Table Of ContentSEPTEMBER102022
HOWTO
AVOID
ARCHITECTURAL
CALAMITY
Thebreakthroughthat
couldsavecountlesslives
September10/112022
FEATURES
20.
Viewfromaboat
Dredginganddangeroffthe
OrkneyIslands.ByCalFlyn
26.
Starpower
Meetthetinycosmicparticlesthat
couldpreventbuildingcollapse.
ByGeoffManaugh
41.
▶ Cookingisthinking
There’sknowledgeinapanofhot
redsauce.ByRebeccaMayJohnson
INTELLECT APPETITES WIT&WISDOM
11 TimHarford 16 SimonKuper 35 TimHayward 44 RobertShrimsley
Adviceformyformer Amoreoptimisticerafor Nomoretastingmenus Anotherday,anotherPM
tutorialpartner,LizTruss climateaction 36 Recipe 45 Games
12 ElaineMoore 18 GillianTett RavinderBhogal’schilled 46 TheQuestionnaire
Howtoretrainyouralgorithm Shuttingdownbigdatawon’t yoghurtandcucumbersoup WriterHilaryMantel
14 Gallery solveitsissues 39 JancisRobinson
AndiGaldiVinko Themostdifficult
sportinallofwine
Issuenumber988•Onlineft.com/magazine•FTWeekendMagazineisprintedbytheWalsteadGroupintheUKand ONTHECOVER
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Marginaliaby
PPurobdliuschtiniogn::DMaaprhknFeriKsbovy,aacds,vheertaisdinogfapdrovdeurtcistiinogn,–[email protected]–[email protected]@mft.com NadineRedlich @FTMag
FT.COM/MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER10/112022 7
Letters
Thegreatestshowman weremadewithsomecareandan impoverishedcountrypullitself
byJoelStein earlyformofqualitycontrol:each outofthespiraldown?Cameron
Greatstory.Hatehimorlovehim, brickbearsthemarkofitsmaker. andtheConservativeshavedone
DanaWhiteisaforceofnature Thenthereisthatoculus,which,I irreparabledamagetothecountry
whosesingularvisionismainly amtoldbyengineers,distributes withausteritythenBrexit.
responsibleforthegrowthofone anddisbursesstressesinwaysthata InigoMontoyaviaFT.com
ofthemostexcitingsportsin solidroofdoesnot.
theworld. TrialanderrortravellerviaFT.com Analmostperfectpieceofwriting,
James1984viaFT.com whichjustpullsitspunchesatthe
Thepicturesareamazing,richly lastmoment.Weneed,atthevery
Greatread.Steincanwrite. saturatedwithcolour,dramatically least,tobringwater,energyandrail
HelveticoviaFT.com highlightingthecontrastbetween backintopublicownership,and
lightanddarkness.Butthewriting weneedtorollbackyearsofNHS
Interestingreadbutmaybeversing isalsowonderful,fullofrhythm privatisationasamatterofurgency.
toomuchinthehagiography.I anddescriptiveflourish.Bravo. TC87viaFT.com
wouldhavehappilyreadmore MarkMilesviaFT.com
aboutthefighterswhoagreeto Theagonisinghellofthe
fightfor$10,000togetdemolished Self-drivingcarshavenothingon ▶ SEPTEMBER3/4 officeawayday
twoorthreetimesayear.That’s Japan’sself-captainingships America’sheavyweightentertainer byRobertShrimsley
$10,000beforetaxandwithwhich byLeoLewis I’mtakingmyentirestafftothe
theyneedtopaytheirgym,physio, Autonomousshipsareanexciting OktoberfestinMunich.Itwas
trainerandsoon. possibility,whereassafeself- optional.Confirmedattendanceis
HoweverfascinatingDanaWhite drivingcarswillbealongtime 100percent.
is,thefactthathedoesn’tseem coming.Theobviousplacetostart CarlostheFraggleviaFT.com
tocareabouthismainassets(the istrains:theycanonlygowherethe
fighters)isprettytroublingtome. pointssendthemandtherequired Thereisjustenoughtruthinthis
coffeeviaFT.com stopsarepredefined. piecetoreinforcemydecisionto
JulianMcIlroy,Deal retirefromcorporatelife.Bravo!
