cross-posted from: https://lemmy.basedcount.com/post/1069792

> This topic could have follow up posts > > One major site about memory / memorization: https://artofmemory.com/wiki/Main_Page/ > > Anyone working on memory or memorization projects? > > Examples: > > > Creating "memory palaces" to memorize lots of things > > > Memorizing common things like phone numbers or ID #s > > > Memorizing vocabulary words to learn new languages

I've seen this thing posted off and on for some years now, these "acupressure" (spiky) mats, they're like little cushions with dozens of kind of sharp (but not too sharp and usually plastic) "spikes" clusters on them, and people lay on them or push them in to their skin.

It seems to create a painful sensation, like stepping on a LEGO toy, but surprisingly then creates a feeling of release when you adapt to it or remove yourself from the tension. It reminds me of the idea of cold showers that can feel kind of uncomfortable but then have supposed benefits, or how weightlifting destroys people's muscles but then the muscles grow back stronger.

Here's a 3d print design for these acupressure "rosettes": https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3619377

Anyone tried these or have any thought on them?

(edit: wanted to add that I find these to be an interesting possible religious kind of "mortification", like flagellation was up to medieval times... I think that practice was abused so was discouraged and mostly abandoned)

Main link - https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/12/thematic-book-series-heating-people-not-spaces/

Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, not Spaces https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-way-of-warming-heating-people-not-places/

Insulation: First the Body, then the Home https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/insulation-first-the-body-then-the-home/

The Revenge of the Hot Water Bottle (Personal Note: Contains an immodest ad) https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/01/the-revenge-of-the-hot-water-bottle/

Energy Labels Oblige Frugal Homeowners to Make Unsustainable Investments https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2018/01/energielabels-verplichten-zuinige-woning-bezitters-tot-nutteloze-investeringen/

How to Keep Warm in a Cool House https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/03/how-to-keep-warm-in-a-cool-house/

Sunbathing in the Living Room: Tile Stoves and Other Radiant Heating Systems https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/sunbathing-in-the-living-room-oven-stoves-and-heat-walls/

Heat Storage Hypocausts: Air Heating in the Middle Ages https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2017/03/heat-storage-hypocausts-air-heating-in-the-middle-ages/

The Revenge of the Circulating Fan https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/09/circulating-fans-air-conditioning.html

I have some pdf files of some of his books and you guys are freely allowed to look at them if you want.

The Technological Society https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jyQ__91ZDSaRdWeKYZGEnrcMS5BCIe0v/view?usp=drivesdk

The Technological System https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wW4M80t141vQJH7lvqoiNKjtCIsIkMWF/view?usp=drivesdk

The Technological Bluff https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wd4PpR3SGQ9mrpzzae4S2PNFyajCV7rQ/view?usp=drivesdk

Propaganda https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kT9dNB2zvuUmvRKg1YP36J97SFQ_OMwE/view?usp=drivesdk

Farming is apparently one of the most dangerous professions.

What are the sources of danger?

https://www.ufkeslaw.com/blog/2019/august/the-7-most-common-farming-accidents/

> 1. Overturning tractors and heavy machinery.

> 2. Falls.

> 3. Toxic chemical exposure to pesticides.

> 4. Suffocation.

> 5. Heat Stress.

> 6. Limbs crushed in agricultural machinery.

> 7. Animal-related injuries

https://nasdonline.org/1241/d001045/a-review-of-farm-accident-data-sources-and.html

> Most traumatic injuries occur during interactions with machinery, especially tractors (Bean, 1991). Injuries also result from poor building design, electric power, livestock handling, and weather conditions. The activities that victims were most often performing when injured are machinery maintenance, fieldwork, and caring for animals

Tractor Rollover Protection

So I've seen one issue is tractors rolling over, and they have rollover protection designs that can be retrofitted on old tractors. Maybe some farmers, having thin profit margins, have skimped on buying the new safety designs, so they continue to operate tractors that can rollover and be a danger. But that seems like one solution to fixing the problem of most deaths.

Animals Versus Tractors

So interacting with animals is high on the list of what causes harm, as well as tractors. Presumably in order to prevent some animal harms (like with horses), tractors were thought to be able to be used. I guess what I'm getting at here is, would it be safer to use horses instead of tractors, or tractors (with rollover protection) instead of horses?

Cutting Technology Out

Roughly half of the issues in the first list are technology related: tractors and heavy machinery, toxic pesticide exposure. Again, would it be possible to trade off some productivity and to make farming more labor intensive, to gain some safety?

