Saved by Lillian Sheng
Where's Today's Beethoven?
If aristocratic tutoring were a significant factor behind declining genius, we would expect to see a split: fields like science where tutoring is rare would lose their geniuses, whereas fields like music where tutoring is common would be as genius-filled as ever. But people use music as a typical example of a declining-genius field. So that can’t b... See more
Scott Alexander (slatestarcodex) • Contra Hoel On Aristocratic Tutoring
In 1997, historian David Banks argued in “The Problem of Excess Genius” that, “The most important question we can ask of historians is ‘Why are some periods and places so astonishingly more productive than the rest?’"
Packy McCormick • Conjuring Scenius — Packy McCormick
All of which raises another set of questions, about art rather than morals. Which is a better measure of an artwork, its quality on average or its peaks? How should ambition be weighed against execution, jolting insight against missteps, the good against the bad?
The Economist • Is TV’s next sure-fire hit, “Disclaimer”, a must-watch or a dud?
Maybe the feeling that things are in decline is just a bias against new forms of media. Socrates thought writing destroyed the mind, and the novel as a literary form was originally considered vulgar. My suspicion is it’s just the age-old pattern of disliking new things.
Chris Dixon • Words With Web 3’s King: An Interview With Chris Dixon
We are reaching the point where we have to ask not only whether works of larger significance and reach can still be created, but also whether audiences—readers, viewers, listeners—would still know how to take them in if they were.
Sven Birkerts • The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age
Never before has so much culture been available to so many at such little cost.
There’s just one tiny problem.
Where’s the audience? The supply of culture is HUGE and GROWING. But the demand side of the equation is ugly.
In many cases—newspaper subscribers, album purchases, movie tickets sold, etc.—the metrics have been shrinking or even collapsing.
... See more