Pilgrims in the Machine | Peco | Substack

The Idea Machine: Putting Socrates’ Prophecy to the Test

When I was young, wandering the aisles of a local bookstore or public library was a journey of quiet wonder.

Published on School of the Unconformed • Sep 19

How Turtles Can Fly

Sometimes the path to originality goes through conventionality

Aug 27 • Peco

In defense of interstitial time: How to grow life in the in-between moments

For those of you who prefer to read off paper rather than the screen, I have converted the post into an easily printable pdf file.

Published on School of the Unconformed • Aug 22

Can we cure AI demoralization syndrome?

The new virus is airborne, invisible, travels long distances, and cannot be easily filtered.

Aug 8 • Peco

From Blisters to Blessings: Why ordinary is the new radical

Losing track, meaningful pain, talking to strangers, and more...

Published on School of the Unconformed • Jul 22

Recent posts

Unexpected Journeys: On going, and not going, with the flow

My wife Ruth Gaskovski and I, along with Dixie Dillon Lane, recently completed the final 100 km of the Camino with a fantastic group of fellow pilgrims.

Jul 8 • Peco

From Dystopia to Foraging Stones: Summer Reading

I’m heading off to the Camino pilgrimage in Spain, and look forward to sharing this experience in future posts.

Jun 13 • Peco and Joshua Pauling

Welcome to the Analog Renaissance: The Future Is Trust

Protecting generative cognition, haystacking truth, classroom conundrum, and the analog-digital hybrid model

Published on School of the Unconformed • Jun 3

Architecture for a Free Mind: A Visual Guide

How to make screens irrelevant again

Published on School of the Unconformed • May 16

"Internet Real Life": Join a kitchen table conversation with Peter Limberg, Tommy Dixon, and Peco & Ruth

Peco and I are completing a most splendid post on “Architecture for a Free Mind”.

Published on School of the Unconformed • May 10

The day the internet dies

Michael O’Brien, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Visions of the Future

May 3 • Peco

Doomer Optimists and Unconformed Pilgrims

Peco and I are currently working on an upcoming post on Architecture for a Free Mind. See this note, if you would like to contribute to our project.

Published on School of the Unconformed • Apr 30

Beyond Digital Fasting: Staying the Course

Our experience, your experience, and a call for photos

Published on School of the Unconformed • Apr 25

Spirit, Mind & Heart

Unexpected Journeys: On going, and not going, with the flow

My wife Ruth Gaskovski and I, along with Dixie Dillon Lane, recently completed the final 100 km of the Camino with a fantastic group of fellow pilgrims.

Jul 8 • Peco

Words and the Heart: The Two Mirrors of Prayer

God's frequency, acedia, and machine culture

Mar 11 • Peco

The Pantocrator Meets The Master and His Emissary

When I first read Iain McGilchrist’s book The Master and His Emissary, I didn’t just learn something profound about the neuropsychology of the human…

Feb 22 • Peco

The Search for Stillness in a Mad, Mad World

Building mountains of silence amid the speed, clamor and distraction

Oct 10, 2024 • Peco

Disruptive Spirituality: A Fire that Purifies

We need saints in the caves, but we need many more inside the Machine

Oct 2, 2024 • Peco

The Inklings are not dead

Tolkien and Lewis might be gone, but there are still refuges of lifegiving creativity in the world

Aug 29, 2024 • Peco and Ruth Gaskovski

The Event Horizon: Lessons from Anatomy and Hiking Shoes

In search of ideas we can live by

Jul 20, 2024 • Peco

Love and Sacrifice in the Pax Machina

A radical, vulnerable, hidden goodness

Jun 6, 2024 • Peco

Unmachining the Mind

55:13

Reading in the Digital Age

A conversation with Joel J Miller

Apr 24 • Peco, Ruth Gaskovski, and Joel J Miller

The Phantom and Mr. Jobs: Is there a way to stop brain drain?

Vampire cognition, cue shifts, and salted minds

Jan 6 • Peco

Getting Out of the Fishbowl: The Unmachining Self-Assessment

Yes, yes, we know, so let’s get on with it

May 2, 2024 • Peco

Build a Songbird Compass: Agency, Communion, and Tech

How not to be a ghost in the machine

Feb 21, 2024 • Peco and Ruth Gaskovski

The Hollow Boys, and Girls: Restoring Risk, Efficacy, and the Small Triumphs of Life

Intrinsic motivation, digital dissipation, and masters and commanders

Jan 10, 2024 • Peco and Ruth Gaskovski

Pandora’s Devices: Managing the Miseries of the Machine

Marriage is weird, Lincoln was wise, and six words that can transform a relationship

Nov 16, 2023 • Peco and Ruth Gaskovski

The Wedding Feast and the Threshing Floor

Uncanny robots, soufflé teenagers, and the search for “thick” human togetherness

Sep 4, 2023 • Peco

From "Dark Flow" to Crossing Wendell’s Bridge

Disguised losses, the burden of self, and the next great division

Aug 2, 2023 • Peco