Words of Wisdom — June 20, 2015

Why Béla Bartók Would Have Hated American Idol

Words of wisdom from the great composer and pioneer of ethnomusicology: “Competitions are for horses, not artists.”

Béla Bartók (1881–1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. He is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and was also one of the founders of the field of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicologists examine the many musics of the world within the contexts of culture, society, cognition, biology, and other dimensions.

The following words of wisdom communicate his thoughts on the non-competitiveness of art:

“Competitions are for horses, not artists.”

Below, composer and conductor Leon Botstein examines music through a lens of peace and war:

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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Words of Wisdom

Art Is a Process of Evolution, Not Revolution

Words of wisdom from Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, the founder of ethnomusicology: “In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution, not revolution.”