Facebook has never had a shortage of critics. Its faults are in its DNA by design, its seeming missteps made on purpose. But the detractors of the ad-hawking, privacy-invading, responsibility-shirking, misinformation-disseminating business are getting louder and more powerful. They include governments who want to split up the company. Adrienne LaFrance of The Atlantic is not…
I recently read an essay by Namwali Serpell, author of a new and widely acclaimed novel The Old Drift, called The Banality of Empathy. Her main issue: art doesn’t promote empathy. And even if it did, why would that be good? Serpell asks this because to her empathy means to “be” or “inhabit” or “consume”…
This is not about fake news. That’s a separate realm. It’s where truth dies when the size and effort of the lie is enough to give it credence. This isn’t about relativism, though that’s very much alive. It’s thriving in Canada, where the governing party is tying itself in knots talking about my truth, his…
A snippet from Hans Eijkelboom’s book People of the Twenty-First Century gives compelling evidence that the herd mentality is alive and well, even in this age when each of us is implored to ‘be yourself’. True, the photographs on display are dated, but there’s little reason to doubt the trend toward conformity has changed — and plenty…
Donald Trump’s tweets, disturbing on many levels, are a real treat. Isn’t it better to know what the man is thinking from moment to moment, than not? They’re also good for a laugh. Take the knee slapper of a picture he tweeted of himself writing his inaugural speech. Seriously, “deep thoughts” or what? This one alone…
Darwin's Gong Show