“Human achievement is based on collective intelligence—the nodes in the human neural network are people themselves. By each doing one thing and getting good at it, then sharing and combining the results through exchange, people become capable of doing things… — 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scarcity, which has been the primary factor motivating scientific and technological innovation, is now joined and even superseded by the problem of the… — John Brockman Copy Share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
