I feel sorry for men who wear toupees.

At what point in their progression toward baldness did they make the shift toward a hairpiece? Do they try to keep it a secret from the people they date — or even their life partners? How do they deal with rain, sports...haircuts?

It seems exhausting — not just the maintenance, but the fear that someone will find out. It seems like a happier prospect to just wake up in the morning and go through the day being bald. There’s nothing wrong with it.

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Across the United States and the world, institutions that rose to prominence over the last century or two are still enjoying their ubiquity.

Humans have always sought power and freedom. But it must also be true that we seek someone to lead us. How else would those who have sought power have been able to wield it so successfully, even when goals were nefarious?

It used to be a lot easier to get people to do what you wanted them to do. All you have to do is limit their education and indoctrinate them instead. The culture becomes self-perpetuating as they indoctrinate each other, everyone playing their required role.

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There’s a reckoning going on in education and professional life. One might even call it a revolution.

What does it mean to “go to school” or “go to work” when you can’t physically be there? What do these entities really represent? What do they contribute? What choices do we have about how to engage with these institutions that we may have heretofore disregarded?

There have always been people who questioned the way things have to be. But now, new possibilities are visible to all. A new wave of adults is now seeking fully remote positions that allow for more freedom and control. And students, en masse, are opting out of the traditional system, realizing that they can be more efficient and effective learners when they’re not spending six or seven hours in the classroom only to encounter two or three more hours of homework later on.

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When we teach history, it’s easy to unwittingly imbue events with a sense of inevitability — of destiny.

After all, things happened the way they happened — the only forking paths we can create are imaginary, born of the “what ifs” that we ask ourselves.

It’s important to see that, at every step of the way, what we call history is the result of human activity. Individual human beings made choices, collectively creating movements or maintaining the status quo. Some choices are more influential than others, but change always comes from people making the decision to act.

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Fashion is fascinating.

Among tastemakers and influentials, having a distinctive style is a must. Your job is to signal that you are someone with vision, boldness, and flair. You’re effortlessly unique and hip, with just the right amount of outrageousness, reminding mere mortals that you are a professional on a closed course — do not attempt these moves yourself.

And yet, before long, these edgy fashions make their way into the mainstream. Colorful hair, undercuts, sleeve tattoos, multiple piercings, pattern mixing, asymmetrical shirts, dresses with sneakers, androgynous clothing and styling — any of these things can be seen in a typical middle school classroom (well, maybe not the sleeve tattoos).

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