Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation), this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of our attention, why is that? Because ‘let us remember this again, ‘What we give our Attention to matters,’ as Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention another excerpt which we have titled – New Tools & their Effects from the book titled ‘The Axemaker’s Gift’ – Technology’s capture and control of our minds and Culture by James Burke and Robert Ornstein. This book is about the people who gave us the world in exchange for our minds. The gifts we accepted from them gave us the power to change the way we lived, but doing so also changed the way we thought. It is a stunning account of how scientific thinking and technology have gained control over the way we perceive and value the world.  New Tools & their Effects With the acceleration also came major change in the nature of the relationship between us and our axemakers. When tools like the alphabet appeared, they encouraged new ways of thinking. The linear nature of the alphabet facilitated sequential, reductionist, logical forms of expression and thought. Its ease of use promoted literacy and with it the involvement of citizens in the governing process. Above all, the alphabet made it possible to ask questions that were not immediately essential to the well-being of the community. These questions, about matters such as the origin of the universe, the nature of life, or the sum of the internal angles of a triangle, generated increasingly esoteric axemaker vocabulary. They also changed the way we thought about the way we thought. Excerpt from ‘The Axemaker’s Gift’ by James Burke and Robert Ornstein I am sure that you will enjoy reading this book; you can buy your copy from the following link: The Axemakers Gift: Technology’s Capture and Control of Our Minds and Culture Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste! a class="a2a_button_whatsapp" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/whatsapp?