“One reason we define ourselves and others on the basis of class, religion, race, and nationality, or even childhood influences and subconscious drives, is to gain control over the contingencies of the world and insert ourselves in the myriad ways people have failed and succeeded in human history. But this control is illusory and deceptive, existentialists insisted. It might be an alluring distraction from our own fragility but it eventually yields a pseudo-power that corrodes our ability to live well.” – Boston Review
Tag: 08.24.20
A Visit With Oracle Jaron Lanier
Lanier finds many things fundamental to living in a society hard, like adhering to concepts relating to time, or receiving or sending mail; one ride in his amusement park brain is “a hamster wheel of pain,” as he mentally repeats to himself whatever menial tasks he needs to do until he does them. He is a voluminous talker prone to distraction; interrupt him mid-thought and prepare to find yourself hundreds of years forward or backward in time, talking about factories or Thomas Pynchon or the origins of the word meme. – GQ
Bolsonaro Gov’t Is Dismantling South America’s Largest Film And TV Archive
The Cinemateca Brasileira in São Paulo houses more than 250,000 rolls of film and employed some of the continent’s best film-restoration technicians. Over the 19 months since Bolsonaro abolished Brazil’s Ministry of Culture, his government has fired the technical staff, stopped paying other employees and then fired them as well, terminated the contract with the foundation that managed the archive, and left it without security, air conditioning, or fire protection. – Artforum
Major Indian Publisher Withdraws Book About 2020 Riots In Delhi
“The book, titled Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story [and now dropped by Bloomsbury India], claims that the riots were the result of a conspiracy by Muslim jihadists and so-called ‘urban naxals’, a derogatory term used to describe left-wing activists, who had a role to play in the riots. The claim contravenes reports by organisations such as Amnesty International and the Delhi Minorities Commission that Muslims bore the brunt of the violence.” – The Guardian
How Good Teachers Cultivate Wonder
While it is certainly not inevitable that children lose their sense of wonder as they grow up, and while adults are in principle as capable of experiencing wonder as children, it is to be expected that, as the world becomes more and more familiar to children as they age, they will experience wonder less readily. It increasingly requires effort to see how extraordinary the world and everything in it is. Familiarity – even if it implies no real understanding at all – can dull the sense of mystery. – Psyche
Kuwait Changes Its Book Censorship Law
With the amendment now in place, book importers and international publishers have to provide only book titles and author lists to the Ministry of Information, with the understanding that they bear legal responsibility if a book’s subject matter contravenes Kuwaiti law. Legal action against a particular book will now only be triggered by an official complaint from the public. – The National (UAE)
Why Wearing A Mask Is A Matter Of Identity For Some
Someone’s social dignity can be damaged whether or not she accepts her society’s standards. One way this can happen is if she is a member of different social groups with conflicting standards. – The Conversation
Could Open Source Help Hollywood With Diversity?
Some of the people who make visual effects for Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters believe they have found a way to help: By embracing open source, they want to open up doors for traditionally underrepresented communities. – Protocol
The Underappreciated Brilliance Of Radio Sketch Comedy
Some of the most influential modern comedy in any medium was created for radio: “Who’s on First?“, Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life, The Jack Benny Program, BBC’s The Goon Show and I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again, The Firesign Theatre. And it has always been a fertile format for experimentation (because it’s cheap). Sam Corbin explores why audio sketch comedy lands like nothing else — and wonders why, in the podcast boom, we aren’t getting more of it. – Vulture
What Should A Museum Be In 2020?
Historically, museums have used themed exhibitions, acquisitions schemes, or public programs to signal a shift, but otherwise they continue with business as usual. Real shifts must be seen from the sidewalk to the boardroom. There is an urgent and long-standing need for long-term commitments to diverse hiring and executive leadership, divestment from the police, accessibility, and a zero-tolerance policy for racism from staff or visitors. – Vanity Fair