John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Are 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. 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Reminder: 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 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Reminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m. EST. meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/reminder-m...meditationcommunity.substack.comReminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m. EST.Reminder Meditation Community gather online this evening 7 p.m. 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I'm coming out with a 20 year update to Slow Reading with contributions by two others. In 2028. Minor update. News to come. 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I 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? 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026My 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. 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I 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. 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I'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. 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I 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. 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026What's worse is MPs getting handed full speeches handed to them by their party 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026100% of MPs speeches are written with computer help, analysis finds #canpoli #ai 011
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 25/09/2026100% of MPs speeches are written with computer help, analysis finds 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026That's a story too. Teaching AI to write and draw like me. Takes some unpacking. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Fair. 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. 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Oh 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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It's handy how AI can summarize to a character limit 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026On 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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Thanks for reading it and commenting. I believe it is a fresh idea and hope it gets some traction. 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026AI 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 #itjohnmiedema.substack.comAI Makes Machines Smarter. Neurotech Makes Humans Smarter.A Cost Case for Neurotechnology in Operations 111
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026There 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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026But White proves my point: he is psychologically modern, effectively working in a different literary genre. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Tolkien 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 ;) 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Calling 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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Tolkien 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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 24/09/2026That'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. 100
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Let's call it Obama Way www.narcity.com/ottawa/city-... #ottawanarcity.comCity of Ottawa to rename Trump Avenue as trade war continuesCity of Ottawa to rename Trump Avenue 200
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 21/09/2026The fall series of the Meditation Community begins tonight at 7 p.m. EST. meditationcommunity.substack.com/p/the-fall-s...meditationcommunity.substack.comThe fall series of the Meditation Community begins tonight at 7 p.m. ESTThis first gathering will be an information session plus a short meditation 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 20/09/2026How many Zuck Zombies will be liberated today 🪿🍁⛓️💥 #facebook #gander #canada 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 17/09/2026In 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. 010
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Perhaps the EU + Canada could replace NATO, i.e. subtract the US and its war machine. 🤔 #canpoli #europoli #nato 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I have the same mission on Gander. There are more of us. They respond to my posts. The snubs are typically limp. 000
Reposted by John Miedemasimsa0 @simsa0.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We have no problems accepting prostheses, medical devices, or mood altering pharmaceuticals. So where does the defensiveness against therapeutic machines like psychotherapeutic chatbots come from? 011
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Online 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.socialmeditationcommunity.substack.comOnline Meditation Begins Monday, September 21, at 7 p.m. ESTThe first gathering will be an information session 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Meditation 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.comPractising Meditation with Parkinson’sAdapting to a Changing Body 000
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. 🍁🇨🇦 001
Reposted by John MiedemaCharlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Happy 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 17556821262
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Research 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.comMeditation and Parkinson’s ResearchPsychological, Motor, Cognitive and Biological Benefits 000
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I see it was just in one state. That is not so dramatic. Canada has its Alberta with Danielle Smith too 100
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 200
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Learn AI to Take Back the Planet johnmiedema.art/learn-ai-to-...johnmiedema.artLearn AI to Take Back the Planet – John Miedema 110
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 04/09/2026People 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.artSocrates Was Worried Too – John Miedema 120
John Miedema @johnmiedema.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I 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.” 000