robertogreco + cynicism   23

world-weary, adj. : Oxford English Dictionary
Nothing new here, but the timing (that it pops up in my Pinboard network) is interesting:

"Weary of the world; feeling or indicating feelings of weariness, boredom, or cynicism as a result of long experience of life."
language  cv  words  via:preoccupations  weariness  boredom  cynicism  world-weariness 
february 2012 by robertogreco
Rebecca Solnit on Hope on Vimeo
"Despair is a black leather jacket in which everyone looks good, while hope is a frilly pink dress few dare to wear. Rebecca Solnit thinks this virtue needs to be redefined.

Here she takes to our pulpit to deliver a sermon that looks at the remarkable social changes of the past half century, the stories the mainstream media neglects and the big surprises that keep on landing.

She explores why disaster makes us behave better and why it's braver to hope than to hide behind despair's confidence and cynicism's safety.

History is not an army. It's more like a crab scuttling sideways. And we need to be brave enough to hope change is possible in order to have a chance of making it happen."
mainstreammedia  davidgraeber  venezuela  indigeneity  indigenousrights  indigenous  us  mexico  ecuador  anti-globalization  latinamerica  bolivia  evamorales  lula  cynicism  uncertainty  struggle  paulofreire  barackobama  georgewbush  humanrights  insurgency  hosnimubarak  egypt  yemen  china  saudiarabia  bahrain  change  protest  tunisia  optimism  future  environment  contrarians  peterkro  peterkropotkin  worldbank  imf  globaljustice  history  freemarkets  freetrade  media  globalization  publicdiscourse  neoliberalism  easttimor  syria  control  power  children  brasil  argentina  postcapitalism  passion  learning  education  giftgiving  gifteconomy  gifts  politics  policy  generosity  kindness  sustainability  life  labor  work  schooloflife  social  society  capitalism  economics  hope  2011  anti-authoritarians  antiauthority  anarchy  anarchism  rebeccasolnit  from delicious
february 2012 by robertogreco
inessential.com: ‘Gamification’ sucks
"“Gamification” is a word and concept invented by idiocrats who confuse humane with manipulative.

Theory about how the mistake gets made

Everybody sees the trend toward simpler, more-focused, better-designed software. Enterprise developers see the consumerization of IT.

You could look at this trend and say, “As software improves, it respects its users more. It works better and looks better, is easier to learn, and leaves out the things that waste a user’s time.”

Or you could look at this trend and say, “As software gets simpler, it gets dumbed-down — even toddlers can use iPads. Users are now on the mental level of children, and we should design accordingly. What do children like? Games.”

Respect

It should be obvious that one conclusion respects people and one doesn’t. It should also be obvious that the first conclusion is correct and the second is incorrect, cynical, and low."
design  gaming  games  software  truth  2011  cynicism  humanism  society  gamification  from delicious
december 2011 by robertogreco
A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs - NYTimes.com
"…worked at what he loved…really hard…opposite of absent-minded…never embarrassed about working hard, even if results were failures…wasn’t ashamed to admit trying…

Novelty was not…highest value. Beauty was…didn’t favor trends or gimmicks…philosophy of aesthetics…“Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later.”…willing to be misunderstood…Love was his supreme virtue, god of gods…believed love happened all the time, everywhere…never ironic, cynical, pessimistic…choices he made…designed to dissolve walls around him…humble…liked to keep learning…cultivated whimsy…had surprises tucked in all his pockets…had a lot of fun…treasured happiness…set destinations…

We all—in the end—die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories…

character is essential: What he was, was how he died…

…final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW."
life  death  work  happiness  stevejobs  monajobs  2011  eulogy  living  wisdom  storytelling  beauty  parenting  love  attention  failure  character  stories  fun  pessimism  cynicism  irony  virtues  art  time  timelessnessm  durability  workethic  ethics  philosophy  aesthetics  from delicious
october 2011 by robertogreco
Draft of a manifesto written in defense of a group of people that did not ask for my defense, using words they would not use and engaging people they ignore. « Lebenskünstler
"While you wring hands over what it all means, we are trying to change the world, build relationships and communities. Are we naive? Possibly. We prefer a world of naive dreamers to cynical observers. Keep your beloved “criticality.” Hold it close to your heart and tell us what you feel. We are friends, not “colleagues” and we choose to embrace humane values and each other. We offer a different vision. Against the professional hegemony of academic intellectualism we offer – trust, love, sentiment, passion, egalitarianism and sincerity…

