More than ever before, people are identifying less and less with a religious tradition. This leads some people to look for meaning and identity in the things they love most. My goal here isn’t to argue against those who consider Disney their religion. - The Conversation
As the scope of algorithm-based applications in social reality has expanded over the past decades, we have by the same measure been conditioned to approach ever more fields of human life as if they were strategy games. - Liberties Journal
I am using the word “evil” to encompass the whole range of negative human experience, from being wronged, to doing wrong, to sheer bad luck. This list of evils is also a list of the essential ingredients of narrative fiction. - The Point
Rowan Moore says let the details go and save the monument by killing its Victorian darlings. "Think the unthinkable about heritage. For a feature of the building is the sheer expanse of intricate interior detail, much of which is never seen by the public." - The Observer (UK)
In what the organizers call la République des Hyper Voisins (the Republic of Superneighbors), up to 2,000 people regularly gather for meals (including one at a 700-foot outdoor table seating 648), cultural events, oral history gatherings, etc., as well as mutual aid both in person and online. - The Guardian
At least, not for now. People using the program DALL-E, which takes human words and makes images in response, "have found that it elevates human creativity rather than making it obsolete." - Wired
If an AI-powered robot exhibited intelligence and capacity to suffer, we might consider granting it moral personhood even though it's not alive. Tapeworms and pubic lice are alive but clearly not person-equivalent, whereas dolphins or bonobos might be. Tim Sommers considers some criteria. - 3 Quarks Daily
Why not? People often listen to Spotify playlists while cooking — though a recipe for kimchi fried rice shouldn't usually take as long as the nearly 4-hour playlist might imply. - NPR
Remote work may be good for efficiency but it's deadly for team-building. So, just as the development of multi-location businesses led to the creation of the middle manager, whose role was to keep far-flung operations coordinated, the rise of hybrid in-office/remote work will require a new profession. - MSN (The Atlantic)
"Throughout history, those willing to sacrifice for cause and comrades ... have often prevailed against more powerful forces that mainly rely on material incentives such as pay and punishment. ... Yet little scientific attention is paid to understanding why this is so or what to do about it." - Aeon
Well, they're also good for stealing a sense of wonder, or any sense of self-reliance in the wild. But hey, also, "Do not eat anything just because a plant ID app doesn’t say it’s toxic." - Slate
And when mice are in it - specifically, when they're not getting enough glucose - their brains stop processing details of vision. The study suggests humans probably have this mode as well. Tunnel vision? Real. - Wired
Let us now praise things that bring us joy, like the person who determined to walk across the United States in a cartoon bear suit, and succeeded in his goal. "A good meaningless goal is an act of protest against the self-optimization hamster wheel." - The Atlantic
