EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Inflection Point Of Society Key Takeaways: If it feels as though every system on the planet—both man-made and natural—is at an inflection point, and that the decisions we make next could deliver us to long-term, sustainable prosperity or result in the collapse of our species, it’s because that is exactly what is going on. The Sigmoid Curve Just 40 […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY How Many Bots Are On Twitter? Key Takeaways: Twitter reports that fewer than 5% of accounts are fakes or spammers, commonly referred to as “bots.” Bots, on the other hand, are accounts controlled in part by software; they may post content or carry out simple interactions, like retweeting, automatically. Malicious bots are used to spread misinformation, inflate popularity, exacerbate conflict through […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK What Caused 2022’s Crypto-Crash? Key Takeaways: If you had invested £100 (US$122) in the cryptocurrency Luna a month ago, you might have been quietly confident you’d made a sensible bet. In this case these trades caused Terra to fall, which in turn brought its partner coin Luna down too. Notwithstanding historical price volatility, there is a basic assumption often […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK LIFESTYLE PSYCHOLOGY TECHNOLOGY The Challenges & Benefits Of Digital Distractions Key Takeaways: We are in the midst of a battle for our attention. Faced with the kinds of findings that arose from our research, it is easy to be nostalgic about a past that existed before the digital revolution. Despite the generational stereotypes of teenagers glued to their screens, a majority of middle-aged people said […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS The Surprising Power Of Cartoons Key Takeaways: Cartoons can also make us feel anger and powerlessness, fear and loathing. Nobody knows what is it about cartoons, which are generally thought of as silly, trivial, and irrelevant that gives them the power to incite murder, worldwide protests, censorship, imprisonment, and all the rest. Like words, however, cartoons are supple enough to […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK FINANCE TECHNOLOGY NFTs: An Overblown Speculative Bubble? Key Takeaways: While publicity given to the rapper’s purchase certainly seems to have boosted demand, the average price paid for Bored Ape NFTs so far in 2022 is about 83 Ether (currently about US$280,000). With prices disconnected from any future cash flows, there is less interest in forecasts from technical experts. A lot like Ponzi […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How The Pandemic Changed Digital Journalism In the last decade, smartphones and mobile technology have altered newsrooms, transforming news gathering, live broadcasting and content distribution. Trained on an iPhone 4s at the University of Sheffield in 2011, I was one of the first mobile journalists in the UK. Over the course of my career broadcasting live, from war zones in Iraq to tornados […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY Are People Lying More Since The Rise Of Social Media & Smart Phones Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a white lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face. Social psychologists and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY STRATEGY Is Moving Away From Social Media A Form Of Corporate Social Responsibility? UK cosmetics company Lush has announced its decision to leave Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, saying its decision reflects concerns about the alleged effects of these social networks on the mental health of their users. The brand will maintain its presence on Twitter and YouTube. Lush has more than 900 stores worldwide, and some 10.6 million followers between Facebook […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY The Retail Revolution In China China’s dominance in manufacturing has made it the factory of the world. The subsequent economic growth enriched an ever-expanding middle class, and the country’s retail industry has quickly adapted to supply a growing appetite for consumption. Some of these developments in the way people spend their money, powered by the latest technology, will soon be appearing on […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Unlocking The Secret Language Of Honeybees Key Takeaway: Honeybees use a physical “waggle dance” to communicate the direction, distance and quality of resources to their nestmates. Bees are born with some knowledge of how to dance, but can learn how to dance even better by following experienced bees. This is the first known example of such complex social learning of communication […] Written by James C. Nieh March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Web3 A Fad? Key Takeaway: Web3 is an alternative vision of the web where the services are purely algorithmic things hosted by everybody, and has been called “the hyperfinancialization of all human existence”. Data is no longer easily accessible, making it difficult for entrepreneurs to acquire more users, leading to a stagnant cycle. Web3 startups have focused on […] Written by Eric Feng March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Art Of Receiving Feedback Good feedback, whether you are on the receiving or giving end, requires an attitude of curiosity and openness. Intentionally creating space for feedbackcan help, but even with the right space, receiving feedback can be really scary. Many organizations have formal systems of feedback in the style of mid-year and annual reviews. And it’s not uncommon for informal continuous […] Written by Andrea Mignolo February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The World After Oil Key Takeaway: The production and consumption of fossil fuels is on the rise, and expected to peak within the next decade. To consider alternatives to oil, we need to be aware of the scale of its integration into our lives. Caleb Wellum, an assistant professor of U.S. history at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada, […] Written by Nehal El-Hadi February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Chemistry Of Chocolates Key Takeaways: Chocolate has been around for at least 4,000 years, and is now a trillion-dollar global industry. It starts out as a dull-tasting bean, packed into a pod that grows on a cacao tree, and requires two key steps: fermentation and roasting. Roasting is an art form, with different temperatures and times producing different […] Written by Sheryl Barringer February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Making Sense Of UFOs In The Modern Era Key Takeaway: UFOs are the term used to describe aircraft that aren’t easily identified or explained, and have been around since the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 2020, the U.S. Navy released multiple videos of unidentified aerial phenomena, sparking interest in the public and government. UAPs are more likely to be human-made, rather than […] Written by Wendy Cobb February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
What Is Effective Altruism? Key Takeaway: Effective altruism is an intellectual and charitable movement that seeks to find the best ways to help others. It was inspired by the philosopher Peter Singer and has gained traction due to its popularity among some extremely wealthy donors, such as Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook and the Asana digital work management platform. […] Written by Jacob Bauer February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 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
