Twee manieren om je rug recht te houden James Comey, A higher loyalty; Jordan Peterson, 12 rules for life

Ik heb dit weekend twee boeken gelezen die in mijn systeem allebei onder de categorie ‘zelfhulp’ vallen: James Comeys A Higher Loyalty en Jordan Petersons 12 Rules for Life.

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Math as an Art Paul Lockhart’s Mathematician’s Lament

Paul Lockhart starts his “Mathematician’s Lament” (later expanded into a book under the same title, but I’ll be discussing the shorter article here) by comparing math class to a misshapen music or art class. Suppose that in music class, enjoying actual music is supposed to be too advanced for children, so they are made to start with memorizing the circle of fifths and pointing the stems of quarter-notes the right way; or suppose that in art class, painting is postponed until after preparatory “Paint-by-Numbers” classes. This, Lockhart suggests, is how math class works; it stifles creativity and natural curiosity and therefore goes against the spirit of mathematics.

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The Problem with the New Trilogy …

… is that it seems to think that nothing in the original trilogy or the prequels really matters. I’ll try to explain what I mean by that, for the issue is not, as it is sometimes presented by optimistic critics, one of a willingness “to kill fans’ darlings”. (“You have to defy wish fulfillment in order to tell a good story”, nods director Rian Johnson, apparently proudly.) That’s a red herring that needs to be utterly demolished, which I will start doing now.

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