<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title></head><body><div style="font-family:Arial;">Two cents:</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Distance does not make the heart grow fonder. Loved the time and discussions at St. John's, but being in Minnesota (or when Nick was in the swamp) diminished the experience.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">The biggest factor, for me, was the post-Hywel simplification/polarization in so many of the discussions. Without him constantly reminding us, <i>"aah, it is more complicated than that,"</i> too many conversations devolved into mere assertions of positions rather than discussions and explorations. Politics was probably the trigger and the theme where this was most evident, but it ranged from complexity to science to climate change, to AI with more minor threads along the way.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">On Wed, Feb 4, 2026, at 7:22 AM, glen wrote:</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> I feel like these disembodied comms are the root of the problem. </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> Granted, FriAM has been much less toxic than some of the other fora </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> I've participated in (and WAY less than those I don't participate in). </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> But even here, we've seen our share. So I think I'm retreating to meat </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> space for the most part.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> I've long lamented the lack of feedback mechanisms in asemantic spaces </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> like this. The multiscale, intense, fast and slow composition of </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> feedback(s) are defining. Degrade those and the definition degrades. I </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> recently failed to remember an aphorism on the fly at the pub. But it </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> nagged enough to make me look it up later:</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> "Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes." - </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> Notorious d.e.b.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> I think I'm simply tired of trying to estimate the assholery. It's so </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> much easier with more feedback.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> On 2/3/26 4:45 PM, Jon Zingale wrote:</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> I know I came to this group in what appears to be its twilight. The in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I feel pressed to ask if it is the case that everyone is either:</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> 1. on vacation/ too busy</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> 2. too depressed / failing to find inspiration</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> 3. moved on to greener forums</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> 4. preferring the company of LLMs</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> ...</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> N. waiting for someone frail to post</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">>> Sometimes I trawl reddit or whatever discord, but I cannot help but feel like beacons of inspiration are becoming fewer and further between. This group has managed to inspire me, keep my interest, for over a decade. In that time, I pushed myself to understand perspectives that I would never have dreamed existed. I hope there is still something to talk about.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> -- </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> ¡s\u0131\u0279\u018e \u05df\u0131\u0250H \u22a5 \u0250\u05df\u05df\u01dddo\u0279 \u01dd u\u01dd\u05df\u0183</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> \u1f45\u03c4\u03b5 oi \u03bc\u1f72\u03bd \u1f04\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9 \u03ba\u03cd\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c7\u03d1\u03c1\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03b4\u03ac\u03ba\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd, \u1f10\u03b3\u1f70 \u03b4\u1f72 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03c6\u03af\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, \u1f35\u03bd\u03b1 \u03c3\u03ce\u03c3\u03c9.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> <a href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> to (un)subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com</a>/</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> archives: 5/2017 thru present </div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com</a>/</div></body></html>