From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We've never really talked about diversity, not honestly- and that's why we've got these problems, we've always skirted around the issue, sort of tap danced around it and walked on egg shells when discussing it; because of this, we've never really addressed it.
I acknowledge the monumental impact of the convergence of games with computers, leading to the creation of video games. This fusion marked a significant cultural explosion, underscoring the importance of games in the context of modern technology.
Another important argument for maintaining the status quo is that eliminating a core symbol of the monetary regime could disrupt common social conventions for using money, possibly in unexpected ways.
Comedy delivers the cerebral and the hyperbole, it can be funny and serious. You can see that ability for the pendulum to swing both ways when you watch the best comedians perform.
Those three hours in a movie theatre gave people a chance to forget their woes and become one with their hero or heroine on screen. Cinema formed a means of escapism for people, from what they had to go through in their daily lives.
People who come in through the games engage more with the news and other content — and ultimately become more valuable subscribers overall. Gaming becomes the entry point that leads them into the broader New York Times ecosystem. It's been so successful that they've actually flipped their old saying. Back in the 1940s, the Times used to say, 'People come for the news and stay for the games.' Now it's the other way around.
Historically, humans have evolved to be wary of the unfamiliar—a survival instinct that's served us well. Thus, the age-old "Frankenstein" narrative, wherein we birth powerful entities beyond our understanding or control, resonates deeply with our intrinsic apprehensions.
While participatory culture can create a Wikipedia, it is not likely to produce something like the Star Wars franchise. I don't think that's a problem, because I don't think we have to choose between participatory and top-down culture – both will thrive.
The team was a meritocracy in which performance alone was rewarded. As I got better and my team started winning championships for my school, my status as freakishly tall black kid became a badge of accomplishment and inclusion.
I started writing fiction because I was lonely. I was an only child, a solitary child, raised by a single working mother, which was very unusual at the time in Turkey. Literature gave me a sense of continuity, coherence; it kept my pieces together. It helped me to connect even when I felt like I didn't quite belong.
The most powerful stories come from genuine human connection. When you truly understand someone's experience, you can translate that into something universal that resonates with audiences everywhere.
When China started its open-door policy, 40 years ago, it was a much different environment. There was nothing to work with! It was a communist system before that, a planned economy, no free market. People started building things from scratch.