Fiat Lux
Registration finally opened for WordCamp 2008 in SF, and I’m all signed up.
Are you going to be there? Let me know!
Ezra Klein recently took a look at the resurgent genre of superhero movies and made a very interesting and IMO very accurate point: If you look at some of the better superhero movies out there (like “Batman Begins” or “Iron Man”), it’s pretty clearly the case that superior storytelling and character development, not the number or quality of their action sequences, are what sets them apart.
Or as he put it:
The climactic battle in Iron Man wasn’t half as gripping as watching Tony Stark fly for the first time.
Klein goes on to look at how the superhero genre allows us to look at issues of power and inequality in the world:
What superheroes allow you to do is personalize questions of power: We live in a world of massive countries with incredible militaries, where sociopaths can conceivably detonate cities and the rich inhabit lives so different from the poor that they may as well be genetically separate. It’s a hard world to face up to, frankly. And so, sometimes it’s easier to give it a supernatural gloss, to pretend it couldn’t happen here, even as it allows us to explore what is happening here.
He has a point, but he also might be giving Hollywood a little too much credit. This is also the industry that gives us an unending stream of crappy lowbrow comedy and slasher flicks.
San Francisco is a deeply flawed city in many ways (not to mention the whole voter initiative process, for that matter), but it also manages to come up with little gems like this. What started out as a joke is now going to be on the ballot this November:
San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot Thursday.
[snip]
The measure, if passed, would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
It almost makes me wish I still lived in SF.
Over at “The Big Picture”, Barry Ritholtz has been doing terrific work reporting on the shenanigans in the markets and the economy. Today he let rip a rant that’s worth sharing. Here’s a taste:
When this era of excess and absurdity is treated by historians in the future, the question I expect to be asked most is not why many of these people weren’t jailed for their financial felonies. Rather, I expect them to wonder why so many of these folk weren’t placed in protective custody, and heavily medicated, for the only rational explanation for their statements and behaviors is that they have gone so far beyond the bend as to be completely and totally insane.
A thought-provoking article in the New York Times caught my eye today. There’s a new book out that’s pointing to an insight I’ve felt, but been unable to put words to, for some time now:
“Society is obsessed with the idea of talent and genius and people who are ‘naturals’ with innate ability,” says [Carol] Dweck, who is known for research that crosses the boundaries of personal, social and developmental psychology.
“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn from them.”
In this case, nurture wins out over nature just about every time.
While some managers apply these principles every day, too many others instead believe that hiring the best and the brightest from top-flight schools guarantees corporate success.
The problem is that, having been identified as geniuses, the anointed become fearful of falling from grace. “It’s hard to move forward creatively and especially to foster teamwork if each person is trying to look like the biggest star in the constellation,” Ms. Dweck says.
So many people are afraid to say “I don’t know” or admit to a mistake. Especially people in leadership positions. And yet, the ability to learn from errors and grow from them is probably one of the most critical skills of all in maintaining your edge. So why do we, as a society, value infallibility so much?