Having mentioned Templeton, the mutual fund manager turned patron of the spiritual arts, in passing in my entry Ruse on Evolution, and Seligman’s Positive Psychology movement in my entry Psychology in Recovery and Be Happy, I was interested in “John Templeton’s Universe” in the The Nation. Barbara Ehrenreich looks at the weirdness that happens when inspiration, large sums of money, corporate values, positive thinking, psychology and spirituality intersect.
Unfortunately, it appears that Seligman, who had said some interesting things in his books on positive psychology, has become another corporate inspirational performer, hyping his own line of coaching and positive thinking “products”.
Month: October 2007
Alternate Nobel Writers
The Alt-Reality Nobel prize for literature, 2007, would have gone to J.K. Rowling?
Ted Gioia’s list is pretty good. He would have given the award to several genre writers. He has a different theory of aesthetics and less impressed with old canons of high art and literary fiction. His Great Books Guide site is informed by the same theories and is pretty good too.
He has some comments about Heinlein, Dick, Rowling, genre fiction and some good reviews.
On related topic, here is an essay about SF Out of this World from the New Humanist, reflecting on why people who take the magic of out real life like fantasy in books and performances.