Autism, David Mitchell Guide

February 20, 2018 Ben Yeoh

"“So how autistic is your son, exactly?” “Well, his sensory processing is pretty cyan these days. Speech-wise, he’s light magenta. A nice canary yellow when it comes to motor control and memory functions, mind you. Thanks for asking.”"

I've referred to the David Mitchell piece (see here) previous in looking at his translation of Naoki Higashida's book. It's worth re-examining in more detail, if you haven't as it is insightful and genuine.

“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

"So what are we still getting wrong about autism, and how do we get it right? My answers form a kind of wishlist. First up, is that we stop assuming a communicative impairment denotes a cognitive one. Let’s be wary of assuming that behind autism’s speechlessness lies nothing, or nothing to speak of. Instead, let’s assume that we’re dealing with a mind as keen as our own, and act accordingly. Talk to the person. Don’t worry if there’s no evidence he or she understands. Maybe there is evidence, but you’re not recognising it as such. If the person is there, never discuss them as if they’re not, or as if they’re only there like the coat stand is there. If they don’t notice this courtesy, no harm is done; but if they do, then someone who is often treated as a part-object, part-human, total nuisance gets to feel like a real, valid, card-carrying member of society."

Hair loss, black hair experience

February 15, 2018 Ben Yeoh

I’ve lost large patches of hair over the last several months. I finally decided it had to go short. One upside it that it allows me to have this meditation on hair.

Hair can be wrapped tightly with our identity. I was surprised by how many readers and friends were unacquainted with the nuances of black women’s hair and why we don’t touch it (here Solange Knowle’s song and video – 19.7m views – and check out the hair).

"Don't touch my hair

When it's the feelings I wear

Don't touch my soul

When it's the rhythm I know

Don't touch my crown

They say the vision I've found

Don't touch what's there

When it's the feelings I wear

They don't understand

What it means to me

Where we chose to go

Where we've been to know..." (Don't Touch My Hair – Solange)

It’s looked at here in a BBC article. I’ve had female friends say many men don’t understand.

Solange further writes this opinion piece here "You and your friends have been called the N word, been approached as prostitutes, and have had your hair touched in a predominately white bar just around the corner from the same venue."

The black hair experience for many is tied tight into culture, discrimination and all the way into slavery and freedom.

Afrua Hirsh writes in Brit(ish) - her book on identity (from her personal view – column here - book link here - ):

“All bodies are not equal, all hair is not equal. My WhatsApp group members still share experiences of being given unwarranted feedback, in a manner that is careful to avoid any mention of the words ‘black’ or ‘Afro’, that we looked ‘more professional’ when we wore our hair ‘the other way’, i.e. straight. We share first-hand dilemmas about life at the Bar (can you reasonably place a barrister’s white horsehair wig at high altitude over a voluminous natural hairstyle?), as a teacher (told you look too ‘young’ with natural hair), or stories we observe around us, like the woman who wore her hair in braids to a job…. interview in 2015, and was told that it was not a suitable hairstyle for selling ‘high end’ products. We noticed when, the following year, the fashion website ASOS announced that box braids, which have been loved by black women for thousands of years, were having a fashion moment –they had become a ‘thing’ –because the model Cara Delevingne, who is white, had decided to wear them. … Black women still experience a penalty for wearing their own hair in traditional, natural styles, one reason why they spend billions of pounds globally on straightening or covering their hair with European hair-textured extensions. Black children in Britain –and around the world –have been told they cannot wear their hair in cornrows or Afro styles to school. 31 When white-owned businesses, such as the Braid Bar, or white celebrities, such as Delevingne or Lila Grace Moss, embrace these styles as mainstream fashion, they often do so on platforms that neither reference nor credit the black originators of the craft, the black women who continue to remain invisible in mainstream fashion and beauty marketing. It’s no surprise therefore that ‘cash-crop cornrows’, as the actor Amandla Stenberg described them, feel to many black women like a further pilfering from the best bits of the black experience. A white child penalised for wearing cornrows to school can just revert to their natural hair again. A black child has to mould themselves into something else, something their institution deems appropriate, at the expense of their cultural identity. Taken together, these experiences leave many black people feeling that their ingenuity is ignored but its creations appropriated when it suits. This doesn’t feel like an exchange, but an ongoing kind of exploitation. There is nothing wrong with exchange –cultural ideas and identities are forever cross-pollinating, merging and evolving