ThelureofRome’slight- BemusedCanadianviaFT.com
filledPantheon Despair,decay,disaster.
byDavidCampany EnterLizTruss Proudtourist
Fromthefirstphoto,without bySimonKuper byTimHayward
readingthearticle,Iassumeda Abrilliantcommentary.It OnceagainTimisspoton.Why
danceperformancehadbeensetup trackedexactlythepathIhad iseveryoneobsessedwithnot
insidethePantheon.Butitwasnot alreadyfollowedintermsofour beingatouristwhenyouare
so:readingthearticle,itallmakes government.Ittookmedown, one?Welovehavingagoodlocal
sense.ElizabethBickusedtobe backintotruedespair.Thefinal recommendationwhenwevisit
adancer.Whatanextraordinary twoparagraphsaboutfuturehope somewhere,butwe’realsogoingto
blendofartisticskills. broughtmebackfromthatbad seethetopfiveattractionsbecause
malatemporaviaFT.com place.Thankyou,Simon. you’dbeinsanenotto.Imagine
PeterWhitehouse,Plympton goingtoRioandnotdoingChrist
ThePantheonexistsinsuch theRedeemer,orRomeandnot
goodnickforgoodreason.Itwas “Wewillseesomereversiontothe doingthePantheon(another
consecratedasaChristianchurch pre-1979redistributionistUK,witha wonderfulpiecethisweek).Ilike
in609,thusavoidingtheuseby strongerpublicrealm.” CoventGardenorSoho,which
TOCONTRIBUTE
laterbuildersofthereadymaterial Redistributewhat?Englandis manyLondonersderideastouristy,
ofancientRomanbuildings. becomingpoorer.Thebirthrate Youcancommentonourarticlesonline becauseIcangoonanydayofthe
[email protected].
Second,itisbuiltlikeatank,with willbecomelower.Lifeexpectancy week,andpeoplewillbeeating,
Pleaseincludeadaytimetelephone
wallssome20-feetthick.Third, willbecomeshorter.Withwhat drinkingandhavingfun.
numberandfulladdress(notfor
thebricksthatmakeupthewalls meanswillthisincreasingly publication).Lettersmaybeedited. HenryWatts,London
DidyouknowFTWeekendhasapodcast?Weexploretoday’s esoReiraM=nawoGcMesoR+etteniotnAeiraM
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8 FT.COM/MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER10/112022
IInside:‘Cnitiesandcountrieshavebegutnactingtoproteectthemselves’p16 llect
UndercoverEconomist
TIMHARFORD
Myformertutorialpartner
isnowprimeminister.
Here’smyadvicetoher
Weallpasscertainmilestonesinourlivesthatcauseusto
stopandreflect.Thedeathofaparent;achildfinishingschool;
one’sformertutorialpartnerbecomingtheprimeminister.Your
humbleUndercoverEconomistishavingtodealwithallthreein
thespaceofafewmonths.
Idon’tremembermuchaboutLizTrussfromstudyingmath-
ematicallogicalongsideheratOxford.Iwastoobusywrestling
withPeano’saxioms;Isuspectshefeltthesame.AndIdoubtshe
trembledtoreadtherecentrevelationinTheEconomistthat,
whiletheConservativegrassrootsvenerateher,theLiberalDem-
ocratsaretargeting“theTimHarfordvoter”.Truly,thenarrative
arcofmylifestoryhastakenadisturbingtwist.
ButwhatonearthdoestheTimHarfordvoteractuallywant?
Afterafewweeksofchewingitover,I’verealisedthatifanyoneis
inapositiontospeculate,itmustbeme.
PerhapsthebestIcancomeupwithisthattheTimHar-
ford voter is worried that the very foundations of British
policymakingseemtobeshallowandpronetocrack.Thebad
policiesarejusttheclumsyfondanticing;it’sthecakeitselfthat
isrottingaway.
