EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY What Makes People Willing To Risk Their Lives To Save Others? Key Takeaways: Is there such a thing as a heroic personality type? People tend to have an idea of what heroes are like. Psychologists are still at a loss to predict in advance who will heroically step up when needed. Some studies show that people who exhibit heroic behavior and first responders score high on […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Is The Concept Of “Overpopulation” Flawed? The gross misconception that too many of us have, with regard to population and resources, is that we will run out. What we fail to realize is that this assumes a future population will do things the same way that we do today. We are projecting—without a second thought—that human beings will continueto conduct “business as usual” without the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How News Drives Economic Change News of a big pay rise might see you booking the nearest fancy restaurant for a slap-up meal to celebrate, or encourage you to go on a shopping spree even before your raise hits your bank account. Recent research shows that this is also essentially what happens on a wider economic scale when news breaks about future […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY The Secret Of Tumblr’s Enduring Appeal Key Takeaways: 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. This is partly due to the flexibility of the main user interfaces. In 2013, after Yahoo acquired Tumblr, there was concern that the platform would tighten […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Critical Consideration Key Takeaways: Narrative frames are fundamental to unifying ideologies. These include artificial intelligence and robotics, quantum cloud computing and block chain technology. There is nothing predetermined or linear about what digital technology is developed, how it is used, and for what end. It is clear that digital technologies are reshaping the structure of the labour […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY How Selective Memory Shapes Lives Key Takeaways: This is what Gandhi meant by “We need not wait to see what others do,” because we are world-makers in our own right: worlds that don’t empirically exist outside of our minds, except in the actions they sponsor. People are especially likely to process information to support their own beliefs when the issue […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Inflection Point Of Society Key Takeaways: 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. The Sigmoid Curve Just 40 […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How The Crypto-Crash Is Affecting Climate Change Key Takeaways: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin were meant to be used as digital cash. 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. Bitcoin has an annual carbon footprint of around 114 million tonnes. But a […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Can Twitter Really Bring Absolute Free Speech? Key Takeaways: Elon Musk is the planet’s number one billionaire. When free-market elephants like Musk or Jeff Bezos (who bought the Washington Post in 2013) take charge of major mass-media outlets, concerns are raised about the direction of free speech, which remains the essential ingredient of democratic participation. There can be no question that protest […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Decentralized Autonomous Communities Key Takeaways: Community is experiencing a renaissance as new, blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Communities.” The problem is that the nature of this demand is diffuse. They help us coordinate our shared values. Developing an Impact Market To illustrate how a Decentralized Autonomous Community might one day build an impact market, we can use plastics-free packaging as […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Unlocking The Secret Language Of Honeybees Key Takeaway: Honeybees use a physical “waggle dance” to communicate the direction, distance and quality of resources to their nestmates. Bees are born with some knowledge of how to dance, but can learn how to dance even better by following experienced bees. This is the first known example of such complex social learning of communication […] Written by James C. Nieh March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Web3 A Fad? Key Takeaway: Web3 is an alternative vision of the web where the services are purely algorithmic things hosted by everybody, and has been called “the hyperfinancialization of all human existence”. Data is no longer easily accessible, making it difficult for entrepreneurs to acquire more users, leading to a stagnant cycle. Web3 startups have focused on […] Written by Eric Feng March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Art Of Receiving Feedback Good feedback, whether you are on the receiving or giving end, requires an attitude of curiosity and openness. Intentionally creating space for feedbackcan help, but even with the right space, receiving feedback can be really scary. Many organizations have formal systems of feedback in the style of mid-year and annual reviews. And it’s not uncommon for informal continuous […] Written by Andrea Mignolo February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The World After Oil Key Takeaway: The production and consumption of fossil fuels is on the rise, and expected to peak within the next decade. To consider alternatives to oil, we need to be aware of the scale of its integration into our lives. Caleb Wellum, an assistant professor of U.S. history at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada, […] Written by Nehal El-Hadi February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Chemistry Of Chocolates Key Takeaways: Chocolate has been around for at least 4,000 years, and is now a trillion-dollar global industry. It starts out as a dull-tasting bean, packed into a pod that grows on a cacao tree, and requires two key steps: fermentation and roasting. Roasting is an art form, with different temperatures and times producing different […] Written by Sheryl Barringer February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Making Sense Of UFOs In The Modern Era Key Takeaway: UFOs are the term used to describe aircraft that aren’t easily identified or explained, and have been around since the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 2020, the U.S. Navy released multiple videos of unidentified aerial phenomena, sparking interest in the public and government. UAPs are more likely to be human-made, rather than […] Written by Wendy Cobb February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
What Is Effective Altruism? Key Takeaway: Effective altruism is an intellectual and charitable movement that seeks to find the best ways to help others. It was inspired by the philosopher Peter Singer and has gained traction due to its popularity among some extremely wealthy donors, such as Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook and the Asana digital work management platform. […] Written by Jacob Bauer February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 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
