Fake Meat + Monks | Autism Myth | Grants Winner | Maps of "Streets" | Speed of Ipod development | Next Mingle | Next Bigly
Happy Lunar New Year! Welcome if you are here from a recent Mingle or if you’ve joined the newsletter because of the microgrants.
I’m still accepting applications for my £1k micro-grants programme. If you’ve not heard back from me, then I am still considering the application. I’ve awarded my first two grants. One you can read here – on work looking at recording oral stories of the Windrush diaspora around Liverpool. The second is an individual looking to finish a set of maths book aids aimed at autistic children learners.
We had a great mingle and fun performance of Thinking Bigly at Theatre Deli. Next public performance is March 26 – they do sell out well in advance, so I suggest booking early. I will hold a mingle afterwards as well, register here - 26 March.
This month, I performed Thinking Bigly in front of students, staff and some senior management and the governing council of Royal Holloway University, as they look to frame the next 10 years. Feedback was very good, and it looks like it has inspired them to think more about what they can do. Win.
I’m also planning a Climate/Sustainability Unconference in H1. Watch this space. Contact me if you have an idea here you’d like to share.
This month reflections on:
➳Book Thinking Bigly, 26 March
➳Autism Myth: no pretend imagination
➳Fake meat, cultural origins with Chinese Monks
➳Grant Winner: Marjorie Morgan
➳Maps of London “streets” name, age the city.
➳Charts: alcohol, Speed of iPod development
➳Climate: CCC on UK land use
➳Oil CEOs on Carbon Scope 3
➳FRC on WorkForce (specialist)
➳Greta, Bill Gates and Chris Hohn: climate + ASD strengths
➳Me on ESG investing / YouTube CFA UK
➳Micro-grants. £10K for positive impact people.
One of the myths I would like to squash around autism is the myth that autists lack imagination and do not engage in play.
The pretend play might be atypical and developed differently. The flights of fancy and imagination may be very different from typical people.
In my experience watching, JP he has many flights of fancy but it’s on his own terms. It’s as imaginative if not more imaginative than anything that I think of. Certainly he conjures juxtapositions and ideas, I would never have.
I'd argue that makes him more imaginative. Here below you can see him out of nowhere pick up this croissant and use it as if on a phone.
This link gives you a five second video of this.
I was discussing with a new friend the origins of “fake meat” – it happens to be deeply rooted in ancient Chinese cuisine. Beyond Meat is 1000 years behind Chinese monks. Fuschia Dunlop (one of the great writers on Chinese food) comments below - but I first heard it from my Mum and I’ve eaten some of the food in Asia.
...Vegetarian cooking in China owes a lot to Chinese Buddhist monks, who have existed in the country since the late Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE), after Indian missionaries brought the religion to this part of Asia. One tenant of Buddhist ideology is vegetarianism. Not wanting to break tradition when outsiders came to visit their monastery, China’s Buddhist monks would copy classic meat-based dishes, replacing the meat or fish with vegetables, tofu, or gluten.
Dunlop: “The imitation meat dishes are particularly associated with Buddhist monasteries, although monks themselves live on very simple vegetarian foods, they also have to entertain people from the outside, like patrons, potential benefactors, and visiting pilgrims.”
“A lot of these people would have been normally eating meat but they would eat vegetarian food when they went to a monastery.
“There are records from the Tang dynasty, which is 618 to 907, of an official hosting a banquet serving imitation pork and mutton dishes made from vegetables. In the 13th century, which is one of the great periods of Chinese gastronomy and culinary development, there were restaurants in the southern Song dynasty capital, which is today's Hangzhou, where you could eat Buddhist vegetarian dishes.”
Short 2 min Blog Here on Fake Meat + Chinese Monks.
I am not a performer, but I’ve come to “play myself” for Thinking Bigly and it made me think about the power of silence, especially communal silence…. In many a play or any live performance, there are often points of silence. Or pauses. Or in particular long pauses. Famously Pinter has these pauses, which practitioners have dubbed “Pinter pauses” a type of pregnant pause so long and full of meaning.
Sitting as an audience member and being enveloped in a pregnant pause can be both an awkward and exhilarating experience…. Here’s a short blog on silence and performing.
The sustainability news keeps overflowing and Davos was full of it, supposedly. Two items of note:
Land use in UK and how it might have to adapt to reach net zero
Oil CEOs looking at Carbon Scope 3 (could be a pivotal change)
I also find it very interesting that 3 very different climate campaigners all have autistic cognitive strengths: Greta, Bill Gates and hedge fund billionaire, Chris Hohn. Short blog on this observation on autism strengths.
(Specialist governance / reporting interests) – the FRC lab put out a report on what companies and investors might be looking for in workforce reporting.
I found this map of city streets / roads / lanes and naming fascinating. It turns out that the naming of “street” or “road” is tied back to the time of when roads were made. Short blog on naming a “street” or “road”.
Two charts that made me think. I'm unsure if speed of progress and innovation is slowing, but certainly some clever people think so. Also, about what damage alcohol does or not.
(H/T Patrick Collison for ipods and Washington post on drinking)
From the archive:
My casual racist experience in Paris and the history of a famous pressed duck restaurant.
Am I a Crazy Rich Asian - a thought on how stories represent us (or not).
A short reflection on losing my hair, but more on the female black hair experience.
Hope to see you on March 26th if not before.
Some Ben Yeoh life advice
I’ve been asked for “Life advice” a few times recently, which has given pause for thought. I think much of this type of advice needs to be tailored to an individual experience so I’m a little reluctant but I have some ideas - most based on personal experience (so take it with the usual caveats on all anecdotal ideas). I’d go so far as to say ignore what I say and go read stuff (which is one of my top pieces of advice on this list). The summary goes:
-Read. Read. Read.
-Be (or learn) curious. About everything.
-Be (or learn) empathy.
-Immerse yourself deeply in at least two domains
-Build and nurture connections (choose friends \ life partner well)
-Prioritise experience over objects/consumerism
-Communication and Conversation: Learn how to communicate effectively
-Learn how to cook food you and others will love
-Learn to think for yourself
-Run your own Race
-Travel
It’s a 5 min anecdotal blog about how those ideas have served me well, plus some evidence to go along with the anecdotes. It's perhaps mostly geared to younger people but I can still take lessons from it myself!