The Critical Commentator

  Tory Voters …Nearly half of Tory voters are over 65 and 83 per cent are over 45, according to a report that Onward released this week. Only one in five women aged between 18 and 24 would even consider voting Tory, and just eight per cent would do so if an election were held today. What was once One Nation is becoming One Generation. …As the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said this week, people used to think about voting Conservative when they got their first pay cheque – they now do so when they get their winter fuel allowance. The reasons for the growing age gap are complex. Falling home ownership and low levels of disposable income mean younger generations are less indebted to capitalism than their elders. Millennials’ economic views have been forged by financial crisis not financial prosperity. On social issues, younger people are well to the left of any generation before them, putting them at odds with older generations’ belief in law and order and shared identity. Fairy Tal...

  Photography Dynamic Suprematism (Supremus) ,  Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] The photograph operates as an uncritical witness to the reality that exists in front of it. Likewise, the unpeopled educational spaces in the photographic works exist as dispassionate but quietly articulate witnesses to the various forms of life and consciousness that travel through them. (Bernice Donszelmann and Tim Renshaw, handout at Royal Academy photographic exhibition)                                                         What? * Photography is the archaeology and identification of what is invisible, in the inner being of the onlooker. It is the notation of the memory for the memory, which p...

  Modern Thinking Phaeton ,   William Hilton (1786-1839) Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-SA] Svend Brinkmann, professor of psychology and qualitative methods at Aalborg University, Denmark, suggests, in his book  Stand Firm , you throw away the self-improvement books, embrace negativity and doubt and stand firm against the tyranny of positivity. The obsession with introspection and self-analysis risks stress, depression and, at worst, turns us into mini psychopaths.                                                                                                              (The Times, 2019)    Hurrah! Common sense rules in one small part of the world        ...

  Artificial Intelligence Facebook has promised to use artificial intelligence to stop suggesting dead friends are invited to parties. Its “emotionally intelligent” AI is part of a rash of changes to how the social network handles “memorialised” accounts – pages kept in the owner’s memory. Memorialisation of accounts allows images, videos and posts to be kept online, and provides a focal point for friends and relatives to share memories. But the feature has caused its fair share of pain: since the account is treated like any other Facebook user, it is used for the same algorithmic features too. That means users have been sent recommendations to invite dead relatives to parties, suggestions to wish them a happy birthday, and more. …More recently, Facebook lost a three-year court battle over access to the private messages of a 15-year old girl who had been killed by a train at a Berlin station in 2012. Her mother wanted to see her messages to find out whether she was being bullied wh...

  Photography Dynamic Suprematism (Supremus) ,  Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] The photograph operates as an uncritical witness to the reality that exists in front of it. Likewise, the unpeopled educational spaces in the photographic works exist as dispassionate but quietly articulate witnesses to the various forms of life and consciousness that travel through them. (Bernice Donszelmann and Tim Renshaw, handout at Royal Academy photographic exhibition)                                                         What? * Photography is the archaeology and identification of what is invisible, in the inner being of the onlooker. It is the notation of the memory for the memory, which p...

  Modern Thinking Phaeton ,   William Hilton (1786-1839) Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-SA] Svend Brinkmann, professor of psychology and qualitative methods at Aalborg University, Denmark, suggests, in his book  Stand Firm , you throw away the self-improvement books, embrace negativity and doubt and stand firm against the tyranny of positivity. The obsession with introspection and self-analysis risks stress, depression and, at worst, turns us into mini psychopaths.                                                                                                              (The Times, 2019)    Hurrah! Common sense rules in one small part of the world        ...

Social Media Facebook has promised to use artificial intelligence to stop suggesting dead friends are invited to parties. Its “emotionally intelligent” AI is part of a rash of changes to how the social network handles “memorialised” accounts – pages kept in the owner’s memory. Memorialisation of accounts allows images, videos and posts to be kept online, and provides a focal point for friends and relatives to share memories. But the feature has caused its fair share of pain: since the account is treated like any other Facebook user, it is used for the same algorithmic features too. That means users have been sent recommendations to invite dead relatives to parties, suggestions to wish them a happy birthday, and more. …More recently, Facebook lost a three-year court battle over access to the private messages of a 15-year old girl who had been killed by a train at a Berlin station in 2012. Her mother wanted to see her messages to find out whether she was being bullied when she died, and ...

  Death The Death of Burd Ellen ,   John Faed (1819-1902) Photo Credit: Glasgow Museums [CC BY-NC-ND]  Sir, Miriam Margolyes is right: there is a “conspiracy of silence”, and Britons struggle to talk about death and dying (“Harry Potter actress confronts fear of death”, Mar 11). However, there is also the growing subterfuge of the euphemisms “passed” and “passed away”. Sadly, people do die, it’s a fact; pass it on. (Dr Jim McDermott, Whitwick, Leics,  The Times , 13.3.2019) Sir, I recommend attending a death café, where all matters pertaining to death and dying are discussed in an open-hearted and lively manner and without euphemisms. (Ceri Wolfe, Witchampton, Dorset, The Times, 14.3.2019) Wine Consumption The Vintage in the Claret Vineyards in the South of France ,  Thomas Uwins (1782-1857) Photo Credit:Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]  I see (Report, 28 March) that the French are upset by the suggestion they should limit wine consumption to two glasses a day. When I vi...