But that was the architects’ plan from the beginning: “‘Playgrounds should be for proper risk-taking,’ says co-designer Jeanette Emery-Wallis of Land Use Consultants, ‘and getting dirt under your fingernails.'”
Category: ideas
A Nerd’s-Eye View Of The Arts
A scientist steps into the arts and finds that everything, including money (subtract a couple of zeroes for arts grants), is different – but that science and the arts are “just different ways of engaging with questions that matter to us.”
Is It Time For Latinos To Show Their Political Clout In The Arts?
Yes, because when politicians “detect even minor public opinion shifts, or the increasing organization of special interest groups, or the rise in money being raised to achieve some end that may even remotely be interpreted as having political over or under tones, their radar kicks into high gear.”
We’re All Publishers Now (Seriously – Check Out Gawker’s New System)
“The blog posts and re-blogged posts produced by readers are competing with the output of his own writers and editors for attention — and the result is something approaching a meritocracy of sorts, where the best content (theoretically) rises to the top.”
Who Are America’s Intellectuals? Once They Were Artists, Scientists…. Now….
“We oscillate wildly between demonizing our intellectuals and deifying them; they appear to us, in turn, as nuisances, threats, and saviors. We cut their funding and then study how their brains function. We trust them with our economy, our climate, our media and our institutions, then rage against them for their failures–and then trust them all over again.”
In Praise Of Being Dumb
“I am dumb. Dumb is an ill-prepared slacker, riding on hunches and intuition. Willfully amnesiac–History, what’s that?–dumb is a tabula rasa, full of emptiness.”
Is Technology Killing Our Future?
“Doug Tompkins foresees a dark future dominated as he puts it by more ugliness, damaged landscapes, extinct species, extreme poverty, and lack of equity and says humanity faces a stark choice; either to transition now to a different system or face a painful collapse.”
The Link Between Creativity And Eccentricity
“Creativity and eccentricity often go hand in hand, and researchers now believe that both traits may be a result of how the brain filters incoming information. Even in the business world, there is a growing appreciation of the link between creative thinking and unconventional behavior, with increased acceptance of the latter.”
America’s Star System Pays Pretty Well
“The top of American life has become a very cozy and lucrative place, where the social capital of who you are and who you know brings unimaginable returns. If you’re an international rock star, you can get a piece of the deal when Facebook has its I.P.O. If you’re a global columnist, you can monetize your influence across the speaker’s circuit and through paid TV gigs.”
‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws And Classic Westerns
Stanley Fish: “In fact, ‘stand your ground’ is more than a declaration of a right; it is an injunction – stand your ground, be a man. Retreating in order to avoid violence is not the commendable act of a prudent man, but the act of a coward, of someone who runs away. It is this aspect of the [laws] … that links them to the novelistic and filmic representations of the old west.”