Resting fallow, going analog-digital hybrid, and summer reading
Growing up in Switzerland, I was used to Sundays of silence. All stores were closed. Museums closed. Libraries closed. Only church was open. Sunday was an absolute day of rest, reflection, afternoon walks, shared meals. Even during the week, grocery and retail stores closed between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m. for lunch, ending their day at 6:30.
This regular pattern of rest was mirrored in people’s personal rhythm. Hurry was not part of the culture. And it was considered rude to call someone during “Mittagspause” - the midday rest.
People were confident and comfortable in stating, “I am not available”. We seem to long for this now:
We somehow seem to feel that this is no longer a choice (although almost all respondents to this note pine for a time when we could be offline). Yet, we fall apart at the seams if we don’t rest.
Just like a field needs to lie fallow in order to produce bounty, we need to simply be “not available” online.
Tsh Oxenreider set an inspiring example in Taking an Annual Screen Sabbath that I plan to follow over the next weeks as I embark on the Camino pilgrimage and visit my family in Switzerland:
Over time, I have learned many things from this practice, but the most unexpected lesson, the one that should matter most in this to us all, is that long screen sabbaths deliver benefits far beyond a better work-life balance. To begin with, leaving screens for a month gives the gift of humility by reminding us, in a good way, that none of us are that particularly special. Even though the occasional popular social media post might give us a boost of presumed significance, the world will keep turning even if we go without that boost. Likewise, missing that one popular post from someone else, the one everyone we know is talking about, reminds us that none of us truly needs to keep up with the digital zeitgeist.
…A month-long screen sabbath helps put screens in their rightful place in our lives: as controllable tools rather than machine impersonations that threaten to replace us. Screens should help us do the work of living life better, not do the work of living life for us. Machines cannot engage in fully human activities; that is a privilege afforded only to us divinely-made mortals.
So we must fight to prevent screens from robbing us of the dignity of work, of community, and of spiritual meaning. Screen sabbaths are important because they remind us that we humans actually live in small, three-dimensional analog communities, not in the behemoth digital world that’s a hair’s breadth away from becoming an all-encompassing metaverse, an alternate reality created by billionaires where we will willingly do all our living. Regular, extended screen breaks recenter our focus on the real, several-mile radius immediately around our homes and communities, the physical and social setting of our real lives.
You can read Tsh’s entire piece published in Hearth and Field here.
I look forward to sharing fresh thoughts that have grown out of this period of rest and real-life living when I return!
Going analog-digital hybrid
In our most recent piece Welcome to the Analog Renaissance: The Future Is Trust, Peco and I declared our commitment that anything we produce online, is first sourced and developed in the analog world, started out with handwritten brainstorming notes and drafts, was developed through conversations, and was created free of any AI use:
School of the Unconformed plans to go beyond the “human certified badge” to establish reader-writer trust:
I recently came across 600 pages of beautiful linen foolscap paper. It seemed made for our readers! Starting in mid-July, I am thus inviting paying subscribers to write me a letter. It can simply be a letter to introduce yourself, to share ideas, poems, offer reading recommendations, or to ask questions.
I will respond with a handwritten full-page letter, embossed with the School of the Unconformed logo.
In addition, starting in mid-July 2025, I will invite annual paying subscribers to a 40-min one-on-one zoom chat. While not as good as a real-life conversation over a hot drink, it will allow us to “meet” each other, ask questions, and simply connect.
Summer Reading (by Peco)
Hearth & Field. Last year, editor Matthew Giambrone sent us a print copy of the Hearth & Field journal (and a gorgeous mug made by a small pottery company in Wisconsin), beautifully printed, laid out, and filled with wonderful essays (including ones by Anthony Esolen, Tsh Oxenreider, and Dixie Dillon Lane) —and even some blueberry recipes. Recommended reading for anyone in search of a grounded life!
How Think like Shakespeare by Scott Newstok. A concise volume that glitters with perennial wisdom on learning. “Newstok argues persuasively for a return to some of the pedagogical methods that proved so effective in the 1500s.” - Times Literary Supplement.