….Black people do not wish to be the ‘gatekeepers’ of black hairstyles, policing the imagined borders between races, monitoring the exchanges that do occur. The debate about cultural appropriation is not about the hairstyles themselves, or Jamaican jerk chicken, now commonly served in restaurants with no black owners or staff, or African print clothes, often seen on the catwalks of European designers who continue to show little interest in black models. It’s about power. As long as black women feel the critical, even disgusted gaze of white, mainstream beauty standards, telling them that their hair, skin, bodies and clothes are strange, primitive or ugly, not worthy of styling, modelling or celebrating, or that their look is unprofessional, or associated with poverty, then the sight of these cultural markers in a white context is never going to feel like cross-pollination.

... It’s going to feel like an act of theft, with the sting of a double standard.”

I’m unsure how far empathy goes. The willingness to share grief perhaps can be shared. Personal grief itself is perhaps too unique and powerful to share.

Losing hair is a form of grief to some. I’m unsure if I’d go so far myself. Nevertheless my hair has been knit as a part of my identity.

Grown too long in teenage years in reaction to a nag from parents to have it short.

Spiky. Messy. Different. In my working years, a reaction to note, I’m not quite the mainstream City finance worker. O Lo No. I’m some thing else.

How do we fool ourselves?

Perhaps fooling ourselves is a very human way of getting on with life.

What do you SEE on a bus and train trip

January 21, 2018 Ben Yeoh

What do I typically see when on a bus? I don't think I uses to SEE or observe much with any intensity or thought.

S observes certain detail intensely. A chime or rhythm slightly misplaced is logged as wierd, funny, wrong or amazing.

With easy portal photography, he can train that eye and snapshot it. The captured images give you a sense of the world through his lens.

It's a perspective so very different from mine. So very different from many "typicals" that it astonishes.

Every bus and train ride has 10 to 20 captured snapshots if S has his way.

Below are a sample from the last few.

Note the capture of signs, lettering and logos. People are incidental.

Patterns, colour and shapes.

What I take as granted as everyday is elevated to the most important.

Donald Trump's Mental Test. Can you pass and be a stable genius?

January 20, 2018 Ben Yeoh

Donald Trump scored a full 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), which is used by medical professionals to test for dementia.

The 10-minute test was created in 1996, and assesses concentration, attention, memory, language and other skills.

Here is a snippet:

You can see the full test pdf here (only for educational purposes, commercial purposes please see MOCA site above)

(Adding one point if the subject has fewer than 12 years of formal education.

Around 16: cognitive health of an Alzheimer's patient
Around 22: cognitive health of someone with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Above 26: Normal 30: Perfect score (Trump scored 30/30)

What is the best diet

January 20, 2018 Ben Yeoh

Showing where the British people have priorities, Michael Wolff’s book on Donald Trump has only reach #2 on the bestsellers in UK (made it to #1 on NYT). It has been pipped to the post by a diet/recipe book ?! by Tom Kerridge.

Kerridge seems to generally advocate a lower carb, lower calorie but still tasty set of foods and recipes.

I’ve been writing a long post on diets and touch upon the diets of some of the long-lived humans of the world in this post on longevity. (Lots of vegetables, don’t over eat, avoid processed foods – so not too different from Kerridge).

