Boardroom: Lessons from Surfing (1) – In the Water
The first rule of surfing is that if you want to learn to surf, you have to get in the water and go surfing. There… Read More »Boardroom: Lessons from Surfing (1) – In the Water
Sustainability and change
Writing and Reading as Technology (11): Writing Rules
The technology of writing isn’t simply the infrastructure of thought: it’s the enabling infrastructure of most of the complex activities we think of as government.… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (11): Writing Rules
Writing and Reading as Technology (10): Elizabeth Eisenstein on the Printing Press and the End of the Information Famine
Here’s the great Elizabeth Eisenstein on the impact of the printing press on a lost world of information underload, and an interesting lens for viewing… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (10): Elizabeth Eisenstein on the Printing Press and the End of the Information Famine
Technology (21): Dan Wang on Technology as Process and Learning by Doing
This is an extract from a much longer article by Dan Wang. His point about the learning-doing feedback loop applies to just about everything, of… Read More »Technology (21): Dan Wang on Technology as Process and Learning by Doing
All Things, New
“I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” The New Testament – Revelation There’s theology… Read More »All Things, New
When did the video game industry overtake Hollywood and the music industry?
For those who came in late, the computer games industry has been bigger than Hollywood for a while. I came across this helpful graph in… Read More »When did the video game industry overtake Hollywood and the music industry?
Elites: Oligarchy, Aristocracy, Decline and Fall
Two long quotations on a theme I’ve been mulling over for the last few weeks. We value excellence and equality (moral equality for sure, and… Read More »Elites: Oligarchy, Aristocracy, Decline and Fall
Recommendation: Rachel Glennerster on Poverty, Global Development, Randomised Controlled Trials and more
This interview on the 80,000 Hours podcast with Rachel Glennerster (chief economist at the UK’s Department for International Development and former executive director of J-PAL)… Read More »Recommendation: Rachel Glennerster on Poverty, Global Development, Randomised Controlled Trials and more
One Hundred Million Souls for the Emperor: Paul Fussell on Experience and Perspective
Many years ago in New York I saw on the side of a bus a whiskey ad I’ve remembered all this time. It’s been for… Read More »One Hundred Million Souls for the Emperor: Paul Fussell on Experience and Perspective
Will and Ariel Durant on Inequality, Redistribution, Revolution and the Nature of Society’s Wealth
On The Inevitability of Inequality Since practical ability differs from person to person, the majority of such abilities, in nearly all societies, is gathered in… Read More »Will and Ariel Durant on Inequality, Redistribution, Revolution and the Nature of Society’s Wealth