High Technology Solutions Instead

On the other side of the spectrum, I guess "autonomous tractors" or remote controlled ones come to mind, that couldn't flip over, and maybe robots could be used to interact with animals to prevent dangerous animal interactions. I suppose in starting to write this I assumed the low tech direction would be more viable, but does farming need a "high tech revolution" instead to become safer? More programming of farming-related robotics, and less dangerous manual interactions?

Conclusion

I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on how to improve the safety of farming today, with possibly making trade-offs of less or more technology for less yields, or if a lot of the dangers might be mitigated in other ways.

I can't find too much info on this online, but I stumbled upon it as related to "distributism"; seems to have been a movement sparked by opposition to industrialism in the 1800s, by Catholics, who wanted to preserve a more agrarian way of life. It has been revived in recent years, or there is an attempt to create a "Neo-Catholic Land Movement", as mentioned on sites like catholiclandmovement.info.

The Industrial Revolution initially created a lot of instability in society and the papal encyclical "Rerum Novarum" was issued partially in response to it. Even into much of the 20th century, agriculture was a big part of the economy in the U.S., but now in the 21st century life has changed more dramatically, which has created further moral problems.

There was a book published called something like "The Catholic Land Movement's Founding Papers" with a collection by some recognized authors like Hilaire Belloc, and a reprint of said book in more recent years called "Flee to the Fields". I can't find much of these contents online but maybe I could cobble them together if requested (I can obtain access to "Flee" book).

I do see this online which may offer a sketch of the idea:

"The Catholic Land Movement: Its Motives" by Fr. Vincent Mcnabb, O.P., S.T.M, Foreword by G. K. Chesterton (early 20th century?)

https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-495.shtml

In my view a "CL movement" would simply be sharing practical homesteading skills, as many secular sites probably already do, but would also argue for how the agrarian way of life might be conducive to living a sound moral life, from a Catholic standpoint.

"On Rural Life" by Pope Pius XII (1946)

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius12/poprural.htm

It's good this time of year to give thanks for farms and food and the "fruits of harvest", and to reflect on their importance and impact on our way of life today.

Note: I don't necessarily agree with the author's writings, but I find the "low technology" approach fascinating and indeed practical in certain circumstances, and certainly worth discussion.

Link About Book (and then individual links are to a good chunk of the contents): https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/10/thematic-book-series-how-to-downsize-a-transport-network/

How to Downsize a Transport Network: the Chinese Wheelbarrow https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/how-to-downsize-a-transport-network-the-chinese-wheelbarrow/

The Citroën 2CV: Cleantech from the 1940s https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/06/the-citroen-2cv-cleantech-from-the-1940s/

The Status Quo of Electric Cars: Better Batteries, Same Range https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/05/the-status-quo-of-electric-cars-better-batteries-same-range

Electric Velomobiles: as Fast and Comfortable as Automobiles, but 80 times more Efficient https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2012/10/electric-velomobiles-as-fast-and-comfortable-as-automobiles-but-80-times-more-efficient/

Get Wired again: Trolleybuses and Trolleytrucks https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/07/get-wired-again-trolleybuses-and-trolleytrucks/

High Speed Trains are Killing the European Railway Network https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/12/high-speed-trains-are-killing-the-european-railway-network

Life Without Airplanes: from London to New York in 3 Days and 12 Hours https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/06/life-without-airplanes-from-london-to-new-york-in-3-days-and-12-hours/

How to Design a Sailing Ship for the 21st Century? https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/05/how-to-design-a-sailing-ship-for-the-21st-century

Monke Challenge: Look at fire.

Light a fire and gaze into it for at least a moment or two. Try to feel if there's anyting primal left in there.

It can be a match, a candle, a lighter, a barbeque, a campfire, whatever. Do it safely but do it. Don't scroll past and go 'o haha monke' but rather put your phone down and go look at fire and feel the monke within.

Don't make a tiktok about it or an instagram post and don't share to all your friends. You don't have to post about it here. It's just for you. Reconnect with who you really are.

Maybe it's dumb but just go do it already.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A hermit known as River Dave — whose cabin in the New Hampshire woods burned down after he had spent nearly three decades on the property and was ordered to leave — has found a new home in Maine.

David Lidstone, 82, has put in windows and is working on installing a chimney on his rustic three-room cabin, which he said is on land he bought.

“The foundation needs repair work," Lidstone, who received more than $200,000 in donations following the fire, said in a phone interview on Monday. “It's just an old camp, but I enjoy working (on it)."

