Lockean Sidekicks and the Curious Idea of 'PhD-Level Intelligence'

A friend recommended a fascinating YouTube video: “Ben Folds Composes a Song LIVE for Orchestra in Only 10 Minutes.” The video is from 2017. In it, you’ll find North Carolina native and singer-songwriter Ben Folds being challenged to compose a song with the Kennedy Center Orchestra in just 10 minutes. The entertaining video captures Folds composing and iterating with the orchestra on the piece in real time. The audience chooses the song’s parameters on the spot: it must be in A minor, have an upbeat tempo, and incorporate a sentence from that night’s program booklet: “These new spaces are all designed to be flexible.” Thanks for reading Superadditive: Deep dives into innovation and organization! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. The result is extraordinary, and with nearly 10 million views, it’s clear people love it! But beyond that, it also showcases Folds’ mastery of improvisation, music theory, composition, and technical skills. He takes the challenge—A-mi

A friend recommended a fascinating YouTube video: “Ben Folds Composes a Song LIVE for Orchestra in Only 10 Minutes.” The video is from 2017. In it, you’ll find North Carolina native and singer-songwriter Ben Folds being challenged to compose a song with the Kennedy Center Orchestra in just 10 minutes. The entertaining video captures Folds composing and iterating with the orchestra on the piece in real time. The audience chooses the song’s parameters on the spot: it must be in A minor, have an upbeat tempo, and incorporate a sentence from that night’s program booklet: “These new spaces are all