We are gamblers, believing in the value of risking everything for the sake of our “foolish” dreams and schemes."
randallszott  doing  livign  acting  cynicism  2010  manifestos  art  theory  practice  glvo  lcproject  tcsnmy  intellectualism  humanity  passion  egalitarianism  sincerity  trust  love  sentiment  worldchanging  naivite  dreamers  academia  risk  risktaking  amateurism  unschooling  deschooling  understanding  cv  leisure  tinkering  wittgenstein  johndewey  philosophy  isolation  shopclassassoulcraft  authenticity  rigor  Rancière  agamben  brucewilshire  richardshusterman  robertsolomon  booklist  nicolasbourriaud  radicalphilosophy  antonionegri  from delicious
may 2011 by robertogreco
Bill Williams' Blog: The Mailmen
"In the past few years I’ve seen the high end & low end of education in NYC. I’ve taught in private school…& public school…<br />
<br />
What the schools share in common is their steadfast adherence to the status quo. Kids at both schools are like the mail…already pre-sorted & classed…teacher’s job…is to ensure the mail gets to its proper destination. The First Class/Special Delivery to be sped to destinations in Cambridge, MA, New Haven, CT, or Palo Alto, CA. Kids from public school are bulk mail, delivered to every doorstep in their neighborhood…<br />
Great teaching gets done in places where people make or are given the room to be remarkable. Schools or classrooms that seek not to define who students are & what they should know, but ask who they can be and what they might create. A few teachers risk being poets who write beautiful letters. The rest, alas, keep heads safely attached and deliver the mail. Going home promptly at end of the school day to lock in a deep embrace w/ mediocrity."
teaching  education  statusquo  cv  organizations  bureaucracy  class  society  socialmobility  socialimmobility  nyc  billwilliams  self  self-awareness  privateschools  publicschools  tcsnmy  mediocrity  compliance  hierarchy  stoprockingtheboat  rockingtheboat  passivecompliance  passivity  success  cynicism  grades  grading  sorting  people  us  2011  from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco
Guernica / The Straight Dope — Bill Moyers interviews David Simon, April 2011
"David Simon would be happy to find out that The Wire was hyperbolic and ridiculous, and that the “American Century” is still to come. But he's not betting on it. An excerpt from Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues, forthcoming from The New Press."<br />
<br />
"I am very cynical about institutions and their willingness to address themselves to reform. I am not cynical when it comes to individuals and people. And I think the reason The Wire is watchable, even tolerable, to viewers is that it has great affection for individuals. It’s not misanthropic in any way. It has great affection for those people, particularly when they stand up on their hind legs and say, “I will not lie anymore. I am actually going to fight for what I perceive to be some shard of truth.”"
davidsimon  billmoyers  toread  interviews  thewire  tv  television  politics  drugs  cities  baltimore  2011  government  policy  society  economics  journalism  statistics  progress  crime  lawenforcement  criminology  urban  urbanism  laissezfaire  markets  marketfundamentalism  decriminalization  underclass  class  race  incarceration  institutions  cynicism  reform  change  individualism  people  human  humancondition  humans  democracy  control  corruption  mexico  us  ideology  from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco
PhotonQ-Connecting with Nicholas Negroponte | Flickr - Photo Sharing! [See also: http://tedxbrussels.eu/blog/2010/12/01/430/]
"child becomes agent of change, as opposed to object of change"<br />
"If you have to measure (result), it's not big enough." (Answering question, how do you measure success of the OLPC ?)"<br />
<br />
“Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living.”<br />
“Paper books will not exist in 5 years. The argument against books as paper objects turns out to be the developing world.”<br />
<br />
"Every time the project is carried out, children all over the developing world ‘swim like fish’ in the digital environment …Ironically while often seen as a damaging distraction to western kids, ownership & use of a personal laptop in deprived areas is a huge advantage. Perhaps it’s because we have so much that we’re so bored & cynical.<br />
…to own a networked laptop w/ access to internet means you’ve got access to the global conversation. You’re part of what’s happening all over world & can have digital presence as influential & dynamic as any kid in SF. OLPC machines are inspiring some interesting behaviour too…"
nicholasnegroponte  olpc  education  outdoctrination  learning  global  unschooling  deschooling  autodidacts  autodidactism  leapfrogging  cynicism  xo  behavior  society  internet  web  computing  lcproject  from delicious