I wanted to contrast low carb, super low carb, ketogenic, Mediterranean type diets and point out that much of the data and science was confounded. But after I started writing about it, I realized this meta-study review by Katz and Meller (2014) did a more thorough and expert job – so I put the abstract and link here:

"Diet is established among the most important influences on health in modern societies. Injudicious diet figures among the leading causes of premature death and chronic disease. Optimal eating is associated with increased life expectancy, dramatic reduction in lifetime risk of all chronic disease, and amelioration of gene expression. In this context, claims abound for the competitive merits of various diets relative to one another. Whereas such claims, particularly when attached to commercial interests, emphasize distinctions, the fundamentals of virtually all eating patterns associated with meaningful evidence of health benefit overlap substantially. There have been no rigorous, long-term studies comparing contenders for best diet laurels using methodology that precludes bias and confounding, and for many reasons such studies are unlikely. In the absence of such direct comparisons, claims for the established superiority of any one specific diet over others are exaggerated. The weight of evidence strongly supports a theme of healthful eating while allowing for variations on that theme. A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention and is consistent with the salient components of seemingly distinct dietary approaches. Efforts to improve public health through diet are forestalled not for want of knowledge about the optimal feeding of Homo sapiens but for distractions associated with exaggerated claims, and our failure to convert what we reliably know into what we routinely do. Knowledge in this case is not, as of yet, power; would that it were so."

Link to Can we Say What Diet is Best for Health

One aspect – mentioned in the review but not in detail - I would point out is that many people can not sustain a keto diet long term, and that unsustainable diets are problematic. Also that part of why keto diets might work for some is that fats have high satiety effects, such that some people on super low carb or keto diets are also on calorie restricted diets at the same time.

Further as a technical point we thought keto diets might have brain effects due to ketones, but it might be due to fatty acid chains instead. There are limited long term studies on keto (though some data from epileptics). As a separate point, there are limited studies on fasting too, or intermittent fasting which have interesting short term data but long-term might be hard. Those looking for more esoteric case studies then Tim Ferris has some interesting thoughts, while not as rigorously tested, he has tested extensively on himself (though at its core his diet is slow-carb mostly, he goes through a lot of other systems which might suit you).

Those interested can look at a few more links below.

In sum, avoid too many processed foods, don’t over-eat (nudge yourself behavioural to achieve this eg fill a plate up 80% and put extra food out of sight) and eat lots of vegetables.

The science on epigenetics and microbiome are also advancing, and I’d be interested to see how that continues to develop.

Studies on keto and low-carb:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29290352 a meta-review suggesting “There is convincing evidence of beneficial effects of controlled trials implementing high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets in both sedentary and obese individuals”, but also advocating longer trial durations needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29269890 (2017) another meta review looking at low-carb for diabetes it concludes low carb may be effective but also shows that there’s limited standardization on what low carb means – it also highlights the super low carb (<50g/day) is not realistic, but the low-card (<130g/day) might be OK for compliance. Looking at 18 studies, 15 were considered at high risk of bias.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29263011 a debate on keto, on what the mechanism of action might be in neuro disorders. Traditionally it was thought to be the ketone effect, but some now think it might be a medium-chain fatty acid effect.

Studies on Mediterranean diet:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4179172/ meta-stduy suggesting lower cardio-diabetic risk

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21947643 Athens study on med diet, suggesting benefit on metabolic syndrome

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22999065

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29259973 An overview, with some thoughts on epigenetics and microbiome

Studies on intermittent fasting

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29199853 a review suggesting good evidence in animals, but limited human research, some small trials suggesting benefit but nothing longer-term or gold standard.

This https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26135345 meta- review similar “
Intermittent fasting, alternate-day fasting, and other forms of periodic caloric desistance are gaining popularity in the lay press and among animal research scientists. Whether clinical evidence exists for or is strong enough to support the use of such dietary regimens as health interventions is unclear.” And “Clinical research studies of fasting with robust designs and high levels of clinical evidence are sparse in the literature. Whereas the few randomized controlled trials and observational clinical outcomes studies support the existence of a health benefit from fasting, substantial further research in humans is needed before the use of fasting as a health intervention can be recommended.” Could only look at 3 small trials.

If you'd like to feel inspired by commencement addresses and life lessons try: Neil Gaiman on making wonderful, fabulous, brilliant mistakes; or Nassim Taleb's commencement address; or JK Rowling on the benefits of failure. Or Charlie Munger on always inverting; Sheryl Sandberg on grief, resilience and gratitude or investor Ray Dalio on on Principles.

