In a recent book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, the tech investor Ben Horowitz adds a twist: “The Law of Crappy People”. As soon as someone on a given rung at a company gets as good as the worst person the next rung up, he or she may expect a promotion. Yet, if it’s granted, the firm’s talent levels will gradually slide downhill. No one person need be peculiarly crappy for this to occur; bureaucracies just tend to be crappier than the sum of their parts.
Tag: 02.27.15
Met Opera Pledges Yet More Art As Collateral For Loans
“The nonprofit secured the credit line with two sculptures by the late French artist Aristide Maillol displayed at the opera house, including the 62-inch bronze L’Eté (Summer) and the 69-inch Venus Without Arms … The Met had already pledged a pair of Marc Chagall murals to Bank of America before the credit line came up for renewal in August.”
Man’s Law or God’s Law? Sophocles’s Antigone: Heroine Or Criminal?
“It is this tension that is at the heart of the play: which law trumps all others? For Creon, obeying the law of the land is the single most important thing we must do, as citizens. … It is this tension that is at the heart of the play: which law trumps all others? For Creon, obeying the law of the land is the single most important thing we must do, as citizens.”
The Philosophical Anxiety Behind The Arguments Over #TheDress
“What fascinates us about the dress, I think, isn’t its color: it’s the degree to which our perceptions can diverge. How could the same image appear so different to various people? The dress controversy is compelling because it touches, however unsophisticatedly, on some of the oldest and most difficult questions in philosophy of mind.”
A Beautiful Modernist Techno-Utopia Landed In New York In 1939 And ‘Opened A Whole New World’ [VIDEO]
“It’s hard to imagine what a marvel the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair would have been to its visitors. Still living in the heavy shadow of the stock market crash of 1929, the many people who flocked to the big exhibition found not only bounteous luxuries such as free Coca-Cola and grand spectacles of entertainment, but the unveiling of unthinkable new technologies that promised that a better world lay ahead.”
It’s Time To Consider Making The Destruction Of Cultural Heritage A War Crime
“In the face of vandalism on this scale and at this level of wantonness and depravity, something larger is called for. The collective voice of the civilized world must speak out and declare that, henceforth, the destruction of cultural heritage will be deemed a war crime, with appropriate penalties meted out by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.”
London’s Post-War Paintings And Murals Are At Risk – Can They Be Saved?
“Following the removal of mosaics by Eduardo Paolozzi from a London tube station earlier this month to a storage facility in Norfolk, the Twentieth Century Society conservation group has called for a ‘Domesday Book’ survey of post-war public art.”
James Conlon Stepping Down From May Festival After 2016 Season
“After Conlon leads the ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus for the last time in 2016 – his 37th season – Music Hall is expected to close its doors for about 18 months to undergo a massive renovation. The festival will be displaced for at least a year. Conlon said that the uncertainty of the revitalization plans factored into his decision.”
Performing Artists Need Emotional, Not Just Financial, Investment In Their Arts
“Artists are constantly being asked to be financially resilient. But what about emotional resilience? When artists face rejection from a funder or a programmer, who is there to provide that sense of community and solidarity and empathy? So often the work that artists subsidise with time, money, love and belief is treated as a commodity, or just a product by venues.”
The Essay About Teaching In MFA Programs That Has Writers Freaking Out Across The Internet
“Anyone who claims to have useful information about the publishing industry is lying to you, because nobody knows what the hell is happening. My advice is for writers to reject the old models and take over the production of their own and each other’s work as much as possible.” (Now, search Twitter for “MFA” or “MFA essay” and see what writers are saying about this piece.)