My Brooklyn College colleague Corey Robin‘s new book, The Reactionary Mind, has, thanks to its provocative thesis (and its brilliant prose, a rare quality in an academic book), sparked a great deal of discussion in academic and non-academic circles alike. Given the relevance of the book to modern American political life, and its provision ofContinue reading “Starting to Understand the Reactionary Mind”
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Cary Sherman is Upset SOPA and PIPA Were Not Enacted
I am thankful to the RIAA‘s Cary Sherman for having provided a wonderful sample of writing, which may profitably be used by those teaching classes on rhetoric and critical thinking. I’m referring to Sherman’s screed in today’s New York Times, which alternates between self-pity and bluster in complaining about the failure of the passage ofContinue reading “Cary Sherman is Upset SOPA and PIPA Were Not Enacted”
Roger Cohen, the “Two Footballs”, and False Dichotomies
Over at the New York Times, Roger Cohen has an Op-Ed contrasting football and football. I mean, Association football and American football. Or, rather, soccer and football. Roughly Cohen’s thesis is: soccer is all skill and art, football is all violent force and anti-finesse; America reveals its plebeian failure to appreciate soccer artistry by itsContinue reading “Roger Cohen, the “Two Footballs”, and False Dichotomies”
Cyberflânerie Contd.
My post yesterday on cyberflanerie sparked a couple of thoughtful and interesting comments in response. John says: [T]he social web also permits us to make ‘friends’ on the basis of common interests. On blogs or on Twitter, we regularly see conversations between former strangers on subjects of common interest. And David Barry said: [T]o a smallContinue reading “Cyberflânerie Contd.”
Evgeny Morozov on the Death of the Cyberflâneur
Evgeny Morozov pens a thoughtful piece on the death of the cyberflâneur – a natural consequence of the customized, walled-off, app-and-Like-and-Tweet-button-infested ‘Net that is staring us in the face–no pun intended–as Mark Zuckerberg and his merry band of Facebook buccaneers ride through town, rolling blunts in thousand-dollar bills. (Morozov runs the inevitable risk of turningContinue reading “Evgeny Morozov on the Death of the Cyberflâneur”
Girl, Napalm, and ?
So what did you fill in the blanks? Vietnam, I’m guessing ((Chrome’s autofill suggests “photo” and “attack” when I begin typing in “girl napalm”). And the reason for that in all likelihood is Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the subject of Nick Ut’s iconic, Pulitzer-prize-winning image of the Vietnam war. That straightforward association of “girl” andContinue reading “Girl, Napalm, and ?”
Artificial Agents and Knowledge as Tractably Accessible, Usable Information
In commenting on my post on teaching philosophy by reading out loud in class, David Auerbach quotes Georges Dreyfus‘ The Sound of Two Hands Clapping on the process of the education of a Tibetan monk, which includes the memorization of scriptures, supplemented by active, repeated vocalization. Dreyfus’ quote–please read Auerbach’s comment for the full quote–concludesContinue reading “Artificial Agents and Knowledge as Tractably Accessible, Usable Information”
How Low Can You Go? The Market for Regulatory Fees
The close, unholy, and corrupt relationship between Wall Street and Capitol Hill isn’t really news any more. And so inured have our sensibilities become to the giant, rigged con-game that is today’s financial-political system, that exposure to yet another one of its details fails to induce any suitably condemnatory reaction. Still, that said, when aContinue reading “How Low Can You Go? The Market for Regulatory Fees”
Epistolary Warfare in the Letters Section
Readers of the New York Review of Books are used to the sometimes intemperate, bordering-on-pedantic, yet-always-carefully-crafted display of bruised egos that takes up so much space toward the end of each issue. I am referring, of course, to the Letters section. Here the author, formerly delighted to find out his masterpiece was to be reviewedContinue reading “Epistolary Warfare in the Letters Section”
Samir Chopra 