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John Miedema

@johnmiedema.bsky.social
981 followers 472 following 1K posts

Online Meditation 🧘 Neurotech Research ⚡ Contemplative Writing 🐌 Solarpunk Philosophy ☀️ Parkinson's Advocacy 🤝 johnmiedema.art

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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Now two. Now two. ❤️❤️
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Are you still masking, someone asked. Oh, face masks, I stopped using those a long time ago. I thought you meant neurodivergent masking. The world is quite insane. Sometimes I feel safer to be different now, but then the normal police could come crashing at any time. Best hide.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Reminder: Meditation Community gathers online this evening, October 5, at 7 p.m. EDT “Is there a clarity waiting, of the kind that is elsewhere now but will be bountiful then?” meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/reminder-m... #meditation #parkinsons
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Reminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m. EST. meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/reminder-m...
meditationcommunity.substack.com
Reminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m. EST.
Reminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I'm coming out with a 20 year update to Slow Reading with contributions by two others. In 2028. Minor update. News to come.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I foresee a work of fiction, hard meditation fiction, a story of an old disgraced monk who teaches a young one. It is set in different time periods, present and future. That's all about that for now. It will incorporate all my learnings. It will be written by my hand only. How's that?
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My plan is to write essays about meditation, neurotech, AI, and post humanism as research till I retire. In addition I am facilitating online meditation, and am involved in AI coding and neurotech research. All of this will come to an end in about a year or so. Then I dedicate myself to writing.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I felt I completed my cycle of drawing and picked up writing essays again. It was greatly facilitated by AI. I finally could write almost as fast as I think. I consider it my research assistant, performing lower level cognitive work, a collaboration for which I still own every word.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I'll jot some notes. I used to write a lot of essays myself. It is my preferred medium. I would draw pictures to along with these essays online because the web is a visual medium. Writing the essays took sooo long, about one per week. At one point I gave up and shifted into drawing for some years.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I used to write posts on my process. I don't do that often anymore. I am deep into a plan for a single worthy work following my upcoming somewhat early retirement. Turned 60 this year. Today is a Saturday. I'm in a long line of pickup trucks to drop off some junk at a community dump.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
What's worse is MPs getting handed full speeches handed to them by their party
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
100% of MPs speeches are written with computer help, analysis finds #canpoli #ai
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
100% of MPs speeches are written with computer help, analysis finds
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That's a story too. Teaching AI to write and draw like me. Takes some unpacking.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fair. But I'm in a research and drafting stage. More plotting ideas. Soon I will shift into a more writing art phase again. Give it a year. AI will recede in its role. Very deliberate.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Oh I don't mind at all. I write drafts first, have AI revise, I revise again. It's a circle of collaboration. I don't have a research team. And the buck stops with me. I own every last word.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It's handy how AI can summarize to a character limit
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
On a side note, Gander, which uses BlueSky architecture, bumped their post character limit from 300 to 900. I appreciate it. I know you would like that on BlueSky.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thanks for reading it and commenting. I believe it is a fresh idea and hope it gets some traction.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AI Makes Machines Smarter. Neurotech Makes Humans Smarter. A Cost Case for Neurotechnology in Operations johnmiedema.substack.com/p/ai-makes-m... #neurotech #ai #operations #infrastructure #it
johnmiedema.substack.com
AI Makes Machines Smarter. Neurotech Makes Humans Smarter.
A Cost Case for Neurotechnology in Operations
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There are different kinds of literary achievement. Generations have loved and emulated his work. It may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn’t make it trite.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
But White proves my point: he is psychologically modern, effectively working in a different literary genre.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Tolkien wasn’t writing a psychological novel. You’re criticizing an epic romance for not doing what a different literary genre does. This dismissiveness is like criticizing a Greek tragedy for not being Dostoevsky. Go back to complaining about German politics ;)
