Thoughtland

PK column in The National: In a year packed with significant anniversaries, will we choose the red or the blue pill?

By Pat Kane. First published on DECEMBER 29TH, 2018

IN a year dominated by swivel-eyed Brexitopians, toxic tinpot oligarchs and the general scunneredness of the citizenry, forgive me for beginning my 2019 preview with an utter genius. He might be half a millennium distant from us, but he’s exactly what we need right now.

This year we celebrate the 500th year of the passing of Leonardo Da Vinci (May 2, 1519). We should expect a parade of tech moguls to be clutching the hem of his garment, hoping Da Vinci’s polymathy might rub off. From discovering Newton’s laws of motion 200 years before Newton did, to painting the Mona Lisa and sketching out flying machines, Leo is a relentless spur against mediocrity.

PK column in The National: Book sales in the UK are on the up – here’s why that’s fantastic news

By Pat Kane. First published on DECEMBER 22ND, 2018

BETWEEN two bookshops – Waterstones in Sauchiehall Street, and Foyles in London – I have just blitzed Xmas.

All other retail experiences fall upon me like a plague of boils. But wandering round these bookshelves – taking a single hour to do each comfortable shop, picking items exactly appropriate for each recipient – has nearly made me a fan of consumer capitalism again.

PK column in The National: YouTube’s most disliked video ever is its 2018 recap. What’s going on?

By Pat Kane. First published on DECEMBER 14TH, 2018

THE story certainly caught the eye. YouTube’s most disliked video ever – having just received more than 10 million thumbs-down icons on the digital platform – turned out to be YouTube’s own 2018 “Rewind” video. This is the company’s annual celebration of what it regards as the year’s best content, made by users.

(Incidentally, this beats Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video into second place for most hated clip. Well, there’s no accounting for taste.)

PK column in The National: My response to the gender debate? Let’s all try to be a bit more patient

By Pat Kane. First published on DECEMBER 8TH, 2018

I’M one of those non-engaged observers who has been slowly turning his attention to transgender issues. And it’s mostly because of the sound of previously equable colleagues, exploding all over their own columns in outrage.

Rather than launch into theory and policy, let me begin from a personal angle. On all matters of human diversity, I tend to proceed from our long-standing family axiom, “it takes all kinds to make a world”. Working-class Scottish life, in my 50-something experience, has always had skeins of the non-normative running through it.

PK column in the National: Is the future about to begin with a bus journey from Fife?

By Pat Kane. First published on DECEMBER 1ST, 2018

THE future bears down upon us... in the form of a single-decker passenger bus, sedately proceeding along the old Forth Road Bridge. That’s the means whereby self-driving vehicles will introduce themselves to Scottish roads in 2021.

Five driverless buses will run a 14-mile route between Fife and Edinburgh – 10,000 journeys a week across the bridge, 40 passengers a bus. And eventually, one assumes, not a grumpy, taciturn human driver in sight.