CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Importance Of Ritual Key Takeaway: A “ritual” is a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. They are often embedded in a larger symbolic system, such as religion or philosophy. The oldest evidence for ancient rituals is found at Mt Carmel in Israel, where a woman was buried 130,000 years ago. Rituals play an important role […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Why TikTok Might Be A Threat To Music Key Takeaways: Viral TikTok videos have meant success for new and established artists alike. The short-form video service has earned US$12 billion (ยฃ10.5 billion) in advertising revenue in 2022. Many of its most popular videos feature music โ available to use for free โ through its audio library. TikTok pays the “Big Three” record labels […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Can Science Solve Poverty? Key Takeaways: The fight against poverty and inequality is resuming with tools and programs that are more effective than ever before, thanks to a quiet revolt against business as usual. The evidence-based policy movement is increasingly being embraced by researchers, activists and government officials. The use of randomized controlled trials to assess social programs is […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Is Twitter’s Blue Tick A Status Symbol? What Will Happen If Everyone Can Buy One? Key Takeaways: Elon Musk proposed a range of controversial changes to the Twitter platform. One of the ideas was to charge US$8 a month to obtain a verified status. The paid verification change has already been rolled out in several countries, including Australia, under the Twitter Blue subscription service. Muskโs proposal is not only misguided […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Who Invented Music? Key Takeaways: The short answer is: No one knows who invented music. The earliest civilizations throughout Africa, Europe and Asia had music. But again, people were not singing complete melodies or songs; our modern lullabies โ like โRock-a-bye Babyโ โ took centuries to develop. In Greece, instruments like the krotola, a set of hollow blocks […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY STRATEGY Prediction Markets: How To Predict The Future Key Takeaways: Wikipedia posits a handful of contenders for Physiology or Medicine, about 20 different possible winners for the Peace Prize and several dozen potential winners of the Literature Prize. Each stockโs price is tied to a different event happening in the future. Despite using different devices to keep up engagement, such as leader boards […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SOCIOLOGY How Did Patriarchy Start? Key Takeaways: The patriarchy, having been somewhat in retreat in parts of the world, is back in our faces . In some of these matrilineal systems in Africa, men remain a powerful force in households, but it is older brothers and uncles who try to control women rather than husbands or fathers. Women are also […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Hidden Structure Of Community Dynamics Key Takeaways: The world is a networked place, literally and figuratively. For example, the network consisting of the international financial corruption scheme uncovered by the Panama Papers investigation has an unusual lack of connections among its parts. The concept is so simple that it can be drawn on paper: Entities of interest โ people, businesses, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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 projectingโwithout a second thoughtโthat human beings will continueto conduct โbusiness as usualโ without the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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 […] Written by Philip Almond April 17, 2024April 17, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Building Blocks Of The Universe Key Takeaway: Peter Higgs, the creator of the Higgs boson, has died at the age of 94. Higgs, a great scientist in particle physics, discovered the Higgs boson in 1964 after reading a paper by American theoretical physicist Philip Anderson. This led to the development of the Standard Model, which explained how fundamental particles and […] Written by Harald Fox April 16, 2024April 16, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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, […] Written by Ben Gibson April 8, 2024April 8, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
When Will Quantum Computers Actually Become Practical? Key Takeaway: Quantum computing, which uses entanglement to represent information, has the potential to revolutionize everyday life. However, the development of quantum computers has been slow due to the need to demonstrate an advantage over classical computers. Only a few notable quantum algorithms have been developed, such as the BB84 protocol and Shor’s algorithm, which […] Written by Adam Lowe April 4, 2024April 4, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Predicting China’s Economy In 2024 Key Takeaway: China’s leaders have declared a GDP growth target of 5% in 2024, despite facing economic problems and a property crisis. The country’s rapid economic growth has been attributed to market incentives, cheap labor, infrastructure investment, exports, and foreign direct investment. However, none of these drivers are working effectively. The government’s determination to deflate […] Written by Hong Bo April 3, 2024April 3, 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
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 โ a transcendent sign of intelligence, as we saw in Ravenโs Matrices โ 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 Instituteโs new report, โReskilling China: Transforming The Worldโs Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learnersโ, which focuses on the countryโs 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 Youโre 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 Iโm about to ask you to take a mental leap. For the next 8 minutes, suspend your notions of what a business is, and Iโll propose a new lens for you to look through. There are a lot of questions asked around what โcommunityโ means for business. โWhere should community fit in my organization?โ and […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked