Talks Joshua Klein: The amazing intelligence of crows
Even crows succumb to ever-changing-cycles. Besides being a fascinating display of the crow’s intelligence, notice how once one learns a new trick, they all learn the trick, in some cases ruining a good thing for the inventor.
Gin, Sitcoms and the Cognitive Surplus
The classic example of cognitive surplus is this: when British society started becoming more urban and crowding into London in the mid 18th century, it took people awhile to realize they were sitting on a cognitive gold mine; all those minds together in one place had an unprecedented potential to accomplish great things. But they were so freaked out by the sudden disappearance of the way of life their families had cultivated for a thousand years, and at finding themselves stuck in the increasingly loud, rank, dangerous city of London, that instead of taking advantage of their new situation, they spent a lot of time drinking gin. In fact, Shirky argues, they went on a generation-long bender, so extreme that “the stories from that era are amazing — there were gin pushcarts working their way through the streets of London.”
Sounds a lot like our late 90s and our 20s.
Positive Thinking vs Skepticism in the Markets
What investors can learn from ‘Elmo’
When it comes to investing, sentiment comes in waves. When times are good, Wall Street analysts trip over themselves to come up with superlatives to describe the wonderfulness of the market. They then kick the market as it goes down and stays down. Then all of the sudden, pundits start arguing that things are not as bad as they seem, a phase that we are in today.
Feeling powerless impairs higher mental abilities
Feeling powerless is no fun. A lack of control can make the difference between contented and unhappy employees. But new research shows that a lack of power doesn’t just make people feel disgruntled. It has a more fundamental effect on their mental skills.
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