2023.12.12 Links
Here’s a summary of Amanda Ripley’s book High Conflict. My favorite insight is about “looping,” or the practice of reflecting to someone what they’ve said until they say you understand them.
A LinkedIn friend introduced me to Seth Kaplan’s work on neighborhoods earlier this year, and I’m now churning through his interviews and articles before diving into his book. Kaplan focuses on relationships as the core of our health and well-being. Putnam might call this “Social Capital.” The state of our neighborhoods influences our Social Capital. Furthermore, a lack of solid institutions and opportunities for connectivity in neighborhoods (poor social capital) has enormous consequences upstream at the national level (in both rich and poor neighborhoods). There are opportunities for overlap between Kaplans and my approach to neighborhoods. Namely, he suggests stronger neighborhood visual identities or markers (community symbols) to help neighbors identify or connect with and feel pride for their place. I wrestle with this because work of this nature can “brand” or promote gentrification projects. Still, I do believe neighborhoods can better identify themselves without gentrifying. For instance, primary main street signs in Pittsburgh include neighborhood identification. This practice orients people within a neighborhood without branding the place. Listen to more about Kaplan’s work on the Strongtown podcast.
A design group in Barcelona painted the city’s streets with colorful symbols of the city.
A comedic letter from a developer to the neighborhood it’s wreaking havoc upon. “As you can see, we know what it means to be a good neighbor. Feel free to reach out or stop by anytime. Our doors are always open. Except when they are locked, which is always.”
Here’s an article on “Ungrading” and the possibility of more inclusive evaluation criteria that foster authentic learning. I’ve implemented minor aspects of ungrading and would like to pursue this practice further.
Clive Thompson’s tricks for writing a draft. Thompson’s ideas remind me why Wendell Berry doesn’t write on a computer… Because a computer makes a draft feel finished, making it harder to edit.