Names, Christendom, Turkey, Hyperandrogenism, Videogames, Paul Romer
How Not To Name Your Child
Phoenicia Hebebe Dobson-Mouawad | The Guardian | 16th July 2016
“My name is Phoenicia Hebebe Dobson-Mouawad. No, I’m not kidding. This is the name my parents chose for me 19 years ago and it is the reason I don’t go to Starbucks. I would like to say that I have learned to appreciate my full name in all its ridiculousness. However, every time I have to spell it painfully slowly for someone, or give a stranger a brief historical account of what my parents were thinking when naming me, I realise that I will never feel anything but mild annoyance” (809 words)
All The East Is Moving
Tom Holland | First Things | 17th July 2016
Not until the early 18th century did Western Europe begin to feel permanently secure against invaders from the East, after the Ottoman Empire had failed in its second attempt to conquer Vienna in 1683 and was finally in retreat. No longer at war with Islam, Western Europe had less need to define itself as Christendom, and could favour secular values over religious ones. We have come to believe that secular values will always prevail in modern societies: Is it time to revisit that assumption? (4,300 words)
What I Saw In Ankara
Selim Koru | War On The Rocks | 17th July 2016
“These people were not from my neighborhood up the hill, but from poorer districts. An overwhelming majority were male, with lean faces and sunburnt skin. They spoke in Anatolian accents, and a few wore traditional Islamic garb the way Arabs do. Many used hand signs with their slogans — the takbir, an extended index finger, which suggests political Islamism, or the sign of the gray wolf, which belongs to the nationalist party. It was these people who had faced down the junta’s tanks” (2,040 words)
Hyperandrogenism: Q&A With Joanna Harper
Ross Tucker | Science of Sport | 23rd May 2016
“If one believes that women’s sports are vitally important, and has little regard for the rights of a small segment of humanity, then to say women’s sport should only be for those who are 100% female is not unreasonable. On the other hand, if one is passionate about the rights of marginalized minorities, and not as invested in the benefits of sport to all women, then it is not unreasonable to suggest that anyone who considers herself female should be allowed to compete as nature made her” (7,800 words)
Work And Videogames
Erik Hurst | University of Chicago | 1st July 2016
Unskilled American men in their twenties are dropping out of the labour force, not even looking for jobs. What are they doing all day? “The hours that they are not working have been replaced with leisure time. Seventy-five percent of this new leisure time falls into one category: video games. The average unemployed man in this group plays video games an average of 12, and sometimes upwards of 30 hours per week. Surveys indicate they are quite content compared to their peers” (1,200 words)
Ideas And Economic Growth
Paul Romer | 16th July 2016
The main source of economic growth is new ideas. If we want more growth, we should do more to encourage the production of ideas. No new research university has been founded in the United States since Stanford and the University of Chicago at the end of the 19th century. “Only a failure of imagination could convince us that with our current institutions of science, we have already found the best possible system for encouraging the production and distribution of new ideas” (2,900 words)
Video of the day: Virtual Actors In Chinese Opera
What to expect:
Digital actors inspired by traditional Chinese costumes and dance. By Tobias Gremmler for GuoGuang Opera Company (3’15”)
Thought for the day
Amateurs think strategy; professionals think logistics
Omar Bradley