"“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Hellhounds.” “Harry,” Michael said sternly. “You know I hate it when you swear.” “You’re right. Holy shit,” I breathed, “heckhounds." (Jim Butcher, Grave Peril)
"Every problem that society has, the library has, too, because the boundary between society and the library is porous; nothing good is kept out of the library, and nothing bad." (Susan Orlean, The Library Book)
Date stamp in a pocket notebook
"“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it,” Gracen said with a cynical tone. “Those who do? We’re doomed to watch others repeat it around us while we try to hold things together." (Evan Currie, Archangel One)
"There are no leaders. There are only terrified souls trying to live till the day when She loses control and the machine turns on Her. Until that day, unless I find a distant hill where the final sleep will free me, I will tell my quiet lies. There is nothing more to it than that. There are no heroes of my generation. That role has yet to be filled. For my part, I am just the locust. I speak of dreams called nightmares. No more should be expected, at risk of driving the reflection so deep into the mirror it will never emerge again." (Harlan Ellison, Stalking the Nightmare)
The danger isn’t that AI can’t teach. It’s that it can simulate teaching well enough that we stop asking what’s been replaced.
"Classrooms in which deeper learning is the goal are ones where meaningful academic content is paired with engaging, experiential, and innovative learning experiences." (Kia Darling-Hammond and Linda Darling-Hammond, The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning)
"Historically, the working class has often been more resistant to change than the class oppressing them.”" (Brandon Sanderson, Shadows of Self)
For fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it, too, and that is precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons because they are afraid of freedom.
New comic books
1,000 days in a row reviewing highlights from Readwise
Bassett hound asleep
School is one thing. Education is another. The two don’t always overlap. Whether you’re in school or not, it’s always your job to get yourself an education.
"Fear tends to come from ignorance. Once I knew what the problem was, it was just a problem, nothing to fear." (Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind)
"Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, there is a minuscule difference between those who know a lot and those who know very little." (Leo Tolstoy and Peter Sekirin, A Calendar of Wisdom)
"Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late." (Seth Godin, Tribes)
The Velvet Underground, 1965
Long way home newsletter image, looking at the milky way at night
"Things have changed. There are even fewer edges now than there were before. The world is less wild. There are fewer magics, more secrets, and only a handful of people who know the name of the wind." (Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear)
We shouldn’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. It encourages them to define themselves in terms of work. Who we become is not a question of career—it’s a matter of character. The highest aspiration is to be a person of generosity, integrity, humility, curiosity, and wisdom. - Adam Grant
A list of ten topics for a newsletter, written in a pocket notebook.
Newsletter image for the Eclectic Educator showing a stencil about thinking and reading before you speak
The thing people tend to forget about Fahrenheit 451 is that Bradbury is pretty clear about how by the time they started burning books no one was reading them anyway. That, not the censorship, is the really relevant part.
A view from inside the Kentucky International Convention Center
Distrust of the intellectual world has always been a symptom of Ur-Fascism, from Goering’s alleged statement (“When I hear talk of culture I reach for my gun”) to the frequent use of such expressions as “degenerate intellectuals,” “eggheads,” “effete snobs,” “universities are a nest of reds.” - Umberto Eco
"Our first impulse when we confront extreme technology surging forward in this digital sphere may be to push back. To stop it, prohibit it, deny it, or at least make it hard to use. (As one example, when the internet made it easy to copy music and movies, Hollywood and the music industry did everything they could to stop the copying. To no avail. They succeeded only in making enemies of their customers.) Banning the inevitable usually backfires. Prohibition is at best temporary, and in the long run counterproductive." (Kevin Kelly, The Inevitable)
“We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us.” — Charles Bukowski
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Mike Paul's weekly newsletter
"It was strange, how readily authority could be conjured with nothing but a bit of strutting jackassery." (Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora)
Image of a print copy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States
Gene Hackman the royal tenenbaums
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"What your daily routine consists of is not that important. What’s important is that the routine exists. Cobble together your own routine, stick to it most days, break from it once in a while for fun, and modify it as necessary." (Austin Kleon, Keep Going)
picture of someone requesting the return of the purple marker and a reply in purple marker saying NO
"What matters most in our increasingly innovation-driven economy is not what you know, but what you can do with what you know." (Tony Wagner, Ted Dintersmith, Most Likely to Succeed)
Readwise completion badge for 800 days.
"“I am a myth,” Kote said easily, making an extravagant gesture. “A very special kind of myth that creates itself. The best lies about me are the ones I told.”" (Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind)
"If you find yourself criticizing other people, you're probably doing it out of Resistance. When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own." (Steven Pressfield, The War of Art)
"“But maybe you shouldn’t be looking for life to be easier because you choose to do something that is right! Personally, I think life is fair. It’s merely that often, you can’t immediately see what balances it.”" (Brandon Sanderson , Oathbringer)
"And because these technologies change rapidly, this process of mastering hard things never ends: You must be able to do it quickly, again and again." (Cal Newport, Deep Work)
"Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control." (Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman, The Daily Stoic)
"More words count less. Hold fast to the center." (Lao Tsu, Jacob Needleman, Jane English, Gia-Fu Feng, and Toinette Lippe, Tao Te Ching)
"Writing a book, just like building a library, is an act of sheer defiance. It is a declaration that you believe in the persistence of memory." (Susan Orlean, The Library Book)
A boy and his dog
Holiday newsletter cover image with gifts and decorations
"There is no such thing as private knowledge in academia. An idea kept private is as good as one you never had. And a fact no one can reproduce is no fact at all. Making something public always means to write it down so it can be read. There is no such thing as a history of unwritten ideas." (Sönke Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes)
A small printing of a Philip k dick book from isolarii.com.
Field notes notebook open to the middle, celebrating staple day.
A view of books stacked on a desk in an office.
"“Truth can never be defeated, Sarene. Even if people do forget about it occasionally." (Brandon Sanderson, Elantris)
"By the age of 70, he who doesn't read will have lived only one life. He who reads will have lived 5000 years. Reading is immortality backwards." — Umberto Eco
We will, I hope, be judged, eventually by seemingly small, random acts of kindness and sincerity. ANTHONY BOURDAIN @dailyphilosopher