Historically, eugenics and racism have operated in tandem, but neither is reducible to the other. Eugenics attributes socioeconomic inequality—both within and between racially defined groups—to varying levels of intelligence, which it defines as a biological quality shaped largely by our DNA. - LA Review of Books
“We will extend our minds many millions-fold by 2045,” writes Kurzweil. “We are finally getting to the steep part of a fifty-year-old exponential trend…. Humanity’s millennia-long march toward the Singularity has become a sprint.” - The New Republic
The humanities, as it turns out, are pretty hard to kill—though the twentieth century made a good fist of it. Educational modernizers in England during the First World War, around the time of the Battle of the Somme, argued that classical education was responsible for Britain’s inability to beat the Germans. - First Things
The circumstances for studying philosophy in a college or university setting, democratised by the post-Second World War expansion of higher education, are in the midst of great change, if not dying out altogether. - Aeon
How should we create things? The word “should” isn’t quite right, since there’s no correct way to be creative; still, when you’re actually creating something, you have to answer the question definitively for yourself, with some urgency. - The New Yorker
Scholars around the world are concerned about the effects of an extreme audit culture in higher education, one in which researchers’ productivity is continually measured and, in the case of the REF, directly tied to research funding for institutions. - Nature
As of this summer, eleven streets in total have been transformed into seasonal pedestrian-only destinations, creating almost ten kilometres of walkable car-free surfaces across several boroughs. The experiment has proven so popular that it has drawn praise, and not a little astonishment, from visiting urban planners. - The Walrus
Novelist Tracy Chevalier: The middle ground "is where people (women!) make things and are not patronised for it. ‘Crafter’ … is being superseded by the vaguer but more muscular ‘maker.’ The Swedish have even merged the two concepts into one word: konsthantverk, or artcraft.”- The Guardian (UK)
Just as Boomer nostalgia influenced Gen-X for far longer than it perhaps should have, Gen-Zers (and the rest of us) will have years of Millennial-influenced pop culture in our lives. - Fast Company
“The light of Matt Carr’s headlamp only goes so far while he’s crawling in one of the air shafts beneath the seats of the Music Box Theatre. His hazmat suit, face mask, goggles and knee pads all click and swish and trap heat as his headway kicks up dust.” - Chicago Sun-Times
“At 7 p.m., we encountered ... a dark message, accompanied by a QR code and a suggestion to visit the website TVPromise.com: 'Our contract with Disney, the owner of this channel, has expired. We appreciate your patience while we negotiate.’” - Slate
We often joke about awkwardness; it’s a staple of contemporary comedy. The exclamation ‘Awkward!’ functions as a light-hearted deflection, defusing social tension. The reality is heavier. - Aeon
Our dopamine-driven brains drive us to choose cheap distraction over entertainment and art. A 15-second video causes a dopamine release in the brain, which creates a desire for more stimulus, which leads to the habit of more scrolling on your phone, which leads to an addiction to more stimulus. - The New York Times
"Traditionally, we've thought of eye movements as a simple response to what's happening in front of us. But recent research shows that's not the whole story. Eye movements are as unique as personality traits. Some people focus more on faces, while others are drawn to text or other elements." - Medical Express
For some, the delight of daydreaming can turn into a curse: The fantasies become such a successful form of escape that they take over the mind, becoming compulsive and preventing the dreamer from paying attention to important facets of reality—work, school, other people. - Nautilus
