Clive Thompson
Clive Thompson
globe scientists statistics stop warming
Railing at scientists for massaging tree-ring statistics won't stop the globe from warming if the globe is actually, you know, warming.
computer consumers files requiring tiny
Software is now so complex - requiring so many gazillions of tiny files all over your computer - that most consumers don't want to bother to know what's really going on.
carefully figure risky studied
Insurance firms have always carefully studied real-world data to figure out what, precisely, constitutes a risky activity.
people
We're dumber and less cognitively nimble if we're not around other people - and, now, other machines.
business develop firm goal interrupt love media models people selling social stare
Personally, I'd love to see more social media firms develop business models that aren't reliant on advertising. If you're a social media firm selling ads, your goal is to get people to interrupt what they're doing all day long so they come and stare at your service as much as possible.
answering engaging people productive tend themselves thinkers
The people who tend to get the most out of being social thinkers are the people who themselves are helpful. They're always talking or answering people's questions or engaging in productive conversations. They're not being trolls. They're tamping down other people that are being trolls.
birthday expert fans favorite passionate retain subjects topic truly works
When you're an expert in a subject, you can retain new factoids on your favorite topic easily. This only works for the subjects you're truly passionate about, though. Baseball fans can reel off stats for their favorite players, then space out on their own birthday.
consult documents impossible knowledge manipulate material paper pencils recall scratch store type
We use paper documents to store knowledge so we can consult and reconsult it, giving us a type of recall impossible with our unaided minds; we use pencils to scratch down material so we can manipulate it in a fashion impossible in our unaided minds.
complaint designed endorse reply
The one complaint about the Internet that I wholeheartedly endorse is that most of these tools have been designed to peck at us like ducks: 'Hey, there's a new reply to your comment! Come look at it!'
mini
I lust after iPods or Mini Coopers not because they're unique, but because they've been so artfully made that I couldn't imagine doing it better myself.
bust case database five government loud maybe sucking utter
There's nothing wrong with talking out loud in public, but there is something wrong with the government sucking up all those utter instances in a database just in case they maybe want to bust you in five years.
artistic huge seems truly work
Truly huge artistic collaboration on the Internet seems to work only if the gang has a well-defined objective.
people
The amount of writing that people do online is astonishing, and historically unprecedented.
improves
No consumer product improves more drastically, year after year, than the computer.