ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

The Power Of Gossip And Spiritual Ease

I was able to differentiate between types of ­gossip through this association: the kind that aims to bring a rival low, that tries to set the ­record straight about some unfairly maligned ­individual, or that is akin to a secret stock tip and meant to benefit a shrewd listener. Every ­subject was fair game. - The Walrus

Why Liberal Arts Education Is Really In Decline At American Universities

The tragedy of the contemporary academy is that even when traditional liberal learning clearly wins with students and donors, it loses with those in power. - The New York Times

How Misinformation Infects A Community

Social connections establish pathways of influence that can facilitate the spread of germs, mental illness and even behaviors. We can be profoundly influenced by others within our social networks, for better or for worse. - The Conversation

AI Companions Are Getting Really Good. But We Lose Something Creatively Important

Solitude is the engine of independent thought—a usual precondition for real creativity. It gives us a chance to commune with nature, or, if we’re feeling ambitious, to pursue some kind of spiritual transcendence. - The New Yorker

Why We Choose To Ignore Useful Information Right In Front Of Us

If the saying ‘knowledge is power’ is true, then most people hold an indefinite amount of power in their pockets. And, in this light, it’s curious that someone would choose to relinquish that power by avoiding information. - Psyche

What Brain Scans Reveal About Humans Seeking Revenge

Recent neuroscience discoveries reveal a chilling picture: Your brain on revenge looks like your brain on drugs. Brain imaging studies show that grievances—real or imagined perceptions of injustice, disrespect, betrayal, shame, or victimization—activate the “pain network,” specifically the anterior insula. - Slate (MSN)

Doubt Can Fuel A Life Well Lived, And Maybe Take The Edges Off A Too-Certain Body Politic

“Certainty serves a powerful social identity function. Declaring a clear position, especially a strong one, signals belonging. … Certainty is rewarded not just with clarity, but with community. Ambivalence, by contrast, is lonely.” - Salon

On Bastille Day, Just How French Are The Irish?

And vice versa, of course. For instance: James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Oscar Wilde all found some freedom in France, but Charles de Gaulle? He loved Ireland. - Irish Times

Saving Material History Isn’t Always Easy, But These Queer Communities Are Finding A Way

There’s “a growing wave of collaborative projects in which Latin American LGBTQ+ communities preserve and share their struggles and triumphs. They digitize photos, collect testimonies, and build databases of letters, personal memories, and other items that have survived dictatorships, censorship, and stigma.” - Wired

As You Might Have Suspected, A Small Percentage Of People Are Ruining Social Media For Everyone

“Most people aren’t posting, arguing, or fuelling the outrage machine. But because the super-users are so active and visible, they dominate our collective impression of the internet.” - The Guardian (UK)

How Ancient Water Clocks Changed Our Notions Of Time

As ancient civilisations began to need more reliable timekeeping mechanisms, the technology took an extraordinary leap forward with the advent of dependable water clocks, which would remain the best technology available for the next 1,800 years. - Aeon

How Leisure Became Digital

For many Canadians, play has migrated from board games or the rec leagues to smartphone screens. It’s no longer confined to the weekend or even to a full hour of downtime. Instead, it creeps into moments between work calls, while waiting in line, or during that ambiguous half-hour between Netflix and sleep. - The Walrus

How Did Our Notion Of School Get Locked Into A Rigid Model?

Time in school is very structured around when you can do what. It instills the idea that kids have to memorize what the teacher is saying. This is opposed to a system that could be designed around the promotion of critical thinking, around promoting debate, around a much more student-centered approach to education. - Asterisk Magazine

What We’re Learning About Creativity From AI

hysical tasks that are easy for humans turn out to be very difficult for robots, while algorithms are increasingly able to mimic our intellect. Another surprise that has long perplexed researchers is those algorithms’ knack for their own, strange kind of creativity. - Quanta

What If Getting Better Is a Con?

Technique aims to bring efficiency to everything in life. Anytime we use machine logic and apply it to humanity, we are in the realm of technique. For example, we don’t refine our morning routine so much as “hack” it. We don’t make the most of a vacation; we optimize our time off. - Plough

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