Adam Kirsch: “If you Google ‘Homer’ and ‘bees,’ you get images of Homer Simpson, not quotations from the Iliad.”
James Parker: “I resent it, this mania for topicality. Update, refresh, delete cache, clear history, change your underpants.”
(But they agree that if you aim for timelessness, you’ll probably miss.)
Category: ideas
We’re All Suffering, Still, From Future Shock
“The Tofflers framed the question of technological change and its speed in a way that has been largely ignored before and after: as a psychological challenge.”
Yes, Of Course There’s Free Will – And We Should Start Quantifying It
“As we start to understand, and learn to measure, the capacities that underlie behavioural freedom, we can begin to put this natural free will on a scale. Paralleling the measurement of intelligence, we could call it the freedom quotient: FQ. Such a scale should give us new insights into the factors that hinder or enhance our efforts to shape our lives. In other words, FQ should tell us how free we are – and how we can become even more so.”
Thinking That Online Life Isn’t ‘Real’ Life Is Both Wrong And Harmful
“Beyond assuming that physical proximity is inherently more meaningful than whatever’s happening online (it’s not), much of this growing unease betrays a lack of digital fluency.”
It Is Impossible To Stop Comparing Yourself To Your Peers
“They say comparison is the thief of joy, and this, as it turns out, is one cliché that has a raft of empirical evidence backing it up. But there is another truth about social comparison: It’s pretty much inevitable, so you may as well learn to use it to your advantage.”
Technology And The Museum Of The Future
“The forces rocking the technology world—cheaper screens, miniaturized mechanics and increased computing power—are prompting a rich period of experimentation in exhibit design. For museums, such advancements could attract diverse visitors, lure young people and change the way audiences learn about art, science and nature.”
Remember That ‘Win An Inn For Your Essay’ Contest?
“Fifteen complaints were lodged with the Maine attorney general’s office, which led to an inquiry by the State Police. The agency spent four weeks reviewing the rules, the selection process and complaints about the 1993 contest, which had prompted its own inquiry. It determined that Ms. Sage had run a game of skill, which is legal in the state, and not a game of luck like a lottery, which is not.”
How Can The Nation’s Elite Colleges Diversify Their Student Body?
Maybe not with their new website. “There’s much about their admissions criteria that runs counter to the enrollment of underprivileged children, and it’s unclear if the new online platform and application process would really fix that.”
With Our Desire For Happiness, We’re Making Ourselves Miserable
“Instead of trying to be more blissed out, less wrought or angry, they argue, we should assume that we’re going to have negative feelings and develop ways to behave like decent human beings despite them.”
Can You Teach Better Ways Of Making Predictions?
“The essential insight? Prediction accuracy is possible when people participate in a setup that rewards only accuracy — and not the novelty of the explanation, or loyalty to the party line, or the importance of keeping up your reputation. It is within this condition that the “supers,” the top 2 percent of each group, emerged.”