Sunday, January 31, 2016

Notes from NYT 1-31-16

 "The real culture war ( the one that never ends) is between the human intellect and it's equally human enemies: sloth, cliché, pretension, can't. Between creativity and conformity, between the comforts of the familiar and the shock of the new.  To be a critic is to be a soldier in this fight, a defender of the life of art and a champion of the art of living. "
A.O. Scott

"  Child prodigies rarely become adult geniuses who change the world. In adulthood, many prodigies become expert in their fields and leaders in their organizations. Yet only a  fraction of gifted children eventually become revolutionary adult creators, laments the psychologist Ellen Winner... Most prodigies never make that leap. They apply there extraordinary abilities by shining in their jobs without making waves."
How to Raise a Creative Child by Adam Grant

 Robert J Gordon, a distinguished macroeconomist and economic historian at Northwestern... Has argued that the IT revolution is less important  then any of the five great inventions that powered economic growth from 1870 to 1970: electricity, urban sanitation, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the internal combustion engine and modern communication.  Gordon suggest that the future is all too likely to be marked by stagnant living standards for most Americans, because the effects of slowing technological progress will be reinforced by a set of "Headwinds": rising inequality, a plateau in education levels, an aging population and more.
Paul Krugman