#I don't learn well in typical settings and it takes me longer to grasp a lot of simple concepts

[thedreadpoetroberts]

You can be really smart and still have a learning disability.

You can be really smart and still have a learning disability.

You can be really smart and still have a learning disability.

[star-wanderer]

The end of the Universe.

Not a book review, more an essay on what the books brought to me. Warning for longposting.

So recently I finished a book by one of my favourite authors, Becky Chambers. "The galaxy, and the ground within" was the final book in her Wayfarers series, more a set of loosely connected stories told in one collective universe than the typical linked series of books detailing one main story. Compared to some of the other stories in the series that I read years earlier, I cannot say that this felt as impactful or momentous when I finished it, but that isn’t to say it lacked meaning to me either.

Chambers writes stories that, in my opinion, grasp beautifully the intricacy of living in a society and being alive. To a greater extent, I would argue that her writing is about what it means to be human. The first book of hers that I read was actually not the first in the series. I will come back to "the galaxy and the ground within" later, but I want to talk about one of her earlier books first, the one that really hit home for me and changed the way I saw the world. I first picked up “A closed and common orbit”, a story about an AI designed to assist with living on a ship being transplanted into a human-shaped body. She isn’t recognised by most as a real person with rights or her own autonomy, and she doesn’t identify with, or feel comfortable with the body she now inhabits. She has no legal papers that can easily apply to her or her body, limited capacity to travel because of a lack of documents, and generally no systemic support from the government. And underlying all that, she feels adrift in life now that she is no longer able to fulfil the task she was originally programmed for and is trying to seek meaning in her existence.

To me, the trans metaphor was very clear from both the language used in the book, and the shape of the concept it was presented in. I thought it was both a beautiful way of shedding light on the issue, while also changing the perspective just enough to possibly circumvent the cognitive dissonance that comes with our pre-established notions with modern language involving the trans community and transgender people. Something that most people aren’t consciously aware of is how much phrasing, word choice, and packaging can affect or sway judgement based on established ideals. By simply changing how an idea is presented or phrased, two completely different reactions can be obtained from the same people. I felt that this was cleverly used in the series to present the issue and the struggle of just trying to fit into life like everyone else in a relatable and understandable fashion. I don't think that it should be a struggle that needs to be explained, but there it is.

We follow Lovelace, the AI, in choosing a new name for herself, through her struggles in trying to figure out her place in the world without simply taking orders from others, and her struggles with feeling comfortable with her body. Lovelace, or Sidra, as she renames herself, repeatedly expresses a disconnect from the body she inhabits and her mind. The language used would be very familiar to people with similar struggles, but still coherent and easily parseable to a reader without that knowledge. The wording highlighted the clear disconnect between Sidra, the identity we were following, and the body she lived in to mimic a human. She didn’t feel comfortable or at home in the body she used, and made adjustments where she could to her environment instead to help her feel more comfortable. She couldn’t change the circumstances of her creation, but she could learn to unwire her old programming and form new habits of her choice, accepting as well the consequences of those choices. At one point in the story, it takes giving up control of the body to return to controlling a ship, Sidra’s original purpose and a goal she strives towards for most of the book before Sidra comes to appreciate what having a physical human body allows her to do. It is the first moment in the book that Sidra identifies the body she had been using as her own, and not just a form made for her, signifying an shift in thinking. Additionally, as a mass produced AI on the market, Lovelace, now Sidra, was being exposed to things and experiences beyond the imagining of a shipboard computer. Through the text, I sensed a certain connection as well to people who at some point in their lives are made to step out of their small corner of the world and are shown a whole new life that they never imagined possible and now have to readjust their way of thinking about the world. Our world has certain trends, cultures, and expectations of us for whatever roles we were born into. Almost everything is set up for us to slide into these roles and not change, but not everyone can fit in neatly into the boxes society has laid out for us. Sometimes by choice, sometimes by circumstance.

The book doesn’t just tell Sidra’s story of learning about herself beyond her core programming, but there are other quieter stories in the background. But they all weave together to become one tapestry of lives and experiences that constitutes living on a society with other people and making the space around them more comfortable and better for people. Pepper goes to great lengths to help Sidra adjust to being human, and Sidra makes a friend named Tak who introduces her to tattooing, to parties, and helps her discover herself. Pepper’s fix-it job doesn’t work strictly by money, she also trades in simple favours such as food discounts and medical checkups in return for helping them out. There’s a general air in the stories of how although there are always people with less pleasant intentions or with less common sense than is good for them, most people are kind and making their way through life by making the space around them better, and helping others in the process.

