“And so, the balance of business expenditures shifts from product research to market research. The television commercial has oriented business away from making products of value and toward making consumers feel valuable, which means that the business of business has now become pseudo-therapy.”
– Neil Postman
Tag: Thinking
#22 Collected Reading
Quote of the week
“It must be admitted, however, that life in More’s Utopia, as in most others, would be intolerably dull. Diversity is essential to happiness, and in Utopia there is hardly any. This is a defect of all planned social systems, actual as well as imaginary.”
— History of Western Philosophy (Routledge Classics) – by Bertrand Russell
1.Why start-ups won’t save us from recession
“Now of course Hoffa is a union boss and he would say that, wouldn’t he. But the point he raises is nevertheless sobering. Not only is patriotism a completely outmoded concept for major technology companies, but so also is the idea that these corporations have any wider social responsibility to the societies which provide them with the skilled and educated people who make them so innovative and profitable. Welcome to Tom Friedman’s flat world.”
culture,economics,policy, usa
Source :The Guardian
2. Jelly batteries break the mould
“The Leeds-based researchers are promising that their jelly batteries are as safe as polymer batteries, perform like liquid-filled batteries, but are 10 to 20% the price of either..”
environment,innovation, uk
Source : BBC
3. The Perfect Stimulus: Free, Politically Viable, and Deficit-Reducing
“Why would the Treasury want more longer-term debt? Let’s think of an analogy. Imagine that you had two loans: a 30-year mortgage fixed at 3% and a 1-year loan at 0.5% that you have to roll over annually. Although that one-year loan is cheaper now, you know that in a couple of years it will cost you more than 3% to continue to roll it over — and your spending habit won’t allow you to pay it off. As a result, it makes sense to consolidate that short-term loan into your mortgage if you are able.”
culture,economics,policy,usa
Source :The Atlantic Magazine
4. UK joins nuclear fusion project
“We were thinking: ‘what would be a way forward, how could Europe define a strategic route for laser power production to take advantage of these developments?’ And that was the kernel of Hiper.”
environment,innovation,uk
Source : BBC
5. Mental Abacus Does Away With Words
“Now studies on a group of children trained to use a “mental abacus” suggest the technique frees mathematics from its usual dependence on language.”
Asia,Mathmatics,Method,thinking
Source : New Scientist
Hope you like this collection. Please comment, share and most of all enjoy.
– Kaushik
#16 Collected Reading – Thinking about the present
Thinking about the present
A collection of thoughts around thinking, work and how to be in the present.
“Today is a gift.
That is why they call it the present.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
1. Distraction
“Finally, it is generally agreed that no activity can be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied – no rhetoric or liberal studies – since the mind when distracted absorbs nothing deeply, but rejects everything which is, so to speak , crammed into it.” – Seneca
Distraction, Culture, Self
Source :On the Shortness of Life
2. Collective Rationality
“The commission gave me the a wonderful opportunity to test my favorite hypothesis about collective rationality, which is that if you put people of strongly opposing views in a room together, and infuse their discussion with data, background studies, and unhurried time for debate, it is possible to bridge seemingly irreconcilable positions among the members of the group.” – Jeffery Sachs
Thinking, Collaboration, Global, Facts
Source : The End of Poverty
3. Ithaca
“Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind
To arrive there is what you are destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for many years,
So you’re old by the time you reach the isle,
Wealthy with all you have gained on the way
And not expecting Ithaca to make you rich”-C.P Cavafy
Journey, Life, Culture
Source : The Age of Absurdity
4. Ego
“The man who can center his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in the ordinary troubles of life which is impossible to the pure egoist.” – Bertrand Russell
environment,global,policy
Source : The Conquest of Happiness
5. The Individual
“An individual who has to make things for the use of others, and with reference to their wants and their wishes, does not work with interest, and consequently cannot put into his work what is best in him.” – Oscar Wilde
– Collected reading editorial note : This quote when taken on face value can seem silly. My interpretation of it is that individuals are not disconnected from society’s needs and as such understand them as part of their own reality. Therefore, by solving your own problems you also contribute to solving the issues of many fellow citizens through your own particular lens on culture.
Individuality, Creativity, Work
Source : The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Hope you like this collection. Please comment, share and most of all enjoy.
– Kaushik
#4 Collected Reading : May 15th 2011
1.BOOTED : What really ails Italy?
“This is true of every area of Italian life, sports included. In 1985, Verona won the so-called scudetto, the national soccer championship. It is the only year in the past four decades that the competition has been won by a small provincial team. It was also the year that the league decided to select referees by lot rather than designation.”
Italy, Politics,Culture
Source : The New Yorker
2. The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved : by Hunter S. Thompson
“I shook my head and said nothing; just stared at him for a moment, trying to look grim. “There’s going to be trouble,” I said. “My assignment is to take pictures of the riot.”
Excess, USA, 1970
Source : RalphSteadman.com
3. Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?
“You put Lloyd Blankfein in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for one six-month term, and all this bullshit would stop, all over Wall Street,” says a former congressional aide. “That’s all it would take. Just once..”
Greed, Money, Law
Source : Rollingstone
4. Britain’s intellectuals: leading thinkers have their say
“The economic—and other—benefits of regulations
“Richard Feynman said a “physicist commenting on anything but physics is as dumb as the next guy” and there is something to be said for that. Often, scientists feel they should remain within their area of expertise. But then many people from other disciplines are perfectly happy to offer their opinions on everything. It is incumbent on scientists to step up and be as vocal..”
Thinking, Public, Dialogue
Source : The Guardian
5. London river walks
“A personal tour of London’s many river views.”
London, Public, Everyday
Source : Flickr
Hope you like this collection. Please comment, share and most of all enjoy.
– Kaushik
Collected Reading 