EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Are Rich People More Intelligent? Key Takeaway: Intelligence is a crucial factor in determining one’s wealth, as it contributes to economic and professional success. It is the best predictor of both educational achievement and work performance, and academic and professional success are a fairly good forecaster of income. However, not all highly intelligent people are primarily driven by a desire […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK The Mathematics Of The Multiverse Key Takeaway: The discovery that physics is fine-tuned for life has been a topic of debate among physicists. The strength of dark energy, the force that powers the accelerating expansion of the universe, is considered the most plausible explanation for the fine-tuning of physics. However, experts in probability argue that multiverse theorists commit the inverse […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE A Scientific Look At Astrology Key Takeaway Astrology is often associated with exclusivity, as it describes traits of different zodiac signs for a large audience. However, the scientific community has rejected the idea that celestial signs influence a person’s life or personality traits. A 1985 experiment by physicist Shawn Carlson found that astrologers were able to persuade clients through body […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Are Rich People More Intelligent? Key Takeaway Intelligence contributes to economic and professional success, but not all highly intelligent people are driven by wealth. Intelligence consists of fluid and crystallised intelligence, which develop differently. Fluid intelligence is inherited and decreases with age, while crystallised intelligence increases throughout adulthood and declines after 65 years. Fluid intelligence builds up crystallised intelligence, which […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY STARTUPS The Relationship Economy Terry Mollner — whose Calvert Impact Capital funds are the world’s largest, at $9 billion (or $12 billion, depending on what source you cite) — is one of the great pioneers of a new economy based on meaningful relationshipsand the common good — a conceptual framework that is increasingly called ‘Game B’ these days, as an alternative to the prevailing […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY What To Do When Life Is On Hold I get it. You have COVID ennui. I do, too, but as long as we have our health and our jobs, both 2020 and 2021 deserve nothing but to be met with gratitude. Not everyone is as lucky. The truth is, until last year sent us hiding, we were all running at full tilt with our default lives, scarcely […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK ENTREPRENEURSHIP Discord And Microsoft: How Do You Create Momentum? The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is talking to Discord about acquiring the social audio company created in 2015, that has more than 250 million users and has so far focused primarily on creating communities of video game fans. The trigger for these talks has been the surprise success of Clubhouse, which is even smaller than Discord, but […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
SCIENCE This Chemical Could Explain The Absence Of Alien Life Imagine, for a moment, our primitive planet. It’s over 4 billion years ago and Earth is swathed in carbon dioxide. The CO2 rich atmosphere gives way to carbonate rich water which, after evaporation, is left briny and alkaline. Carbon dioxide dissolved in the water allows a special chemical to escape from submerged rocks. This uncommon […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ENTREPRENEURSHIP Powerball jackpot jumps to $373 million Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat. Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why Vertical Farms Are Struggling Key Takeaway: Vertical farming, a revolutionary technology that promises fresh, locally grown food in stacked indoor environments, has faced setbacks in recent years. Despite these challenges, the fundamental principles of controlled-environment agriculture remain strong. The industry is still in its infancy, but its potential is greater in regions with less favorable growing conditions. Advances in […] Written by Empirics Asia March 11, 2025March 11, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Paradox Of Narcissism Key Takeaway: Narcissistic individuals often project self-assurance but have a deep need for external validation, revealing a fundamental insecurity. This gap between self-perception and reality affects relationships, emotional stability, and perception of reality. Narcissistic personality disorder, affecting a small percentage of the population, has far-reaching social consequences. Highly narcissistic individuals often display a pattern of […] Written by Empirics Asia March 10, 2025March 10, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Collision Course: The Doomsday Asteroid Flying Towards Earth Key Takeaway: A new asteroid, 2024 YR4, was detected in Chile at the end of 2024, with a small yet notable chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. Initially, estimates suggested a 3.1% probability of impact, but as of February 2024, calculations by the European Space Agency’s Near Earth Object Centre have revised this down […] Written by Empirics Asia February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Hidden Cost Of Cheap Furniture Key Takeaway: Fast furniture, which is mass-produced items designed for short-term use, is a growing environmental crisis. Millions of discarded pieces end up in landfills each year, contributing to a waste problem mirroring the fast fashion industry. To avoid fast furniture, consumers should identify it by noticing its price, materials, assembly methods, limited or unclear […] Written by Empirics Asia February 24, 2025February 24, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Democracy Really The Best System? Key Takeaway: Plato’s critique of democracy, particularly in his work “The Republic,” suggests that it is fundamentally flawed. Socrates, Plato’s mentor and teacher, argues that ruling a state is a skill, similar to piloting a ship or performing surgery. However, critics argue that this is not the case. Politics involves moral judgments, compromises, and social […] Written by Empirics Asia February 21, 2025February 21, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Memory Of Plants Key Takeaway: Plants have a unique memory that helps them survive in a constantly changing world. They have evolved defense mechanisms, such as immune priming, which allows them to remember past infections. However, plants lack this adaptive immune memory, relying on epigenetic changes to maintain a heightened state of defense. This memory can last generations, […] Written by Empirics Asia February 20, 2025February 20, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Are We Alone In The Universe? Key Takeaway: New research challenges the hard-steps model of evolution, which suggests that human intelligence is an extremely rare event. The model suggests that intelligence takes billions of years to emerge on Earth, and that it is a result of rare and improbable evolutionary breakthroughs. Some scientists argue that the emergence of eukaryotic cells, oxygen-producing […] Written by Empirics Asia February 19, 2025February 19, 2025 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