People are usually sure that they’re living within a particular culture, but typically wonder if what they have is a civilization. It’s been that way since the days of Madame de Staël and Henry James, but the terms are still easily confused. The German historian Oswald Spengler considered civilization the teleological “inevitable destiny of culture.” And Samuel Huntington’s famous book The Clash of Civilizations, largely about the differences between the Euro-American and Arab worlds, protests that efforts to distinguish culture from civilization “have not caught on,” and the “civilization” of which he writes is really “culture,” a set of beliefs rather than a system of rule.
Blog
The Struggle To Figure Out How Babies Learn (And Why It’s More Difficult For Robots To Learn)
We arrive ready to interact with other humans and our culture. The real genius of human babies is not simply that they learn from the environment – other animals can do that. Human babies can understand the people around them and, specifically, interpret their intentions.
Streaming Hasn’t Just Changed How We Get Music, It’s Changed How We Think About It
Just as the advent of the commercial recording industry (and, later, the evolution of analog recording formats, from wax cylinders to 78-r.p.m. disks and long-playing vinyl records) changed the way musicians write and produce songs, so, too, has streaming. With everything now cleaved from its original time and circumstance (and, it feels worth noting, its cultural and historical context), young songwriters can cull influence from all sorts of disparate sources and make work that feels, somehow, both new and ancient.
Now Here’s An Old Easter Tradition We Could Revive: Priests Dancing Through Labyrinths Tossing Balls
“In Auxerre Cathedral in northern France, and most likely in cathedrals in Sens and Amiens (and perhaps Chartres, as well), clergy gathered around the labyrinth [patterned into the floor of the nave], danced in a circle, and tossed a ball from person to person. These games, according to medieval religious observers, had ties to pagan practices. In certain places, they were incorporated into church rituals for hundreds of years.”
What’s The Best Path To Become A Museum Curator?
To find out, we examined the educational histories of 100 curators who specialize in contemporary art at 69 fine art museums in 32 states. We found that there is no one way to become a curator—although many of the experts we spoke with had strong opinions about what kind of education is most useful.
With Emergency Campaign, Elgin Symphony Orchestra In Metro Chicago Saves Its Season
“The Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s season finale concerts were saved by ‘an outpouring of support’ from the community, which donated more than $140,000 since a public plea 10 days ago, orchestra officials said.”
How Does The Music Business Work? It’s A Much More Complicated Discussion Than We’re Having
“Much of the public conversation about important issues in the music business seems light in nutritional value, or narrowly focused on the concerns and actions of a handful of superstars. If you’re working in a genre or music subculture that isn’t based around mass-market assumptions, your concerns may be absent. We can all read dozens of hot-takes on the latest celebrity copyright kerfuffle, but how many of them examine whether a young composer whose work has been infringed has any meaningful recourse, if she can’t afford expensive legal representation?”
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ – How The Extraterrestrial Epic ‘Changed The Very Form Of Cinema’
“As Stanley Kubrick’s monolithic movie celebrates its half century, special effects gurus, directors and those who worked on the film consider its legacy.”
Ancient City Of Teotihuacán Suggests Life Was Pretty Good For Most Residents
Scientists studying the site have been able to present some remarkable theories. For one, we haven’t found any direct evidence of a king. The city’s extensive mural paintings contain no obvious images of royalty, and, to date, no one has found signs of a royal burial under the city’s pyramids. Archaeologists David Carballo at Boston University and Linda Manzanilla at the National Autonomous University of Mexico suggest that this is because Teotihuacán’s government may have been closer to a democracy than a dictatorship: It likely involved shared power, and the people may have had more say in selecting their ruler than in many ancient societies.
Do Flashbacks In Literary Novels Even Work, Really?
Tim Parks: “Every few days, working on my new novel, my thoughts flash back to something Colm Tóibín said at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival nine months ago: that flashbacks are infuriating. Speaking at an event to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, Tóibín said Austen was marvelous because she was able to convey character and plot in the most satisfying way without the ‘clumsiness’ of the flashback. Today, on the other hand, we have to hear how a character’s parents and even grandparents met and married. Writers skip back and forth in time filling in the gaps in their shaky stories. It is dull and incompetent. Is Tóibín right? I worry, as I prepare to put together a flashback myself. Is there no merit or sense in the device? Didn’t Joyce use it? And Faulkner? Or David Lodge, for that matter? Or John Updike?”
