BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK The Flawed Theory Behind Why Nations Prosper Key Takeaway: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson were awarded the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics for their book Why Nations Fail, which argued that countries succeed when they adopt inclusive institutions like democracy, while extractive institutions stifle growth by concentrating power and wealth in elites. However, their theory has faced criticism for […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Can Music Be Bad For Us? Key Takeaway: Music can be a powerful tool for boosting focus and productivity, but its effectiveness depends on factors such as the person, task, and music type. Instrumental music is less distracting, while familiar tunes can help with memorization or problem-solving. However, high volumes can lead to hearing damage, as the hair-like cells inside the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Dark Side Of Digital Drama Key Takeaway: The subreddit “Am I the Asshole?” has become a cultural phenomenon, with 20 million members and a focus on dissecting digital disputes. The platform encourages users to share stories about their non-violent conflicts, transforming them into moral judgments with quick votes and comments. AITA’s success lies in its structured approach to storytelling, which […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Secret To Becoming An Olympian Key Takeaway: Olympic athletes face a challenging journey of dedication and intense training to hone speed, strength, and technique. However, the path to success is fraught with uncertainty, as the risk of injury is a constant concern. In competitive sports, athletes must maintain their body’s integrity, as even a minor mistake can lead to serious […] 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 SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How A.I. Affects Our Information Diet Key Takeaway: Google’s AI Overviews feature, which generates personalized, on-demand answers based on its training data, has been criticized for removing users’ judgment, agency, and opportunity to learn. While AI Overviews can be useful for general searches, they may not be reliable for factual questions or ideas. For instance, Google’s AI Overviews may give incorrect […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK The Myths Of Method Acting Key Takeaway: Oscar nominees Cillian Murphy and Bradley Cooper are gaining attention for their performances and preparation methods. Murphy lost 20 pounds and practiced fake cigarettes to mimic Oppenheimer’s appearance, while Cooper spent six years training in conducting. Method acting, a psychological approach, is often used to make characters seem more real and believable. However, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK How Great Was Beethoven Really? Key Takeaway: On its 200th anniversary, the Ninth Symphony, premiered in Vienna in 1824, was praised as the greatest master of Western classical music. However, the lionization of Beethoven never sat well with some, leading to a backlash. The author reframed Beethoven’s greatness within the context of historic ideals of whiteness and patriarchy, arguing that […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Being Thoughtful In The Age Of A.I. Key Takeaway: Concerns about AI’s potential roguehood and potential harm to privacy and dignity are a significant concern. AI’s algorithms, programmed by humans, are also biased and discriminatory. However, a psychologist’s research suggests that AI is a threat to making people less disciplined and skilled in making thoughtful decisions. Making thoughtful decisions involves understanding the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY The Inherent Risks Of A.I. Key Takeaway: Leading scientists and technologists often make terrible predictions about the direction of innovation, leading to misalignments between a company’s economic incentives to profit from its proprietary AI model and society’s interests in how the AI model should be monetised and deployed. Focusing on the economic risks from AI is not just about preventing […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
What Lies Inside Quantum Black Holes? Key Takeaway: The concept of the “cosmic censorship conjecture” suggests that singularities within the universe are hidden within black holes, providing a protective barrier. However, the integration of quantum mechanics challenges this idea, creating “quantum black holes” that obey the subatomic world’s rules. These quantum entities must account for effects like negative energy, which does […] Written by Empirics Asia December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The New Frontier Of Time Key Takeaway: The second, the fundamental unit of time, is being refined through advancements in timekeeping technology. Throughout history, humans have sought to track time with greater precision, starting with the Neolithic site of Newgrange in Ireland. In 1967, the International System of Units established that a second corresponds to 9,192,631,770 oscillations of radiation emitted […] Written by Empirics Asia November 29, 2024November 29, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Birth Of Fractals Key Takeaway: A visiting professor from Canada delivered lectures on complex dynamics, revealing breathtaking visuals of fractals, a realm pioneered by Benoit Mandelbrot. Mandelbrot’s groundbreaking work transformed how mathematicians approached their work, legitimizing the use of pictures in mathematics and challenging the field’s traditional reliance on purely analytical methods. His groundbreaking work, “The Fractal Geometry […] Written by Empirics Asia November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Universe’s Biggest Mystery: Why Are We Here? Key Takeaway: Recent research by physicists has revealed that our universe may not be optimal for intelligent life. The mysterious force known as dark energy accelerates the universe’s expansion, but its value is far smaller than theoretical expectations. Researchers used anthropic reasoning to explain this, arguing that the properties of the universe must align with […] Written by Empirics Asia November 22, 2024November 22, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Test Of Human Intelligence Key Takeaway: Scale AI has launched the initiative “Humanity’s Last Exam” to determine the capabilities of cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) like Google Gemini and OpenAI’s o1. The initiative aims to determine how close we are to achieving AI systems that rival human expertise. The challenge lies in evaluating intelligence in machines that can already […] Written by Empirics Asia November 21, 2024November 21, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
When Reality Fractures Key Takeaway: Researchers have discovered that delusions, which are convictions that cling to a distorted view of reality, are a result of the same cognitive pathways that produce everyday beliefs. Delusions often defy common sense but emerge when the system of meaning-making veers off course. A case of postpartum psychosis revealed that a woman experienced […] Written by Empirics Asia November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Rise And Fall Of Volkswagen Key Takeaway: Volkswagen, once a symbol of German industry and co-management between shareholders and unions, is facing a crisis due to strategic missteps, a convoluted governance structure, and a culture that often prioritizes control over innovation. The company’s journey began in 1937 with the Beetle, which became the world’s largest carmaker in the 1980s and […] Written by Empirics Asia November 19, 2024November 19, 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