What sort of better?

Sneakers are better for running a marathon, but shoes are better for a wedding reception. This is the better of utility. Finding something that does the job it sets out to do. And then there is the better of taste. Yellow mustard might be better than Dijon mustard. Not for me, perhaps, but for you.

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Movies, books and paintings

No important movie has ever been a solo project. While we can see a director’s point of view from movie to movie, the collaborative nature of the work is evident. Actors, cinematographers and musicians all change what we see. And because of the huge amount of time and money involved, compromise (and the resistance to

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The ghost in the machine

When a system becomes complex and our knowledge peters out, we’re tempted to assert, in the words of Gilbert Ryle, that there’s a ‘ghost in the machine.’ “How does the stoplight work?” “Well, it knows that there’s a break in the traffic so it switches from green to red.” Actually, it doesn’t ‘know’ anything. Professionals

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