When Jon left to hitchhike to Hamilton Island, leaving me to single parent, Adam had been sick for a week. I expected that Adam would recover soon after Jon left, but as the days passed, Adam was still fatigued. He had large swollen glands on his neck and suffered from seemingly random nose bleeds and […]
In our first post on instincts, we explored the powerful drive of self-preservation and how it shapes our personal lives, relationships, and society. Now, we look beyond the self, turning to an instinct at least as significant: altruism. For our purposes I consider altruism as the act of caring for others, sharing resources, and ensuring […]
Recently, I’ve been reading Our Tribal Future by Mike Samson (2023), a thought-provoking exploration into the hidden costs of loneliness and the profound benefits of human connection. Together with my recent interview with Gregg Easterbrook, who emphasized the mental health benefits of stepping away from social media and the news that’s designed to upset us, […]
Back in February, we made the most of the quieter weekends before the soccer season to try out an overnight cycling trip with Adam and Dani out to the first leg of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. We packed our bikes, jumped on the train out to the trail head at Wulkuraka then cycled to […]
Adam and Dani are great at getting their own lunches. Their go-to option for many years has been some sort of smallgoods and cheese on wholemeal bread. While this is among the healthier choices, we’re working to find even better options that: Its hard to go past wheat- and bean-based proteins for minimal GHG, land-use-change […]
They call it the three-day effect. A kind of cognitive and emotional reset that happens after about 72 hours immersed in nature. A 2012 study by neuroscientist David Strayer and colleagues published in PLOS ONE found that people scored significantly better on creative problem-solving tasks after three days in the wilderness, without digital devices. The […]
“Children come into the world burning to learn. What extinguishes that flame is often school.”— Peter Gray, Free to Learn At Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, there are no teachers. No curriculum. No tests. No grades. No age segregation. And yet, for over fifty years, its alumni have gone on to become scientists, artists, engineers, […]
When Adam’s game controller cable broke, we didn’t toss it—we repaired it. Or we tried to repair it… In a world where e-waste is piling up, even small fixes make a difference. This quick repair saved a controller from landfill and gave Adam a chance to learn how things work. Unfortunately it’s still not working. […]
