Новости за 10.07.2016

A slightly confused opening, but the argument clarifies soon after, and very interesting it is too — that some common mental illnesses may have evolved as defences against suicide. “Depression is a kind of paralysis. Excessive sleeping is common. Many depressed people are unable to leave their beds or homes very much. They cannot form coherent plans and act on them. For a mechanism to protect against suicide, this kind of paralysis might work just well enough”

Absurd zoning regulations bring misery to Indian cities: “In 1964 urban planners decided to decongest Mumbai by restricting real estate development in the center. Migrants have responded by consuming less and less floor space. They settle in congested spaces. They build informal settlements in slums. They live in buildings where floors crack, walls crumble, rats eat infants, and clean water is rationed. It is a joke on planners that Mumbai is now the most crowded city in the world”

“A black life capable of a British or American accent is worth a lot. Maybe not to white police officers. But to us Nigerians, it means a lot. In calculating the value of a Nigerian life, however, we must never apply the same rules. We do not want to spoil people by showing them too much empathy. It is important especially if they are not from our ethnic group or religion. It is not your fault if a person goes and chooses to come from the wrong ethnic group”

Voters are revolting against the “relatively open economic policies” favoured in America and Britain since the second world war. They have a point. The benefits of those policies have been exaggerated and ill-distributed. But if we are to have a rebalancing towards nationalism, let it be a responsible nationalism. “A new approach has to start from the idea that the basic responsibility of government is to maximise the welfare of citizens, not to pursue some abstract concept of the global good”

Mouth-watering guide to a “throbbing anarchy” of noodle restaurants in the former Saigon. Ut Nhung has “stewed purple shallots which collapse into a beefy butter on the tongue”. At Pho Bo Phu Gia “each bowl tastes like a love letter to the delicious things that grow underground. Instead of herbs on every table, you’ll get fresh onions and a jar of pickled garlic. The barely poached chicken egg they’ll bring you in a tin cup of ginger broth is meant to give you strength”

Notes on technology and human behaviour compiled while travelling in western China and Central Asia. Body language is truly universal. China is probably the lowest-trust consumer society on Earth. Touch ID fails at high altitude. Tibetan monks prefer iOS over Android. “You no longer need to carry a translation app on your phone. If there’s someone to speak with, they’ll have one on theirs.” The most undervalued object on a long-distance train journey in China is a power extension cable