When mammals stalk, hunt, and escape, they find themselves in ever-new situations and environments. Marc Bekoff, a researcher at the University of Colorado and a lifelong student of animal behavior, argues that play broadens an animal’s behavioral repertoire, giving them the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. – Nautilus
Author: Douglas McLennan
The Radicalization Of YouTube (All To Sell Ads)
“As of August 2017, more than 70 percent of viewing time was being driven by automatic recommendations. And the content that gets promoted is even more aggressively selected for engagement gravity, meaning the sensational and divisive gets pushed to the top of the feed. One unintended consequence of YouTube’s endless pursuit to sell more ads, Zeynep Tufekci has argued, is that the platform has become “one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the twenty-first century,” pushing unsuspecting viewers deeper and deeper into politically unhinged, conspiratorial rabbit holes just to keep their attention for a few more minutes.” – The Baffler
We Equate Physical Beauty With Morality. Of Course This Often Steers Us Wrong
Meet someone you thought was ugly but then decided they were beautiful? Or someone you thought was gorgeous but then were mystified why you ever thought so? Our sense of physical beauty is a complicated dance with our notions of character and morality. – Aeon
An Explosion Of Concerts And Music Venues In America
The concert business, according to Pollstar, set records in 2018 with more than 152 million tickets moved and $10.4 billion in sales nationally. The live industry’s growth was necessary to offset lost record sales. Those peaked in 1999 at $40 billion and were less than half that last year at $19.1 billion, with just under $9 billion coming through streaming. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jesse Rosen To Step Down As Head Of League Of American Orchestras
“By September 2020, I will have been at the League for twenty-two years and CEO for twelve,” Rosen said in his remarks to delegates during the League’s 74th National Conference in Nashville. “I’ve had an enormously fulfilling experience, but it’s time to begin thinking about the next chapter. ” – Broadway World
Attacking The Financial Industry: These Artists Bought Debt With Art And Blew It Up (Literally)
They sold money they printed themselves as art works, and used the funds to buy up £1.2 million of debt on the secondary market, where lenders sell bad debts. – The New York Times
Barnes & Noble Bought By Hedge Fund
Publishers Lunch’s Michael Cader writes that the deal is for “a modest $6.50 per share,” putting the value of the transaction at some $477 million, “plus the assumption of long-term debt makes the cash purchase ‘valued at’ approximately $683 million.” – Publishers Weekly
Why Are Book Subtitles Getting So Long?
“I don’t feel respected as a reader when I feel like the subtitle was created not to give me a feeling of what kind of reading experience I may get, but for search engines.” – Washington Post
Neuroscience: How Using GPS Is Shrinking Our Brains
“When people are told which way to turn, it relieves them of the need to create their own routes and remember them. They pay less attention to their surroundings. And neuroscientists can now see that brain behavior changes when people rely on turn-by-turn directions.” – Washington Post
Why Customers Are Returning To Small Bookstores
When one small bookstore owner tells customers they could buy it cheaper if they ordered it themselves, she says they tell her: “Amazon doesn’t play with my kids; Amazon doesn’t bring authors to Bedford; Amazon doesn’t recommend books when my child is going through hell and needs something to lift them up.” – The Guardian