Nostalgia Revisited
Nostalgia: a kind of homesickness for the past. Another way of putting it: the longing you will have in future for the places and people… Read More »Nostalgia Revisited
change
Technology (25): Vaclav Smil on prime movers and extrasomatic energy
Extrasomatic: outside of the body About 10 millennia ago… the first patches of deliberately cultivated plants as a small share of the Earth’s total photosynthesis… Read More »Technology (25): Vaclav Smil on prime movers and extrasomatic energy
Slums, slot-machines and self-un-marginalisation
When a person from a remote village moves to the city and finds themselves living in a slum, they have not become poor and marginalised.… Read More »Slums, slot-machines and self-un-marginalisation
Three kinds of change
There are three kinds of change that we hope for or fear: We spend too much of our time, energy and attention worrying about the… Read More »Three kinds of change
House of Winds: Ross Douthat on particularity and partiality in philanthropy
A certain sadness hangs over Harkness State Park: The estate passed to the State of Connecticut in part, one presumes, because Edward and Mary had… Read More »House of Winds: Ross Douthat on particularity and partiality in philanthropy
Faith in action; Or, Action, in faith
In the long run, the ultimate effect of any change in the world is impossible to predict. This means that it’s impossible to evaluate whether… Read More »Faith in action; Or, Action, in faith
What does your program (try to) compensate for?
The work of nonprofits gets framed in different ways, but fundamentally they all address a lack of something.* This might be a lack of resources… Read More »What does your program (try to) compensate for?
“Empirically sufficient and empirically necessary” – Lant Pritchett on economic growth as the (only) key to poverty reduction
Recommended. Abstract We show that any cross-national measure of human material wellbeing that is (i) basics (not luxuries),(ii) general (uses indicators from multiple domains), and(iii)… Read More »“Empirically sufficient and empirically necessary” – Lant Pritchett on economic growth as the (only) key to poverty reduction
Siddhartha at the beach (Lessons from surfing #6)
“…Everyone takes, everyone gives, such is life.” “But if you don’t mind me asking: being without possessions, what would you like to give?” “Everyone gives… Read More »Siddhartha at the beach (Lessons from surfing #6)
Big Thief: Change; or, Ships of Theseus
OK? Changelike the wind Like the waterlike skin Changelike the sky Like the leaveslike a butterfly Would you live forever, never dieWhile everything around passes?Would… Read More »Big Thief: Change; or, Ships of Theseus