October 31, 2013

The World Needs More Childish Thinking

If creativity and optimism are childish fancies, bring it on. The adult world needs more of that.

If creativity and optimism are childish fancies, bring it on. The adult world needs more of that.

So says child prodigy Adora Svitak, who frequently keynotes at some of the most influential conferences around the world. In the talk below, the writer, teacher and activist argues that adults need to learn from kids as much as they teach.

Watch here:

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Making Sense of the Patterns We See in the Dark

Sometimes we read meaning into patterns even when there is not inherent meaning. Yet it’s possible to use rationality and to use things that you know about the world to question your intuitions and to second guess them.