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Americans say they prize competition, a proliferation of choices, the little guy. Yet our taste for convenience begets more convenience, through a combination of the economics of scale and the power of habit. The easier it is to use Amazon, the more powerful Amazon becomes — and thus the easier it becomes to use Amazon. Convenience and monopoly seem to be natural bedfellows.
There is the music of identity, like strophic songs, that says: “You know who I am, and you can count on me being this way.” That’s wonderful in participatory situations because it encourages the audience to join in. But something like a theme and variations says: “You don’t know me completely. There’s more to find out. I’m a person who can be sad and happy and change my mind.”
Treating our relationships as theme and variations could be the most beautiful way to sustain them.
What Can Musical Variations Teach Us About Creativity?
nytimes.com
I note that a new edition of Seneca’s treatise has recently been published by Princeton University Press under the title How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management. Indeed, Princeton has a whole series called “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers.”
Breaking Bread With the Dead
Alan Jacobs
...catch up on these, and many more highlights
Readwise