"...simple awareness is the seed of responsibility." p. xxii

And so the journey begins! On each new page, I will summarize each set of chapters, provide some reflections questions on the chapters, and recap of what readers share.

Summary

Introduction: Surviving Usefulness

Chapter 1: The Case for Nothing

Questions

  1. Commercial social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are key architects of the attention economy. What was your original impression of them and how has it changed? Can you pinpoint a specific moment when your opinion shifted?
  2. On p.xxii, O'Dell describes HtDN "as an activist book disguised as a self-help book." Is there really much of a difference between self-help and activism? How do they intersect? Where or why do they diverge?
  3. The chapters reference a lot of different types of art (performance, visual, music, etc.) How does this help or hinder your understanding of the book's themes? Which art piece has been the most illustrative thus far?
  4. Oakland almost destroyed the Morcom Ampitheatre of Roses in 1970s, and O'Dell posits that the city wanted to rezone because what the rose garden produced is not easily identified, measured, or exploited (p. 14). What do you think the impact of its loss might have been? Can you think of an example of this kind of loss in your community? What was its impact?
  5. How does using the internet cater to the death instinct and/or the life instinct (p.26)?
  6. How might you use these chapters to teach someone how to do nothing?

Recap: ‣

One of the beauties of this book club is that we hope that people will share their reflections with us through whatever medium they feel most comfortable. Participants may email links to their posts to [email protected] or use tag their posts using #dlinqbookclub #HtDN. Steven will summarize any material he receives and place it here.

Thank you to everyone's interest in book club thus far! I've enjoyed revisiting the book, and look forward to connecting to different people around the world to share our understanding of O'Dell's fascinating book!

Shout out to Charlotte S. from Middlebury College for recommending "In Praise of Wasted Time" as follow-up reading!