Author: Douglas McLennan

Do Environmental Crises Of 500 Years Ago Have Anything To Teach Us?

Indeed, they do. The worst environmental disasters – the ones that killed the most people – were often deliberately worsened by predatory governments, companies and individuals. Societies that escaped environmental disaster were relatively safe from colonial exploitation, and flexible in the face of shifting environmental circumstances. We face an uncertain future but, like early moderns, there is much we can do to either ease human suffering in the face of environmental upheaval – or make it a great deal worse. – Aeon

By Accident, Howard Sherman Finds Himself In A Theatre Audience Of Young People. It Changed His Experience

“Most theatre professionals recognise the value of bringing in younger patrons, especially those seeking careers in the theatre, as essential to the continued welfare of the industry. But there’s another benefit to bringing in such a group – that it has the effect of improving the vitality of the entire audience, broadening the range of responses to the work and breaking down the homogeneity that too often affects that essential element of theatre: the audience.” – The Stage

The Problem With How We Get News? The Incentives Are Misaligned

Cal Newport, a computer-science professor at Georgetown University, marshals evidence that the addictive properties of our devices are not accidental but, rather, the product of careful thinking by tech companies about the feedback loops that will keep people returning to them. Newport’s main indictment is of social-media platforms, but he also argues that people need to rethink the way they consume news.  – The New Yorker

How Social Impact Philanthropy Is Impacting Arts Such as Theatre And Dance

A case study: “First, its focus on social impact theatre provides another illuminating example of a funder embracing the red-hot field of socially focused arts programming. And second, its work underscores the growing influence of institutional funders operating in fields like dance and theater that traditionally lack robust individual and government support.” – Inside Philanthropy

What Kind Of Computer Is The Brain?

The claim that the brain is a computer is not just a metaphor. The cognitive sciences are full of hypotheses to the effect that the brain computes such-and-such in so-and-so a way. Many of our perceptual capacities, for example, are understood in computational terms, and there aren’t any viable alternatives around. – Aeon

Frederic Rzewski: We Should Abolish All The Conservatories (And Other Provocative Opinions)

“I could never find my own style, no. I have never done anything original. Everything I’ve done I’ve stolen from other people. I mean, Mozart also stole right and left, and so did Bach. All good composers were thieves. It’s totally normal. You pick up something, do it your own way and it no longer belongs to anybody. This idea of genius is absolutely irrelevant to art. Genios in the original latin means daemon. It is something that everybody has! So it is the opposite of our concept of it. It is a meaningless word today.” – Van