ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

Mark Zuckerberg As Cultural Director Of The Internet? Er…

Though the term “metaverse” suggests a fully articulated sci-fi realm, Zuckerberg is using it to glamorize a network of virtual and augmented reality apps and gear, like headsets. - The New York Times

How To Memorize Something Complex? There’s A System For That

To earn the title of Grand Master of Memory, one must be able to memorize a 1000-digit number in one hour. The next hour you are faced with memorizing the order of ten packs of cards. And finally you get two minutes to memorize a single pack. - LitHub

How Do Hot Creative Streaks Happen?

Research found that artists and scientists tend to experiment with diverse styles or topics before their hot streak begins. This period of exploration is followed by a period of creatively productive focus. - The Atlantic

Before Time Began And We Were Free

The whole symbolic apparatus of cultural evolution aimed to make freedom—which they define as the freedom to move, the freedom to disobey orders, and the freedom to imagine less hierarchical ways of organizing ourselves—seem archaic and perilous. - The New Yorker

The Essential Philosophical Question: Have Philosophers Lost Their Way?

Today, few philosophers believe philosophy is a way of life, let alone the fullest and most complete way of life. Or if they do believe it, they won’t admit it in public. - 3 Quarks Daily

A Hard Truth? Democracies Aren’t Up To Big Challenges Like Climate Change

 The common theme in all these accounts is that the public are not to be trusted – they do not understand, or care; they are too selfish, or too shortsighted. Better to let the experts decide. - The Guardian

A Book That Promises To Challenge Everything We Think We Know About Human History

“There’s a whole new picture of the human past and human possibility that seems to be coming into view. And it really doesn’t resemble in the slightest these very entrenched stories going around and around.” - The New York Times

Why The Aspen Ideas Festival Is A Bad One (Idea, That Is)

If we’re to have ideas, let’s have fewer ideas, better ideas, and ideas more likely to annoy the sort of people who bankroll Ideas conferences. - The New Republic

Who Said Tech Had To Look So Bland?

"I’m tired of tech that caters to the heterosexual, cisgender, male, white, wealthy masses. I’m tired of AirSpace, of minimalism, of bland beige tones. ... Where is the bold, bright tech that allows me to be unapologetically myself?" - Wired

The Power – And Virtue – Of Hateful Characters

Oh, it's a joy to hate the Roys on Succession. How refreshing! "Likeability is an odd requirement, as well as a sterile and stifling one. ... Unpunished, remorseless wickedness—like the Roys’—is becoming a no-no." - The Economist

There’s An Explanation For Why Some People Loathe Specific Celebrities

Honestly, you might think, who cares about James Corden or Nicki Minaj? Some people really care, and frankly, it's a little scary. "Fan culture, of course, goes back hundreds of years – but mass media has warped the obsession into something much larger." - USA Today

How The Humanities Make Better Thinkers

Henry Adams once wrote that “nothing in education is more astonishing than the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.” Literature shows us how to animate facts, and still more how to make them cooperate, to work and dance together toward revelation. - The American Scholar

Will Workers Return To The Office? This Expert Says No

My prediction? Absolutely not. If companies make employees who can do their jobs at home go into the office, it will be harder for them to hire, and other companies will benefit. - Washington Post

Seven Rules For The Culture Wars

In culture wars, both sides like to refer to self-evident sources of ‘the truth’ – such that ‘every sensible person must surely be able to recognize’. But... the formerly reliable solid ground is being replaced by quicksand. - Eurozine

Study: Sell An Idea By Focusing On “Why” Or “How”?

Should she focus on why her idea is useful or should she instead promote a more concrete focus on how the idea works when pitching to an audience of investors? - Harvard Business Review

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