I love the idea of a Eudaimonia Machine (from Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia, meaning the epitome of human capability)
some of the links above touch on Cal Newport’s idea of Deep Habits: Work Analog - “always work with printouts and a pen”
similar to “work analog” is the idea that constraints actually focus, accelerate & boost creativity
specifically in photography: Freedom Constraints in Photography | Karl Mortimer - “Constraints can give a photographer permission to focus, permission to shut out other distractions and build themselves a creative framework”
“constraint[s] [are] necessary to improve your photography [such as] using a fixed focal length lens.”
“adding constraints to your workflow can increase your concentration levels and increase your creativity”
using paper books vs screens - “our memories are visuospatial in nature.[1] We remember things not just by seeing them but by locating them spatially. It’s why we remember how to get to places via landmarks rather than recalling maps”
Bill Gates, Inside the Gates by Walter Isaacson (9.20.2013) - “Gates was furiously writing the BASIC interpreter code on yellow legal pads. ‘I can still see him alternately pacing and rocking for long periods before jotting on a yellow legal pad, his fingers stained from a rainbow of felt-tip pens,’ Allen recalled.”
TIL about “line displays” such as that of the PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) computer at Harvard. Turns out these line displays worked differently in comparison to modern pixel-based displays. The line displays were vector-based and displayed graphics & text by drawing lines directly between specified points on the screen, and not by illuminating individual pixels.