Link Loving 20.12.12

• Research says that studying economics turns you into a liar.  Jordan Weissmann.
• Outrageous HSBC settlement proves the drug war is a joke. Matt Taibbi.
• The disciplined pursuit of less. Greg McKeown.
• Johnny Depp thrills a local school after arriving unannounced as Jack Sparrow to help lead a mutiny against the teachers. BBC News.

Link Loving 19.12.12

• Great and wide-ranging interview with Adam Curtis. Alex Miller.

Sunday Reading Suggestion – The State Of The World

This is the best ‘state-of-the-world’ essay I’ve read in a while. It is a corker!

It opens with a comparison of the Western world today to that of Rome during the end of the ancient world and the emergence of Christianity. Then, sweeping through philosophy, history, psychology and science – explores today’s conceptions of power, progress, consciousness and meaning. The best bit is that it doesn’t focus on the dying of something epochal – but on the reorientation and rebirth of the new, the just and the free. Hope you enjoy!

http://vanwishard.com/books/sleepwalking-through-apocalypse.html

Thanks to Alex Evans as ever for recommending!

Why English Spelling Is So Weird

I just listened to this fantastic episode of In Our Time from Radio 4, exploring the history of William Caxton and the printing press in England.

A rich conversation reveals some interesting history – including one of the reasons why English spelling is so strange, and how technology shapes culture. Recommended listening!

Link Loving 14.12.12

• How Britain can’t come to terms with its imperialist history. Adam Ramsay. 
• A classic case of how most big businesses still aren’t asking the right questions to drive sustainable innovation at scale. Natalya Sverjensky.
• Launch of Local First – Peace Direct’s great local-led development work.

Elizabeth 1st Of England Was An Environmentalist

“The use of sea and air is common to all; neither can a title to the ocean belong to any people or private persons, forasmuch as neither nature nor public use and custom permit any possession therof.”

-Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603)

Elizabeth 1st, 1601 – Isaac Oliver

Link Loving 13.12.12

• Here’s a better way to remember things. H. James Wilson.
• Life without parole: Four inmates’ stories. John Tierney.
• The disadvantages of an elite education: Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers. William Deresiewicz.