Society

A pencil sits on top of a sheet of paper.

An enormous study links intelligence and personality in surprising ways

A database containing over 1,300 studies from across the world establishes reliable relationships between personality traits and cognitive abilities.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Colorful smiley face stickers for iPhone 11 to capture attention.

Psychology

An ancient technique can improve your attention span

According to neuroscientist Amishi Jha, 12 minutes of mindfulness training a day strengthens your attentional systems.

Kevin Dickinson

A man and a woman walking down a cobblestone street.

Aging

Life’s stages are changing – we need new terms and new ideas to describe them

The arc of adult development has changed over the past several decades, in ways that our psychological theories are still catching up with.

Jeffrey Arnett

Psychology

The secrets of cooperation

Most people care what others think of them. In many situations, that can be leveraged for the common good — cooperation.

Bob Holmes | Knowable Magazine

History

Today, people fear Twitter. In the 1850s, they feared telegrams

Telegrams elicited the exact same concerns, including the spread of misinformation, “addiction” among youth, censorship, and impersonation.

Louis Anslow

Surveillance

China’s spy balloon: Inflatable eyes in the sky have been used for centuries

Spy balloons remind us that the oldest technologies are still being developed to achieve military effects today.

Frank Ledwidge

Business

No, 90% of new businesses don’t fail. Here’s why.

To say that something failed, simply because it stopped or changed, is to dangerously limit our view of the world.

Jason Feifer

Neuroscience

Why changing your mind is a feature of evolution, not a bug

Reasoning by yourself is a much weaker tool than contributing your reasoning to a group and being flexible to changing your mind.

David McRaney

Building Community

Will 2023 be the year of the private social network?

Many tech leaders think the future of social media is private social networks, not the public squares that previously dominated.

Shubham Agarwal

The dawn of AI has come, and its implications for education couldn’t be more significant

AI like ChatGPT is forcing us to rethink education. But if we embrace it, it could empower both students and teachers.

Vitomir Kovanovic

Education

“Personalized curriculums” could get kids to care about school again

Personalized learning has to potential to prepare learners who are self-regulating and self-motivated for life beyond school.

Maya Gunawardena

3 rules to express your thoughts so that everyone will understand you

Alan Alda recommends making no more than three points, explaining difficult ideas in three ways, and repeating key points three times.

Kevin Dickinson

Family

Parents: Don’t focus on happiness, help build resilience instead

Happiness emerges from resilience, which helps children regulate difficult emotions and stressful situations.

Becky Kennedy

Sections

Video

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