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Calling Tolkien’s prose “penny novel level” is not an argument. You don’t have to admire his style, but LOTR deliberately shifts registers, from colloquial Hobbit speech to epic and elegiac prose. Simplicity in places is a stylistic choice, not evidence of limited ability.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Tolkien can fairly be criticized for archetypal rather than psychologically subtle characters. But “restricted vocabulary” and “sensationalistic” are strange charges against a philologist whose deliberately varied prose draws on epic, saga, myth, and medieval romance.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That's a stretch, to say Tolkien is not literary quality. It very much defined an entire genre rather than being part of one, which is one solid definition of literary.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Lake Ontario Way?
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Let's call it Obama Way www.narcity.com/ottawa/city-... #ottawa
narcity.com
City of Ottawa to rename Trump Avenue as trade war continues
City of Ottawa to rename Trump Avenue
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I appreciate your local perspective 🙂
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The fall series of the Meditation Community begins tonight at 7 p.m. EST. meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/the-fall-s...
meditationcommunity.substack.com
The fall series of the Meditation Community begins tonight at 7 p.m. EST
This first gathering will be an information session plus a short meditation
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
How many Zuck Zombies will be liberated today 🪿🍁⛓️‍💥 #facebook #gander #canada
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In the game of Risk, when one player becomes overwhelmingly dominant, weaker players find power through collaboration. We’re watching that dynamic unfold economically now, as Canada and Europe strengthen their ties, reduce their dependence on the US, and begin to shift the balance of power.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Perhaps the EU + Canada could replace NATO, i.e. subtract the US and its war machine. 🤔 #canpoli #europoli #nato
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I find most people are closet enthusiasts
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I have the same mission on Gander. There are more of us. They respond to my posts. The snubs are typically limp.
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Reposted by John Miedema
simsa0 @simsa0.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
We have no problems accepting prostheses, medical devices, or mood altering pharmaceuticals. So where does the defensiveness against therapeutic machines like psychotherapeutic chatbots come from?
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Online Meditation Begins Monday, September 21, at 7 p.m. EST Launching Meditation for Parkinson's 🤝 @parkinsonseurope.bsky.social @parkinsons.org.uk @parkinsondotorg.bsky.social @parkinsonssucks.bsky.social @worldpdcongress.bsky.social @parkinsoncanada.bsky.social @parkinsonsaus.bsky.social
meditationcommunity.substack.com
Online Meditation Begins Monday, September 21, at 7 p.m. EST
The first gathering will be an information session
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Meditation can adapt to a body changed by Parkinson’s. Tremor, imbalance and necessary movement need not interrupt the practice; they can become part of it. Sitting, walking or simply following the breath, meditation can remain a lifelong companion through changing circumstances.
meditationcommunity.substack.com
Practising Meditation with Parkinson’s
Adapting to a Changing Body
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
@charlieangus104.bsky.social you can blend your all-Canadian digitally sovereign Gander account with your US-based BlueSky account if you like. The platforms are friendly that way. 🍁🇨🇦
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Reposted by John Miedema
Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Happy Independence Day Canada. The threats are going to come fast, furious and over the top. They will threaten escalation because the White House cannot abide an independent and democratic nation on their border. But we've got this. The Juno beach gene is in every one of us. Carry on
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Research on meditation and Parkinson’s extends beyond stress reduction. Studies report psychological, motor and cognitive benefits, while emerging research points to effects involving dopamine, neuroplasticity and inflammation. The evidence is promising but still developing.
meditationcommunity.substack.com
Meditation and Parkinson’s Research
Psychological, Motor, Cognitive and Biological Benefits
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Yes
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I see it was just in one state. That is not so dramatic. Canada has its Alberta with Danielle Smith too
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Shocking. I have no words.
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Damn autocorrect
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Edit Grevious Angels. Damn autocorrect
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
@charlieangus104.bsky.social Live with Previous Angels at Motel Chelsea! 🎸✊ Charlie, I've had several requests that you come join @gandersocial.ca
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Learn AI to Take Back the Planet johnmiedema.art/learn-ai-to-...
johnmiedema.art
Learn AI to Take Back the Planet – John Miedema
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
People fear AI is making students stupid, just as they once feared Google—and, in ancient Greece, writing itself. Socrates warned that writing could create the appearance of wisdom without understanding. AI carries the same risk, but the issue is how we use it: to avoid thinking or think further.
johnmiedema.art
Socrates Was Worried Too – John Miedema
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John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I agree that technology can worsen inequality. But the RAND paper measures the income gap; it doesn’t establish technology as its cause. How AI’s gains are distributed depends on laws, institutions and political choices. More inequality is possible, not the “best case.”
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