Which brings me back to "the galaxy, and the ground within". In this book, Chambers writes us a simple story on the surface about a group of weary travelers who get stuck at what was meant to be a pitstop on their travels when a tech failure shuts down all planetary travel. Three travelers and their two hosts are stuck together in what is basically a small hotel with nothing to do other than twiddle their thumbs and wait for the authorities to do their thing.

That brings me to the diversity in the series. Chambers uses the canvas of a galaxy-wide community to introduce diversity of cultures and race/species to us, but even within species there is diversity based on their origins, their parents, and their personal life choices. There is a great deal of emphasis throughout the series placed on the importance and impact of the choices one person makes about how they want to live their life. I wouldn't say it is more emphasised in this story than others, but I think you cannot talk about a Chambers book in her Wayfarers universe without praising the racial and cultural diversity.

When we talk about diversity and representation in our current media, it is still a frustrating conversation with people at times about why they should see different faces and identities there. But something that I've heard across a range of ages and generations from people about science fiction is "Where are all the aliens?" or "Why aren't there more aliens?" The cognitive dissonance I mentioned earlier really comes to bear here, and Chambers makes full use of it with her cast. Even for culturally savvy and well-travelled people as our main cast in this story, we still see that the world they live in is so big that they still don't fully and completely understand everything. These are people who are well travelled, well informed, and people who even make a point to go out of their way to know more about other places, cultures, and people, and they still acknowledge the massive gap in their knowledge of each other's races when they meet.

Some characters lean heavier into their culture of birth, some mix fluidly wherever they go without a particular distinct culture that they call their own, some pick up things from all the places they travel, some change their minds as they grow and see new things and decide to leave some things of their past behind them. But ultimately people decide how they want to live and who they want to be, and others make the choice to respect that. People understand, in this universe, that you cannot live without encountering people very different from yourself and that accommodations must be made for them. Some amount of thoughtfulness is expressed by everyone to at least take into consideration that different people need different things, and that even within a race, no two people are the same. Not everyone is going to agree or like some differences, but ultimately a conflict also isn’t going to resolve anything and non-confrontational methods are just preferable, so people make spaces for different things or make spaces as accommodating as possible. It’s a philosophy I firmly believe we could do well to adopt and remember today.

One last thing that I came to realise after some thought is perhaps a final click of why I like reading Chamber’s books so much. In her works, her characters communicate with each other in a way I feel we should all do. Sometimes there are gaps intentionally written in the conversation where the wrong things are said, or not said, sometimes things still don’t work out even after all the words have been said with careful thought, or sometimes people still don’t agree at the end, but her characters still talk to each other when they have a problem and do their best to clearly communicate things and clear up differences and clarify to reduce misunderstandings. Even if they are of different opinions, the characters understand that at least effort was put in to consider the thoughts of the others. In a universe as diverse and far ranging as theirs, they need to do their best to be clear and precise in what they mean, while accounting for differences in language and culture and levels of understanding; not to simply expect or demand everyone else rise up to their level of comprehension, but to raise others up together with them. They vocalise their problems, because acknowledging an issue openly is the first step to getting the problem resolved between them. They ask for clarification and ask for forgiveness when there is a mistake, because mistakes happen and that is understandable and easily forgivable. But to commit a misdeed intentionally when it could have been cleared up or done with more thoughtfulness is a much harsher mark against you. As someone who spends so much time listening to others, this is something I wish we did more often. Kindness and thoughtfulness aren’t a high expectation, and they shouldn’t be in a society so diverse. We shouldn't need to touch the stars and populate the galaxy to realise that we need to be kind to ourselves and our fellow neighbours, whoever they may be and wherever they may come from.

If I've omitted mentioning stuff from the books or avoided specifics, please understand that this has been largely just a rambling loose connection of thoughts from me that I spent a few minutes making graphics for because I love the colour purple and the graphics make me happy. I had a lot of thoughts rattling around after finishing the final book in a universe I loved existing in so much. I feel happier for having written this all our and put it out there, so yeah.

[prosteticanimals]

10 Things Most People Don't Know About fireinsidemusic

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Millennials are listed here to remain! They are really young, vibrant and energetic and they're the longer term. They are great belongings which the world will have to harness and use. These are the generation which is revolutionizing the planet. They are the budding leaders of tomorrow. They adopt technological innovation and stimulus in the identical breadth. This era can also be a collaborative and social technology that includes a focus on comprehending and setting up their expertise by means of different kinds of medium to find out the responses. It can be for your educator like us to provide an arena for engagement and discovery along with be considered a information specialist and mentor. It can be for learning platform companies like Nirmiti Academy to give an explorative and experiential expertise and produce out their true probable in everyday life and at work. It is this transformational journey that we at Nirmiti Academy look ahead to every single day to master, unlearn and relearn Using these youthful and magical era - the Millennials!

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Pleased MOOCing!