ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

We’re Being Cajoled To Be Positive. It’s Not Helpful

The pressure to try to adopt positivity as a constant state of being has begun to feel exhausting. Some have gone as far as to call it “toxic positivity,” which may seem contradictory. - The Walrus

Why Are Very Smart People Sometimes Very Stupid?

What exactly is stupidity? How does it relate to morality: can you be morally good and stupid, for example? - Psyche

Wanna Be Creative When You’re Old?

Dare to dawdle; to create without purpose; to be mediocre, even outright bad, at whatever it is you want to try. In short, let yourself waste time, as if you were young again and too immortal to know any better. Yes, this can and will be terrifying. - The New York Times

Offloading Our Brains

The framing of the brain–body complex as a borderless thinking apparatus is interesting, bringing together a wide range of research, from education and business practice to psychology and cognitive neuroscience. - Nature

The Art Of Distraction

It hardly matters how committed you are to making the best use of your limited time if, day after day, your attention gets wrenched away by things you never wanted to focus on. - The Guardian

Artists Aren’t Just Born, They’re Made

If you want to make digital art, you need to learn to code. A training in film will help with moving-image art. So much is obvious. But today we’re in thrall to a vacuous Romanticism that insists artists are born not made. - The Guardian

This Virus Truly Hates Fun

Any place where people can gather - including the retro pinball arcades that were making a comeback - is fair game for COVID. - CBC

Goodbye Minimalism? More Is Now More

No Pythonesque general is demanding we choose between plain and patterned plates. But it does feel like the finger-wagging minimalism that informed the housewares and home design market for over a decade is losing relevance while its opposite is gaining currency. The Walrus

How To Become Wise? Learning Rather Than Persuading

"The most remarkable feature of Socrates’s approach is his punctilious politeness and sincere enthusiasm. The conversation usually begins with Socrates asking his interlocutor: Since you think you know, can you tell me..." - Boston Review

We’re Taught That Battle And Triumph Are Desirable. Is Neutrality A Better Option?

Our heroes are the warrior, the entrepreneur, and the activist, not the neutral parties. Neutrality appears cold, lifeless, effeminate, weak, and suspect. - Tablet

People Are Quitting Jobs. Time For A Rethink?

Reports of workers of all types have quit, are quitting, or are looking for reasons to quit. Many are not seeking a new job, either right away or ever. Some are calling it “The Great Resignation of 2021.” Alan Harrison

So This Is The Metaverse, Eh? Yawn…

A game-y galaxy that seamlessly fuses with the meatspace. What matters is that metaverse is now the buzzword du jour and that Facebook wants a piece of it. The bad news is that Zuckerberg’s metaverse ambitions sound boring as hell. - Wired

Does Social Media Make It More Difficult To Act Morally?

What if it’s degrading our capacity for moral attention — the capacity to notice the morally salient features of a given situation so that we can respond appropriately? - Vox

How The Creative Class Broke America

David Brooks: "These days, your education level and political values are as important in defining your class status as your income is. Because of this, the U.S. has polarized into two separate class hierarchies—one red and one blue." - The Atlantic

Is It Fashionable To Be Ignorant?

It is not at all difficult to find books on the broad scope of human knowledge written by authors who really know nothing other than that there are other people who know a lot about many separate things. - 3 Quarks Daily

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