Category: ideas

“This is what the Greeks called ‘glory,’ and it expresses a very different understanding of immortality than is common amongst us. One lives on only through the stories, accounts and anecdotes that are told about one. It is in this that happiness consists. This has a very peculiar consequence for societies like the United States, so singlemindedly devoted to the pursuit of happiness. We assume that the question of happiness is a question of my happiness or, more properly, of my relation to my happiness. But why?”

Former US Food and Drug Administration head David Kessler posed that question, which most of us have asked ourselves. “Is it the cookie, the representation of the cookie in my brain? I spent seven years trying to figure out the answer.”

“A few years ago, researchers determined that when male mice are courting, they produce ultrasonic vocalizations that have an elaborate structure, similar to bird songs. Left unanswered was the question of whether mice sing for a similar purpose — to mark their territory and attract mates.” New research says “male mice songs definitely elicit interest from the opposite sex.”

“Email logs can provide advance warning of an organisation reaching crisis point. That’s the tantalising suggestion to emerge from the pattern of messages exchanged by Enron employees.”

The cash-strapped City College of San Francisco is deep in the red and having to slash classes. So it’s soliciting donors. And they can designate their money to underwrite specific courses. “If you want to pay for one class at City College, it’s $6,000. And if you designate it for that class, we’ll make sure the class is reinstated, and we’ll put your name on it.”

“In today’s innovation economy, engineers, economists and policy makers are eager to foster creative thinking among knowledge workers. Until recently, these sorts of revelations were too elusive for serious scientific study… Lately, researchers have been able to document the brain’s behavior during Eureka moments by recording brain-wave patterns and imaging the neural circuits that become active as volunteers struggle to solve anagrams, riddles and other brain teasers.”

“At the upper reaches of society, we litigate ever more readily and accept misfortune with ever less stoicism. Being fired from a job becomes the beginning of a negotiation, while a routine school suspension instantly goes to appeal. In part, this is probably the inevitable reckoning for a culture that gives trophies to every Little Leaguer because, as the saying goes, we’re all winners.”

Do we read differently on the computer screen from how we read on the printed page?

“Sleeping on a complex decision may not help you make the best choice after all. So say two studies that question the evidence for unconscious decision-making.”

Fred Kaplan: “Several years ago, it occurred to me that many of my favorite groundbreaking record albums, books, and movies … were all released in 1959. Was this just coincidence, or was it part of a pattern? … The more I looked into it, the more it struck me that 1959 really was a pivotal year – not only in culture but also in politics, society, science, sex: everything.”