The Art of Being a Creature by Ragan Sutterfield. “This book,” according to Paul Kingsnorth, “teaches Christians how to get their hands dirty—and why they should.”
The Wanderer and the Way by G. M. (Mark) Baker, a novel set in the ninth century on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
Patterns for Life, by Lisa Rose and Laura E. Wolfe. An insightful yet practical book for home educators, offering an Orthodox perspective of Charlotte Mason’s pioneering work.
3 Theories of Everything, a compact and marvelously meta-level book on worldviews from a former-Buddhist-turned-Christian Ellis Potter.
Found and Ground (2023) and Drawn from the Wild (2025) both by
Caroline Ross of Uncivil Savant. Beautifully designed guides with step-by-step instructions on how to forage natural objects like stones or acorns from the wild, and to turn them into paint, ink, and other creative materials. “Nobody knows more than Caroline Ross about the practice of connecting the hand, the heart and the ground.” - Paul Kingsnorth
Two “machine” books to look forward to this autumn, already available for pre-order: Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity, and Joel J Miller’s The Idea Machine.
3 Great Book Lists
If you are still in search of more book-length summer reading, here are 3 downloadable book lists that Ruth and I have collected since last fall. We’ve also removed the paywall on the accompanying articles:
The Reading Rebellion: One book. Two Weeks. Repeat.
Unmachined Words: A (mostly) non-fiction reading list to keep you human
The Flavors of Faux History: Preparing for the Collapse of Knowledge
And finally, 4 important reads on AI
How in the world did we get here? “There is no artificial intelligence; it’s a misnomer. In reality, it’s a social technology that remixes the works of humans, without crediting or rewarding them—and then it competes with them.” From a deep dive on the history of AI by Stay Slick.
Can we trust AI to make choices for us? “In the past few months, researchers have demonstrated that LLMs will cheat at chess, pretend to adopt new behavioral rules to avoid being retrained, and even attempt to copy themselves to different servers if they are given access to messages that say they will soon be replaced...” Grace Huckins explores the risks of AI “agents”.
If AI is so intelligent, then why does it break down over puzzles a child can do? “…leading models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Deepseek may ‘look smart – but when complexity rises, they collapse’.” Gary Marcus on the strange limits of AI. (Before you read this one, try solving the Tower of Hanoi—it will give context to what the article talks about).
Teachers in England have gotten the go-ahead to use AI. “We're putting cutting-edge AI tools into the hands of our brilliant teachers to enhance how our children learn and develop…” Or so says the Education Secretary. But will it actually enhance learning? For a different perspective on education and AI, see Learning, Fast and Slow by Ruth and I.
Some final thoughts on summer reading courtesy of Willa Cather, published in The Home Monthly in 1896, republished in Hearth and Field:
On Summer Reading by Willa Cather
“THE problem of summer reading is being discussed again among people and by periodicals. That phrase '"summer reading" is always just a little bit irritating, as if books, like butter, were affected by the temperature. But often if the books are not, their readers are, and it is not every book that you care to take with you on your summer vacation. Even a robust intellect must flinch from Herbert Spencer or Locke when the thermometer is a hundred in the shade and the mosquitos are buzzing outside the windows. Philosophy is a burden at any season, and in the summer it is not to be thought of. But why people select this exhausting time of the year when palm leaf fans and soda fountains alone make life worth living, to devour trashy fiction, is the open question. Is there anything on earth more tiresome than a poorly written novel? Plato on the Soul is thrilling and sensational compared to one. When will people learn that it is not their solemn duty to endure the stupidity of inferior yellow-backs? While you are picking out good trout lines and good tents and good rifles, for your outing, pick a few good novels. Poor ones are just like cheap goods of any kind. It is not every book that can keep up with the world in the summer time, or that is good enough to take into the woods. There are only two kinds of literature, good and bad, and if you are not equal to the good, you had better let it alone altogether.”
We are off on our Camino Pilgrimage tomorrow! Have a wonderful start to the summer and we look forward to sharing fresh thoughts and experiences when we return!
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So kind of you to mention Hearth & Field, Peco! I'm so glad you enjoyed the issue.
This was so wonderful to read! So many great suggestions and ideas. I plan to become a paid subscriber!