Work Here. We Prize Originality, Intelligence, and Creativity.

“Smart young things joining the workforce soon discover that, although they have been selected for their intelligence, they are not expected to use it. They will be assigned routine tasks that they will consider stupid. If they happen to make the mistake of actually using their intelligence, they will be met with pained groans from colleagues and polite warnings from their bosses. After a few years of experience, they will find that the people who get ahead are the stellar practitioners of corporate mindlessness.”

—  “You Don’t  Have to Be Stupid to Work Here, But it Helps,” André Spicer, Aeon

André Spicer is professor of organizational behavior at the City University of London and co-author, with Mats Alvesson, of The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work.

Neo-Nazi Kitties Held Hostage

Today In International Cat News: An animal shelter in Zwickau, Germany is demanding more than $1,300 for care of two kitty cats owned by an alleged neo-nazi serial murderer. The felines in question, Heidi and Lily, belong to Beate Zschäpe, a member of the Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund, a neo-nazi terror cell suspected of a series of racially motivated murders with as many as 10 victims.

Typewriters in India: A Matter of Form(s)

Among the many antiquities preserved in India is the manual typewriter. No artifact, it remains a vital part of daily life. While lack of rural electrification is a factor, this is chiefly a result of the Raj, the era of British colonial occupation. When the British withdrew, they left behind an entrenched bureaucracy and an ocean of official paper forms. The only way to legibly fill in paper forms: typewriters.