Lidstone, who grew up in Maine, declined to say where he was living or provide a contact for the landowner. A search of Maine county registers of deeds did not show any recent transactions involving Lidstone, but a cousin confirmed that he had moved to Maine, and a Facebook post had photos of Lidstone with a family member in his new home.

“He's working on putting it together, and clearing land, and planting gardens, and he's got some chickens. He's moving on," said Horace Clark, of Vermont, Lidstone's cousin.

Lidstone said he had to leave Canterbury, New Hampshire, over his dispute with a different landowner since 2016 over a patch of forest near the Merrimack River that Lidstone called home for 27 years. A judge issued an injunction in 2017 for him to leave after the landowner, Leonard Giles, sued him, and another judge recently ruled Lidstone would receive a $500-a-day fine if he didn't move.

There have been many delays in the case. Besides the pandemic, Lidstone didn't always show up for court, and he was in and out of jail as he resisted the injunction.

It also was difficult to serve Lidstone with a notice to appear in court. There's no road access to the property, which is about a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) into the woods. In January, one process server slipped, fell down an embankment and injured his leg in his attempt to reach Lidstone, according to a motion filed by Giles' attorney.

In March, a judge said Lidstone would face the daily fine if he didn't leave the area by April 11. The judge ruled Lidstone also has to pay some of Giles' legal fees. Separately, Lidstone faces trespassing charges in connection with the property.

Giles, 87, of South Burlington, Vermont, died in July. It wasn't immediately clear if his death changes the status of the case. His attorney didn't respond to a request for comment.

Lidstone said he was sad to hear that Giles died. “I had nothing against the old man," he said.

But he seems to be embracing his new life.

“I’ve got all kinds of friends up here," he said. “I’ve had friends every weekend, all summer."

Last August, while Lidstone was in jail over the property dispute, his cabin, which had solar panels, burned down as it was being dismantled at Giles’ request. The local fire chief said the fire was accidental.

Lidstone agreed to collect his remaining possessions. He had secured temporary housing as he figured out where to live next — he had offers — and believed that he could not go back to being a hermit. But late last year, he returned to live in a shed on the property that had survived the fire, prompting more legal action.

“Sometimes, you have to stand up for what is right,” he said in January.

Court records said the undeveloped property has been in the Giles family since 1963 and is used for timber harvests.

Lidstone, who represented himself in court, had claimed that years ago, the current owner’s father gave his word — but nothing in writing — allowing him to live there. He also disputed whether he was on the property in the first place.

https://news.yahoo.com/river-dave-banned-hampshire-moves-141657550.html

Technology-assisted hunter-gatherer societies are the true utopia. Live with nature, return to monke, have a space station full of robots and technos orbiting up above to monitor for asteroids and provide medical assistance and vaccinations when need be. Name a better future.

(posted for discussion, not necessarily in agreement with author)

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/08/thematic-books-series/

Links to articles used in book (not linked on the site, presumably this is the book's contents):

...

Why we need a speed limit for the internet

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/10/why-we-need-a-speed-limit-for-the-internet/

Email in the 18th century: the optical telegraph

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2007/12/email-in-the-18.html

How to build a low-tech internet?

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/10/how-to-build-a-low-tech-internet

How to build a low-tech website?

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2018/09/how-to-build-a-low-tech-website/

How sustainable is a solar powered website?

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/01/how-sustainable-is-a-solar-powered-website.html

How and why I stopped buying laptops

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/12/how-and-why-i-stopped-buying-new-laptops

Why the office needs a typewriter revolution

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2016/11/why-the-office-needs-a-typewriter-revolution.html

"We make personal choices all the time. Some are designated to involve us the more and some are designated to almost take us out of the loop altogether. The latter might well be to eliminate a person’s involvement and is a good plan for any business to work economically and keep a competitive edge, I am sure.

The ultimate goal birthed through the Industrial Revolution was to minimise the need for skilled workmen and women and wherever possible to replace them with machines to produce the goods needed for a global feed into the economy’s insatiable appetite for making money, and are we not still moving constantly along that same trajectory? Is this not the very nature of technology in industry?

Objectors then became classified as Luddites––degenerates who hated technological progress. Even though crafting artisans were well in the majority and supported the conservation of a traditional working culture in every craft of the age, there would be no democratic vote for it.

It was never a democratic consideration but more a control of the workforce being shunted head-on into the factories that needed cheap, controlled and compliant labour on minimum wage. "

If you've not read his work, check it out. It's accessible, heartfelt, and down to earth writing about our connection to place. His essay on why he won't get a computer impacted how I think about technology today.

If you don't know, should you maybe give it some thought?

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