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?

Digital abundance is a mixed blessing: exhilarating, yet flattening and homogenizing. Culture is converted into “content” that blurs together as it flows through the same conduits and across the same interfaces in an endless stream. As we struggle to keep abreast of the accelerating flow of content, drawn by the perpetual lure of the new, we come t... See more

Then, when I put a pair on for myself, the situation suddenly changed. As a potential target of recording, I’d been hesitant, worried I might be photographed or filmed as a byproduct of making polite eye contact. With the glasses on my own face, though, I felt that I should be recording more. There’s something really compelling about the experience... See more

When it comes to gambling, the big argument used to be about state lotteries. These lotteries are taxes on the poor—a way for the government to raise funds without being on the hook for raising actual taxes on everyone.

But at least lotteries function like taxesin that the funds they raise are spent on social services within the state.

Online gamblin... See more

As T Bone Burnett once said, “Major labels figured out that catering to people who don’t need music in their lives makes them more money.” Passive streaming is a prime example—when music plays in the background at shops, hairdressers, or when Spotify keeps going after you’ve fallen asleep. Major labels don’t pay for these streams but heavily invest... See more

“You have the whole history of all recorded music at your fingertips for no money, and that devalues music in general. It doesn’t properly express the work that goes into it, and it certainly doesn’t express how essential music is to the human experience.”

Heilmer told me that BMW's characteristic orange-red hue is generated by light at a wavelength of 605 nanometers. The color was chosen to allow the driver to clearly see the instrument cluster, but also to be able to adjust to the darkness outside the vehicle quickly after looking up. The eye doesn't tire as quickly trying to read gauges illuminate... See more

I’m increasingly convinced, then, that the next big vector for inequality is around this most fundamental of human capabilities. The elites are going to reclaim the ability to chain together more than three thoughts in succession before reaching for a device.

It’s easy to absorb other people’s values without realizing it. I discussed my photo realization with a friend, who shared a story. On his first school field trip to New York, his mom gave him a disposable camera and said, "You can take photos of the buildings and the Statue of Liberty if you want, but remember to mostly take photos of your friends... See more