"Can you imagine?" Diébédo Francis Kéré said to NPR, "I was born in Burkina Faso, a little village where there was no school. And my father wanted me to learn how to read and write very simply because then I could translate or read him his letters."

The first Black winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize was as surprised as anyone else to be selected for the field's most famous prize. Many architects had openly supposed that 2022 would be Sir David Adjaye's year, who is best known for designing notable buildings as the Nobel Peace Center in Norway. Kéré, who is based in Berlin but centers much of his practice in Africa, has been—until now—far lesser known, with buildings that include primary schools and a healthcare clinic.

When he was twenty, in 1985, Kéré earned a scholarship to study carpentry in Berlin. But he also attended night school and was admitted to Technische Universität Berlin, from which he graduated in 2004 with an advanced degree in architecture. He was still a student when he designed and built the innovative Gando Primary School.

Kéré's architectural practice was inspired by his own experience attending school with around 100 other children in a region with temperatures over 100 F. "It's very hot inside. And there was no light, while outside, the sunlight was abundant. I think, one day I should make it better. I was thinking about space, about room, about how I could feel better." In his designs for Gando Primary School and Naaba Belem Goumma Secondary School, Kéré drew on traditional building materials such as local clay mixed with concrete, and emphasized shade and shadows, making spaces bright enough and letting air in, and thus reducing the need for air conditioning. He wanted the buildings to evoke the sense of an oasis (绿洲), a place for many children, to be happy and learn how to read and write.

Forgetting names, faces, or events is a universal human experience; even those who see their minds sharp struggle with memory loss from time to time. Most consider these mental mistakes to be annoyed, and they're seen as a potentially worrisome sign of cognitive（认知的）decline. But neurologist Scott Small, who studies and treats Alzheimer's disease（老年痴呆） at Columbia University, thinks this view of forgetting is all wrong. In fact, some amount of forgetfulness is critical for our minds and relationships to function at their best.

We're developing drugs to protect against memory loss. But many psychologists have joked that what they want is a forgetfulness drug. Too much memory poses a challenge in any long-term relationship. Anger, hatred—they all come from not being able to let go of emotional memories. People who repeatedly think of anger or fear suffer, often in loneliness.

Living in a noisy, ever-changing world, forgetting details is actually a perfect adaptation. Creativity isn't making something out of nothing. It's making connections between already-known elements—ideas, words, visuals, or expressions—to create something new. But to make new connections, the existing connections in your mind have to be loose. If the connections between those elements are too tightly bound in our memory, there's no room for creativity.

What can we do to help our brains forget what we need to forget? One of the best ways to make sure that you don't have a brain that's burning too. hot with bad memories is to stay socially engaged. Another thing to do is to sleep, and sleep well. Many experts have concluded that we sleep in order to forget, so it makes sense that sleep has been shown to improve creativity. If you're short of sleep, your brain is on fire with too many memories. The brain is like a lawn of grass—you need to keep it trimmed（修剪） to make way for new memories, new connections, and new growth.

What would you do if someone did something you didn't agree with? Would you completely stop talking to them? Or would you tell them how their actions were wrong?

The "cancel culture" trend has been picking up some steam recently. According to Dictionary. com, "cancel culture" is defined as "publicly rejecting, boycotting or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions" .

Neelam, a 17-year-old high school senior in the US, told The New York Times that she wasn't being sensitive when she saw someone doing something wrong and "called them out" for it.

However, others think that "canceling" people is counterproductive (适得其反的) and can actually be harmful to the person.

To Ben, a high school junior in Providence, Rhode Island, US, canceling someone "takes away the option for them to learn from their mistakes and kind of alienates (使疏远) them" . Ben, 17, thinks that people should be held accountable for their actions, regardless if they are your friend or someone famous.

In fact, quite a few celebrities have already faced the wrath ( 愤 怒 ) of cancel culture. Some celebrities who have been "canceled" this year include British author of the Harry Potter series J. K. Rowling, US comedian Ellen DeGeneres and English guitarist Eric Clapton.

And, over the summer, about 150 public figures like authors J. K. Rowling and Margaret Atwood signed an open letter against the cancel culture trend. The letter expressed that cancel culture was hurting people's freedom of expression in areas like the arts, universities and journals.

Professor Loretta Ross, who teaches a university course on cancel culture, is trying to fight back against this new trend. "It really does alienate people, and makes them fearful of speaking up," she told The New York Times. Ross also noted that cancel culture isn't new: "What's new is the virality (病毒式传播) and the speed and the anonymity (匿名). "

Our world is beautiful because of the wonderful mix of different cultures, ideas and opinions. So, the next time you think someone should be "called out" or "canceled", maybe try calling them in instead.