BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY The Secret Of Tumblr’s Enduring Appeal When tech billionaire Elon Musk made a deal to acquire Twitter in April 2022, many Twitter users threatened to shut down their accounts and migrate elsewhere online. Tumblr – a microblogging platform launched in 2007 long known as a laboratory for social justice causes and burgeoning fan cultures – became one contender. However, many Twitter users proposing a migration to […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Critical Consideration Narrative frames are fundamental to unifying ideologies. They frame what is possible and impossible, which ideas can be accepted and which must be rejected. In her book, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics, storyteller and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola examines the framing of the Fourth Industrial Revolution narrative in this light. She argues that it is being used […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY & WELLNESS SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY How Selective Memory Shapes Lives I began my last piece on memory—Bliss is in the Forgetting—with the quote “ignorance is bliss”. I should start this one with another: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Like Einstein, Gandhi gets a lot of credit for brilliant witticisms… that he never authored. With regard to the quote above, what Gandhi did say—in 1913—is as follows: […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Inflection Point Of Society If it feels as though every system on the planet—both man-made and natural—is at an inflection point, and that the decisions we make next could deliver us to long-term, sustainable prosperity or result in the collapse of our species, it’s because that is exactly what is going on. Right. This. Very. Minute. The good news is that the reason the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How The Crypto-Crash Is Affecting Climate Change Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin were meant to be used as digital cash. Instead, they’ve become popular as speculative investments. As well as being resource-intensive and inherently wasteful, cryptocurrencies are also incredibly volatile. Prices for the largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ethereum, have both dropped by over 55% in six months, leading some to suggest that regulation is needed to contain the turmoil. Some are blaming sliding […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Can Twitter Really Bring Absolute Free Speech? Elon Musk is the planet’s number one billionaire. If anyone can turn cyberspace into a heaven – or hell – of free speech “absolutism” via a US$44 billion (£35 billion) Twitter takeover, then surely he’s the man. Right? When free-market elephants like Musk or Jeff Bezos (who bought the Washington Post in 2013) take charge of major mass-media […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Decentralized Autonomous Communities Community is experiencing a renaissance as new, blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Communities.” These next-generation social networks could help solve some of society’s greatest challenges. One of the ways they’ll do that is by building new types of mission-driven markets. Just as “impact investing” does for equity, “impact markets” turn commercial markets into a positive force for […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY POLITICS SOCIOLOGY The Clothes We Wear “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” So said the god of the monotheistic faiths in the close of Genesis Chapter 2, referring to his creations, Adam and Eve. Alas, it didn’t last. As we know, Eve bit the apple (of sexual knowledge), turning their child-like innocence into full-blown […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Megacities In The Digital Age Today, megacities have become synonymous with economic growth. In both developing and developed countries, cities with populations of 10 million or more account for one-third to one-half of their gross domestic product. Many analysts and policymakers think this trend is here to stay. The rise of big data analytics and mobile technology should spur development, they assert, transforming metropolises like Shanghai, Nairobi and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Decentralized Autonomous Communities? The other day I heard Kim Stanley Robinson talk about The Ministry for the Future, his inspiring science fiction novel about tackling climate change and other huge societal challenges. I really like the book, even though I think “ministries” are the wrong direction. I believe that the energy needed to pull civilization back from the brink […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Elvin Chong – Founder of Luxury Mattress Gallery (LMG) This article was originally published here: Elvin Chong – Founder of Luxury Mattress Gallery (LMG) Through his work in the hospitality sector Elvin Chong realised there was a gap in the market for bespoke mattresses, so he set about filling the gap! What’s your story? I was in the banking and finance industry for 10 […] Written by Callum Laing June 28, 2022June 28, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Wealth Of Nations In The 21st Century Why are some nations rich and others poor? Can the governments of poor nations do something to ensure that their nations become rich? These sorts of questions have long fascinated public officials and economists, at least since Adam Smith, the prominent Scottish economist whose famous 1776 book was titled “An Inquiry into the Nature and […] Written by Amitrajeeta Batabyal June 27, 2022June 27, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Wealth Of Nations In The 21st Century Why are some nations rich and others poor? Can the governments of poor nations do something to ensure that their nations become rich? These sorts of questions have long fascinated public officials and economists, at least since Adam Smith, the prominent Scottish economist whose famous 1776 book was titled “An Inquiry into the Nature and […] Written by Amitrajeeta Batabyal June 27, 2022June 27, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Google’s LaMDA Conscious? A Philosopher’s View LaMDA is Google’s latest artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Blake Lemoine, a Google AI engineer, has claimed it is sentient. He’s been put on leave after publishing his conversations with LaMDA. If Lemoine’s claims are true, it would be a milestone in the history of humankind and technological development. Google strongly denies LaMDA has any sentient capacity. LaMDA certainly seems to […] Written by Benjamin Curtis June 24, 2022June 24, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Apple’s Vision For Augmented Reality Apple continues putting the pieces in place for what many believe could be its next big product: an augmented or virtual reality viewer, aimed at reinventing a space that is still largely occupied by enthusiasts. Faced with Meta’s $2 billion-plus purchase of Oculus VR in 2014 and its recent name change to reposition itself as the master of […] Written by Enrique Dans June 23, 2022June 23, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Education The Industrial model of education that fueled the modern era and its dizzying reach did its job incredibly well. Its prime accomplishment was the expansion of our ability to abstract the world. Until then, pragmatism reigned, limiting most people’s thoughts and interactions primarily because we lacked the tools to extrapolate information, to wield it for things that lay beyond obvious […] Written by Anthony Fieldman March 2, 2022March 2, 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