Whistleblowing

January 16, 2018 Ben Yeoh

“I once read a statement by Ed Snowden that there are things worth dying for. And I read the same thing by Manning, who said she was ready to go to prison or even face a death sentence for what she was doing. And I read those comments and I thought: that is what I felt. That is right. It is worth it. Is it worth someone’s freedom or life to avert a war with North Korea? I would say unhesitatingly: “Yes, of course.” Was it worth Ed Snowden spending his life in exile to do what he did? Was it worth it for Manning, spending seven and a half years in prison? Yes, I think so. And I think they think so. And I think they are right.”

Daniel Ellsberg (who leaked the Pentagon papers, a top-secret study of US govt decision making on the Vietnam War) said that in conversation with Edward Snowden.

Read some of the transcript in the guardian here.

I don't think I have whatever it takes to do what Snowden and Ellsberg did, although I guess with some of these matters, you don't know how you react until the choice is in front of you.

Read about my questions to a dying man, on how to live a life well lived.

Or, a thought about the narrative of Bitcoin.

Mindfulness and Watching Trains

January 14, 2018 Ben Yeoh

I’m constantly learning. S has brought a unique dimension to this. I believe people who stop learning or experiencing novel events become unhappy.

Perhaps a skill we should learn at school, is how to make the most of what we have and what we can experience. I view this at the root of much mindfulness teaching, it goes back further to stoic thinking. I made a round-about post on this last year while waiting for buses and thinking about samurai quotes.

Our ability to re-purpose our moments meaningfully is important. The - perhaps fictional story - of the janitor telling the US President “I’m helping put a man on the moon” his job part of a wider more important calling. A cleaner in a hospital is saving lives on as regular basis as a junior doctor.

Experiencing unique moments. S shows me how to do a lot of this. I’ve trekked through ancient rainforests, accidently eaten the egg of a maleo bird and stayed with nomadic hunter gatherers in the Sulawesi jungle. Only a handful of people have experienced that.

Still, not many people have gone to Northwick Park, and stood on a footbridge to watch 8 different types of train go past. The experiences have more in common than you might think. You could approach this with a heavy heart and a mind of boredom. Hard to do when S remains so cheerful. Reminding you life is all around, new experiences are everywhere. I’ve never been to this footbridge before.

Instead I noticed the squelch of mud and the vigourous grass. I laughed at the train racing between the Bakerloo line train and the London Northwestern Railway trains. I watched in passing a scrappy game of football, mixed race, mixed gender, head scarfs and Nikes and hoodies all jumbled - I thought perhaps only in London on a cloudy winter day.

A reason to be hopeful - the wished for happy endings that Annie Proulx speaks about -

Sheryl Sandberg on grief and gratitude. Anoushka on gratitude. Lessons autism has taught me.

Depression. Purpose. Johann Hari book.

January 8, 2018 Ben Yeoh

"It turns out that between 65 and 80% of people on antidepressants are depressed again within a year." Johann Hari writes in his new book on depression (Guardian article)

That broadly chimes with what I know of the academic literature (see here and here for examples)

But, you also have to flip it. 20% to 35% of people are not depressed after 1 year. If you look at one 15 year long term study, there are some people who seem to fully recover.

Cognitive therapy and other non-drug therapy also have efficacy rates similar or better to drug therapy. Although this still means a majority of relapse after 1 year.

Hari writes in his book about 9 causes which have a social root (and 2 which are biological tendencies, ie genes which make it more likely to suffer).

"We need to feel we belong. We need to feel valued. We need to feel we’re good at something. We need to feel we have a secure future. And there is growing evidence that our culture isn’t meeting those psychological needs for many – perhaps most – people. I kept learning that, in very different ways, we have become disconnected from things we really need, and this deep disconnection is driving this epidemic of depression and anxiety all around us.

Let’s look at one of those causes, and one of the solutions we can begin to see if we understand it differently. There is strong evidence that human beings need to feel their lives are meaningful – that they are doing something with purpose that makes a difference. It’s a natural psychological need."

