Interesting Links for 10-12-2017

[andrewducker]

Ballet rotoscope (delightful connection of line and motion)

(tags: dance video Technology )

Membership of Mensa associated with mental and physical disorders

(tags: mensa Intelligence health mentalhealth )

Germany has come up with the best solution to single-use coffee cups

(tags: environment germany )

How to deal with high housing prices

(tags: housing japan economics )

10 Surprisingly Effective 2 P.M. Pick-Me-Ups

(tags: work funny advice satire )

Line Rider synced to Hall Of The Mountain King is a lot of fun

(tags: music animation video )

Widening inequality is largely a US and UK phenomenon – why?

(tags: inequality uk society libdem )

First electric trains to run on Edinburgh-Glasgow main line on Sunday

(tags: Edinburgh glasgow electricity Scotland trains transport )

Global powers lobby to stop special Brexit deal for UK

(tags: UK europe )

iPhone slow? Try replacing your battery

(tags: iPhone speed batteries )

A Cruise Ship Called “The World” Is a Luxury Home at Sea for the Super Rich

(tags: money ship ocean )

The six Brexit traps that will defeat Theresa May | Yanis Varoufakis

(tags: Europe UK greece )

Recycling Chaos in U.S. As China Bans 'Foreign Waste'

(tags: usa China recycling )

EU closes mammoth trade deal with Japan

(tags: Japan Europe trade )

Two-year degrees to lower tuition fees

(tags: education UK )

Bermuda abolishes same-sex marriage after six months

(tags: lgbt marriage OhForFucksSake viaJennieRigg )

Comments

[andrewducker]

Glad you did much better once you left that environment. I wonder how many people it's actually good for.

[njj4]

Thanks. I find it interesting that none of the friends I've kept in touch with have sent their children there. One remarked "he's bright enough to pass the exam, but I want him to be a happy person". It's almost certainly different now - apparently they have a counselling and welfare team these days (rather than a general attitude of "pull yourself together old chap, and try not to let the side down"), plus they went co-educational shortly after the 500th anniversary.

As to how many people that kind of environment is actively good for (rather than merely not doing too much harm, which was probably the case for most of my classmates), I don't know. There's certainly a particular sort of person who actively thrives in that culture, and the current UK government is largely composed of such people. But I'm not sure I'd necessarily say it's been good for them as people. Who knows what worthwhile stuff Boris Johnson might now be doing if he hadn't gone to Eton.

At the time I was rather disappointed at just missing the grades to get into Cambridge, but in retrospect it would almost certainly have been a disaster - for me it would have been essentially another few years of a similar environment. A contemporary who made it into Oxford had his studies interrupted for a year by a nervous breakdown (the warning signs for which had been evident years earlier). I didn't like him and he didn't like me, but I sympathised nonetheless. Meanwhile, at York, I had a moderately wobbly second year but ultimately made it through relatively unscathed.