Month: August 2010

by Zoe Pollock

Megan McArdle has a sobering story on the realities of our retirement plans. From a stock market perspective, we may not be preparing as well as we think we are:

Whether Americans know it or not, they have spent decades basing their retirement plans on expectations of big capital gains in their houses and stock portfolios. But no system can completely protect us from the problem of lower asset returns. Schrager suggests that unless we suddenly become willing to save a huge chunk of our income every year, we may need to rethink our retirement plans. “I don’t know if it’s ever going to be realistic that everyone saves enough to spend the last third of their life on vacation,” she says.

by Zoe Pollock

Diego Trelles Paz tells the story of his correspondence with author Roberto Bolano, who gave him the best advice of his life:

With every day that passes, I am more convinced that the act of writing is a conscious act of humility.

by Patrick Appel

Kids in the Hall offer up sex advice.

by Zoe Pollock

Namit Arora writes on caste privilege:

An early goal of British imperialists in India was to create a class of local elites in their own image. They would be, wrote Macaulay, ‘interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.’ An elite class did emerge, not surprisingly from the socially dominant upper-caste Hindus of urban India…

It is often said that caste is to India what race is to America. Yet, the attitudes of the dominant social class in the two countries couldn’t be more different…

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, continues to thrive after calling the Dalits [formerly the untouchables] ‘mentally retarded children’ who gain ‘spiritual experience’ from manual scavenging. The media has little interest or insight into Dalit lives, nor hires low-caste journalists. Major atrocities against Dalits still go unreported. Law enforcement is often indifferent or worse. There is no effective prosecution for discrimination in employment and housing. A Dalit politician can’t get a majority of upper-caste votes even in South Mumbai. Even among those few elites who read books, how many have read a single novel or memoir by a Dalit? In what is perhaps the most diverse country in the world, there is no commitment to diversity in the elite institutions that decide what is worthy art, music, and literature, or what is the content of history textbooks. In book after book of stories for children, both the protagonist and the implicit audience are elite and upper-caste. Much the same is true of sitcoms, soap operas, and commercials on TV. Dalits are invisible from all popular culture that gets any airtime. The Indian army still has many upper-caste-only regiments. There is nothing like an Indian ACLU. Or a Dalit history month on public TV, or exhibits in museums, that seek to educate the upper-castes about a long and dark chapter of their past (and present).

(Hat tip: 3QD)

by Zoe Pollock

The Robotarium, the first zoo for artificial life, showcases a menagerie of 45 robotic "animals":

The robots are all original, created specifically for the project, representing 14 species classified by distinct behavior strategies and body morphologies. Obstacle avoidance, movement or sunlight detection and interaction with the public are some of the robots skills.

Robots from the zoo are taking part in the fifth annual Biennial of Art and Technology: Art.ficial Emotion.

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

In February, a group of Harvard undergrads organized an event modeled after a TED conference titled Harvard Thinks Big. The symposium featured ten top Harvard professors speaking for ten minutes each on what they are most passionate about. The event packed the historic Sanders Theater and hundreds of students had to be turned away. All of the talks are available online.

This one caught my eye and then ear:

Contrary to the dogmas of raw-foods enthusiasts, Richard Wrangham argues that cooked cuisine was central to the biological and social evolution of humanity.

by Chris Bodenner

So Long, Oregon! mashes up the Oregon Trail and Excitebike, two of my favorite games growing up. Download details here.

by Zoe Pollock

The new Harper's issue (behind the pay wall) digs deep into the war on unhappiness and the state of psychotherapy today. Gary Greenberg reports from the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim and the whole thing is worth a read. Here he is on the imprint Freud theories have had on us:

Still, his notion of an unseen other – the mysterious unconscious self who bedevils our every decision, who eludes us yet must be sought – not only underpins a meeting like this one; it courses through the white noise of our lives.

by Patrick Appel

Dalton Ghetti's work is incredible:

Many artists have used pencils to create works of art – but Dalton Ghetti creates miniature masterpieces on the tips of pencils … Dalton uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations – a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife. He even refuses to use a magnifying glass and has never sold any of his work, only given it away to friends. He said: “I use the sewing needle to make holes or dig into the graphite. I scratch and create lines and turn the graphite around slowly in my hand”

Many more images here.