James Beardsmore

Economic Geographer & Assistant Professor in Learning and Teaching | Tweets are personal |

[Rory Sutherland @rorysutherland]

Having started using @WisprFlow , I can finally predict something I have longed to see for years: the near-death of the keyboard.

I consider typing a bad habit that everybody got into and thought was normal - a bit like sending children up chimneys.

Reading can be fast compared to listening, but typing is achingly slow compared to speaking.

[Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma]

Smart play for the Vatican to go with an American Pope to avoid tariffs

[Aaron Bastani @AaronBastani]

Britain could build indigenous versions of these.

Instead we have Visa, Mastercard and ApplePay - with each transaction sending a tiny % across the Atlantic. Millions of times a day.

If you think that’s unwise the media and political establishment will call you ���unrealistic’.

[Looking for Growth @lfg_uk]

Read the bill & donate to send a physical letter to your local MP

https://t.co/1NaG0j1Hin

[Mary Creagh MP @MaryCreagh_]

This made me so happy.

If you know, you know.

[Raoul Ruparel @RaoulRuparel]

From an economic and business perspective a government with a large majority is welcome. Let's hope they can be bold on some of the big challenges facing the UK economy. They've made the right noises. They'll get a bedding in period but business will want to see more detail

[James Beardsmore @JWbeardsmore]

Excited to get my hands on @TorstenBell new book! Should be a useful compass for the next 5 years

[James O'Malley @Psythor]

My hour by hour guide to the local elections:

10pm: Scroll through early speculation on Twitter
11pm: Watch some YouTube for a bit
11:45pm: Go to bed
7:30am: Wake up and check the BBC News website
7:40am: Look at Twitter instead of working for the rest of the day

[Chris Williamson @ChrisWillx]

The Vestigial Pattern Bias.

“Ordinary Roman carts were constructed to match the width of Imperial Roman war chariots because it was easier to follow the ruts in the road left by the war chariots.

The chariots were sized to accommodate the width of two large war horses, which translates into our English measurement as a width of 4′ 8.5″.

Roads throughout the vast Roman empire were built to this spec.

When the legions of Rome marched into Britain, they constructed long distance imperial roads 4′ 8.5″ wide.

When the English started building tramways, they used the same width so the same horse carriages could be used.

And when they started building railways with horseless carriages, naturally the rails were 4′ 8.5″ wide.

Imported labourers from the British Isles built the first railways in the Americas using the same tools and jigs they were used to.

Fast forward to the US Space shuttle, which is built in parts around the country and assembled in Florida.

Because the two large solid fuel rocket engines on the side of the launch Shuttle were sent by railroad from Utah, and that line transversed a tunnel not much wider than the standard track, the rockets themselves could not be much wider than 4′ 8.5.”

As one wag concluded: “So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of two horses’ arse.”

More or less, this is how technology constrains itself over time.” — @kevin2kelly

Apart from the fact that I’m not a horse or a space shuttle or a road, this is figuratively very similar to something I noticed in myself over the last few years.

The Vestigial Pattern Bias.

The successful, deliberate approaches we learn during our development can become a prison which stop us from being more free-flowing and at-ease when we are developed.

The tools that get you from 0-50 are not the same ones that get you from 50 to 90, or 90 to 95.

But we found success with this approach in the past so we cling on to an overly rational, effortful approach.

We hope that applying pure cerebral horsepower to a situation will fix it.

We think that the more deliberate we are, the better the outcomes will be, without realising that our subconscious has aggregated the thousands of hours of experience we’ve clocked up now.

And not using that experience is keeping us in the same league we’ve always been in.

Balancing this with remaining intentional is tough, it’s not becoming lackadaisical or taking your eye off the ball, it’s more about finding ease and grace in your competence as you grow.

[John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch]

In conclusion:

Stop saying we send too many people to university, and start saying we’re not creating enough graduate-quality jobs. End of rant.

Here’s my column in full (free to read for the first 300 clicks) https://t.co/KrnNAeXaTE

[KevinUDLMerry @kevinudlmerry]

If you’re not making errors or mistakes when you teach, you’re probably not experimenting enough, or stretching and challenging yourself enough. The trick is to embrace the learning from the errors by recognising they’re part of the process of getting better.

[KevinUDLMerry @kevinudlmerry]

It’s dyslexia awareness week, so what better time to help colleagues implement accessible, inclusive and equitable approaches to learning & teaching. Don’t just tell people what to do. Show them how your approach can support them with challenges, and model best practice.

[Andrew Leyshon @AndrewLeyshon]

If @KwasiKwarteng is appointed Chancellor tomorrow, as widely trailed, I’ll commit to finally reading his book on the history of money, War and Gold (2014, Bloomsbury), and will report back chapter by chapter. Have any previous CExs written a book on money BEFORE getting the job?

[Dr. Jordan Amaranth (they/them) @JordanAmaranth]

As a first-gen student, I've always known that other students with legacies in academia or family histories of college education have inherent advantages over me, but I don't think I've ever been able to see and understand that as clearly as today.

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

sure, it’s the hottest summer europe has ever had in history

but look at the upside

it’s one of the coolest summers europe will ever have going forward

[Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ]

I'm thinking about the 14 million people who put Boris Johnson into power -- who desperately wanted an alternative to the dreary consensus in Westminster. Many will be feeling fed up, frustrated, let down, disillusioned. Whatever happens today, tomorrow, their voice must be heard

[James Beardsmore @JWbeardsmore]

@johannalwaters Congratulations

[Nikolaj🇺🇦🇵🇸 @nikicaga]

Moldova is by far the poorest country in Europe

If they're willing to accept refugees, every European country should be