The 30 second habit with a lifelong impact — Sonra Oku. There are no quick fixes. I know this as a social science junkie, who’s read endless books and blogs on the subject, and tried out much of the advice — mostly to no avail. So I do not entitle this post lightly. And I write it only having become convinced, after several months of experimentation, that one of the simplest pieces of advice I’ve heard is also one of the best. It is not from a bestselling book — indeed no publisher would want it: even the most eloquent management thinker would struggle to spin a whole book around it. Nor is it born out of our world of digital excess and discontent. Instead, it was given by a man born in the 19th century, to his teenage grandson, today in his fifth decade.
The man in question, an éminence grise of the business world, is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I met him first over a coffee in his apartment, to discuss the strategy for a highly political non-profit working in Africa. If you only do one thing, do this. I Need You to Fight for My Students | I sat in the corner of the coffee shop swirling my raspberry mocha, waiting for it to cool. Looking up, I was greeted by a familiar face. A former student who held a piece of my heart. He had graduated the year before and the story he told me shook loose the tears.
“Mrs. He went on to talk about how he was getting by in the great big world with his great big high school diploma. In recent months, two students have shown up at my classroom door with tears in their eyes, kicked out of their houses. Students in our schools are broken. Ask teachers who love their students. Sometimes they need you. Our schools need you to fight for our students. Because have you ever tried to learn with your stomach empty? Did you ever try to comprehend grammar when all you think about is how you put your alcoholic mother to bed the night before?
What about understanding algebra when your dad invited you to get high with him just yesterday? Common Core. It’s not a fight to elevate standards. No. I don’t know. But… The Myth Behind Public School Failure by Dean Paton. Until about 1980, America’s public schoolteachers were iconic everyday heroes painted with a kind of Norman Rockwell patina—generally respected because they helped most kids learn to read, write and successfully join society.
Such teachers made possible at least the idea of a vibrant democracy. Since then, what a turnaround: We’re now told, relentlessly, that bad-apple schoolteachers have wrecked K-12 education; that their unions keep legions of incompetent educators in classrooms; that part of the solution is more private charter schools; and that teachers as well as entire schools lack accountability, which can best be remedied by more and more standardized “bubble” tests. What led to such an ignoble fall for teachers and schools? Did public education really become so irreversibly terrible in three decades? Is there so little that’s redeemable in today’s schoolhouses? The beginning of “reform” Armed with Friedman’s ideas, President Reagan began calling for vouchers. Resistance. A Senator Asks A Panel Of Experts To Defend Walmart. It Gets Awkward.
Bernie Sanders:: Thank you, madam vice-chair. One of the interesting aspects of discussions about the economy and income inequality inside the Beltway, as opposed to back home in the real world, is the very different tone that we hear. The idea that anybody could suggests that we are not seeing massive increases in income and wealth inequality is beyond my comprehension. If you go outside of the Beltway, there is no debate about that. The idea that anyone could suggest that today the economy for the middle class is anywhere near where it used to be is beyond comprehension, I think, to the vast majority of the American people.
The reality that we are seeing today is that middle class in this country is disappearing, median family income is going down. We have more people living in poverty today than any time in history of the United States of America. As Secretary Reich pointed out, between 2009 and 2012 95% of all new income generated in this country went to the top 1%. Scott Winship:: OK. The Nature of the Self: Experimental Philosopher Joshua Knobe on How We Know Who We Are. By Maria Popova A mind-bending new understanding of our basic existential anchor. “The fate of the world depends on the Selves of human beings,” pioneering educator Annemarie Roeper wrote in her meditation on how poorly we understand the self. Indeed, while philosophers may argue that the self is a toxic illusion and psychologists may insist that it’s forever changing, we tend to float through life anchored by a firm conviction that the self is our sole constant companion.
But when psychologist David DeSteno asks “Can the present you trust the future you?” Over the past decade, the emerging field of experimental philosophy — a discipline that pursues inquiries about the human condition traditionally from the realm of philosophy with the empirical methods of psychology — has tackled this paradox, along with its many fringe concerns spanning morality, happiness, love, and how to live.
Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. Share on Tumblr. Goethe on the Psychology of Color and Emotion. Color is an essential part of how we experience the world, both biologically and culturally. One of the earliest formal explorations of color theory came from an unlikely source — the German poet, artist, and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who in 1810 published Theory of Colors (public library; public domain), his treatise on the nature, function, and psychology of colors.
Though the work was dismissed by a large portion of the scientific community, it remained of intense interest to a cohort of prominent philosophers and physicists, including Arthur Schopenhauer, Kurt Gödel, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. One of Goethe’s most radical points was a refutation of Newton’s ideas about the color spectrum, suggesting instead that darkness is an active ingredient rather than the mere passive absence of light. YELLOWThis is the color nearest the light. It appears on the slightest mitigation of light, whether by semi-transparent mediums or faint reflection from white surfaces. Right-brained? Left-brained? Take the test!
40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World. If you’re a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and info graphics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that. Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. A few are important to know, some interpret and display data in a beautiful or creative way, and a few may even make you chuckle or shake your head. If you enjoy this collection of maps, the Sifter highly recommends the r/MapPorn sub reddit. You should also check out ChartsBin.com. 1. Map by Google 2. Map via Wikimedia Commons 3. Map by Stuart Laycock (via The Telegraph) 4. Map by eatrio.net via Reddit Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago. 5. Map by Business Management EU 6.
Map by The New York Times 7. Map by Teepr on Reddit 8. Map by ChartsBin.com 9. Map by Phoenix B 1of3 10. Map by Carna Botnet via Reddit. If You Think Only Poor People Need Welfare, Wait Till You See What Really Rich Folks Do With It. Narrator: And all this time I thought the world was round. The world is not round. It has edges we can fall from and faces staring in entirely different directions. And I thought the world was huge, but it is not. It’s in our hands. We can hold it, change it, turn it, shake it. We can solve it, but not by share, luck, or chance. One afternoon last year I listened to a group of my student’s discuses welfare and poverty in America. I realize that afternoon that this post welfare generation was also expressing deep ambivalent about the role of government. This is why they fall in love with the ideas of William Easterly, especially, his line, “The rich have markets, the poor have bureaucrats.” And there are millions of other families who enjoy the same benefits.
The America welfare stage was setup in the wake of the great depression to create a new deal of social programs. It hinges on being the biggest welfare queen in the United States. And so that afternoon at U.C. Big Thinkers on the Only Things Worth Worrying About. Universe Is Made Of Math, Cosmologist Says. 6 Powerful Communication Tips From Some Of The World's Best Interviewers. Everyone knows that particular feeling of dread that accompanies a lull in conversation at a party, networking event, or even a job interview.
You’ve already covered the usual small talk and then, oof, you hit a dead end. What now? Even the most extroverted among us know that being a good conversationalist doesn’t always come easy—but there are some experts who have had more practice than the rest of us. Writers, journalists and others who interview sources regularly have developed tried and true techniques that help them connect deeply with people. Not only can interviews with thought leaders in your field provide a great source of content for your blog or website, the skills honed while interviewing are useful in many types of communication. For instance, Terry Gross—known for her inviting style on the radio program Fresh Air—admits she wasn’t always so comfortable communicating. 1.
If you can do so in advance, research the person or people with whom you’ll be speaking. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The History of the English Language, Animated.