If you take that writing and compare it posts I have written on gratitude (eg Sheryl Sandberg, see end) and purpose (Oprah Winfrey, many others particularly Emily Esfahani Smith, on the power of meaning and purpose, the post on it here), you see an interesting chime, I think.

Especially when looked at through the lens of a job, which most of the population spend most of their time doing. If you view your jobs as a calling, not a chore, you are happier, more fulfilled.

Hari makes the flip point, an unfulfilled job can and does lead to depression (as can no job).

"Gallup... found that 13% of people say they are “engaged” in their work – they find it meaningful and look forward to it. Some 63% say they are “not engaged”, which is defined as “sleepwalking through their workday”. And 24% are “actively disengaged”: they hate it. Most of the depressed and anxious people I know, I realised, are in the 87% who don’t like their work."

" Professor John Cacioppo of Chicago University taught me that being acutely lonely is as stressful as being punched in the face by a stranger – and massively increases your risk of depression. Dr Vincent Felitti in San Diego showed me that surviving severe childhood trauma makes you 3,100% more likely to attempt suicide as an adult. Professor Michael Chandler in Vancouver explained to me that if a community feels it has no control over the big decisions affecting it, the suicide rate will shoot up"

And so Hari finishes on:

"“This pain you are feeling is not a pathology. It’s not crazy. It is a signal that your natural psychological needs are not being met. It is a form of grief – for yourself, and for the culture you live in going so wrong. I know how much it hurts. I know how deeply it cuts you. But you need to listen to this signal. We all need to listen to the people around us sending out this signal. It is telling you what is going wrong. It is telling you that you need to be connected in so many deep and stirring ways that you aren’t yet – but you can be, one day.”

If you are depressed and anxious, you are not a machine with malfunctioning parts. You are a human being with unmet needs. The only real way out of our epidemic of despair is for all of us, together, to begin to meet those human needs – for deep connection, to the things that really matter in life."

Read Oprah on gratitude and service. Sheryl Sandberg on death, gratitude and resilience. The Power of Meaning a book by Emily Esfahani Smith, the post on it here. Johann Hari writes in his new book on depression (Guardian article)

Hari at his 2015 Ted talk above. There's a side story here about Hari's own quest of redemption after some large misdeeds in the public eye around 2011 (major plagiarism and malicious wiki editing).

How to live longer

January 6, 2018 Ben Yeoh

I don’t want to live to 100. Perhaps, I will change my mind as I grow older. I’m mostly unafraid of dying. I fear for those I leave behind. I partly attribute this to confronting the death of my father, and of my best friend while still studying. This is useful as I likely eat too much to be able to live to 100.

However, anti-ageing an interesting line of research and Laura Deming (who runs a VC fund looking at longevity) has a summary of the major lines of research.

I also find the studies of these old Okinawans intriguing (perhaps they are calorie restricted;, The Okinawans have traditionally kept eating a low-calorie, low glycemic load diet, practicing calorie control in a cultural habit known as hara hachi bu - only eating until they are 80% full). Although it seems the >100 years old population in Japan has peaked.

There is another pocket of super old in Sardinia, Italy. The Sardinian pocket is known for male 100+. (And a researcher postulates that laughter and walking help the Sardinian men ""Sardinian men are famous for gathering in the streets for a laugh every afternoon, something proven to relieve stress - the term "sardonic" originates in Sardinia.") A photo story on Sardinia.

Scroll below for a Ted talk on ageing, below are the sub-headings from Deming's work.

From Deming: Major areas of ageing research

Link to Ted talk here. And transcript here

SpaceX

December 24, 2017 Ben Yeoh

A view for those in California this week.

Check out SpaceX testing.

Naoki Higashida. Autistic Voice.

December 16, 2017 Ben Yeoh

Naoki Higashida’s examination of his autistic world, its hopes and hazards; its joys and tears; its insights and confusions; Naoki sheds a profound and revelatory light on the autistic mind.

Required reading for autism workers and those interested in the area. Everyone really. These two books The Reason I Jump (which I blog about here) and Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida trans David Mitchell & Keiko Yoshida.