december 2010 by robertogreco
So Long For Now :: IDEA
"de-motivation derived from constant feeling I have that continuing to receive formal education is neither relevant to nor financially viable for me. Not given chance to get over burnout from my last stretch of k-12 schooling, I am beginning to feel that this isn't worth it if I am always confused, stressed & tired. Yet at the same time I LOVE learning & a college (or library) has ready-made learning opportunities that aren't taken by force…I feel caught in a daze…student body is not academically oriented…there is mostly an attitude of apathy. Many people will be transferring & a few have already dropped out…There is this air of cynicism & self destruction that worsens my burnout to point of sorrow.<br />
<br />
One saving grace…Green Mountain's “Progressive Program”…less required classes…program is a work intensive self designed program. I would be a traditional art major in the program, but I will be linking many cross disciplinary classes into it. I can shape my own curriculum"
greenmountaincollege  apathy  education  colleges  universities  heath  despair  sorrow  libraries  progressive  learning  alternative  crossdisciplinary  self-directedlearning  cynicism  self-destruction  burnout  informaleducation  schooling  schooliness  motivation  from delicious
november 2010 by robertogreco
Shortcuts - In a Land of Cynics and Saps, the Skeptic Is King - NYTimes.com
"choice is not simply btwn cynicism & gullibility...middle ground is skepticism — someone who doesn’t accept things on faith but seeks out more information...“A cynic doesn’t trust & walks away. A skeptic doesn’t trust & keeps asking questions.”...danger is trying to teach skepticism & ending up with cynics, which can happen, Mihailidis said, when educating students in how media operates. A study of U of Maryland undergraduates who took media literacy found they were more able to understand, evaluate & analyze media messages, but were also more cynical & negative about media’s role in civil society — which was not the goal. “It’s not enough to teach students how the message is slanted,” Professor Mihailidis said. “We need to teach how to become engaged & active citizens.” The aim is, as much as possible, to question & learn. Nonetheless, all of us, at some point, will be duped or mistakenly distrust an honest man. But that doesn’t make us cynics or fools. It just makes us human."
cynicism  medialiteracy  skepticism  criticalthinking  education  learning  curiosity  questioning  paulmihailidis  gullibility  trust  human  daviddunning  psychology  society 
may 2010 by robertogreco
BBC News - Today - A world without planes
"Whatever the advantages of plentiful and convenient air travel, we may curse it for being too easy, too unnoticeable - and thereby for subverting our sincere attempts at changing ourselves through our journeys.
alaindebotton  flight  airplanes  airlines  travel  2010  wonder  future  cynicism  convenience  planes  sustainability  transport  flying  aviation  iceland  futurism  air 
april 2010 by robertogreco
Motivation « Re-educate
"Instead of discussing raising standards, we should be arguing the relative merits of imposing standards...Dan Pink...argues persuasively that there are 3 elements to true motivation: autonomy, mastery, & purpose. By imposing standards on kids, we’re undermining their feelings of autonomy; they’re being forced to play our game by our rules...less likely that they’ll achieve true mastery, because the standards we’ve imposed represent a minimum. Once they reach the minimum standard of competence, their work is done. & it’s hard to imagine how kids could find authentic purpose in filling in answers to a standardized test. Instead, they become cynical, viewing school as a series of banal tasks that must be endured...in 15 years of working with teenagers, I’ve never met a kid who didn’t agree that learning how to read is a good thing. Imposing standards—trying to force kids to learn to read—could be doing more harm than good. Instead, we might re-examine how we motivate students."
standardizedtesting  standards  progressive  education  deschooling  compulsory  motivation  danielpink  cynicism  lcproject  tcsnmy  mastery  purpose  reading  autonomy  self-directedlearning 
january 2010 by robertogreco
6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss Of Formal Schooling | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
"Basic math—which the child has blissfully yet to learn—clearly demonstrates that the number of years before he will be released from the horrifying prison of formal schooling, is more than twice the length of time he has yet existed. According to a conservative estimate of six hours of school five days a week for nine months of the year, Bolduc faces an estimated 14,400 hours trapped in an endless succession of nearly identical, suffocating classrooms.
