Category: ideas

Their lips are moving? No, it’s not that simple, even though most people tell an average of three (usually tiny) lies in a ten-minute conversation. What’s more, studies indicate that most people’s ability to tell if someone is lyng is barely better than chance.

For Buddhism (as opposed to Hinduism), a better word is rebirth, argues scholar Jay Garfield – and while Buddhism itself doesn’t necessarily require a belief in rebirth, actual Buddhists probably do.

“The lightening-quick speed of typing encourages listeners to transcribe what they’re hearing without actually paying attention to what’s being said—a note-taking approach that has been proven ineffective.”

“Artists who are good at getting funded are raising money for projects they want to do at least six months from now, not raising money to dig themselves out of the hole they’re in today.”

“Established companies, aware of the precariousness of their franchises, are determined to maintain their position. … These rearguard actions assume a zero-sum economy where every gain for innovative entrants is a loss for incumbents.”

Or start a garden. Or plant a tree – get to SOMETHING green: “The relationship of happiness to trees was similar to well-known correlations, like unemployment.”

“Your brain on story is different than your brain when it is receiving any other form of information, including straight facts and data. There are proven intersections between neuroscience, biology, and story we cannot ignore. The threads of stories that we read, hear, watch, and click on affect us intrinsically. And tempt us as well.”

After all, it seems like some new research on cognition in dogs comes out every month or so. Why don’t cats get the same attention in the lab? As one of the world’s top animal cognition scientists put it, “We did one study on cats – and that was enough!”

“I refer to those minimal pictographs of man, woman, child, car, sink, toilet, etc., that … are intelligible to all.” They’re from a system called Isotype, invented in the 1920, now seen on signage everywhere, and the biggest influence on current concepts of data visualization. Yet Isotype’s creators were far more concerned with human development than with helping us understand an economics chart or find the restrooms.

“Is [hope] not rather a form of moral cowardice that allows us to escape from reality and prolong human suffering?” Simon Critchley’s answer to that question (via Prometheus, St. Paul, Thucydides, Nietzsche, and Barack Obama) isn’t really as bleak as that question might lead you to expect.