Wonderland
by Steven Johnson · first published 2014
8mentions
2recommended by
6HN commenters
2017–2025first – last mentioned
33% recommend50% neutral17% critical
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See the book “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World” by Steven Johnson for interesting examples of agricultural theft (the history of vanilla was fascinating). Here’s a video lecture from Steve that may include some, but…
on “Airbus hit by series of cyber attacks on suppliers” ↗If you’re excited by this concept I recommend the book “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World” by Steven Johnson. Fascinating stuff! Here’s a recorded talk and more info: http://longnow.org/seminars/02017/jan/04/wonderland-how-play...
on “The next big thing will start out looking like a toy (2010)” ↗…amaze, they often end up transforming society in more dramatic ways than people focused on more utilitarian concerns. “If necessity is the mother of invention, delight must be the father!” [this is from Wonderland, a book by Steven Johnson]
There is a book about this that they don't seem to mention: Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30798471-wonderland It's not bad. It pushes the hypothesis to breaking point but there is something in the idea.
on “Why Toys?” ↗…fantasy books which often have maps and images that are generally illegible on an eReader. Some books offer aesthetic treats as physical objects that are totally lost in eReader form (e.g. Steven Johnson's Wonderland). Flipping back to check on a previous passage/reference a map or just generally browsing through a book to see what's there are also terrible experiences. I enjoy the physical presence of books in my…
on “Tiny Books Fit in One Hand. Will They Change the Way We Read?” ↗…plate section and skim through it rapidly, on a Kindle, no, and of course any color is lost. There are other aesthetic qualities to books that are often lost, e.g. flip through a copy of Steven Johnson's Wonderland. Notice the color interstitial pages and the way images are integrated with the text. All lost on Kindle. In general any sort of subtlety in layout/use of fonts is lost on Kindle (e.g. sidebars, or little…
on “Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens” ↗…parents were like climbing up the walls to give them the answers. That's an education system way too focused on fact memorization over practical life skills. It also reminds me of Stephen Johnson's book `Wonderland: how play made the modern world` and the importance of a little bit of fun in the learning process.
on “AI in education may require us to return to 15th-century pedagogy” ↗> Play was central to the formation of personal computer culture. In his book, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, Steven Johnson applies this thesis to pretty much all the things. Enjoyable book, but the thesis probably does not hold up too much scrutiny.
on “The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure” ↗