education  schools  schooling  humor  compulsory  satire  irony  cynicism  children  society  parenting  kids  theonion  existentialism 
october 2009 by robertogreco
Snarkmarket: One of Those Old Words We Don't Use Anymore
"Charles Stross...argues that the U.S. is suffering from a mercy deficit...just dwell on the word. Mercy. Is that word like totally not a part of our modern lexicon or what?...feels almost like one of those hard-to-translate words from another language. Saudade. Schadenfreude. Mercy. Where does mercy live in our society today? What policies do we promote that have mercy at their core? What would that even mean? Not rhetorical questions; I find myself suddenly and sincerely puzzled" +comment: "Perhaps it's that the ideas of incentives, rational actors, & game theory are so much in favor that we've forgotten (or foregone) a more emotionally rooted approach to public life...What would mercy look like? Well, it might be as simple as giving up our means-testing, data-gathering, quantizing instincts for public assistance, and providing that assistance without requiring "proof of need". It might be as hard as letting go our fear of being scammed and giving to each other openly."
mercy  healthcare  society  cynicism  fear  selfishness  us  empathy  trust  tcsnmy  words  language  saudade  english  schadenfreude 
august 2009 by robertogreco
Ralph Dumain: "The Autodidact Project": Quote: Peter Sloterdijk: What Is Cynical Reason?
"...Cynicism is enlightened false consciousness. It is that modernized, unhappy consciousness, on which enlightenment has labored both successfully and in vain. It has learned its lessons in enlightenment, but it has not, and probably was not able to, put them into practice. Well-off and miserable at the same time, this consciousness no longer feels affected by any critique of ideology; its falseness is already reflexively buffered." via: http://varnelis.net/notices/infrastructural_city_in_dwell
cynicism  philosophy  culture  learning  enlightenment 
april 2009 by robertogreco
Click opera - Notes towards a definition of "moronic cynicism"
"The moronic cynic uses cynicism as a way to prepare for the worst. The worst consequently arrives.
cynicism  criticism  philosophy  momus  via:russelldavies 
november 2008 by robertogreco
tiny gigantic » Blog Archive » Smart-people traps
1. Professions...tempted by rewards...pressured by family, culture...cannot leave security of pre-defined track...unwilling to explore themselves enough to see individual course...for many there is no passion or purpose, no vision or meaning, no intuitive individual truth...soul-sucking 2. Smart people are good at school...tempted to stay...whole lives...get into spiral of irrelevance & isolation from rest of world 3. Politics...trap...in order to change world through politics, you must gain power...4. Critical thinking...spend all formative years getting rewarded for finding problems...focusing on negative...leave school thinking way to be useful & show smarts is to point out why things won’t work, rather than using smarts to find a way forward"
society  careers  culture  intelligence  education  criticalthinking  cv  work  vocation  gtd  behavior  thinking  life  yearoff  gamechanging  making  learning  deschooling  unschooling  problemsolving  creativity  professionals  professions  change  freedom  value  lcproject  usefulness  academia  intellectualism  cynicism  entrepreneurship  activism  politics  rewards  fulfillment  via:preoccupations 
august 2008 by robertogreco
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be 2008 by Kevin Guilfoile & John Warner - The Morning News
"Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama are like HD-DVD & Blu-Ray, respectively, Mitt Romney is DVD, John McCain is VHS, & Ron Paul is a View-Master dug out of a box in basement with “Great Wonders of Engineering Vol. 12: The Hoover Dam” permanently jammed in
elections  barackobama  2008  hillaryclinton  us  humor  irony  cynicism  politics 
february 2008 by robertogreco
PULPHOPE: ECHOES OF THE JAZZ AGE
"It was characteristic of the Jazz Age that it had no interest in politics at all."
fscottfitzgerald  history  cynicism  liberty  freedom  politics  billofrights 
september 2007 by robertogreco
Really Magazine - Interview: An exclusive interview with Laurie Taylor
"a cynic as a person who, when he smells flowers, looks...for a coffin...cynicism...seems...contagious. Put a really good hardened cynic into a department and within six months you'll have everyone else wandering around moaning about their lot."
cynicism  work  people  psychology  science  humor 
july 2007 by robertogreco
BBC NEWS | Health | Cynicism link with heart disease
"Being cynical can increase the risk of heart disease, US researchers claim."
health  research  stress  emotions  psychology  cynicism  i'mscrewed 
january 2007 by robertogreco

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