Culture & Religion — September 19, 2009

Gary Vaynerchuk Crushes It

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV may be overtaking Robert Parker as the country’s most recognizable – and polarizing – wine expert. This weekend, watch him on BigThink.com giving a seven minute wine course, talking about overrated winemakers, and declaring that online social media is the next generation of business. After the jump, catch a sneak preview of Gary’s interview: he shares his foolproof techniques for impressing a dinner date while talking to a sommelier.

UPDATE: Gary is now live on the site. Aside from the above, Gary talks about his heroes, his career (including the moment he fell in love with wine), and more.

Hard Science

Plants perform quantum mechanics feats that scientists can only do at ultra-cold temperatures

Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.

The Past

The 1920s plan to make criminals confess to a terrifying skeleton

Would you confess your crimes to a skeleton with “an unnatural ghastly glow”? One inventor thought you would.

Smart Skills

Swamped by too much info? Here’s how to beat the “noise bottleneck”

It’s the paradoxical observation that the more we try to process, the less we actually can.

a painting of a woman shaking hands with a man.

Thinking

Philosophy obsesses about death. Instead, we need “natality” — a focus on birth

A philosophy of birth can offset the prevailing narrative around extinction and mortality.

a flock of pink birds flying through a cloudy sky.

The Well

Groupthink is for mindless pawns, but group thinking will push humanity further

“Groupthink” gets a bad rap. In reality, we need groups to focus our thinking and to build on the ideas of others.

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