Thought provoking

Opinion | Art Isn’t Supposed to Make You Comfortable

“[T]he more we cultivate audiences who believe that the job of art is to instruct instead of investigate, to judge instead of question, to seek easy clarity instead of holding multiple uncertainties, the more we will find ourselves inside a culture defined by rigidity, knee-jerk judgments and incuriosity.”

To return to information overload: this means treating your "to read" pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items, here and there) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it). After all, you presumably don't feel overwhelmed by all the unread books in the British Library – and not because t

Oliver Burkeman • Treat Your to-Read Pile Like a River, Not a Bucket

“if I have to work, I find it preferable (and less painful) to work intensely for very short hours, then do nothing for the rest of the time assuming doing nothing is really doing nothing), until I recover completely and look forward to a repetition, rather than being subjected to the tedium of Japanese style low-intensity interminable office hours

The stress of not having ownership of your time adds to burnout.

Books that are “representative,” that are more easily “absorbed,” undermine the main reason to read them: to push readers beyond themselves in uncomfortable and productive ways.

Ruby LaRocca • A Constitution for Teenage Happiness

“Witch is just their nasty word for anyone who makes things happen, who moves the story along.”

The Manningtree Witches — A.K. Blakemore

Somebody once said that a good science-fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.

Zach Kram • ‘The Three-Body Problem’ Is Brilliant. ‘3 Body Problem’ Is Better.

“A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with 2 watches is never sure.”

Ancient societies followed a single narrative. Modern societies are cacophonies of competing narratives. Without trust, more data doesn’t make us more informed but more confused.

Gurwinder • 30 Useful Principles

One of the most intelligent case studies in design is the Chinese tea cup. They’re made without handles simply because if it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to drink.

Humans naturally want to add more. Add a cardboard sleeve, add a warning on the outside of the cup, add a handle. The result of all these things never cools down the actual contents.

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