Ch 1: Shooting Ourselves in the Foot “the simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.” – Robert Conquest From time to time, it is necessary to turn our attention to the processes of our organizations for some reflection. The core purpose of most organizations is to provide value – in one way or another – to the ecosystem that Read more…
DRAFT This living essay is still in draft form. It is a continuation from my Design and Neoliberalism Introduction – I would suggest reading that one first. Please mind the typos, half-finished thoughts, and informal language. If you have comments, please email them to me. The purpose of this essay is for eventual submission to the Design & Neoliberalism Special Issue of Design and Culture. I don’t know if they’ll be interested, but I’ve enjoyed working on Read more…
This living essay is still in draft form. Please mind the typos, half-finished thoughts, and informal language. If you have comments, please email them to me. The purpose of this essay was originally to submit to the Design & Neoliberalism Special Issue of Design and Culture. I missed the deadline but I’ve enjoyed working on it either way 🙂 “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what Read more…
Summary: Arguments often end up unresolved when one side values rational outcomes but the other is more interested in social signaling. This issue commonly arises when discussing whether individual Americans should vote in presidential elections. In a narrow, rational sense, most individual votes have no effect on the outcome, rendering voting a pointless activity, – but through the lens of social signaling, it might make sense. At a dinner party some nights ago, I found myself in an Read more…
Guadalajara, Mexico; Mexico City, Mexico; I’ve become recently more and more impressed with Catholicism’s ability to localize itself as it has spread to different countries around the world over the past two millennia. In few places is this better on display than with Mexico’s obsession with the “Virgin Mary.” The Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the central figure of christian religions. Because Jesus is said to be the son of God, the story Read more…
Summary: In a rapidly changing world, it is easy to get disoriented or disillusioned about the state of progress. As humans, it is far easier to make judgements relative than objective ones, so a value judgement about the present state of the world is highly influenced by what you compare it to. Those that spend time thinking about how to improve the world feel distraught at the current reality.On the other hand, those who spend a Read more…
Hong Kong At the moment, I’m sitting on a curb in Hong Kong eating a McDonalds “signature” crispy chicken jalepeño burger. See, last night I stayed up late in my apartment all alone drinking cheap scotch and arguing with people on Facebook. This morning, I woke up hung over and passed up the nice Korean restaurant with open seats and went to the super crowded McDonald’s instead. See, when I’m feeling like a piece Read more…
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I think it could be argued that the US still leads the world in branding. Those that come from the world of marketing communications, advertising, and design obsess over the stories behind brands pushing them further and further into the philosophical realms to capture as much brain-space as possible. In this way, the market has transformed over the past century or so from simple logos and explanations of products to mythological archetypes Read more…
At their best, magic circles help us ground ourselves, learn new skills, give us meaning and purpose in life, and experience moments of rapture and ecstasy. Times frequently occur, however, when the members of a group challenge the fundamental structure of a magic circle. Depending on the formality of the circle, this can take some interesting and dynamic forms. We should always remember that while a magic circle is created within the minds of its Read more…
Some argue that the divine quality of humans – the thing that sets us apart from mere animals – is our ability to process abstract thoughts and share them through abstract communication. To this end, one of the most important games we play with one another is the magic circle. A magic circle is a physical and/or temporal space where a set of implicit rules are agreed upon by members of the circle. Within the Read more…