Critical Nonsense

Why should we be concerned wth generationally slow timebombs? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about trees, the Bradford pear, city planning, Barcelona, pilot programs, and the candy bowl theory. They don’t talk about Cameo. 

references 

• @jjvincent on the tree timebomb in the UK. 
• The Guardian: Hidden giants: how the UK’s 500,000 redwoods put California in the shade 
• The New York Times from 1964: BRADFORD PEAR HAS MANY ASSETS; New Ornamental Fruit Offers Sturdy Form And Early Bloom 
• The New York Times from 2021: A Tree That Was Once the Suburban Ideal Has Morphed Into an Unstoppable Villain 
• Superilla 
• Biological Control 
• The Psychology of the Candy Bowl 
• Dunbar's number 
• Street activity sensors in NY 
• Definitely Maybe 

What does this "trend-mill" mean, what does it say about us as people, and how bad is it, really? 

This week, special guests Claire and Chloe join Jess and Joey to talk about the mob-wife aesthetic, accessibility, TikTok, blueberry milk nails, social networks vs. social media, and Trader Joe's totes. They don’t talk about why the combination of peanut butter and jelly is a gotdamn abomination. 

references 

• Vogue: Blueberry Milk Nails Are Summer’s Most-Wanted Manicure 
• Zaria Parvez: How the Comment Section became Duolingo's new Push Notification 
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt 
• onika burgers 

What happens if we're all deathly affraid of the cringe? 

This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about pain, yips, shame, fremdschämen, the Apple Vision Pro, and Michael Jordan. They don’t talk about Gracious K. 

references 

• Skanking 
• Revisiting Critical Nonsense 253! Teaching Agency and the Scandinavian Swimmers 
• Fremdschämen 
• The actual King of Belgium 

Why is cheating in some places treated differently than cheating in other places? 

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about fairness, tribalism, insider trading, meritocracy, winning, and wallpaper. They don’t talk about Pete Shelley. 

references 

• Veridis Quo 
• USA Today: Who is Shohei Ohtani and what is his connection to the gambling scandal that's rocked baseball? 
• ESPN: NBA eyes Raptors' Jontay Porter for betting issues 
• The Meritocracy Myth by Stephen J. McNamee 
• Jayson Tatum 
• Aaron's Interior Decorating Corner: Anthropologie, Spoonflower, Hovia, Janovic, and Lamps Plus 

This week, a takeover! Joey shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: Awaiting the Eruption: Innovation Strategies for a Post-ZIRP Era.

For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

Why are we always searching for the right answer?  

This week, Jess and Joey talk about gray spaces, equifinality, value judgments, hiring, multifinality, and quantum physics. They don’t talk about the Alignment Theory.  

references  

• Joey's nerd piece: Progress Report: The State Of...Awaiting the Eruption 
• equifinality 
• multifinality 
• the secretary problem 
• The New York Times: ‘I’m Sick of Seeing My Face,’ Says the Internet’s Kombucha Connoisseur 

What are the rules about crying in public? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about benchmarking emotions, psychic tears, showing your belly, laughter yoga, pickled sadness, and ... farts. They don’t talk about Mary. 

references 

• When Joeys cry 
• Lacrymatory 
• Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown 
• National Library of Medicine: "The social impact of emotional tears" 
• The Swaddle: Psychic Tears and the Science of Crying 
• Laughter yoga 

How do we survive dopamine culture?

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about neurotransmitters, The Good Place, Sheryl Crowe, Wall-E, Type 2 fun, and the mortal sins. They don't talk about the important nuance of the many antihistamines for all you allergic people out there.

references

• Cleveland Clinic: On Neurotransmitters
• Inc: "Why Your Brain Prioritizes Instant Gratification Over Long-Term Goals, According to Science"
• The Honest Broker Substack: "The State of the Culture 2024" where you'll find that dopamine culture chart
• Corrections Department: it was NOLS Rocky Mountain Outdoor Educators Semester
• WaPo: "What is Type 2 Fun?"
• WaPo on the joy, and if you can believe it—newfound mess—of Marie Kondo

What's our responsibility to teach agency for the next generation of workers? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Scandinavian Swimmers, in-flight wifi, lawnmower parenting, consent, waffles and ice cream, and pipe cleaners. They don’t talk about ABBA. 

references 

• Scandinavian Swimmers 

Is it better to be a nerd with your analogies and attempt to be right, or is it better just to be relatable? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Mister Rogers and his (boring) neighborhood, The Big Bang Theory, nerds, the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, linking things, and the Ig Noble Awards. They don’t talk about Lewis Skolnick or Gilbert Lowe. 

references 

• "Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen!" 
• Baader–Meinhof phenomenon 
• concatenate 
• Also, CONCAT(ENATE) 
• The Ig Nobel Prize: Celebrating Science with Humour