Shit Happens. The Man of Numbers: How Fibonacci Changed the World. By Maria Popova What Medieval mathematics have to do with remix culture, publishing entrepreneurship, and gamification. Imagine a day without numbers — how would you know when to wake up, how to call your mother, how the stock market is doing, or even how old you are? We live our lives by numbers. They’re so fundamental to our understanding of the world that we’ve grown to take them for granted. And yet it wasn’t always so. Until the 13th century, even simple arithmetic was mostly accessible to European scholars. Keith Devlin tells his incredible and important story in The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution, tracing how Fibonacci revolutionized everything from education to economics by making arithmetic available to the masses. The change in society brought about by the teaching of modern arithmetic was so pervasive and all-powerful that within a few generations people simply took it for granted.
Image courtesy of The Library of Florence via NPR Share on Tumblr. Imaginary Foundation. Ban Boredom. If you feel like you have 'nothing to do', then why not go outside and pick up litter with your time? At least then you will have made a positive contribution to the world? If there is no litter, then join a charity, help people, trim a bush, smile at a granddad. Their gratitude might be enough to convince you that there are endless things to do and resolve in our world. If you think that litter picking and volunteer work is so far beneath you that it is not even an option (despite the fact that you have nothing to do?) , then why not pick up a hobby with your friends (or make some if you don't have any): tennis, art, knitting. Why not try to be the best at something? Being the best at something isn't for you? Being passionate about something, whether it is helping people, causing mischief, or improving upon yourself, eliminates boredom.
Reasons to Learn Juggling. 1. Personal Satisfaction Not only do other people appreciate your 'mad skillz,' but the the sense of accomplishment that comes with pulling off a good trick fluently is a reason in and of itself to learn juggling. Satisfaction also comes from the many things you hear when juggling in public places like "maaan, how do you do that," "you should be on Britain's Got Talent! " and of course "get a job dude! " Juggling 5 balls is a personal pride of mine and the ability to wield such great control over 5 flying objects cannot be explained accurately enough in words - I'm afraid you're going to have to learn yourself so that you know. The video below, although cheesy and probably filmed using a vegetable, inspires me to keep juggling - if I know that someone can do that then I know that I can too, and the satisfaction at the end of that long juggling rainbow is going to be great. 2.
As well personal satisfaction, juggling can burn up to around 372 calories per hour1. How-to-Recover-after-a-Workout 3.