Tom Chatfield
Tom Chatfield
Tom Chatfieldis a British author, technology theorist, and commentator...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionAuthor
among earliest elite emerged history human known lasting priests privilege province recorded remained reserved southern themselves
The earliest known writing probably emerged in southern Mesopotamia around 5,000 years ago, but for most of recorded history, reading and writing remained among the most elite human activities: the province of monarchs, priests and nobles who reserved for themselves the privilege of lasting words.
journey self health-education
From exam grading to health education to professional training to democratic participation, paths towards self-realization and success in the world are often daunting and obscure: journeys only the privileged feel confident setting off along.
self age examination
In an age of constant live connections, the central question of self-examination is drifting from ‘Who are you?’ towards ‘What are you doing?
miracle age texture
We live in an age of miracles so commonplace that it can be difficult to see them as anything other than part of the daily texture of living
games ideas broken
I spoke at TED Global 2010 about the ways that video games engage the brain, and in particular, the idea of reward structures: how a challenge or task can be broken down and presented to make it as engaging as possible.
proxy attentiveness understood
Time, presence and physical attentiveness are our most basic proxies for something ultimately unprovable: that we are understood.
accidents car element human largely mechanics million modern motor people reliable remains safer vehicles
Modern motor vehicles are safer and more reliable than they have ever been - yet more than 1 million people are killed in car accidents around the world each year, and more than 50 million are injured. Why? Largely because one perilous element in the mechanics of driving remains unperfected by progress: the human being.
develop embracing experience factors games order particular people skills special video
Video games are a special kind of play, but at root, they're about the same things as other games: embracing particular rules and restrictions in order to develop skills and experience rewards. When a game is well-designed, it's the balance between these factors that engages people on a fundamental level.
artificial intelligence looking
Forget artificial intelligence - in the brave new world of big data, it's artificial idiocy we should be looking out for.
computer difficult extremely gary recognise teach
As commentators like the American psychologist Gary Marcus have noted, it's extremely difficult to teach a computer to recognise cats. And that's not for want of trying.
certain civilized evolved learning solving stimulated thousands
Over tens and hundreds of thousands of years, we evolved to find certain things stimulating, and as very intelligent, civilized beings, we're enormously stimulated by problem solving and learning.
ancient art best central demanding education efforts fine focus greeks itself shout skilled students
The best teachers, one hopes, don't shout at their students - because they are skilled at wooing as well as demanding the best efforts of others. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, this wooing was a sufficiently fine art in itself to be the central focus of education.
causing driven human ways
Even when they're not causing injury, human-controlled cars are often driven inefficiently, ineptly, antisocially, or in other ways additive to the sum of human misery.
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Vast volumes of mixed media surround us, from music to games and videos. Yet almost all of our online actions still begin and end with writing: text messages, status updates, typed search queries, comments and responses, screens packed with verbal exchanges and, underpinning it all, countless billions of words.