archive

The limits of cleverness

From Cabinet, a dry black veil: Brian Dillon on the hovering horror of the plague-cloud; and reading to the endgame: D. Graham Burnett and W. J. Walter on a novel approach to computer chess. Clever fools: Why a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart. The choice between logical and rude: Are manners logical or superficial? (and more and more) 10 TV shows you have to watch to understand the world: The master lineup of iconic shows that shaped our pop-culture landscape. Sparing a thought for endangered sites: An article on the World Monuments Fund’s biennial Watch List of at-risk sites. A review of Clive Finlayson's The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived. A review of The Best American Essays 2009, edited by Mary Oliver. More and more and more and more on Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich. An interview with Ken Caldeira on which geoengineering schemes might work and which are fantasy — or worse. The limits of cleverness: More and more and more and more and more and more on Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. When figures get personal: Real-estate developers factor in love of 6 and 8, fear of unlucky 4 and 13 — what happened to floors 40 through 59? (and more) Shorter of breath and one day closer to death: Is the recession making Americans rethink our brithday mania? A review of Future: A Recent History by Lawrence R Samuel. Copyright from John Adams to mp3s: A review of Lewis Hyde's The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World.