Artists always treat businessmen people as money-obsessed bores. Or worse, many business people, for their part, assume that artists are a bunch of pretentious wasters. Bosses may stick a few modernist paintings on their boardroom walls. But they seldom take the arts seriously as a source of inspiration.

The prejudice starts at business school, where “hard” things such as numbers and case studies rule. It is reinforced by everyday experience. Bosses constantly remind their underlings that if you can’t count it, it doesn’t count. Few read deeply about art. Sun Tzu's The Art of War does not count while some tasteless business books are pleasing to them: consider Wess Roberts' Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun.

But lately there are welcome signs of a thaw (缓和) on the business side of the great cultural divide. Business presses are publishing a series of books such as The Fine Art of Success by Jamie Anderson. Business schools such as the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto are trying to learn from the arts.

Mr. Anderson points out that many artists have also been superb entrepreneurs. Damien Hirst was even more enterprising. He upturned the art world by selling his work directly through Sotheby’s, an auction (拍卖) house. Whatever they think of his work, businessmen people cannot help admiring a man who parted art-lovers from £ 75.5 million on the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Studying the arts can help businessmen people communicate more effectively. Most bosses spend a huge amount of time “messaging” and “reaching out”, yet few are much good at it.

Studying the arts can also help companies learn how to manage bright people. Rob Goffee of the London Business School points out that today’s most productive companies are dominated by what they call “clevers”, who are the devil to manage. They hate being told what to do by managers, whom they regard as dullards. They refuse to submit to performance reviews. In short, they are prima donnas. The arts world has centuries of experience in managing such difficult people. Directors persuade actresses to cooperate with actors they hate. Their tips might be worth hearing.

Believe it or not, there are many strange things banned (禁止) around the world.

Black cars —Turkmenistan

Trying to buy a new car in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan can be a tricky business due to numerous restrictions issued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Batir Turken, who is from Turkmenistan but lives in Dubai, explained, “For the country with 60°C in summer, it is really strange and stupid that cars with black colours are banned, and that dirty cars are not allowed to drive in the city.”

He added, “Cars which are older than five years are banned, cars with a right-hand drive are banned, sports cars and two-door cars are banned, and cars with tinted (有色的) windows are banned.”

Vacuum cleaners — Victoria, Australia

No one likes a noisy neighbour, but the state of Victoria in Australia has introduced a set of rules about at what point during the day when you can make noise including when you can vacuum.

Sumit Gupta, Mumbai, India, said, “In Melbourne, Australia, vacuuming your house between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. during weekdays and 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. during the weekends is against the law.”

Chewing gum — Singapore

Singapore bans the sale and import of chewing gum, which makes it impossible for locals to get their hands on gum. However, exceptions are made for people who have medical conditions and need to chew gum. The ban began in 1992 and is still in effect.

Running out of fuel — Germany

People are not allowed to let their cars run out of fuel if they are driving on the autobahn (高速公路) in Germany. What makes matters worse is that a person can’t walk along the highway to get some gas, as walking on the autobahn is also banned by law.

Changing bulbs — Victoria, Australia

In Victoria, one of the most populous states in Australia, changing a light bulb is illegal unless you are a licensed electrician. People who disobey this law could receive a fine of up to AU $10 (￡5.5).

Years ago it was popular to speak of a generation gap, a disagreement between young people and their elders. Parents said that children did not show them proper respect and obedience (服从), while children complained that their parents did not understand them at all. What had gone wrong? Why had the generation gap suddenly appeared? Actually the generation gap has been around for a long time. Many people argue that a gap is built into the fabric (结构) of our society.

One important cause of the generation gap is the chance that young people have to choose their own ways of life. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents know and agree to, and to continue the family occupation. In our society, young people often travel great distances for their education, move out of the family home at an early age, marry or live with people whom their parents have never met, and choose occupations different from those of their parents.

In our easily changing society, parents often expect their children to do better than they did: to find better jobs, to make more money, and to do all the things that they were unable to do. Often, however, the strong wish that parents have for their children is another cause of the disagreement between them. Often, they discover that they have very little in common with each other.

Finally, the speed at which changes take place in our society is another cause of the gap between the generations. In a traditional culture, elderly people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society the knowledge of a lifetime may become out of date overnight. The young and the old seem to live in two very different worlds, separated by different skills and abilities. No doubt, the generation gap will continue to be a feature of American life for some time to come. Its causes are rooted in the freedom and changes of our society, and in the rapid speed at which society changes.