A puzzle has well-defined rules and a single solution, and we know when we have reached that solution. Puzzles deliver the satisfaction of a clear-cut task and a correct answer. Even when you can’t find the right answer, you know it exists. Puzzles can be solved; they have answers. But the solutions may be difficult to find.
There are lot of different ways to define great design, but this display of obsessive care over the things that “no-one asked for” is probably my favourite. More than a little neurotic and almost never making financial sense, this desire to go further than required has always seemed to me so noble, a pure expression of the deferred love contained... See more
Movies beckon different tradeoffs today. Seeing the movie isn’t enough reward to justify the cost. Social capital used to mean time given to friends in physical spaces where friendship was solidified. It now means attention given to me that can be used to grow personal social followings and participate in online fandom. The reward of going to see a... See more
Almost every social network of note had an early signature proof of work hurdle. For Facebook it was posting some witty text-based status update. For Instagram, it was posting an interesting square photo. For Vine, an entertaining 6-second video. For Twitter, it was writing an amusing bit of text of 140 characters or fewer. Pinterest? Pinning a... See more
ebb and flow of religious faith is shaped by socio-economic environments. “When people grow up in conditions where their survival is not secure, they tend to be more religious
“Beauty is that moment when your mind jumps the curb. Beauty is the instant you sit up and start paying attention. Whatever makes that happen for you can be beautiful. ... But you have to be open to seeing it. Beauty doesn’t find you. You create beauty by looking for it.”