"“Why can’t I speak? How come I’m the only one who can’t do it? How I used to agonise over these questions as I watched the other kids doing all kinds of things effortlessly that I’d never be able to manage, not even if I spent my entire life trying.

Every time, I just wanted to break down and cry. I stuck with my regular primary school until fifth grade –age eleven –but it had become so physically and mentally exhausting by that point that I transferred to a school for children with special needs.

My feelings about the move were ambivalent, and remain so. In one sense, it felt like I was running away and, once there, it took me a whole four years before I found a path to my authentic self. On the other hand, until then I had never observed a class in a special needs context and I was surprised by the big differences between classes there and the education I had been used to. While I was conflicted about the ‘special needs’ label, the kindness I encountered from both teachers and students –unthinkable at my previous school –took the edge off my unhappiness. There, I was no longer a ‘problem case’ but just a regular student. Some students were more capable than me while others had more severe challenges, and for the first time I realised how many neuro-atypical children existed in the world.

The school for children with special needs afforded me the freedom to be what I was, but it became less a place to receive an education and more a place to think about my autism. Time passed without my really doing a great deal. The classes were, in theory, tailored to each student’s disability profile, but in practice the teachers had enough on their hands just handling the students’ routine requirements. Some students were ‘long termers’ who had been there since first grade, while others, like me, had transferred in from regular schools because it was thought they were better suited to a school designed for special needs.

Looking back, most of my classmates seemed to enjoy their days at school without any complaints, but I still wonder if they all believed that this was the place they truly belonged? That said, my new school was a place where neuroatypical students were at least free from bullying or ignorant tellings-off. The school taught me the importance of being able to accept assistance and of being respected and valued by others.

I learned that we all have a right to live as a human being should live, and that happiness is attainable whether we have a disability or not. I saw a future path leading first to a high school for students with special needs (to which my new school was attached) and then to a work-centre for people with disabilities. I resolved to increase the range of things I could do without assistance, to work at becoming as independent as possible and, to the best of my ability, to avoid inconveniencing others. I thought that any aspirations outside this future were unrealistic because I was now where I belonged. I consigned any memories of my previous primary school to ancient history.”

There’s more from the BBC on it being book of the week here. There’s recent (July 2017) article from David Mitchell in the Guardian talkingabout autism and his wish list.

And I have written previously about Naoki’s first published book here.

London Snow

December 10, 2017 Ben Yeoh

London Snow!

These flakes are pretty big for #London #Snow today! pic.twitter.com/spmI9SdUZ0
— Benjamin Yeoh (@benyeohben) December 10, 2017

Sweden immigration integration

December 10, 2017 Ben Yeoh

Speed and size of immigration has real world social integration impacts in Sweden. A story I was told: after one refugee crisis, some refugees ended up in Sweden, some in Minneapolis, US.

(From chatting to a handful of Swedes)

The narrative I heard was that the refugees in Minneapolis (on average) have integrated better (in a shorter time) as more of them had to seek jobs and employment helps social integration (although given time, integration and jobs can be achieved in Sweden). Whereas the refugees in Sweden didn't find / weren't forced to seek jobs under the same type of pressure - This recalls to me psycho-social studies that show working together in increases harmony (esp re: race) - a whole set of studies and questions found here at the Oxford Centre for Intergroup Conflict.

It is also anecdotal evidence in support of a job guarantee policy idea as suggested in a paper by James Montier (see GMO site) and by the left libertarian mmt economist Bill Mitchell (see Bill’s blog, with comprehensive left libertarian economic thinking, an advocate of Modern Monetary Theory).

This idea is potentially stronger than universal basic income because a job gives you skills (both intangible, and measurable) and experiences plus can promote social harmony. Still, there did seem to be broad hope that given time, the new Swedish immigrants will also integrate. The newly arrived need to learn the skills, language etc. to help them find jobs - there are seemingly many who arrive unable to read/write well and that’s a problem.

