CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK The Real Inspiration Behind House Of The Dragon Key Takeaway: HBO’s “House of the Dragon” explores medieval conflicts, values, and societal norms in the fictional world of Westeros. The show reflects the enduring issues of hereditary succession and medieval misogyny, highlighting the intractable feuds between the Bracken and Blackwood families. The show also highlights the impact of elite rivalries on the common people, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY 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, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK The Secret Recipe Of Studio Ghibli Movies Key Takeaway: Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio, has been a global phenomenon since 1985, with its debut feature Laputa: Castle in the Sky. The studio gained international recognition with the releases of Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), which won the Academy Award for best animated feature. The founders, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao […] 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
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK How The Perception Of Art Changed Over Time Key Takeaway: From the end of Antiquity to around 1250, art was dominated by traditional Byzantine icons, with little room for individual and creative expression. However, the 1400s saw a shift towards humanism in Italy, leading to a burgeoning interest in individual creativity. Artists like El Greco, born in 1541, were expected to be disruptively […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY The Surprisingly Modern Philosophy Of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Key Takeaways: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a renowned Western philosopher, is often overlooked in modern thought. His work includes treatises, fiction, autobiographical works, and musical compositions. Rousseau’s ideas reflect many of our deepest commitments and patterns of thought, making his ideas often seem common sense. His epistolary novel, Julie, or the New Héloïse (1761), suggests authenticity should […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SOCIOLOGY Some Silicon Valley Investors Are Trying To Create A Utopian City Key Takeaway: George Bernard Shaw referred to Ebenezer Howard’s “garden cities” concept in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which he believed would offer the advantages of town and country without the drawbacks. Recently, a Silicon Valley consortium called Flannery Associates purchased land for California Forever, a contentious project that echoes Howard’s ideas. Howard’s […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK The Women In Dante’s Inferno Revealed 700 Years Later When Dante Alighieri died 700 years ago, on Sept. 14, 1321, he had just put his final flourishes on the “Divine Comedy,” a monumental poem that would inspire readers for centuries. The “Divine Comedy” follows the journey of a pilgrim across the three realms of the Christian afterlife – hell, purgatory and paradise. There, he […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Scientific Truth Of Ancient Mythologies Everyone loves a good story, especially if it’s based on something true. Consider the Greek legend of the Titanomachy, in which the Olympian gods, led by Zeus, vanquish the previous generation of immortals, the Titans. As recounted by the Greek poet Hesiod, this conflict makes for a thrilling tale – and it may preserve kernels of […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
SCIENCE Reality: A Game Of Quantum Mirrors? Imagine you sit down and pick up your favourite book. You look at the image on the front cover, run your fingers across the smooth book sleeve, and smell that familiar book smell as you flick through the pages. To you, the book is made up of a range of sensory appearances. But you also […] 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