Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Annoying ad from Cisco

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Does Cisco really believe that I’m going to feel positively about this ad that covers up more than half of what I really want to read? Ugh. How annoying. Someone there needs to read some Seth Godin…

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Illustration of a person standing on a ladder inside a large head with a maze-like brain exposed, symbolizing introspection or exploration of the mind.

Neuropsych

Is teaching psychology a waste of time?

When appraising human behavior, people tend to forgo the lessons of psychology in favor of assumption and anecdote.

The letters "AI" appear with a glitch effect in multicolored pixels against a black background.

The Present

AI skeptic Gary Marcus on AI’s moral and technical shortcomings

The cognitive scientist argues the current AI environment is failing us as consumers and a society. But it’s not too late to change course.

An abstract illustration features a bell curve with red dots and a percentage labeled 49%. The background includes a monochrome portion of a face with wide-open eyes peeking below the curve.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Bad at probability? That might be a blessing.

How black and white is your thinking?

A metal ladder of misinference stretches into a round sky view, its rungs disappearing among the clouds against a dark backdrop.

The Learning Curve

How to disrupt misinformation with the “ladder of misinference”

Alex Edmans, professor of finance at the London Business School, warns us to be mindful of the incentives surrounding misinformation — including our desire to believe it.

Person disguised as a ghost with sunglasses, sitting at an outdoor table.

Neuropsych

Why we ghost

The psychology of people who cut off all communication—and how that affects their partners.

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