TED.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Highly recommended.] ARTICLE: When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations -- and that most of us don't converse very well. Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation: ...
OZANVAROL.COM -- When I grade final exams, I often see answers that say something along the lines of "I don't have all of the relevant facts, so it's impossible to reach a conclusion." Guess what? You never will have all of the relevant facts.... You'll be required to give an opinion based on imperfect information ... The jobs that thrive in the Information Age are those that require hard calls and tough judgments. ...
MEDIUM.COM -- Discomfort is a non-negotiable part of any life where you attempt to be the architect of your reality. We crave adventure, purpose, and meaning. Yet, We seek out safety, profit, and security. To do anything extraordinary, you must accept the duality that nothing is guaranteed and anything is possible. As Susan David says, "discomfort is the price of admission for a meaningful life." ... Extraordinary achievements are rarely the result of a predictable, safe, and linear trajectory. ...
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam said, in a 2001 interview, that his worry was that "the notion of a unique family, is in the process of destroying itself" and that "today we face a situation where a part of our world accepts that children are born outside the family."] ARTICLE: Choosing to have babies without a husband is not empowering in any ...
BUZZFEED.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Most people, even introverts, are unaware what introversion actually is. Most think it's a "problem" to fix just like, decades ago, people thought left-handedness was a "problem" to fix. 30%-50% of people are introverts, so you may be one and people close to you certainly are. Understanding introversion means less stress and better relationships.] ARTICLE: You say ...
[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- Much of society falls into the trap of negative stereotype when it comes to introverts. As Susan Cain, author of Quiet, writes, "Introversion -- along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness -- is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology." The "single story" of introversion is one of deficiency, suggesting that we should all strive to be outgoing extroverts.... Introversion is not a detriment. It's not a liability to be overcome. ...
HBR.ORG -- HARVARD -- Today's young professionals grew up in an age of mind-boggling technological change ... These advances all point toward the total automation of our lives, including the way we work and do business. ... In what follows we'll share seven skills that can not only make you unable to be automated, but will make you employable no matter what the future holds.
QUILLETTE.COM -- The sectors where "normal" people tend to work--administration, retail, food service, transportation, and manufacturing--have high levels of repetitiveness and are highly susceptible to automation.... Once a single competitor automates, the others must follow.... Many are disappearing in the retail sector .... Next up is the transportation sector ... Even many white-collar jobs will disappear. The Fed categorises 44% of all American jobs as routine ...
TED.COM -- How good are you with money? What about reading people's emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that we're not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities. David Dunning describes the Dunning-Kruger effect.
HBR.ORG -- HARVARD -- If you watched the Super Bowl a few months ago, you probably saw the coaches talking to each other over headsets during the game. What you didn't know is that during the 2016 season, the NFL made major league-wide improvements to its radio frequency technology, both to prevent interference from media using the same frequency and to prevent ...
NATURE.COM -- This year [2014], debates in physics circles took a worrying turn. Some researchers called for a change in how theoretical physics is done. They began to argue -- explicitly -- that if a theory is sufficiently elegant and explanatory, it need not be tested experimentally ... We disagree. As the philosopher of science Karl Popper argued: a theory must be falsifiable to be scientific.
MEDIUM.COM -- THE POLYMATH PROJECT -- One can go through life in one of two mindsets: "Finders Mode," constantly looking to enforce your worldview on others. Everything is either proof that you were right, or plainly false. And "Seekers Mode," where you are not looking to confirm your worldview. What you look for is understanding, why a particular answer is in fact the right answer to a question, not that it is.
OZANVAROL.COM -- When J.K. Rowling submitted a draft copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to publishing houses, they were unanimous in their opinion.... Her manuscript was rejected by no fewer than twelve different publishing houses, until it ended up on the desk of Nigel Newton, the chairman of Bloomsbury Publishing. Newton saw potential in the book where his rivals missed it. What was Newton's secret?
INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- There are reasons why introverts sometimes feel so alien and are so often misunderstood.... Many societies extol the virtues of extroversion, and many extroverts cast a dubious eye on the gifts introverts bring to the world. Sadly, often we don't even comprehend our own contributions.... Studies show that introverts make up 30-50% of the population.... The more I learned about introversion, the more my life started to make sense. ...
[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- Sophia Dembling, Psychology Today blogger and author of The Introvert's Way, writes, "The number-one misconception about introversion is that it's about shyness...". According to Susan Cain, TED speaker and author of Quiet, shyness and introversion are completely different things. "Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, and introversion is a preference for quiet, minimally stimulating environments." ...
INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- Silence actually helps our brain regenerate cells ... If we think of our brains like a muscle, then noise and constant thought are like a hard workout, and silence is like the protein that helps it recover afterward. None of us would do a tough workout followed by another tough workout--we would allow our bodies to recuperate. Our brains need the same treatment. ...
HUFFINGTONPOST.CA -- In a loud and distracting world, finding pockets of stillness can benefit your brain and body. Here are four science-backed reasons why.... As Herman Melville once wrote, "All profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence."... Getting quiet can regenerate brain cells. Silence can quite literally grow the brain.... We live in a loud and distracting world, ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- WESTAR INSTITUTE -- A short excerpt from Karen Armstrong's 2006 presentation "What is Religion?" In it, she says "religion is not about belief, it's not about philosophy, it's not about metaphysics" and that we have made "religious life very difficult for ourselves by forcing people or making people feel they have to accept certain rather abstruse theological abstractions" ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- Karen Armstrong's provocative views often challenge the perspectives of faith-based communities, although her teachings encourage an understanding of the commonalities between religions and their origins. She says: "all the world's religions insist that there's something wrong with your spirituality if it doesn't lead you to practical compassion, to a profound respect for other people, seeing other people as sacredly inviolable and and unique." ...
[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- LOGANJONESBLOG.WORDPRESS.COM -- A few months ago, I mentioned Dr. Sherry Turkle's Ted talk "Connected, but Alone" in my "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's the Internet!" post. Dr. Turkle discussed how technology has resulted in constant communication in order to mask loneliness and an ignorance of how to be alone. Continuing with this theme about technology's damaging ...
QUIETREV.COM -- I met some really incredible people at TED conferences I attended, and Rabbi David Wolpe was one of them. Here he is on the power of solitude: When he was a child, the Seer of Lublin (later a famous Hasidic master) used to go off into the woods by himself. When his father, worried, asked him why, he said 'I go ...
[H/T SAHIL BADRUDDIN] -- YOUTUBE.COM -- BIG THINK -- Do you really want to win an argument, or do you want to find mutual ground and understanding? Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson feels that in most cases it's the latter. It might take some getting used to, he posits, as acquiescence by its very nature means admitting that you're wrong in some way. So how do you deal ...
MEDIUM.COM -- You don't need a degree to ask big questions. Have you ever spent two years pouring your heart and soul into a project that only three people will ever see? In academia, we call that your "dissertation." Philosophers spend a lot of time writing things and trying to get them published in journals nobody reads -- not even other philosophers -- because in order to ...
THEAMERICANSCHOLAR.ORG -- THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: By former Yale English professor William Deresiewicz, self-described as "an atheist, democratic socialist, [and] card-carrying member of the liberal elite."] ARTICLE: Power, class, and the new campus religion . Of course, colleges like Scripps and its ilk are only diverse in terms of identity. In terms of ideology, they are all but homogeneous. You don't have "different voices" ... you have different bodies, speaking with the same voice. ...
NYTIMES.COM -- NEW YORK TIMES -- We progressives believe in diversity, and we want women, blacks, Latinos, gays and Muslims at the table - er, so long as they aren't conservatives.... I wondered whether universities stigmatize conservatives and undermine intellectual diversity.... Four studies found that the proportion of professors in the humanities who are Republicans ranges between 6 and 11%, and in the social sciences between 7 and 9%. ...
MEDIUM.COM -- It is really, really, really hard to be right.... "A whole lot of us go through life assuming that we are basically right, basically all the time, about basically everything ... As absurd as it sounds when we stop to think about it, our steady state seems to be one of unconsciously assuming that we are very close to omniscient." Admitting you might be wrong can transform ...
THEPOLYMATHPROJECT.COM -- Smil was a little-known academic until he rose into public awareness thanks to Bill Gates. Gates has read all of Smil's books and goes as far as to say, "I learn more by reading Vaclav Smil than just about anyone." ... Here are a few things I'm learning from him on how to think clearly: Read widely, with maximum curiosity ... Put reality first and theory last ... Manage your identity ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- AL JAZEERA -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: In 2008, Hazar Imam said, "[Nuclear power] has the potential to change the global economic scenario."] ARTICLE: A number of research projects are currently exploring thorium as an alternative to traditional nuclear fuels. Thorium reactors are safer and easier to control. The waste produced is a tiny fraction of what conventional reactors produce and has a far shorter half-life. ...
TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM -- MIT -- Cheaper and cleaner nuclear plants could finally become reality -- but not in the United States, where the technology was invented more than 50 years ago.... Today's Chinese program, in fact, is the fruit of a unique and somewhat controversial partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Shanghai Institute. In February I flew through the interior of a ...
WIRED.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: In 2010, Hazar Imam said, "[M]y sense is we are looking to the future for a massive increase in nuclear use around the world."] ARTICLE: Thorium by itself could start to solve [convential nuclear] problems ... the element leaves behind minuscule amounts of waste [that only] needs to be stored for only a few hundred years, not a few hundred thousand like other nuclear byproducts ... In 1965, Weinberg and his team built a working reactor ... that would have zero risk of meltdown. ...
THOUGHTCATALOG.COM -- Whether you're shopping online, scrolling through social media, or streaming a film, your every move is being logged and processed by software. There's a recommendation engine at every digital turn, powered by a finely tuned algorithm that suggests what you should watch, buy, or read next. But when your next move is driven directly by your existing interests, you can easily end up stuck in a bubble of similar content, products, and ideas. ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- QED, BBC DOCUMENTARY -- One Glasgow GP has been interested enough to try Buteyko ... Dr Gerald Spence had become frustrated at spending a 1/10th of the budget of his inner-city practise on ever more potent asthma drugs without seeing much improvement in his patients.... "It is so effective, they are able to reduce medication.... The simple fact is that in 34 patients, prior to Buteyko, they were costing UKP 15,000 per year for their asthma medication. After Buteyko they cost UKP 5,000."
NYTIMES.COM -- I don't often write about alternative remedies for serious medical conditions.... [But] I've seen Buteyko work miraculously well for a friend who had little choice but to stop using the steroid medications that were keeping him alive.... Various trials, have found that those diligent about practicing Buteyko breathing can expect a 90% reduction in the use of rescue inhalers and ... 50% for steroids within 3-6 months.
RATIONALOPTIMIST.COM -- MATT RIDLEY, THE TIMES -- Social media's echo chambers may do to society what radio once did.... Social media is polarising our discourse more painfully than before. It amplifies the personal and the extreme, hots up the echo chamber and gives wings to lies. Confirmation bias rules, preaching to the converted dominates, nuance vanishes and moderates stay silent.... Now, opinions are boiled down to a single shout.
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- If you really want to persuade people, avoid arguing on social media and invest in education, community, and real-life conversations. We didn't really need rock-solid proof that arguments on social media are pointless, but the Pew Research Center has finally provided some evidence. In a survey released recently, Pew says only 14 percent of Americans report changing their minds because of something posted, or a debate they engaged with, on social media. ...
QZ.COM -- In the digital age, it's easier than ever to avoid spending time alone with our thoughts.... In fact, we so dislike solitude that we would rather administer electric shocks to ourselves than just sit and think. That's right--in studies that asked participants to spend six to 15 minutes in a room without any other stimulation, a significant portion opted to zap themselves just for the sake of breaking out of their brains. ...
INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- No matter what your preferred solo activity is, it turns out downtime isn't a waste of time--it's actually really good for your mental health, your productivity, and even your relationships.... It's nearly impossible to have nuanced, rich thoughts when you're engaging with others.... As the famous deep-thinking poet Rumi noted, "A little while alone in your room will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you."
THEATLANTIC.COM -- Much of what medical researchers conclude in their studies is misleading, exaggerated, or flat-out wrong. So why are doctors--to a striking extent--still drawing upon misinformation in their everyday practice? Dr. John Ioannidis [Professor of Medicine, of Health Research and Policy and of Statistics at Stanford] has spent his career challenging his peers by exposing their bad science.... To say that Ioannidis's work has been embraced would be an understatement.... Last year he received, by his estimate, invitations to speak at 1,000 conferences and institutions around the world ...
[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- WIRED.COM -- "The scientists had these elaborate theories about what was supposed to happen," Dunbar says. "But the results kept contradicting their theories...." Perhaps they hoped to see a specific protein but it wasn't there. Or maybe their DNA sample showed the presence of an aberrant gene. The details always changed, but the story remained the same: The ...
EDWARDFESER.BLOGSPOT.COM -- EDWARD FESER -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Relativism asserts there are no absolute truths, or no universal ethics or morals. In 2006, Hazar Imam called relativism "unprincipled." Though long, we strongly recommend this article.] ARTICLE: Someone says something like "Well, it's a matter of opinion" or "Who's to say?", this may not be intended to imply that there is no objective fact of the matter about which view is correct. ...
