Smart Skills

Want to predict someone’s next move, or know if someone is telling you a lie? Learn to read body language like a poker pro.

Being bored is great. It’s where we come up with our best ideas, and how we become better people by being able to mentally solve our biggest personal problems. So why are we destroying boredom with our phones?

Today’s fast-paced culture leaves no time for relational intelligence. Here’s why it’s worth slowing down to eventually speed up.

Hertz Foundation Fellow Dr. Christopher Loose sold his first startup for $80 million. His advice is probably the kind you want to hear.

Without sounding like internet hyperbole, this super-simple listening trick can help you better understand people’s intentions. And provide a fascinating insight into the minds of others.

The stats on teens transitioning out of foster care aren’t good. Can we empower these young people to build futures to look forward to?

This independent zone, with its own regulations and social norms, will be built from scratch on 10,231 square miles of untouched land at a cost of $500 billion. 

Here’s why you should always be looking for new income streams—even if you already have a full-time job.

“Well, technically it did land… just not in once piece.”

Can imagination be measured and quantified? That’s what scientists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Imagination Institute are trying to figure out.

The worst year of former tennis pro James Blake’s life was tragic—professionally and personally. Here’s how he got back on his feet after multiple setbacks.

This infographic, by Anna Vital from Funders and Founders, recaps the significant moments of Steve Jobs’ journey on, and sometimes off, the path of success. 

Psychopathy and sadism play a prominent role among those who choose to take it up. 

Illinois passed a bill that could abolish AT&T’s obligation to provide the state’s citizens with landline telephone services.

Your brain stops at the most comforting thought. The truth is somewhere beyond that. Using scientific skepticism as a guide, astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss outlines the questions that critical thinkers ask themselves.

Goal setting is a hamster wheel, says Adam Alter. If you want to channel your best work and get off the failure circuit, set systems instead.

Polymaths are people who have excelled in diverse pursuits, and several of those polymaths left us with some very practical advice on how to succeed.

“We don’t notice one another nearly as much as we think we do,” says Alan Alda. Here’s how the actor inspired a scientific study on empathy.

That’s a big yes, as an incredible new study from University of Melbourne researchers found.

Your mind is built to process contradictory, irrational ideas. Use that to reach new intellectual heights.

Skepticism has a place, but it’s optimists who decide the future, says Kevin Kelly.

Do you retreat from your ambitions out of fear? Self-preservation isn’t doing you any favors, says Kyle Maynard. Confront your excuses and live more honestly.

The ‘Project Wing’ drone system is going to change life as we know it—and inadvertently fix all your storage problems. rn

These glycerin “smart glasses” may be the only specs you’ll need – although they do need a design intervention at some point.

Astro Teller’s innovation tip? Fail fast. Here’s how he cultivates and rewards intellectually honest failures, and helps his team get comfortable with the idea.

Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial trends go through births and deaths, revolutionizing business attitudes before turning stale. Tim Ferris explains two trends: one near its death, the other very much alive and kicking.

One of the lesser-discussed but potentially most disastrous appointments is in education: Betsy DeVos. Her anti-intellectual agenda would take root in the nation’s youngest minds, filtering down through descendant generations. 

Start at the beginning sounds like good advice, and yet it isn’t, says Tim Ferriss. He explains the value of the mastering the endgame, and of carving out empty space.

Tim Ferriss shares a bounty of strategies to help you really and truly overcome procrastination. And if it doesn’t do it for you, hey, at least you just killed 10 minutes.

It’s not by burning people’s pictures and wearing the flag as a cape, but by understanding ourselves better, and understanding the person beside you. Three Ways America Can Be United Again – Through Decision-Making 3 Ways We Can Make America Great Again – Through Decision Making Looks Like We’re Making America Great Again. Here Are 3 Ways to Contribute.