Anthropologists have long told us that, as a species neither particularly strong nor fast, humans survived because of our unique ability to create and cooperate… What is new is the extent to which so many civic and corporate leaders – sometimes entire cultures – have lost sight of our most precious collective quality. – Aeon
Author: Douglas McLennan
Jazz Pianist Assaulted In Subway – He May Never Play Again
“I thought that this was how I was going to die,” he recalled two weeks later, describing the attack in a written note because it was still painful to talk about it. He did not know how many in the group had hit him. They fractured his right collarbone, injured his arm and bruised him all over. After surgery for the broken bones, he was not sure whether he will ever be able to play the piano again. He has been unable to use his right hand at all, and said he is learning to do everything with his left hand. – The New York Times
What We Could Learn From A Theatre That Is Inclusive Of Everyone
“Inclusion is not a final destination – it is something that enables greater creativity and brings greater value. I think it allows us to have different conversations around what that value is and where you might find it.” – The Stage
Some NY Theatres Lobby To Reopen Given Their Unconventional Spaces
A coalition of theaters are lobbying New York State for special permission to present ticketed performances to reduced capacity, socially distanced audiences. Because of their open spaces and flexible designs, these theaters argue that they can safely return to business now or soon, before standard theaters do. At present, though, only rehearsals, gallery exhibitions and film shoots are allowed. – The New York Times
Study: Our Brains Prefer Happy Endings To Happiness Earlier On
Participants prefer experiences with happy endings to experiences that became slightly less enjoyable towards the end. Thanks to their work with fMRI imaging, Martin Vestergaard and Wolfram Schultz are also able to suggest some of the mechanical underpinnings of this preference by showing that different parts of the brain preserve and process different pieces of information from the same experience. – Wired
The Confusing Messages From Our Screens
Less than two weeks before our quadrennial democratic experiment in terror, division, heartbreak and the art of the possible, our home screens are sending wildly mixed messages about democracy in action — how it was, how it is, how it should be and how we might save America from itself. – Chicago Tribune
Oh My But It’s Tempting To Hope Science Can Explain Life (Can It?)
By cracking the genetic code, we have become able to harness the machinery of living cells to do our bidding by assembling new macromolecules of our own devising. As we have gained an ever more accurate picture of how life’s tiniest and simplest building blocks fit together to form the whole, it has become increasingly tempting to imagine that biology’s toughest puzzles may only be solved once we figure out how to tackle them on physics’ terms. – Nautilus
At Issue Over The Hirshhorn’s Plan To Remake Its Gardens
The opinion of Hirshhorn officials about whether the sculpture garden is a work of art is central to their stewardship and decision-making about the sculpture garden’s proposed redesign. – Cultural Landscape Foundation
Adobe Is Using AI To “Fix” Video Of You Dancing (So You Look Better)
Like autotuning in music, which corrects your pitch, the dance AI adjusts your images in video so you’re actually keeping up with the beat. – Protocol
Shonda Rhimes On Leaving Disney/ABC: Her Disneyland Pass Didn’t Work
Rhimes proceeded to call a “high-ranking executive” at the company to figure out the issue, but he showed no interest in giving television’s most prominent showrunner a $154 ticket to the park. “Don’t you have enough?” he allegedly responded. Rhimes collected herself, hung up, and called her lawyer with a simple directive: She was going to move to Netflix, and she’d “find new representatives” if that couldn’t be accomplished. – The Hollywood Reporter