A poem, a meme, outlives the moment, surpasses the poet, passes neglected---serendipitously selected, nudges, evolves, nurtures, dissolves. A thought, an emotion, lighter than prose (tumbles if verbose), sails (mumbles and wails) the mind (a parasite rhymed), daintily spoken (often broken), suspended in action (indulgent distraction).
15 May 2012
Indiscreet (1958)
Romancing is divulging who one is, so one must be in order to divulge, and therefore multitask, or task with flair and hope that someone may be there, deciphering.
A play talks in order to say. A film advances a plot, and says most by talking not.
A play talks in order to say. A film advances a plot, and says most by talking not.
5 May 2012
You Can't Take it with You
(Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 4 May 2012)
If one has the privilege of doing what one likes, one should. Then, when employment opportunities for many were dull, doing nothing or doing housework was no worse than having a paid job. Now, one aspires not only to avoid what one dislikes, but also to do what one likes, which typically involves specialising in assisting those outside one's family, and earns a pecuniary reward.
Performing screwball comedy is hard. It requires dignity. Individual peculiarities must reveal deeper features of one's character, instead of being mere aberrations.
If one has the privilege of doing what one likes, one should. Then, when employment opportunities for many were dull, doing nothing or doing housework was no worse than having a paid job. Now, one aspires not only to avoid what one dislikes, but also to do what one likes, which typically involves specialising in assisting those outside one's family, and earns a pecuniary reward.
Performing screwball comedy is hard. It requires dignity. Individual peculiarities must reveal deeper features of one's character, instead of being mere aberrations.
28 April 2012
"Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert (2006)
Reported experiments measure happiness according to subjects' instantaneous satisfaction. An alternative---and possibly more appropriate---measure of happiness is satisfaction with the narrative of one's past, a sense of accomplishment. This alternative is likely to be correlated with instantaneous satisfaction (e.g., because instantaneous satisfaction helps focus on long-term goals, or reflects the anticipation of future satisfaction with past accomplishments), but is distinct.
The challenge in psychology is to distinguish a bug from a feature. For instance, is assessing one's life according to the quality of its story---as opposed to accumulated instantaneous satisfaction---a bug or a feature? The book offers limited framework for drawing this distinction, at the individual and societal levels. Instead, the book lists bugs, governed by ancient gods (e.g., the "psychological immune system"), introduced as mnemonics, not scientific explanations. The author's fascination with human propensity to err (i.e., to make inconsistent choices) borders on misanthropy.
The prose is consistently clear, if verbose and occasionally (infrequently but irresponsibly) pandering to the aficionados of bathroom references. To assume that a reader savouring bathroom humour prefers it to other modes of discourse is akin to assuming that a beggar wears torn shoes in order to let his feet breathe.
A psychological experiment can make the same point as a novel would---but succinctly. Where philosophy used to reign, psychology and, more recently, neuroscience have taken over.
The challenge in psychology is to distinguish a bug from a feature. For instance, is assessing one's life according to the quality of its story---as opposed to accumulated instantaneous satisfaction---a bug or a feature? The book offers limited framework for drawing this distinction, at the individual and societal levels. Instead, the book lists bugs, governed by ancient gods (e.g., the "psychological immune system"), introduced as mnemonics, not scientific explanations. The author's fascination with human propensity to err (i.e., to make inconsistent choices) borders on misanthropy.
The prose is consistently clear, if verbose and occasionally (infrequently but irresponsibly) pandering to the aficionados of bathroom references. To assume that a reader savouring bathroom humour prefers it to other modes of discourse is akin to assuming that a beggar wears torn shoes in order to let his feet breathe.
A psychological experiment can make the same point as a novel would---but succinctly. Where philosophy used to reign, psychology and, more recently, neuroscience have taken over.
31 March 2012
"The Little Sister" by Raymond Chandler (1949)
He aspires to accomplish most given his limitations, without lamenting their injustice.
He is surrounded by cinematic characters, eager to live up to their parts, out of courage or conformism.
Objects speak to him of others and of the civilization in which he is fortunate to have secured a part.
He writes his own dialogue (in black and white), inhabits his scenes, owning none, hopes for a plot, without expecting one.
He is surrounded by cinematic characters, eager to live up to their parts, out of courage or conformism.
Objects speak to him of others and of the civilization in which he is fortunate to have secured a part.
He writes his own dialogue (in black and white), inhabits his scenes, owning none, hopes for a plot, without expecting one.
18 March 2012
"A General Theory of Love" by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini and Richard Lannon (2000)
One should be aware of one's "limbic brain"—without indulging it promiscuously. (An arbitrary attachment is more crippling than occasional solitude; it changes who one is. Because arbitrary attachments mutilate, individual freedom of movement is critical for private and social prosperity.)
Since brain plasticity declines with age, there is no second chance to become what one would like to become. The knowledge of what one would like to become is acquired by inferring one's desires and limitations from one's past choices, and deriving the implications of alternative courses of action (including altering malleable preferences).
Plato's ideals are approximations that emerge in the brain, often unconsciously. Hence, there is no paradox in the existence of a simple concept and the absence of its counterpart in practice.
The book is at its strongest when it reports empirical research.
Since brain plasticity declines with age, there is no second chance to become what one would like to become. The knowledge of what one would like to become is acquired by inferring one's desires and limitations from one's past choices, and deriving the implications of alternative courses of action (including altering malleable preferences).
Plato's ideals are approximations that emerge in the brain, often unconsciously. Hence, there is no paradox in the existence of a simple concept and the absence of its counterpart in practice.
The book is at its strongest when it reports empirical research.
Collaborators
(The National Theatre, 17 March 2012)
The play lacks the terror of uncertainty and thus lacks depth. The characters' Russianness is not integral to the play, but is accidental. Secondary characters are merely sketched, often caricatured to amuse.
The character of the protagonist is carefully developed. Improbable and unpredictable, Stalin (played by Simon Russell Beale) cannot be but inscrutable. Beale's portrayal is lighthearted enough to fit into the allegory, but also cunning enough to deceive.
The play would be improved if parts of it were set as a ballet. All scenes in Stalin's compound stay unchanged. The remaining scenes are rewritten wordless, kinetic. The most expressive scenes now are the most physical ones (e.g., the play within the play); they would accommodate the grotesque better if stripped of dialogue.
The play lacks the terror of uncertainty and thus lacks depth. The characters' Russianness is not integral to the play, but is accidental. Secondary characters are merely sketched, often caricatured to amuse.
The character of the protagonist is carefully developed. Improbable and unpredictable, Stalin (played by Simon Russell Beale) cannot be but inscrutable. Beale's portrayal is lighthearted enough to fit into the allegory, but also cunning enough to deceive.
The play would be improved if parts of it were set as a ballet. All scenes in Stalin's compound stay unchanged. The remaining scenes are rewritten wordless, kinetic. The most expressive scenes now are the most physical ones (e.g., the play within the play); they would accommodate the grotesque better if stripped of dialogue.
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