The anecdotes I heard were not studies. I found a study here and an in depth reporting here on the issues, the two pieces did seem to align broadly with what I heard, suggesting some Swedes at least are abreast of the issues.

If you'd like to feel inspired by commencement addresses and life lessons try: Ursula K Le Guin on literature as an operating manual for life; Neil Gaiman on making wonderful, fabulous, brilliant mistakes; or Nassim Taleb's commencement address; or JK Rowling on the benefits of failure. Or Charlie Munger on always inverting.

Cross fertilise. On investing try a thought on stock valuations. Or Ray Dalio on populism and risk. You can also click on the Carbon tag below.

A lesson from autism here.

Lego House, Billund

December 10, 2017 Ben Yeoh

I can confirm that Lego House, Billund, Denmark is pretty amazing.

he world’s biggest LEGO tree, planted in LEGO House in Denmark. 15 meters tall, made from more than 6 million LEGO bricks, and built by hand, the LEGO Tree of Creativity took almost 25000 hours to complete.

Opened in Sep 2017, it has various zones for building lego embracing games and imagination:

you can shoot your own films, build mini-figs (and take photos), build flowers (and take selfies), build animals (and put them on a vibrating landscape), build cities (and put buildings in an interactive landscape); play on a rescue mission lego robot machine;

see a Lego manufacturing machine and receive a unique combination

It also has an exhibit on the history of Lego, which is fascinating as it explores family, place, culture values but also a corporate turn-around and soul-searching.

There is also a dog taking a wee.

You can see the Lego House website here.

A review of it from the Guardian. It notes " This gleaming ziggurat of fun is the new Lego House, a mind-blowing mecca for fans of the iconic construction toy, designed by BIG, the firm led by young Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Now heading up a New York-based global empire, working on everything from Google’s new California campus to a Chinese energy firm’s HQ, Ingels sees the project as a homecoming.

“We have finally graduated as Danish architects,” he says proudly. “We have made a brick building – without breaking the brick module in a single place.” Ingels is referring to the rule, particularly observed by meticulous Danes, that you should never cut a brick to fit with your design, but configure the design to fit the brick instead."

And "“This had to be a place where even the most hardcore Lego fans would say, ‘Wow!’,” says Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, Lego CEO, who has been credited with turning the company around after it almost went bankrupt in 2004. “But it’s also about trying to revitalise the town centre, which has been left behind by all the development on the edge of the city, out near the airport. Visitors come to the Legoland and Lalandia theme parks, but they rarely venture into town.”

Here is the making of the Tree.

Cross fertilise. On investing try a thought on stock valuations. Or Ray Dalio on populism and risk. You can also click on the Carbon tag below.

A lesson from autism here.

Denmark, travel, carbon and renewable energy

December 9, 2017 Ben Yeoh

I travelled from Copenhagen to Billund this week. I took a train + taxi. The travel agent offered a flight first. I booked my own train travel.

There seems little incentive from the system to choose the train. Limited ability to assess choices, without prior thought or knowledge.

The time (door to door) is approx same, perhaps better on train, accounting for delays. WiFi, food, drink, comfort and price are all better on train.

The flight pollution impact is 20x worse than train, c.10% of the recommended individual yearly (2T) carbon budget at 200kg of CO2; train would be 20kg. (It took me about 20 minutes and several websites to calculate this, maybe it is something to add to Google Maps?)

The price is already cheaper. I wonder on the impact of a carbon tax. There must be some. Even as signalling (cf plastic bag tax).

But is there something else needed? The whole experience is better by train. So why still so many flights?

I noted many Danish companies seemed to take renewables more seriously, than when travelling in other countries.

I think about NYC-Boston, here flights are a little quicker but is the pollution worth a 2 hour time saving? Here a tax could make difference if trains were much cheaper than flights. Better rail infrastructure would close the gap.

Maybe the Hyperloop idea (now with Richard Branson money), or Musk’s deep tunnels (Boring company) are ways forward.

Cross fertilise. On investing try a thought on stock valuations. Or Ray Dalio on populism and risk. You can also click on the Carbon tag below.

A lesson from autism here.