“Mischel refers to this skill as the “strategic allocation of attention,” and he argues that it’s the skill underlying self-control. Too often, we assume that willpower is about having strong moral fiber. But that’s wrong. Willpower is really about properly… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“The black expanse over our heads promise places where our industries can use resource extraction, zero-gravity manufacturing, better communications, perhaps even energy harvested in great solar farms and sent down to Earth. Companies are already planning to do so: Bigelow Aerospace (orbital hotels), Virgin Galactic (low Earth orbit tourism), Orbital Technologies (a commercial manufacturing space station), and Planetary Resources, whose… — John Brockman Copy Share
“If the concept that technologies have biases were to become common knowledge, we could implement them consciously and purposefully. If we don’t bring this… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“Narcissistic leaders. The ultimate weapon of mass destruction is a state. When a state is taken over by a leader with the classic triad… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“Adolescence is a period of life when the brain is malleable, and it represents a good opportunity for learning and social development. However, according to UNICEF, 40 percent of the world’s teenagers have no access to secondary-school education. The percentage of teenage girls who lack this access is much higher, yet there is strong evidence that the education of girls… — John Brockman Copy Share
“Happy brains are all alike; every unhappy brain is unhappy in its own way.” — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“But discoveries are what usually egg us on. Not finding anything would be very bad indeed.” — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“But there is another case for curating as a vanguard activity for the twenty-first century. As the artist Tino Sehgal has pointed out, modern societies find themselves today in an unprecedented situation: The problem of lack, or scarcity, which has been the primary factor motivating scientific and technological innovation, is now joined and even superseded by the problem of the… — John Brockman Copy Share
“Really tapping into our inner vision and inner child might not make us happier or better adjusted, but it might make us appreciate just… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“twice as many people in India have access to cell phones as to latrines.” — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“Worry descends upon the worrier like a fever. Without appropriate treatment, that febrile anxiety burns away at the soul. With such treatment, the fever… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
“Kakonomics (from the Greek, the economics of the worst) describes cases wherein people not only have the standard preference for receiving high-quality goods and… — John Brockman Copy Share Image
