On land use and transportation#
Something can be a “road”: fast and good at getting between places. Or it can be a “street”: nice for for spending time, accessing homes and stores. In the US, we too frequently build “stroads” that try to do both and succeed at neither: Stroads by Not Just Bikes.
We build too much parking ( The trouble with minimum parking requirements by Donald C. Shoup), and don’t allow cities to develop organically ( This Experiment Undid our Cities by Strong Towns). This deprives us of our public spaces, restricts our ability to hang out, and makes us lonelier ( Barcelona Superblocks by The War on Cars with David Roberts).
On teaching & learning#
We take the joy out of learning: The Case Against Grades by Alfie Kohn or A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart.
We should teach elegant languages to new programmers: To the members of the Budget Council by Edsger W. Dijkstra.
Why are some people better at things than others? To be excellent, you don’t need to practice more than the competition; simply obsess about perfecting every aspect of what you’re doing: The Mundanity of Excellence by Daniel F. Chambliss
On “the tech” (i.e. how to interact with people / how people think)#
You have two minds: the slow one you’re conscious of, and the fast one that operates unconsciously. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman for the long version, or Blink by Malcom Gladwell for the short version.
Treat your partner like you’re an exotic animal trainer and they’re an exotic animal: What Shamu taught me about a happy marriage by Amy Sutherland. (This is actually imperative to master if you want to succeed in coaching youth ultimate.)
Human values take on a consistent form across cultures and times; the thing that differs is the order in which someone prioritize them (which is very useful to know about them): An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Human Values by Shalom H. Schwartz