EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY SCIENCE Did Ancient Scientists & Philosophers Believe In Aliens? Key Takeaway: In 17th-century Europe, there was a debate about the existence of life on other planets due to the transition from a Ptolemaic view to a Copernican view. This led to the idea that if we were more like other planets and moons close to us that revolved around the Sun, they were more […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY The Proven 5 Steps To Psychological Wellness Key Takeaway: Wellness culture, which claims to provide happiness and meaning, has been criticized for its superficial focus on superficial aspects like candles and juice cleanses. Psychological research suggests that long-term wellbeing comes from a committed pursuit of both pleasure and meaning. Martin Seligman’s Perma model, which breaks wellbeing into five pillars: positive emotions, engagement, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Understanding The Power Of Human Intuition Key Takeaway: The 2024 Academy Awards recognized Cillian Murphy’s Best Actor performance, which was driven by acting intuition. Behaving intuitively is a common skill that allows us to be the best versions of ourselves in any situation. Research suggests that intuition can be trained and best understood as an “embodied state of mind” supported by […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY How Algorithms Shape Our Taste In Music Key Takeaway: Spotify’s algorithmically generated “daylist” is a prime example of how tech platforms have shaped our music tastes over time. For over 15 years, the platform has been trying to predict or “compute tastes” based on data about users and everyone streaming on the platform. This data has influenced our tastes, as our preferences […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY The Theory Of The Collective Mind Key Takeaway: Shared attention amplifies experiences and builds relationships, according to studies in various countries. Research shows that synchronous attention with others yields stronger memories, deeper emotions, and firmer motivations. This can be observed in labs across the US, Australia, Hungary, Germany, and Denmark. Shared attention can also build relationships across the political divide and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK The Secret Recipe Of Disney Films Key Takeaway: Disney has a rich musical legacy, with landmark films featuring musical numbers that remain household favourites today. The studio’s first sound film, Steamboat Willie, (1928), established Disney as the leading animation studio. The silent era of cinema (1923-1928) saw films without soundtracks but often accompanied by local organists or pianists. The Alice Comedies […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE The Mysterious Phenomenon Of Jamais-Vu Key Takeaway: Researchers have discovered that déjà vu is a window into our memory system, alerting us to strangeness when the brain detects familiarity de-synchronizes with reality. Jamais vu, the opposite of déjà vu, occurs when something familiar feels unreal or novel. The researchers conducted experiments on jamais vu, where participants repeatedly wrote the same […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE How Christmas Music Brainwashes Us To Spend More Key Takeaway: Research shows that people worldwide are unaware of how what they hear affects their attitudes and behavior. This year, Tesco’s Christmas advert features OMC’s “How Bizarre” song, while John Lewis’s features a young boy raising a Venus flytrap to Andrea Bocelli’s “Festa”. Morrisons and Waitrose use 1980s hits, while Marks & Spencer uses […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Does Music Manipulate Our Memories? Key Takeaway: Studies in psychology are beginning to understand how music helps people remember films, scenes, and characters. Music can help us understand characters, create deeper emotional links, and create mood-congruency effects when the music and movie both make us feel the same way. Irony and mood-incongruity effects occur when music and movies make us […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY What Makes Horror Film Music Scary? Key Takeaway: Horror films often incorporate musical influences from other genres, such as thrillers and action films, to create an ambiguous musical atmosphere. These ambiguous atmospheres are often achieved through a lack of conventional melody and dissonant harmonies. Repeated short melodies and tremolo techniques convey tension, while drones and sudden loud bursts of sound or […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Psychology Of A Gentleman Key Takeaway: The Gentlemen, a TV series by Guy Ritchie, reimagines the age-old trope of a “gentleman” based on Middle English and French. The term originated from Middle English, referring to the English gentry, a class below nobility but above farmers. The concept of a gentleman is associated with higher competence, warmth, and positive connotations […] Written by Jayden Greenwell-Barnden April 12, 2024April 12, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Discovering Your Money Attachment Style Key Takeaway: The current economic climate is particularly concerning for young people, who are often financially worse off than their parents. To overcome this, it is important to understand one’s financial attachment style, which can be secure, anxious, or avoidant. Attachment theory, influenced by childhood experiences and education, can help shape one’s relationship with money. […] Written by Ylva Baeckstrom April 9, 2024April 9, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Future Of Human Computing Key Takeaway: Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, aims to implant a brain-computer interface (BCI) in people’s brains, allowing them to control computers or phones by thought alone. This technology holds the promise of alleviating human suffering and allowing people with disabilities to regain lost capacities. However, the long-term aspirations of Neuralink include the ability to […] Written by Allan McCay April 2, 2024April 2, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Real Mystery Of Sand Dunes Key Takeaway: Sand dunes, primarily formed of quartz and feldspar grains, can also be formed from ash, snow, and gypsum. They can record a history of climate changes and can be enormous, with the largest being as tall as skyscrapers. Only a fifth of deserts are covered by sand dunes, and only about a fifth […] Written by David Thomas April 1, 2024April 1, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Economics Of Betrayal Key Takeaway: Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, is often associated with treachery and betrayal due to his loyalty. However, research suggests that acts of betrayal are rare, as most humans can be trusted due to their interests. In a trust game, the sender can keep the money or send it to the receiver, who […] Written by Renaud Foucart March 29, 2024March 29, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How Nature Influences Time Key Takeaway: Recent research suggests that nature can regulate our sense of time, a feeling often exacerbated by the demands of work, home, and family. Research by psychologist Richardo Correia at the University of Turku in Finland found that spending time in nature can change how we experience time and give us a sense of […] Written by Ruth Ogden March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Problem With Fashion Key Takeaway: The fashion industry relies on storytelling to create fashionable garments and spread positive messages about issues. However, it can also drive overconsumption and perpetuate unrealistic beauty expectations. The industry’s global reach allows for easy sharing of visual cues and messaging, especially during times of social and political unease. The UN’s report urges storytellers, […] Written by Benjamin Wild March 25, 2024March 25, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Education Key Takeaways: The Industrial model of education that fueled the modern era and its dizzying reach did its job incredibly well. In his writing, Flynn illustrates study after study, spanning nations and decades, in which modern educational gift of abstraction — a transcendent sign of intelligence, as we saw in Raven’s Matrices — has been […] Written by Anthony Fieldman March 2, 2022October 19, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How China Is Transforming Its Economy Through Learning I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […] Written by Enrique Dans February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why You’re Not Seeing Success With Influencer Marketing With the new year around the corner, now is a good time to re-evaluate your past marketing strategies and gear up for the year ahead. For some businesses, influencer marketing has simply not seemed to live up to its lofty promises of genuine engagement, credibility, and transparency. Some have claimed that it has been failing […] Written by Michael Tan January 14, 2021January 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A New Philosophy of Business I’m about to ask you to take a mental leap. For the next 8 minutes, suspend your notions of what a business is, and I’ll propose a new lens for you to look through. There are a lot of questions asked around what “community” means for business. “Where should community fit in my organization?” and […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked