Category: ideas

Scott McLemee thinks so: The term “canon” rests on an analogy between an established set of cultural masterpieces, on the one hand, and the authoritative body of scriptures, on the other hand. And the problem with this comparison is that, deep down, it is almost impossible to take seriously. “Canon” is not so much a concept as a dead metaphor — or rather, perhaps, a stillborn one.

“There is no doubt that we’re living in anti-utopian times. The political imagination is, if not dead exactly, certainly in a coma. Politics today is about fiddling, making a tweak here or there but not changing anything much. We can’t conceive of a future much better than the present. Perhaps we imagine that computers will be quicker and mobile phones cleverer, but there is little notion that human beings could live vastly more fulfilled and improved lives than our own. There is no sense that history holds possibilities that we haven’t yet imagined. Utopian impulses persist, of course, but these impulses are for the most part expressed in banal ways.”

Scientists have pinpointed a spot in the brain that associates pleasure with sweet tatses. “Sweetness by itself is merely a sensation, they note. Its pleasure arises within the brain, where neural systems actively paint pleasure onto the sensation to generate a ‘liking’ reaction. The study pinpointed a pleasure spot within a larger part of the brain responsible for appetite in the nucleus accumbens, the lower front of the brain. There’s a ‘liking’ cube tucked within a larger ‘wanting’ cube.”

“Researchers asked people in pain to try to control a pain-regulating region of the brain by watching activity in that area from inside a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine. Initial results showed subjects could reduce their pain, some quite dramatically. It’s the first evidence that humans can take control of a specific region of the brain, and thereby decrease pain.”

The first wave of the massive generation known as the Baby Boomers is about to turn 60, and Alex Beam can think of nothing worse than continuing to live in a world where the culture is dominated by his fellow self-absorbed children of the ’60s. “The continuing cultural hegemony of the boomers means that, for the rest of my life, every time I turn on a radio, I run the risk of hearing the song A Horse With No Name. Now there’s a reason to move to Canada. How does one loathe the boomers? Let me count the ways.”

“What’s going on in [London] theatres this Christmas? Discerning theatregoers have long had access to alternative shows at the festive season as innovative companies eschew the commercial instincts of the panto industry. But this year, it seems, some theatres have abandoned the glitz entirely, taking audiences to a far darker world where macabre is all the rage.”

The days of the mass media culture are over, says Reed Johnson. “There will be no survivors, except on select reruns of Lost. In lieu of flowers, friends may send checks to the ‘Bring Back Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw Emergency Fund.’ There — that wasn’t so painful, was it? After all, it’s been common knowledge, or at least conventional wisdom, that traditional mainstream mass culture has been clinging to life for decades, like one of Anne Rice’s mottled vampires. But 2005 is when a chronic condition may have turned terminal.”

“If anyone still requires proof of the gulf of difference between the US and everywhere else, look no further than the current storm-in-a-cappuccino about The Chronicles of Narnia. For weeks, it seems, there have been spats in the papers about C.S. Lewis’ classic children’s fantasy series, the first instalment of which has just been adapted as a lush blockbuster by Andrew Adamson, who directed the Shrek films, for Disney. The storm is over religion. C.S. Lewis had it; the Americans have a lot of it; the rest of us don’t, supposedly, or at least we don’t like to put a hat on it and give it a ticker-tape parade.”

“Millions of people now spend several hours a week immersed in ‘massively multiplayer online role-playing games’ (MMORPGs). These are often Tolkienesque fantasy worlds in which players battle monsters, go on quests, and build up their virtual power and wealth. Some synthetic worlds are deliberately escapist; others are designed to be as lifelike and realistic as possible. Many have a strong libertarian bent.” But there’s another side to this: economics.

“Electronics maker Siemens is readying a paper-thin electronic-display technology so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable packaging, from milk cartons to boxes of Cheerios. In less than two years, Siemens says, the technology could transform consumer-goods packaging from the fixed, ink-printed images of today to a digital medium of flashing graphics and text that displays prices, special offers or alluring photos, all blinking on miniature flat screens.”