IDEAS

When we turn to the world of ideas, this is a year for people who are individualists by temperament, if not intellect. - Prospect

Enormously useful mathematical tools that have been put to work during the pandemic—from classical differential equations to more recent techniques such as Monte Carlo methods and Markov chains—were in many cases invented by mathematicians who had no particular goal in mind. - Nautilus

What is so alluring about the perpetually imminent End of Cities? Why won’t that idea itself die? - The New York Times

Recall the central claims of CRT. Racism is a big, systemic problem in America. If you don’t recognize that, if we can’t at least start from there, it may be that rational, empirical debate no longer has any place – if it ever did. - 3 Quarks Daily

So little of what well known thinkers and artists did or said is actually reflected in public consciousness,  assuming it makes a showing at all. This can lead people to reject the idea of engaging with them. - 3 Quarks Daily

Have you played Animal Crossing during the pandemic? Zoomed into work? You're in it. (We're all in it.) - The New York Times

CRT critics "aren’t arguing against anti-racist thinkers. They aren’t arguing against critical race theorists. These critics are arguing against themselves." - The Atlantic

Drop your phone? At long last, we'll all be legally allowed to repair it. - The Verge

In the 1950s and 60s artists increasingly looked at the products of pop culture as ideas and materials they could use for their own work. Louis Menand explains. - New York Review of Books

Scholarly consensus regarding cultural appropriation has long accepted that the lines between cultural appreciation and appropriation may be difficult to clearly determine in real time, and especially within the contemporary social media-driven zeitgeist. - The Conversation

If we accept that cult members have some degree of volition, the job of distinguishing cults from other belief-based organizations becomes a good deal more difficult. - The New Yorker

Policy makers, economists, techies, lawyers, business leaders, and consumers should borrow an idea from cultural anthropology and consider the concept of “barter.” - Harvard Business Review

Unlike ideas of air, food and water that allow us to think about the everyday resources we need to survive, the venerable notions of knowledge, truth or justice don’t obviously cater to practical needs. - Aeon

"In today’s context, it is unclear why we are talking about boys and girls as though these are fixed identities to which masculinity and femininity naturally attach, unless to speak in these terms promotes a form of gender moralism, or gender dogma." - Psyche

Studies suggest that bored people score higher on creativity tests. As our distractions have multiplied, our minds have less opportunity to wander. Thus... - Medium