Ideas

Policy makers, economists, techies, lawyers, business leaders, and consumers should borrow an idea from cultural anthropology and consider the concept of “barter.” – Harvard Business Review

Unlike ideas of air, food and water that allow us to think about the everyday resources we need to survive, the venerable notions of knowledge, truth or justice don’t obviously cater to practical needs. – Aeon

“In today’s context, it is unclear why we are talking about boys and girls as though these are fixed identities to which masculinity and femininity naturally attach, unless to speak in these terms promotes a form of gender moralism, or gender dogma.” – Psyche

Studies suggest that bored people score higher on creativity tests. As our distractions have multiplied, our minds have less opportunity to wander. Thus… – Medium

“A researcher at the University of William and Mary analyzed 300,000 Torrance Test scores since the ’50s. She found that creativity scores began to nosedive in 1990. – Inc

Face pareidolia – seeing faces in random objects or patterns of light and shadow – is an everyday phenomenon. Once considered a symptom of psychosis, it arises from an error in visual perception. – The Guardian

The decisions that I am aware of speak for me, the conscious agent, who I am and how I impact the world, either locally or, perhaps for some folks, in a more profound global way. These practical decisions about what to do are intentions I form. – 3 Quarks Daily

Apparently, we must retire victim, survivor, trigger warning, and African-American too. We must do so, that is, if we seek to ignore some linguistic fundamentals while also engaging in distinctly callow sociological calisthenics. – The Atlantic

Does it strike you as odd that so many people tuned in to hear about a doctored speedrun of a children’s video game, while barely a ripple was made—even among scientists—by the discovery of more than 80 fake scientific papers? – The Atlantic

For her entire career, Nussbaum, now seventy-four, has blazed a trail for women in philosophy, a field that historically has not welcomed female thinkers. – New York Review of Books

Sometimes distrust is not only appropriate but is also a way to initiate the conversation that’s needed for civic friendship. Distrust, in a democracy, can actually be a good thing. – Psyche

This technique of linking images with places is called the memory palace, and it’s particularly useful for remembering the order of certain elements. – Wired

One of the things we’re learning from new fossil discoveries is there appears to be these different species of early human, or hominin, coexisting on the landscape with different anatomies or adaptations in their feet and legs. – Nautilus

It is language that can best clue us in as to whether an organization we have joined is a cult or is at least engaging in cultlike behavior to extract resources out of its members. – The New Republic

People live in information filter bubbles created by powerful algorithms. When those in your social circle share misinformation, you are more likely to believe it and share it. Misinformation multiplies and science denial grows. – The Conversation

Links work seamlessly until they don’t. And as tangible counterparts to online work fade, these gaps represent actual holes in humanity’s knowledge. – The Atlantic

The idea that novelists are modern-day Cassandras – “speaking always truths, never grasped as true” – may sound positively esoteric. – The Guardian

The ability to succeed at the task can be thought of as a foundation for all kinds of inferences that humans make. – Quanta

Wanting to copy the happiest people in the world is an understandable impulse, but it distracts from a key message of the happiness rankings—that equitable, balanced societies make for happier residents. – The Atlantic

Meritocracy, for all its flaws, may well be, like the democracy it has sometimes served, better than the alternatives. At the very least, we should be cautious about consigning it to the dustbin of history too soon. – Literary Review

Do we want conflicting disconnected atoms or thriving autonomous individuals? And what role do culture and society have in their formation? – 3 Quarks Daily

But there are a few ways to fix it. – The New York Times

Great, 58,000 people and only 28 positives – but at the time of the test events, “virus levels were low and testing before and after events was also low, making conclusions difficult.” – BBC

They are imbued with grandeur precisely because of their superb indifference to mundane human concerns. Having knowledge is practically useful, but why would we also need the concept of knowledge? – Aeon