1. Visual illusions in light projection by James Turrell.
2. The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status is a promising social science variable.
CARDIA subjects were provided a graphic of a ladder with nine rungs, with instructions to imagine that it represented where people stand in the U.S., with those at the top being best-off (most money, most education, and most respected jobs) and those at the bottom being worst off. They placed an “X” on the rung indicating their position in this hierarchy.
This scale has predictive power beyond objective SES:
In several studies, SSS [Subjective Social Status] ratings showed an independent association with health when adjusted for objective SES.
Most existing research connects this scale with medical outcomes. I would love to see an in-depth exploration of the back-and-forth relationships between this scale and various social, political, and life-history factors.
3. Proposal to rationally optimize tradeoffs in urban design. This specific paper’s focus isn’t very strong (restrictive zoning proposal to place sole emphasis on walkability as opposed to other important factors already optimized by the market), but it’s motivation is compelling:
Many designers and researchers have grappled with the problem of optimally locating buildings and use types in a neighborhood-scale development. But little work has used data-driven optimization to aid in creating urban design schemes.
This concept seems promising because many consequential features of urban design (for example inherited street layouts) are obviously not currently market-driven or otherwise optimized in any meaningful way.
4. Golf carts are an underrated form of transportation.
“With palpable enthusiasm, she reeled off a list of golf carts’ advantages over cars: They provide accessibility for residents who aren’t able to drive; they enable local shops to expand parking capacity (golf cart spots are significantly smaller than those for cars); the electric models are quiet and don’t pollute.”
5. Exoskeleton technology controls individual fingers well enough to play a guitar.
EMS [electrical muscle stimulation] works by affixing electrodes to the user’s skin, then sending small, painless electrical signals that cause muscles to contract.
I hope the future has techie gyms where you strap yourself into an exoskeleton, take some narcotics, and let the computer move your body through an optimized and painless workout routine.
6. Medication nonadherence is a big issue.
Medication nonadherence for patients with chronic diseases is extremely common, affecting as many as 40% to 50% of patients who are prescribed medications for management of chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension. This nonadherence to prescribed treatment is thought to cause at least 100,000 preventable deaths and $100 billion in preventable medical costs per year.
Solutions are available:
In at least one integrated health care system, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a combination of approaches centered on the electronic health record has improved medication adherence rates to above 80%.
7. Industrial-scale hydroponic systems growing fodder in a greenhouse for just “pennies to a pound”. There’s a lot of hype for sexy agricultural tech like lab grown meat, but this more mundane stuff is important too. Changes in energy or land requirements for staple crop production would cause all sorts of downstream effects.
8. The protein gelatin may suppress appetite more than casein.
In one study, 22 people were each given 20 grams of gelatin. As a result, they experienced a rise in the hormones known to reduce appetite, and reported that the gelatin helped them feel full.
Many studies have found that a high-protein diet can help you to feel fuller. However, the type of protein you eat appears to play an important role (21, 22).
One study gave 23 healthy people either gelatin or casein, a protein found in milk, as the only protein in their diet for 36 hours. The researchers found that gelatin reduced hunger 44% more than casein (23).
Gelatin salads might stage a 2023 comeback.
9. In Praise of Shadows describes the aesthetics of candlelight and gaslight in Japan before electrification. For example, the author describes gold lacquer:
Their luxurious use of gold lacquer always took into account the way the piece would emerge out of the gloom and the appearance of the reflected lamplight on its surface. In other words, gold lacquerware was never meant to be viewed all at once under direct light, but rather to be seen in bits and pieces, a little at a time, as if softly lit from within.
A single candle in a large room:
The illuminated world was limited to a space of about two tatami mats, and the darkness behind the screen seemed to descend from the heights of the ceiling, a dense monotone of shadow that hung down from above. The faltering light from the candle was unable to pierce its thickness, repulsed as if it had hit a solid black wall.
The author makes this criticism of modern lighting:
The style of interior lighting these days has nothing to do with being able to read or write or sew, but is an expense paid solely to erase the shadows from every corner of the room… buildings in the service industries tend to use far too much lighting—from the front gate to the entrance hall, corridors, stairs and garden—making everything from the rooms to the bottom of the stones of the garden seem shallow and superficial.
It’s exciting to imagine the novel interior design aesthetics possible with more creative lighting choices.
10. I enjoyed the following passage from Life of Lycurgus. For context, Lycurgus was a legendary ruler of Sparta who in this scene had angered some citizens.
It was due, therefore, to this last political device above all, that the wealthy citizens were incensed against Lycurgus, and banding together against him, denounced him publicly with angry shouts and cries; finally many pelted him with stones, so that he ran from the market-place. He succeeded in reaching sanctuary before the rest laid hands on him; but one young man, Alcander, otherwise no mean nature, but hasty and passionate, pressed hard upon him, and put out one of his eyes. 2 Lycurgus, however, was far from yielding in consequence of this calamity, but confronted his countrymen, and showed them his face besmeared with blood and his eye destroyed. Whereupon they were so filled with shame and sorrow at the sight, that they placed Alcander in his hands, and conducted him to his house with sympathetic indignation. Lycurgus commended them for their conduct, and dismissed them, but took Alcander into the house with him, where he did the youth no harm by word or deed, but after sending away his customary servants and attendants, ordered him to minister to his wants. 3 The youth, who was of a noble disposition, did as he was commanded, without any words, and abiding thus with Lycurgus, and sharing his daily life, he came to know the gentleness of the man, the calmness of his spirit, the rigid simplicity of his habits, and his unwearied industry. He thus became a devoted follower of Lycurgus, and used to tell his intimates and friends that the man was not harsh nor self-willed, as he had supposed, but the mildest and gentlest of them all. 4 Such, then, was the chastisement of this young man, and such the penalty laid upon him, namely, to become, instead of a wild and impetuous youth, a most decorous and discreet man.
To me, the passage vividly communicates a novel package of social norms that (a) de-emphasize prohibitions against violence and other rule-breaking while (b) placing a greater social premium on passionate character and strength of action.