ConsiderBrexit.It’safoolishpolicy,tobesure,butmuchmore
thanthat.Itwasenabledbyavaguelywordedreferendumthat
wasintroducedbyaprimeministerwhocrossedhisfingers▶
FT.COM/MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER10/112022 ILLUSTRATIONBYGUILLEMCASASÚS 1111
Intellect
◀andforbadepreparationfortheoutcome.Itwassoldtothe NotesfromtheCuttingEdge
Britishpeopleonfalsepretences.Amemberofparliament,Jo ELAINEMOORE
Cox,wasmurderedduringthecampaign.Threeoftheprime
ministersleadingtheproject–Cameron,MayandTruss–voted Howtoretrainyouralgorithm
againstit,andtheother,Johnson,wasnotoriouslyambivalent.
Eversincethevote,theprocesshasbeenmiredinvitriol,con-
temptanddenial.
OnedoesnothavetobeadiehardRemainertolookatthe
entiredecision-makingprocessandfearthattheBritishpolityis
notreallyuptothegrown-upjobofrunningacountry.
WhatdoestheTimHarfordvoterwantwhentheylookatthis?
First,atrivial-seemingthing:calm.Weliveinanageofoutrage,
sometimesjustifiedandsometimesmanufactured.Butnobody TikTok is the only good social somethingthathasraisedfrequent
everthoughtmoreclearlybecausetheywereangry.Norisout- mediaapp.Atleast,itusedtobe. securityconcernsintheUS.
ragetheonlywaytosucceedatthepoliticalgame.Provenwinners From2019until2021,thealgorithm Yetwhatkeepsmorethanabillion
fromBlairtoMerkeltoObamahavethrivedwhiletryingtoseta wasmagic.Ithadawayofsending userslikemehookedisthatTikTok
constructivetone. videosyoudidn’tknowyouwere alsodropsinrandomvideosnow
Trusshasbeentryingtoprovokeoutrage,butjudgingfromher interestedinuntilyousawthem. andagaininsteadofboringusersby
infamousrantabouthowcheeseimportsareadisgrace,sheisnot Forme,thatmeantsynchronised showingthesamesortofcontent.In
verygoodatit.Perhapsshewilldecidethatcalmproblem-solv- dances,veganrecipesandelaborate theUS,TikTokiswatchedforlonger
ingsuitsherbetter. songscreatedfrominternetdrama. than YouTube, according to data
Secondly,Britishinstitutionsneedbuttressingratherthan ThencametheAmberHeardand takenfromAndroidphoneusersby
undermining.TheLeavecampaignscornedtheUKStatistics JohnnyDeppdefamationtrial. analyticscompanyAppAnnie.Rival
Authority.BorisJohnson’sadministration–ifthatisnotan Forweeksonendthissummer, socialmediacompanieshavegiven
oxymoron–wasatpainstodefineitselfagainstparliament,the my TikTok feed was hijacked by theapptheultimatecomplimentby
civilserviceandtheSupremeCourt.Trusshastakenaimatthe weirdvideosvalorisingDeppand tryingtoboltTikTok-likeformats
BankofEngland,theTreasuryandtheuntrammelledpower offering violently hateful com- on to their own platforms. For
of,um,theFinancialTimes.Meanwhile,theNHSisnevercrit- mentaryabouthisex-wife.Itdidn’t Instagram,itisReels.ForYouTube,
icised,butitisbeingallowedtofallapartunderthestrainof matterhowmanytimesIclicked it’sShorts.
Tthepandemic. “notinterested”orswipedpastwith- AsIfoundout,however,thatran-
outwatching,morewouldappear. domnesscanalsobethesourceof
heUKhashadaConservativeprimeministerfor Whether it came from real fans, problems. Unlike Twitter or Ins-
12years,soitiseasytoseewhyTrusswantstosug- opportunistsorbots,thepro-Depp tagram,whichfocusattentionon
gestthattherotstartsnotinDowningStreetbut contentwasrelentless. content from people you choose
ThreadneedleStreetorWhitehall.Perhapsshecan Whenthecaseended,sodidthe tofollow,TikTokservesupstran-
stillblameBrussels?Thevotersmayswallowthis videos.Butmyalgorithmhasnever gers.Thatcanleavefeedsopento
story,althoughIwonder.Butthecountrywouldbe fully recovered. unpleasant videos.
