The Era of Inclusion and Hope Comes to a Close
As an era of inclusion and hope comes to a close, I feel a real sense of sadness for where we are heading. Eight years ago people around the world cried tears of joy as the impossible was made possible. Today, those tears have turned
How Anna Nicole Smith Became America’s Punchline
How does a woman turn from a mortal to an icon overnight? Think of Pamela Anderson, in a tight Labatt Blue shirt, at a football game with her friends, and finding herself featured on the stadium jumbotron long enough for the crowd — and later
The Hidden Toxin in Your Tap Water
There is chemical hidden in our reservoirs, lakes, and streams that makes it into your home every day. It’s not a toxin that the mainstream media is talking about because of the big business interests involved. Scientists refer to it as Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO). It
No One Left to Speak For Me
Passages on the importance of treating all people equality are scattered from Old Testament to New. Genesis even begins by highlighting our equality by pointing out that “God created man in His own image.” That means we are equal in God’s eyes. James 2, Chapter 1-4
Lobby Corporations, Not Congress
Is it possible to have a non-profit stock exchange? Publicly held companies are usually not motivated by the greater good, but by profit – profit that is demanded by large institutional investors. What if I could invest in a marketplace of ideas which returned social
Could Suicidal Behaviors Be the Result of Evolution?
Some psychologists believe suicide and depression can be strategic. One in six Americans will suffer a major depressive disorder at some point in life.1 That word—disorder—characterizes how most of us see depression. It’s a breakdown, a flaw in the system, something to be remedied and
The Real Bubble is Rural America
Below is an excellent article by Patrick Thornton from Roll Call that articulates how part of America is being left behind. Rather than going to college or learning a new trade, millions of workers are waiting for a return to the days when America was
Mighty Morpher Folding Helmet
After a nearly a year wait, I received my Morpher folding bicycle helmet last week (not bad by Indiegogo standards). It’s pretty cool and functions just like any other bicycle helmet with the exception that it folds in half to make it easier to transport.
Thync: Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation
I received my Thync in the mail yesterday. The most sophisticated startup to take advantage of the latest craze of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). I was skeptical but even Johns Hopkins is using this as a therapeutic method for treating psychiatric disorders: Although tDCS is
Launch Your Career in Data Science
Ask the right questions, manipulate data sets, and create visualizations to communicate results. This Coursera Specialization covers the concepts and tools you’ll need throughout the entire data science pipeline, from asking the right kinds of questions to making inferences and publishing results. In the final
1,042 Mass Shootings Since the Sandy Hook
There have been an estimated 1,042 mass shootings in the US since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.
Change Is Loss
Even after reading all of the greatest hits in the change management literature, I somehow missed the punchline: people experience change as loss. There is already a model for understanding this, the Kübler-Ross model, and several papers have already been written on this topic. A
The Science Delusion: Why Materialism is not the Answer
Since 1981, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been researching morphic fields – his hypothesis about form-giving, immaterial fields which serve as a kind of blueprint for creation. Although he succeeded to find more and more evidence supporting his case, his hypothesis has been mainly rejected by
Carl Jung & The Red Book
Features the preeminent psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung’s famous Red Book, which records the creation of the seminal theories that Jung developed after his 1913 split with Sigmund Freud, and explores its place in Jung’s work through related items from the Library’s collections. Speaker Biography: Jung
Myers-Briggs: Does it pay to know your type?
Some grandmothers pass down cameo necklaces. Katharine Cook Briggs passed down the world’s most widely used personality test. Chances are you’ve taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or will. Roughly 2 million people a year do. It has become the gold standard of psychological assessments, used
Ecclesiastes 1:18
“When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone. I cannot put my finger on it now. The child is grown; the dream is gone.” – Roger Waters Why
Life Is Like a Garden
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP — Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015
Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster
Analysis of galaxies shows local supercluster to be 100 times larger than previously thought. The supercluster of galaxies that includes the Milky Way is 100 times bigger in volume and mass than previously thought, a team of astronomers says. They have mapped the enormous region
Evidence for Cosmic Inflation Theory Bites the (Space) Dust
In online French documents briefly released and then removed last night and confirmed by the European Space Agency today, physicists have announced that last year’s much-publicized ‘discovery’ of gravitational waves embedded in the ‘echo’ of the Big Bang was a misstep. Preempting the official research
2014 in the Rear-View Mirror
Most of my 2014 was pretty geeky. One of the coolest things I did in 2014 was test my DNA through 23andme.com. For a quick refresher on genomics, check out these videos. I am, unsurprisingly 99.8% European. However, I’m also 0.2% Sub-Saharan African. This totally
I Shall Pass This Way Again
“When the big bang happened, all the atoms in the universe, they were all smashed together into one little dot that exploded outward. So my atoms and your atoms were certainly together then, and, who knows, probably smashed together several times in the last 13.7
What is Diwali?
Can you imagine a festival that combines the best features of the most popular festivals in the United States? New year’s day is the day to make new resolutions and renew friendships. Independence day is the day of patriotism and fireworks. Halloween is the time
What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set?
Placebo effects have already been proven to work on the immune system. But this study could show for the first time that they work in a different way — that is, through an act of will. “As far as we know today, the placebo responses
Spain Confirms First Ebola Transmission Outside of Africa
Health authorities in Spain have confirmed that a health worker at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid, Spain has been infected with the Ebola virus. This is the first time anyone has contracted the virus outside of Africa. The woman, a nurse technician, had worked
The Phenomenon of Consciousness
From The Consciousness Chronicles. The phenomenon of consciousness is fundamental to our existence, yet it remains the most profound mystery we can imagine. Down through the ages, generations of scientists, philosophers, mystics and poets have gone in search for a deeper understanding of consciousness and
Do Natural Laws Evolve Over Time?
This 30 min talk from the How The Light Gets In festival, 2014, is one of the best non-technical summaries of the idea that nature forms habits rather than laws, evolving overtime through morphic resonance.