EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Why Is Free Time Still So Rare In Our Modern Productive Society? Key Takeaway: In the past, many economists assumed that people’s need for more stuff would eventually be met, leading to more free time. The 40-hour week is not the result of a personal calculation of costs and benefits but rather a result of a hard-fought political battle that culminated in the Fair Labor Standards Act […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY The Theory Of The Collective Mind Key Takeaway: Shared attention amplifies experiences and builds relationships, according to studies in various countries. Research shows that synchronous attention with others yields stronger memories, deeper emotions, and firmer motivations. This can be observed in labs across the US, Australia, Hungary, Germany, and Denmark. Shared attention can also build relationships across the political divide and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK STRATEGY The Hidden Costs Of Lay-Offs Key Takeaway: Businesses are facing rising borrowing costs and wage growth, affecting industries like advertising and retail. Redundancies can impact all employees, including those at risk, survivors, and management and HR teams. Decreased trust can lead to a toxic work environment, causing employees to question loyalty and commitment. Psychological stress can lead to increased absenteeism, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Real Emotions Of Spiders Key Takeaway: Spiders have evolved creative strategies to thrive in habitats worldwide, but their ability to charm humans is elusive. Research has uncovered surprising insights about spider behavior around humans, such as the Jorō spider, which has a tendency to play dead. This is known as thanatosis and is a response to threats used by […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY The Philosophy Of Parenthood Key Takeaway: Anti-natalism is a philosophical view that it is ethically wrong to bring anyone else into being, focusing on worries about suffering and choice. It is not an exclusively modern attitude, but it is based on ancient Greek playwright Sophocles’ belief that life contains far more suffering than good. Contemporary arguments focus on the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Understanding The Sunk Cost Fallacy Key Takeaway: The sunk cost fallacy is a common tendency where people make decisions based on past costs rather than current events or future events. This can lead to high-stakes decisions and can affect choices that have bigger consequences for our lives. For example, Bob might base his decision on the original price of a […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY What Modern People Get Wrong About Stoicism Key Takeaway: Stoicism, a philosophical school popular in ancient Rome, is often associated with happiness and productivity. However, Stoic TikTok, a popular social media platform, often misinterprets its ideas. Stoicism was traditionally divided into three branches: ethics, physics, and logic. Stoic TikTok focuses on knowledge through reading quotations or practicing mental exercises, but it doesn’t […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Does Music Manipulate Our Memories? Key Takeaway: Studies in psychology are beginning to understand how music helps people remember films, scenes, and characters. Music can help us understand characters, create deeper emotional links, and create mood-congruency effects when the music and movie both make us feel the same way. Irony and mood-incongruity effects occur when music and movies make us […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK The Story Of Birkenstock: Unlikely Rise Of A Billion Dollar Brand Key Takeaway: Birkenstock, a German shoe brand, has been able to attract fashionistas and hippies to its flexible arch supports, despite its negative image. The brand, founded in 1774, has evolved from orthopaedic footwear to fashion, with its initial public offering predicted to be the third-largest US listing so far in 2023. Birkenstock’s “bubble up” […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Are Ghosts Real? Key Takeaway: A 2021 poll of 1,000 American adults revealed that 41% believe in ghosts, with 20% personally experiencing them. This equates to over 50 million spirit encounters in the U.S. alone. Ghostly encounters are often due to the way the brain interprets certain sights and sounds. However, physicists argue that ghosts cannot exist due […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Quantum Physics Meets A.I. Key Takeaway: Quantum tunnelling, a phenomenon from quantum mechanics, has been applied to artificial intelligence (AI) to create a neural network that mimics human perception of optical illusions. This neural network, trained to recognize optical illusions like the Necker cube and Rubin’s vase, exhibits a state of ambiguity, mirroring human ambiguity in perception. This finding […] Written by Empirics Asia August 30, 2024August 30, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Power Of Small Changes: How Marginal Gains Lead To Extraordinary Success Key Takeaway: The British cycling team’s 2008 Beijing Olympics victory was a result of a simple strategy: the pursuit of marginal gains. The team’s coach, Sir Dave Brailsford, believed that success could be achieved by making a series of 1% improvements across every aspect of the cyclists’ gear, stamina, and physical conditioning. This principle, known […] Written by Empirics Asia August 29, 2024August 29, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Unveiling The Mysteries Of Death: The Human Autopsy Key Takeaway: An autopsy is a methodical, often quiet, and respectful examination of the body to uncover the truth about a death. It is conducted when the cause of death is unclear and the dignity of the deceased is a guiding principle. Autopsies are categorized into two types: non-coronial and coronial. Non-coronial autopsies are conducted […] Written by Empirics Asia August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The 3 Most Intriguing Philosophy Paradoxes Key Takeaway: Ancient Greek paradoxes were not just philosophical exercises but mental traps designed to expose contradictions and inconsistencies. They challenged the assumptions of language and the concept of truth, revealing the limitations of language and the power of presuppositions. The liar paradox, attributed to Eubulides of Miletus, forces us to question whether some questions […] Written by Empirics Asia August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Human Heart: An Evolutionary Puzzle Key Takeaway: Researchers have discovered that the human heart is an outlier, distinctly different from the hearts of great apes. The human heart evolved in response to specific challenges faced by our species, such as an upright posture and larger brains. The smooth interior wall of the left ventricle of the human heart allows it […] Written by Empirics Asia August 21, 2024August 21, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Brewing Storm In The Coffee Industry Key Takeaway: The coffee industry is facing a potential reckoning as rising prices threaten to slow its expansion. Giuseppe Lavazza, the head of the iconic Italian coffee brand, suggests that consumers in the U.S. might see prices increase by 20%-25% over the next year. The price of a latte or flat white is becoming pricier, […] Written by Empirics Asia August 20, 2024August 20, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Psychology Of Being Stranded In Space Key Takeaway: NASA Commander Barry Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams are stranded in space after their Boeing Starliner encounters technical issues during its journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts face an extended mission, potentially delayed by six months, due to the uncertainty surrounding their return. The astronauts’ situation is similar to those […] Written by Empirics Asia August 19, 2024August 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
