Category: ideas

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

Peter Skerry’s essay is quite pessimistic about how the world has evolved. He writes that the meritocracy structures we have built have become ingrown, timid and self-involved. He wonders if Glazer would agree with him… – The American Interest

Jenny Odell is tired of all the exhortations to be a better you. Even the acres of digital detox books now flooding stores masquerade as reconnecting with what’s real while all the while suggesting you’ll get even more productive after the detox. Her suggestion. Stop. Be a better you. – The Baffler

Instead of looking at what we’re learning, perhaps we should consider the obverse: what becomes safe to forget? As the internet grows ever more powerful and comprehensive, why bother to remember and retain information? If students can access the world’s knowledge on a smartphone, why should they be required to carry so much of it around in their heads? – Aeon

“Today, with the pollution that new technologies have brought to our information ecosystem, this distinction is no longer so easy to make. And this is the real problem, and danger, of satire: not that it mocks and belittles respect-worthy pieties, not that it “punches down,” but that it has become impossible to separate it cleanly from the toxic disinformation that defines our era.” – The New York Times

There is, of course, the economic argument. Overall, arts and culture contribute more than $760 billion a year to the US economy—4.2 percent of GDP. But there’s an awful lot of “soft” power too. “They incubate ideas, provide ethical standards, and raise questions about the status quo—functions that are becoming ever more important as the tech world, ridden by scandal and crisis, faces a moment of reckoning.” – New York Review of Books

“More and less sophisticated arguments and argumenters are mixed and with plenty of idea exchange between them. Add anonymity, and knowing people’s intentions becomes harder, knowing what they mean becomes harder. Treating other people’s views with charity becomes harder, too.” – The Atlantic

After the intervention, working memory in the older adults improved to match the younger group and the effect appeared to last for 50 minutes after the stimulation. Those who had scored worst to start with showed the largest improvements. – The Guardian