ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY The Science Fiction Feedback Loop Key Takeaway: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sparked controversy by referencing the 2013 movie “Her” to highlight the novelty of ChatGPT’s latest iteration. Actor Scarlett Johansson accused the company of improperly using her voice after she spurned their offer to make her the voice of ChatGPT’s new virtual assistant. This highlights the “sci-fi feedback loop,” which […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Science Of Beauty Key Takeaway: Beauty is more important to us than we often realize, as it can have a compelling effect on our experience and behavior. Beauty emerges from properties of the object itself, such as proportion, symmetry, and curvature, as well as the relationship between the object and the viewer, including the degree of familiarity. Aesthetics […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS TECHNOLOGY The Hidden Risks Of TikTok? Key Takeaway: The U.S. House of Representatives voted 352-65 to require TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell the app or face a nationwide ban. The bill’s fate in the Senate is unclear, and the resulting legislation could survive a court challenge. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation banning TikTokin in May 2023, the first […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK Panda Diplomacy: What We Can Learn About Chinese Economics Key Takeaway: San Diego Zoo and China’s Wildlife Conservation Association signed a deal in February 2024 to return Chinese giant pandas to the US by the end of the summer. This move signifies a warming of relations between the US and China, as well as a bid by China to help repair its struggling economy. […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK How Netflix Has Been Growing Itself Key Takeaway: Netflix, a streaming giant, experienced a decline in subscribers in 2022 due to competition from Disney and Amazon Prime. However, it has since rebounded, adding 8.8 million subscribers in Q3 2023. The company’s success can be attributed to its international approach, with over 70% of its subscribers coming from outside the US. It […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK ENTREPRENEURSHIP The Paradoxical Life Of Elon Musk Key Takeaway: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has a diverse career in space exploration, electric cars, AI, and social media. His biography, written by Walter Isaacson, covers events up to Space X’s unsuccessful Starship rocket launch in April 2023. Isaacson interviews Musk and uncovered newsworthy information, such as his Starlink satellite network’s crucial role […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY The Price Of Love: Hidden Costs Of Modern Dating Key Takeaway: The average American spends $120,000 on romantic activities, leading to a significant amount of “dating debt” among millennials and Gen Z. This debt accumulation is attributed to the desire to signal status and the persuasive retail marketing of luxury as synonymous with love. Luxury brands like Gucci and Tiffany use strategic marketing tactics […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY How Groundbreaking Will Apple Vision Pro Be? Key Takeaway Apple unveiled its Vision Pro headset, blending VR, AR, and mixed reality. The headset uses 12 cameras and EyeSight to detect and display people in the real world, allowing users to adjust their immersion level. The Vision Pro is expected to revolutionize head-mounted devices and bring immersive technologies to mainstream use. Apple’s Vision […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Why Everyday Decisions Feel So Stressful Key Takeaway: The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less argues that an abundance of choices can cause people anxiety due to the difficulty of comparing and contrasting options, lack of expertise, and emotional high stakes. Maximisers are more likely to experience post-decision regret, so it is important to build habits to avoid ruminating on […] 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 (£10.5 billion) in advertising revenue in 2022. Many of its most popular videos feature music – available to use for free – through its audio library. TikTok pays the “Big Three” record labels […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
What We Can Expect From Science In 2025 Key Takeaway: 2025 is expected to be a groundbreaking year with technological innovation, space exploration, and scientific discovery. Artificial intelligence is leading the charge, tackling challenges like antibiotic resistance and material design. Space exploration is also on track, with missions like NASA’s Artemis II and India’s Gaganyaan launching. Brain-machine interfaces, quantum computing, and nuclear fusion […] Written by Empirics Asia January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Device That Transformed Philosophy Forever Key Takeaway: Friedrich Nietzsche’s creative process was a transformation driven by technology, transforming his writing style and offering profound insights into how tools of expression influence thought. By 1881, Nietzsche turned to the Malling-Hansen writing ball, an advanced mechanical typewriter, which increased his productivity and influenced his writing style. This shift reflected a broader evolution […] Written by Empirics Asia January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Are We Born With A Moral Compass? Key Takeaway: A large-scale replication effort by the ManyBabies consortium has cast doubt on a groundbreaking study that claimed infants could differentiate between “helpers” and “hinderers,” preferring those who assisted others over those who obstructed them. The original study, led by Kiley Hamlin, involved showing six- and ten-month-old infants a puppet show, and 88% of […] Written by Empirics Asia December 24, 2024December 24, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Rise Of Western Computer Chips? Key Takeaway: Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has resigned amid boardroom discontent, signaling the fading of a once-dominant American technological legacy. Intel’s strategic missteps during the rise of mobile technology led to financial reliantness on older technologies and delayed investment in next-generation manufacturing processes. The company’s struggle is emblematic of a larger challenge for the U.S. […] Written by Empirics Asia December 20, 2024December 20, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Significance Of The Santa Myth Key Takeaway: The Santa Myth is a myth that has been passed down through generations to infuse Christmas with wonder. It represents a world that is fair and just, where good behavior is rewarded and kindness celebrated. The myth enriches children’s experience by providing a framework for understanding fairness and responsibility. It also encourages creativity […] Written by Empirics Asia December 13, 2024December 13, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Life Beyond Earth Key Takeaway: Astrobiologists are exploring life beyond Earth, aiming to uncover universal principles governing complex systems. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995, over 5,000 planets orbiting distant stars have been identified. These rocky worlds, many of which are rocky, lie within their stars’ habitable zones, where conditions might allow liquid water to […] Written by Empirics Asia December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How Reading Shapes Your Brain Key Takeaway: Reading is becoming less popular due to the rise of screens and videos. A study published in Neuroimage reveals that reading impacts the brain, with readers with strong abilities having distinctive traits in the left hemisphere, particularly in the anterior temporal lobe and Heschl’s gyrus. The brain is adaptable, changing its structure as […] Written by Empirics Asia December 10, 2024December 10, 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