Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
this is the fine print of civilization, and slogging through it gives form to an otherwise amorphous debate, allowing us to notice just how misshapen the American safety net truly
Matthew Desmond • Poverty, by America
Every surprising bit of new behavior described here has two common elements: people had the opportunity to behave in a way that rewarded some intrinsic motivation, and those opportunities were enabled by technology but created by human beings. Those bits of new behavior, though, are extensions of, rather than replacements for, much older patterns o... See more
Clay Shirky • Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators
The anti-social century is the result of one such cascade, of chosen solitude, accelerated by digital-world progress and physical-world regress. But if one cascade brought us into an anti-social century, another can bring about a social century. New norms are possible; they’re being created all the time. Independent bookstores are booming—the Ameri... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York
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allow people to indulge their own
Timothy Ferriss • Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
The Happiness Hypothesis,
Jonah Lehrer • How We Decide
Upper-middle class professionals center their tastes around discovery of interesting and superior goods.