inamuchbetterplaceifinstitutionsfromtheBankofEnglandto Insteadofjokes,I’ve Lastyear,thecom-
It’snotjustamatter
theOfficeforNationalStatisticsweretreatedasessentialpartsof landedonasideof pany said that it
ofclicking‘like’…you
thepolicymakingstate,ratherthanasseethingpitsofincompe- TikTokthat’sfullof wouldtrytoimprove
tenceandtreachery. proteinpowderrec- havetospeedpastthe this and stop users
A third demand from the Tim Harford faction is ommendationsand onesyoudon’tlikeand being taken down
thatfactsshouldmattermorethan“vibes”.TheUKhasnot–yet gorysurgeryvideos. savetheonesyoudo rabbitholesofupset-
– succumbed to the delusional paranoia so widespread in It’slikea1990slads’ ting content. But I
theUS,butalltoomanypolicyargumentstakeplaceinafact-free magcometolife. suspectplentyofcre-
environment. Take the cost of living crisis. Truss’s team Clingingtomemoriesofthegood atorshavebecomemoreadeptat
hasattackedtheBankofEnglandfornotbeingtoughenoughon times,I’vespentthepastfewweeks workingthealgorithmandpushing
inflation.Butasamatterofsimplearithmetic,whenwhole- tryingtoretrainmyalgorithm.This, certaincontentforward.
salegaspricesrisetenfold,averagepricerisescannotplausibly itturnsout,isnoteasy.It’snotjust ThefinalstepItooktoimprove
be kept at two per cent. (My colleague Martin Sandbu amatterofclicking“like”onthe myTikTokalgorithmwastoblock
observesthatifenergypricestriple,allotherpriceswouldhave videosthatinterestyou.Youhave creatorswhosevideosIwasbeing
tofallbyanaverageofabout20percenttokeepoverallprices tospeedpasttheonesyoudon’tlike shownrepeatedlyandtofilterout
stable.Goodluckwiththat.) andsavetheonesthatyoudo. certainwords.It’slabourintensive
It is surprising how often political arguments in the UK, TikTok’salgorithmissupposed butitseemstohaveworked.The
whetherovertaxes,crime,immigrationorthepandemic,take tobeparticularlyinsightfulbecause gross-outvideoshavebeenreplaced
placewithoutanyreferencetowhetherthenumbersaresmall theappharvestssomuchdata.The withremixesofakidtalkingabout
orlarge,risingorfalling.Itmightseemdullandgreytorequest company,whichisownedbyChi- howmuchhelikessweetcorn.
policymakingwithasenseofdirectionandproportion.Sobeit. na’s ByteDance, looks closely at Still,theTikTokglorydaysofend-
Dullandgreyitis. the length of time a user spends less jokes and cleverly inventive
Idon’tenvyTrusshernewjob.ButIhopeshedoesn’tforgetthe watching a video. It adds that to videosseemtobecomingtoanend–
Peanoarithmeticwestudiedtogether.Fortoolong,Britishpolit- informationitcollectsabouttheir onmyfeedatleast.Oncecelebrities
ical discourse has been based on intuition, inconsistency location, age, gender and search andadvertisersmovedin,thequal-
and hand-waving bluster. Peano arithmetic is the opposite: history.Thereisalotofcontentto ityofvideosontheappcamedown.
anattempttosetlogicalthoughtonthemostsolidoffounda- scrutinisetoo.Videoscanbeshoton Evenafterundertakinganalgorithm
tions.Politicsisadifferentgame,ofcourse,butsolidfoundations smartphonesanduploadedeasily. repairjob,Imayneedtofindanew
wouldstillbeuseful.Sometimestheploddingbasicsmattermore Theyareshortsomoreofthemcan waytowastemyowntime.
thananything. bewatchedinonesitting.Thefact
thatallthisdataisbeingcollected ElaineMooreistheFT’s
TimHarford’slatestbookis“HowtoMaketheWorldAddUp” by a Chinese-owned company is deputyLexeditor
12 FT.COM/MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER10/112022
